Time and Again

or as they carried the logs to the woodbox. Sunny banked down an urge for a steaming cup of tea. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to think.
    "I'm going up for a shower." Feeling miserably awkward, she watched him toss logs on the fire.
    "Fine."
    She made a face at his back. "Fine."
    He waited until he heard her climb the stairs before he straightened. The woman was scrambling his brain, he decided. It was highly probable that he was still disoriented from the trip. That was why she was having such a profound effect on him. All he needed was a little more time to adjust. Data or no data, it would be best if he took that time aboard ship.
    He took a long, thoughtful look at the cabin. Still, he'd promised to do the dishes. It would be an interesting experience to try his hand at it.
    Upstairs, Sunny stripped off layers of clothes, letting each item fall carelessly to the floor. Naked, she turned the shower on, letting it run until the hot water was steaming. She winced as she stepped under it, then let out a long, lazy sigh.
    Better, she told herself. It was certainly a better way of getting her blood moving than kissing Jacob. No, it wasn't.
    She laid her forehead against the wall of the shower and with her eyes closed let the water rain over her.
    Maybe she'd been a little crazy when she'd kissed him, but she'd never felt more alive. She couldn't blame him, not this time. She had made the move. She had looked into his eyes and known he was the one.
    Yet how could he be? She barely knew him, was far from convinced she trusted him. Half the time she was sure she disliked him. But- But, she thought again. The other half of the time she was afraid she was falling in love with him.
    It was completely irrational, undeniably foolish and totally genuine. All she had to do was figure out what to do about it.
    Pouring shampoo into her palm, she tried to think. She was a practical woman. As far back as her memory took her, she had been able to take care of herself. Problems, even emotional ones, were meant to be surmounted. If she was falling in love, she would deal with it. The trick was not to do anything rash.
    Caution, common sense and control, Sunny decided. She lathered her skin lavishly. She would keep a practical distance from Jacob until she got to know him better, until she was more certain of her feelings.
    It made perfect sense. More confident now, she turned under the spray and let the water sluice the suds from her.
    Once she had determined her own feelings, she would work on his. There was no denying he was a strange sort of man. Interesting, certainly, but different in ways she had yet to fully figure out.
    She could handle him. After turning off the water, she slicked a hand down her hair. She had always been able to handle men very satisfactorily. In this case, she just had to handle herself first.
    Satisfied, she kicked her clothes out of the way. Dry, she wrapped a towel around her and stepped out into the hall.
    He'd enjoyed doing the dishes. It was just the sort of mindless chore he'd needed to relax his mind. And his body. The plastic squeeze bottle marked dishwashing liquid claimed to contain real lemon juice.
    He took a sniff of his hands and found the lingering scent pleasant. As soon as he got back to the ship he was going to make a report on it.
    And the task had given him time to put his reaction to Sunny in perspective. Being attracted to her was natural, even elemental. But he was intelligent enough to control certain primal urges. Particularly when acting on them would cause incredible complications.
    She was beautiful, desirable, but she was also impossible. The idea of pursuit had been a bad one. He was well aware now that a physical encounter with her would not be simple. It could only be problematic. He would solve the problem for both of them by gathering up his things and spending the bulk of his time on his ship. When Cal came back he would convince his brother that he had made a mistake. Then they would go home, where they belonged. And that would be the end of it.
    It should have been. Perhaps it would have been. But he came to the top of the stairs just as Sunny stepped out of the bath. She held a towel at her breasts with both hands. He gripped the rail so hard that he wondered the wood didn't crumble under his fingers.
    Bad timing. The thought went through both of their heads. Or perhaps it was perfect timing.

CHAPTER 7
    We crossed to her slowly, soundlessly. Inevitably. In his