The Pirate & The Adventurer & The Cowboy

expected.

    "She'll turn up soon. Don't worry about it," Jared told his son.

    Letty smiled at David. "Your father's right. If Kate said she'd be around to work on those kicks this afternoon, then she'll be here. Why don't you go try her room again?"

    David brightened. "I will. See you later, Dad."

    Jared nodded. "Right. Don't forget we're going to have dinner at home with Kate tonight."

    "I won't. Is she cooking again?"

    "Uh-huh. Said she'd make tacos."

    "Oh, boy!" David whirled and dashed off the terrace.

    Letty's mouth curved in amusement. "First pizza, then hamburgers, then macaroni and cheese and now tacos. Kate certainly knows the way to a little boy's heart."

    "You can say that again. If she hangs around long enough we may get hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches." Jared made a production out of studying the broken railing. "Ten to one that's the only kind of stuff she knows how to make."

    "I doubt it. But Kate's too smart to fix coq au vin or rabbit provençale for a kid."

    "She's smart enough, all right. About some things."

    "Speaking of little boys' hearts, how is yours doing?"

    "I'm not a little boy, Letty."

    "Oops. Sorry. Didn't mean to stomp on any toes."

    "Don't worry about it." Jared heard the roughness in his own voice and stifled an oath. "My toes are tough."

    "I won't worry a bit about it. You've always been very good at taking care of yourself. Time's running out, though. Are you really going to let her just up and leave in three days, Jared?" Letty wandered over to the unbroken portion of the terrace railing and leaned her elbows on the teak.

    "If she wants to go home like all the rest of the tourists, there's not much I can do about it."

    "I guess not. Pity, though."

    "I don't need your sympathy, Letty."

    "I know." She gazed out to sea. "I'm not sure it's you I was feeling sorry for. I think Kate is going to miss Amethyst. She fits in well around here, doesn't she? She's adapted very nicely to island life."

    "She's stopped complaining about the lack of air-conditioning, if that's what you mean."

    "Not quite. I think it goes deeper than that. The island suits her. But I suppose that's only to be expected from a woman who writes so many books featuring pirates and tropical islands."

    Jared gripped the railing. "I've heard about her pirates." He paused and slanted Letty a close look. "You ever read any of her books?"

    "Oh, yes. All of them. I just finished her last one, in fact— Buccaneer's Bride . It was wonderful. I've still got it in my purse."

    Jared found himself staring at Letty's colorful, oversize canvas bag. "You do?"

    Letty smiled slowly. "Umm-hmm. You know, they say you can tell a lot about an author by reading her books. A perceptive person could probably get a feel for how Kate thinks and what she fantasizes about by reading her work."

    Jared swore and stretched out his hand. "Okay, let's see it."

    Letty slowly unzipped the canvas bag and reached inside. "You sure you want to read a historical romance novel, Jared?"

    "No, but I'm getting desperate," he admitted. He gazed down at the couple on the cover. "The heroine has red hair. Kate doesn't have red hair. She said she had something in common with all her heroines."

    "Obviously it isn't her hair color," Letty said dryly. "At any rate, that's not important. Take a look at the hero and then read the first couple of paragraphs."

    Jared studied the hero without much enthusiasm. "The guy needs a haircut." He opened to the first page and started to read.

    His eyes were the color of the evening mist, and his hair was as dark as midnight shot with silver. There was a cruel twist to his mouth and an elegant knot in his cravat. He moved easily among the glittering guests, secure in the knowledge that Society accepted him for what he claimed to be: the wealthy, powerful Earl of Hawkridge.

    But Elizabeth knew the truth about the cold and arrogant Hawkridge. Beneath his fine evening clothes the man was a pirate. Three days ago he had vowed to make her his prisoner.

    Kate held her breath as she stood at the foot of the stone staircase. This was the first time she had dared to sneak back to the castle after her initial foray ten days earlier. Jared had been keeping such a close eye on her lately that Kate had begun to feel like a goldfish in his private bowl. But today he had finally been distracted by a problem with the terrace railing. She had seized the opportunity.

    She let the flashlight beam dance briefly