In Too Deep Read Free Page B

closed her eyes and blew out a breath. "Oh, this day just gets better and better."
    "It's certainly looking up for me." With an amused glance, the pirate hitched his shorts back over the sharp angle of his hipbones. There'd been no sign of a tan line. "Hold on to the rail until I can get you hooked up."
    With long, perfectly balanced strides, he went to the stern, where he lifted the top of a teak bench and dug through the contents.
    Tally gripped the slick rail with both hands. "Can we go look for them before they drown?" she shouted to be heard over the pounding of the waves. She forced her gaze off the pirate's broad, tanned back and spread her feet for balance instead of sacrificing herself to Poseidon.
    "No point." He returned and handed her a life jacket attached to a harness. "Put this on." He snapped something on the back of the jacket and connected it to a line running along the deck.
    Tally was grateful beyond belief that he wasn't going to say any more about her grabbing on to his dipstick. "Of course there's a point. Arnaud and Lu might very well be trying to stay afloat as we speak."
    "Doubt it."
    "Oh, come on! I made it. Lu's lived on Paradise all his life. He must know how to swim, for godsake! And Arnaud's a much better swimmer than I am. That water's deep —they must be exhausted by now. We have to hurry."
    "Lady, you're just not getting this, are you? Your boyfriend didn't make it. Consider yourself lucky."
    "He wasn't my boyfr—who cares what he was. Is." The creak of torqued wood sounded eerily like a woman screaming. Tally hunched her shoulders. "I'm sure they were thrown clear just like I was."
    "Didn't see anyone else thrown clear."
    "Did you see me thrown clear?" Tally demanded, fastening the front of the jacket with numb fingers. The life jacket came almost to her knees and smelled faintly fishy. But it was dry, and it cut the wind. She felt the hum of an auxiliary engine beneath her feet.
    "Yeah, I saw you."
    "So Arnaud could've—"
    "He didn't."
    The possibility of Arnaud being dead refused to register. Just a little while ago he was at her side—strong, vibrant, healthy, invincible, unscrupulous, and lying through his perfect white teeth. Damn it. He was too oily to drown. He must be floating out there somewhere.
    Tiny, stinging whips of wet hair blew against her cheeks. She shivered despite the jacket, and tucked the short strands of her hair behind her ears. A quick glance skyward showed how low the dark clouds had dropped. The wind howled. Waves pounded at the boat as if demanding entry.
    Angry white foam danced along the lip of water, spraying across the teak deck. In the few moments she'd been aboard, the waves had grown and the wind had picked up. Sea spray sent needle-like stabs at her exposed skin. It was obvious, even to a landlubber, that they were in for a major storm. If the waves had been this high when she was in the water, she would have drowned.
    Despite his words, she staggered over to the rail, leaned into the wind, and searched the sea for signs of life. Wind and waves had torn the remnants of the elegant yacht to shreds, then swallowed the pieces whole. The choppy water surged, drowning the flames still struggling in the wind. A dwindling flame garden of burning debris and whitecaps. The Serendipity was gone as if it had never been.
    "Hey." Her host grabbed her by the back of the jacket and hauled her upright. "I'm not fishing you out again if you fall overboard."
    Their eyes met. He wasn't kidding. "Not exactly a people person, are you?" she said.
    He grimaced and released her. Tally turned back to the rail, oddly disconcerted by his touch, even through the jacket. She didn't lean as far out this time, but she strained to see in the growing darkness.
    Tally suspected Arnaud's boat was probably Trevor Church's boat, and if that was the case, her father was not only going to be absolutely livid about the loss of property, he was also going to blow his stack if she didn't at