The Pirate & The Adventurer & The Cowboy

at the end of the month. Our little fish will swallow the hook at that time, as planned."

    Jared stood up. "The sooner the better."

    "I could not agree with you more," Max said. His gaze was on the sea as he sipped his drink.

    Jared started to walk away, paused and turned back. He leaned down, one hand planted on the table and spoke softly. "No more cozy little chats with Kate, Max. I don't want her to be touched by any of this, not even indirectly."

    Max was both amused and offended. "You think I am so unprofessional as to let something slip to a pretty lady?"

    "I think," Jared said, spacing his words for emphasis, "that the pretty lady is also pretty smart and it wouldn't take much to make her curious. Stay away from her."

    This time Jared did not pause as he walked away from the table. He nodded briefly at the colonel on the way out of the bar and then headed for the lobby.

    He spotted Kate and David as soon as he crossed the small lagoon bridge. They were standing together looking up at one of the watercolors on the wall. They didn't notice him right away and he stopped to watch them for a moment.

    David was talking very seriously about the painting, and Kate had her head tilted in the familiar way that meant she was paying close attention. Jared studied the graceful line of her throat and shoulder and something deep within him tightened as memories of the previous night trickled back. She had only to be in the same room with him to arouse him, he realized. The intensity of his feelings amazed him. She stirred a part of his nature that he had never fully explored and the knowledge that he could feel such an aching need at this stage of his life was unsettling.

    She was so different from Gabriella in every way. His wife had been like the watercolor on the wall, a soft, gentle creation of pastels and light. Kate was vibrant and strong, full of color that was so hot and bright that it could, on occasion, singe a man's fingers.

    But what was life without a few burned fingers, Jared asked himself with an inner smile as he went toward Kate and his son.

    "What are you two up to this morning?" he asked as he came to a halt beside them.

    "Hi, Dad. I was just telling Kate that it was my mother who painted this picture."

    Kate smiled gently at Jared, her eyes searching his face. "Your wife was a very talented woman."

    Jared glanced at the soft seascape and nodded briefly. "Yes, she was. She did all the lobby paintings."

    "That's what Dave was just telling me."

    "Yeah, I was explaining it to her, Dad. But I got to go now. Carl's expecting me. See you guys later." David dashed out of the lobby and across the small bridge.

    Jared watched his son until the boy was out of sight and then he turned back to find Kate studying him. "I told you once, Dave doesn't really remember his mother, but he takes a lot of pride in knowing she did these paintings. It gives him a way of feeling his connection to her."

    Kate nodded. "I understand. She must have been a very lovely woman to have created such lovely art."

    "She was." Jared glanced at his watch. "What do you say we go get some lunch in the restaurant? It's almost noon."

    "All right."

    A few minutes later Kate put down her menu and looked across the table at Jared. "I'm very different from her, aren't I?"

    Jared, who had just been wondering why Kate had been so abnormally silent for so long, suddenly understood. "Night and day," he said casually. He plucked the menu out of Kate's fingers and turned to the waitress who had bustled up to take their orders. "Bring us the fresh tuna, Nancy. I know Marty got a delivery this morning."

    "You bet, boss. Be right back."

    "I didn't come all this way to have tuna fish," Kate complained.

    Jared grinned. "The difference between fresh tuna and canned tuna fish is also night and day. Relax, you're going to love it, especially the way Marty does it."

    "Is that why you're sleeping with me, Jared? Because I don't remind you of Gabriella?"

    Jared drummed his fingers on the table and wondered why it was women asked such ridiculous questions. "Are you sleeping with me because I don't resemble your ex-husband?"

    She turned faintly pink, which surprised him.

    "Never mind," Kate said, moving a few inches back from the table in a small action that said more than words she was pulling back from the entire conversation. "I shouldn't have asked you such a personal question." She smiled brightly. "I understand there's a cruise boat