I Trust You Read Free Page A

untethered. I knew I was going to end up adrift, so I tried the engine.’
                  Eliot’s body stiffened slightly. ‘I didn’t realise you knew how to.’
                  ‘I’ve watched my dad do it loads of times. Anyway, it started immediately. So I motored back to shore.’ Marisa pulled back from his embrace and looked intently into his dark brown eyes. ‘But you weren’t there. You hadn’t sent anyone to come and get me. What if I hadn’t got the engine to work? What would have happened to me?’
                  Eliot turned towards the two men loitering uselessly in the entrance to the lounge. ‘You guys can go home now, okay? Panic over.’
                  ‘Sure, boss,’ one of them added lightly.
                  Eliot waited until the front door was firmly closed behind them. He clasped Marisa’s hands and led her into the kitchen, which had views across the bay and down to the cliffs. ‘To be honest, sweetheart, I didn’t think you’d have the resourcefulness to get the boat back to the marina. After I’d made it up the cliff, I called my mate, Gav. The one who climbs? He told me that the tide was rising fast. Before long, the speedboat would be high enough in the water for us to pull you to safety.’
                  ‘But the rope was coming loose from the rock you secured the boat to. I would have drifted away before you could’ve reached me.’
                  Eliot shook his head of thick, sandy hair. ‘Gav reassured me the currents in that cove would have meant the boat had no chance of drifting out to sea.’ He placed his hands on her shoulders. ‘It must have been hard work to power out of the inlet, am I right?’
                  Marisa was compelled to nod her agreement.
                  ‘That’s because the prevailing currents were keeping you in there. You were quite safe. Gav arrived thirty minutes after I reached the top. He’d brought some of his equipment with him, to help lift you out. I’d gone to the road end to meet him. By the time we got back to the cliff and looked over, you were nowhere to be seen. I was frantic.’
                  ‘If that was your plan, why didn’t you call down and tell me? Before you went off to meet Gav? Then I would have known what was going on.’
                  Eliot sighed heavily. ‘You had a panic attack when I told you that I was climbing up those cliffs. I didn’t want to distress you further by telling you ahead of time that you’d have to do the same. I thought that by the time Gav and I got there, the tide would have raised the water level to a point where the idea of climbing out wouldn’t have been nearly so daunting.’
                  Marisa burst into tears, burying her face into his shoulder. ‘I’m so sorry! When I saw the rope loosening I just panicked again. I thought you must have forgotten about the tide! I’ve been such an idiot.’
                  He smoothed her hair gently. ‘Not at all, you’ve been a brave, clever girl. You got yourself to safety. I never needed to save you at all.’
                  Marisa managed to gulp back a sob and laugh. ‘I did, didn’t I?’ Then her face darkened. ‘But what about the engine? How come it started again so easily? You’d tried several times to fire it up, but to no avail.’
                  Eliot’s expression was relaxed. ‘Those outboard motors are notoriously unpredictable. They stop and start whenever they feel like it. I’ll get one of the guys to take a good look at it tomorrow – replace the thing if necessary.’
                  Marisa gripped the top of his arms tightly. ‘Whatever you think is best, it really doesn’t matter. I’m just so relieved it was all a stupid mix-up. I walked along the seafront looking for you, I tried to spot if you