The Pirate & The Adventurer & The Cowboy

doesn't look especially Jolly."

    "Jolly is short for Jolly Roger," Jared explained.

    Kate laughed. "Now that fits. Will he take off my finger if I try to scratch his head?"

    "Of course not," David said.

    "Wanna bet?" asked Jolly. But he stretched his neck out demandingly.

    Kate scratched cautiously. "He's beautiful. Does he talk a lot?"

    "You've just heard his entire vocabulary," Jared said.

    "Wanna bet?" Jolly turned an annoyed eye on Jared.

    "Fortunately," Jared said, "the two words he knows are very useful here on Amethyst."

    Kate glanced around the kitchen and saw a number of pencil drawings tacked up on the refrigerator. She went for a closer look and discovered they were astonishingly charming sketches of the cove and the resort. "These are wonderful. Did you do them, Dave?"

    "Yeah. You really like 'em?"

    "Very much. You have a lot of talent."

    David blushed happily. "Thanks. Well." He looked from one adult to the other and started to back out of the room. "Guess everything's under control, so I'd better be going."

    Kate looked at him in surprise. "Aren't you staying for dinner?"

    David shook his head quickly. "Carl Shimazu invited me to spend the night at his house. His mom said it was okay. Carl and I are going to study together." He looked at his father. "You don't have to worry about anything, Dad. I told the kitchen staff to take care of everything."

    "Thanks, son." Jared's mouth quirked. "I appreciate that."

    "Sure. Well, good night. See you guys later." With one last look around, David turned and bounded into the hall. A moment later the front door closed behind him.

    Jared swirled the whiskey in his glass and led the way back into the living room. "What can I say? He means well. He likes you."

    "I like him, too."

    Kate wandered over to the expanse of open wall and took a deep breath of the fragrant night air. An odd nervousness was settling on her now that she was alone with Jared. When she had accepted the invitation she had been certain David would be around to act as a buffer. Instead, she was on her own.

    The nervousness alarmed her. This was not like her at all. The only other time she could remember feeling nervous around a man in recent years was the time she had been stopped by a grim-looking motorcycle cop. She had been sure she was going to get a ticket. In the end she had given him an autographed book for his wife, instead. He'd been thrilled.

    Jared came up behind her, not touching her. "The other night in the garden I got the impression you liked me, also. Did I get the signals mixed?"

    "You're very direct, aren't you?"

    "I don't have time to string this out, but even if I did, I probably wouldn't. You're right. I am a direct man, Kate. I don't like games."

    "Your friend Letty says we strike sparks off each other."

    "I guess we do. Is that so bad?"

    Kate shook her head. "No, but I'm not sure it's good, either. Sparks can be dangerous."

    "They can set fires," Jared agreed. "But I'll be honest with you, Kate. I've never had any woman set quite this kind of fire in me. I'm not sure exactly how to handle things, but I know I can't walk away and pretend this never happened. Can you?"

    There was silence for a long moment. Then Kate said softly, "I told you I wasn't interested in a vacation fling."

    "Is that why you disappeared so fast after the masquerade ball? You just aren't interested? I don't believe that."

    She tilted her head thoughtfully to one side. "You want the truth? I got cold feet."

    "I thought that might be it. At least you're honest about it."

    "I also decided you were taking a lot for granted on the basis of a few kisses."

    "And you wanted to put me in my place?"

    Her fingers tightened on the glass. "No, not exactly. I just decided things were happening too quickly."

    "If things don't happen quickly between us, they won't happen at all. Within a month you'll be gone."

    "Yes." She moved uneasily, stepping away from him and turning to smile coolly. "Which is the best reason of all for not getting involved, isn't it? What's for dinner?"

    "I don't know." Jared's mouth curved faintly. "David ordered everything. One of the side benefits of raising a kid around a resort is that he gets very sophisticated about such things as ordering up room service."

    "I see. David does this for you a lot, then?"

    "For your information, this is the first time he's ever tried his hand at matchmaking."

    Kate winced. "Sorry, didn't mean to annoy you."

    "Didn't you?