Follow the Sun Read Free

called, “Come to the foredeck and throw me your lines!”
    He looked down at her, a dark, intriguing form against the blue sky, his eyes covered by aviator-style sunglasses.
    Tess waved toward the bow of his yacht with both hands. The movement opened the unbuttoned white shirt she wore over a black maillot. The newcomer pulled his sunglasses down an inch and studied her rakishly, smiling.
    “What’s the foredeck?” he asked in a pleasantly deep voice.
    The handsome idiot. “The front of the boat!” Tess ran to the bow of the
Lady
, crossed her gangplank to the dock, and went to the neighboring berth. Facing his monstrous boat, she yelled again, “Throw me your lines!”
    He was smiling as he came down the staircase from the bridge, and despite herself Tess felt the effect of that smile. What she could see of his face seemed to be older than his youthful body, but that only made it more mesmerizing.
    He trotted across his foredeck, and Tess fought to keep herself from gaping as she got a closer look at him. The sun glinted off tousled blond hair that was long and the rich color of wheat on top, short and dark gold around his ears.
    The beautiful blond hair and his unforgettable, strong-jawed face reminded her of Robert Redford. Tess glanced up and down the busy Sunday-afternoon marina. Every woman within a radius of a hundred yards was staring at Captain Handsome.
    Redford, definitely.
    Moving with a fluid grace that stole her concentration,he lifted a heavy rope and carried it to the edge of the deck. A full thirty feet of bilge-green water separated him from the dock.
    “Ahoy, me pretty,” he yelled cheerfully. “Don’t let me line catch you unawares.”
    It already has
, she thought numbly. Around the marina she had a reputation as a recluse. One frustrated suitor had called her “the unmerry widow.” So why was she staring up at Captain Blond as if she wanted to be his galley slave?
    Tess clicked back to reality, stepped to one side, and watched him toss the heavy line with a coordinated strength that came from natural athletic ability. When it plopped on the dock she looped it around a cleat.
    “Tow yourself in, captain, before someone clips you.”
    He clutched a chest covered in curly, dark-blond hair. He staggered around, trying to look pitiful while he tugged at the bow rope and finally secured the yacht close to the dock.
    “Thank you for your help, fair lady,” he said in a raspy tone. “I just got this boat last week, and this is my first time docking it. You were very gentle with me. I’ll never forget my first time with you.”
    Tess sighed. “You’re welcome.”
    “My name’s Jeopard Surprise. I love useful women with English accents and beautiful bodies.”
    Tess grimaced at the tacky remark. She walked back aboard the
Lady
and picked her book up from the lounge chair. She decided it would be best to go downstairs and avoid Captain Tacky before he disappointed her more.
    “You’re on your own, Mr. Surprise.”
    “You saved me from washing out to sea! At least tell me your name, fair damsel!”
    Tess pointed to her fawn-colored skin, then to the straight black hair that floated around her face and neck in a simple cut ornamented by softly structured bangs. “I’m hardly
a fair
damsel.” The events in Gold Ridge tugged at her in a compelling way, and suddenlyshe added with pride, “I’m approximately half Cherokee Indian.”
    “Your berth’s registered to a Royce Benedict. Are you Mrs. Benedict?”
    “Do you always investigate your neighbors?” she called.
    “The information is in the marina’s files for anyone who wants to know.”
    “Then you know without asking that I’m Tess Benedict and that my husband’s deceased.”
    “I understand that your husband was a retired diamond broker—”
    “Don’t play asinine games with me. Good day, cap’n.”
    With those cool words, Tess went downstairs and out of sight, where she closed the curtains, stretched out on her