The Pirate & The Adventurer & The Cowboy

coming in next week."

    "We get a ship through every few weeks. And the answer is no, I'm not sleeping with you because you are so different from Gabriella. I'm sleeping with you because you're you and you have a way of making me get as hard as an eighteen-year-old kid every time you're in the vicinity."

    "Last night you said there was more to our relationship than just sex."

    Jared realized he had not phrased his reassurance in the best possible way. "Kate, don't twist my words. I meant what I said last night and I mean what I'm saying now. I like going to bed with you and I like being with you when we're not in bed, even when you snap at me. Look, I'm not good at this kind of conversation. Could we change the subject?"

    She propped her elbows on the table, laced her fingers and rested her chin on the back of her hands. Her eyes were very clear and green as she looked at him. "Of course, Mr. Hawthorne. Whatever you say, Mr. Hawthorne. Far be it from me to try to dictate our conversation. What would you like to discuss, Mr. Hawthorne?"

    Jared swore softly. "You're mad at me again, aren't you? I was right the first time I met you. You are one prickly broad."

    "Yes," Kate said. "I am a bit prickly. But that doesn't seem to keep you from wanting to climb into bed with me. An insightful observer could conclude that my prickliness might be one of the things that attracts you to me and you just don't want to admit it to yourself because you decided long ago you liked sweet, biddable, mild-mannered women."

    "I don't think I followed the logic there, but don't bother running it by me again. I'm sure I'd get just as lost a second time. What are you going to do this afternoon?"

    "Read some more of Amelia Cavendish's diary."

    "Working your way through it, hmm?"

    "It's fascinating."

    "Only to a woman. I told you I couldn't get through it, even if she was the wife of a distant ancestor of mine. All that nonsense about her social life in England in the beginning and later that endless litany of complaints about the way Roger Hawthorne treated her. I never bothered to finish."

    "Then you missed a lot of the good parts. She had legitimate grounds for all those complaints about your ancestor. He treated her abominably. First he woos her and then abandons her without so much as a goodbye note and then he returns three years later and expects her to marry him. When she doesn't instantly leap into his arms, he kidnaps her, brings her out here and forces her to marry him. Yes, I'd say she had a reason to gripe."

    Jared laughed. "I'll let you in on a little secret. Roger's journal contains a couple of references to what he called his sharp-tongued little shrew. I gather she made life hell for him on board ship after he kidnapped her. He said at one point in the journal that he was probably the only man alive who could claim to have been nagged halfway around the world. Amelia complained about everything from the food on board ship to the way Hawthorne made a living."

    "Amelia did not approve of his chosen profession," Kate said austerely.

    "I gather she made that real clear. You know, you're beginning to remind me of her in more ways than one. I'm starting to appreciate just what poor Roger had to go through." Jared broke off as the tuna arrived. When the waitress disappeared again he looked up from his plate to find Kate studying him with her intelligent eyes. "What's the matter?"

    "Nothing."

    "Then eat your fish."

    "Yes, sir."

    "Do us both a favor and don't start baiting me today, okay?"

    She shrugged. "Okay. Why did Roger Hawthorne leave England so suddenly the first time?"

    "A little trouble resulting from a duel. He killed his opponent and had to get out of the country in a hurry. Dueling was illegal. There would have been a hell of a scandal for his family if he'd been caught."

    "Why didn't he take the time to explain that to Amelia?"

    "He left her a note explaining everything and asking her to wait for him, according to the journal. But apparently she never got the message or if she did, she didn't pay any attention."

    "Really?" Kate's eyes were riveted on his face. "He left her a note? She knew nothing about any note."

    "And didn't believe him three years later when he tried to explain. So he gave up explaining and kidnapped her instead."

    "Very interesting," Kate mused. "There's no mention of a missed message in Amelia's journal."

    "Like I said, she didn't believe Roger's story." Jared looked up, seeing