Refuge Cove by Janet Dailey

Author:Janet Dailey [Dailey, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-12-11T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Emma waited in the passenger seat while John lifted the bike into the rear of the Jeep. When he climbed back in beside her, his mouth was a grim line.

“John—”

“Don’t say a word.” He started the engine, turned the vehicle around, and drove back toward town. Emma had seen him angry before, but not like this.

For a few minutes he drove in silence. Then he began to speak, the words coming sharp and hard. “I got a call from Boone this morning. He said his friends and family would be looking for you. I tried to call and warn you. When you didn’t answer your damn phone, I called the hotel. They said you’d taken the bike out.” He shot her a stormy glance. “Do you have any idea how worried I was? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“It was buried in the pack. I couldn’t get to it. I meant to call you when I got back to the hotel, but then—”

“Never mind. I saw enough to figure out what happened. You’re damned lucky to be alive.”

Tires squealing, he swung the Jeep onto a narrow, little-used side road that cut through thickets of willow and salmonberry and ended at a dilapidated boat ramp on a narrow stretch of beach. Braking, he switched off the engine, then sat gazing out at the water.

Emma waited in the tension-filled silence until she could stand it no longer. “I’m sorry, John,” she said. “I never meant to worry you.”

An eternity of seconds seemed to pass before he turned in the seat to face her, another eternity before he spoke. “Damn it, Emma, I never thought I’d say this. But right now I’m almost wishing I’d just flown home and left you to fend for yourself in that muskeg.”

Emma gasped as the cold words penetrated. “You can’t mean that,” she said. “You saved my life.”

“And what about my life? I was doing fine until you showed up. Now, half the time, it’s like I don’t know whether I’m coming or going. I can’t even sleep for fear that something will happen and I’ll lose you.”

She stared at him, her heart pounding. “What are you saying?”

“What the hell do you think I’m saying?”

He reached across the seat, caught her in his arms, and jerked her against him. His mouth crushed hers in a forceful kiss that blended fury, desire, and exquisite tenderness.

Emma’s pulse rocketed. A throbbing heat surged from the depths of her body. The response to John’s kiss was like nothing she’d ever known. She went molten against him, her lips softening, her hands tangling in his hair, her mouth open, tasting him, feeling him. She wanted his hands on her, and more. Heaven help her, she wanted all the things she’d denied herself as a woman.

But it wasn’t going to happen here. Their awkward position in the seats, with the gearbox jutting between them, ended their embrace too soon. They broke apart, both of them breathing hard. Emma pulled down her shirt and smoothed back her hair.

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