Inner Harbor
Page 22

She looked down, watched his fingertip toy with hers. And felt the slow heat of response creep into her blood. "That's a very novel, if roundabout, way of suggesting that I sleep with you."
"Actually, that wasn't what I meant--though if the answer's yes, I'm all for it." He flashed her a grin as she shifted her gaze warily to his. "I was going to suggest that we take a walk on the waterfront when we've finished our coffee. But if you'd rather sleep with me, we can be in your hotel room in, oh, five minutes flat."
She didn't evade when his head lowered to hers, when his lips slid lazily into a lovely fit over hers. The taste of him was cool, with an underlying promise of heat. If she wanted it. And she did. It surprised her how much, just at that one moment, she wanted the flash and burn--the demand that would override the tension inside her, the worry, the doubts.
But she'd had a lifetime of training against self-indulgence, and now she laid a hand lightly on his chest to end the kiss, and the temptation.
"I think a walk would be pleasant."
"Then we'll walk."
he wanted more. phillip told himself he should have known that a few tastes of her would stir up the need. But he hadn't expected that need to be quite so sharp, quite so edgy. Maybe part of it was sheer ego, he mused as he took her hand to walk with her along the quiet waterfront. Her response had been so cool and controlled. It made him wonder what it would be like to peel that intellect away, layer by layer, and find the woman beneath. To work his way down to pure emotion and instinct.
He nearly laughed at himself. Ego, indeed. For all he knew, that formal, slightly distant response was precisely all that Dr. Sybill Griffin intended to give him.
If so, that made her a challenge he was going to have a very difficult time resisting.
"I see why Shiney's is a popular spot." She slanted him a smiling look.
"It's barely nine-thirty and the shops are closed, the boats are moored. A few people strolling along, but for the most part everything here is tucked in for the night."
"It's a little livelier during the summer. Not much, but a little. It's cooling off. Are you warm enough?"
"Mmm. Plenty. It's a lovely breeze." She stopped to look out at the swaying masts of boats. "Do you keep your boat here?"
"No, we have a dock at home. That's Ethan's skipjack."
"Where?"
"It's the only skipjack in St. Chris. There are only a couple of dozen left on the Bay. There." he gestured. "The single mast."
To her untrained eye, one sailboat looked very much the same as the next. Size varied, of course, and gloss, but essentially they were all boats. "What's a skipjack?"
"It evolved from the flat-bottomed bay-crabbing skiffs." He drew her closer as he spoke. "They were enlarged, designed with a V-shaped hull. Had to be easily and inexpensively built."
"So they go out crabbing in them."
"No, mostly the watermen use motor-powered workboats for crabbing. The skipjack is for oysters. Back in the early 1800s they passed a law in Maryland that allowed only sail-powered vessels to dredge for oysters."
"Conservation?"
"Exactly. The skipjack came out of that, and it still survives. But there aren't many of them. There aren't many oysters either."
"Does your brother still use it?"
"Yeah. It's miserable, cold, hard, frustrating work."
"You sound like the voice of experience."
"I've put in some time on her." He stopped near the bow and slipped an arm around Sybill's waist. "Sailing out in February, with that wind cutting through you, bouncing on the high chop of a winter storm… all in all, I'd rather be in Baltimore."
She chuckled, studying the boat. It looked ancient and rough, like something out of an earlier time. "Without having set foot on it, I'm going to agree with you. So why were you bouncing on the high chop of a winter storm instead of in Baltimore?"
"Beats the hell out of me."
"I take it this isn't the boat you invited me out on tomorrow."
"No. That one's a tidy little pleasure sloop. Do you swim?"
She arched an eyebrow. "Is that a statement on your sailing abilities?"
"No, it's a suggestion. The water's cool, but not so cold you couldn't take a dip if you like."
"I didn't bring a bathing suit with me."
"And your point is?"
She laughed and started walking again. "I think a sail's enough for one day. I've got some work I want to finish up tonight. I enjoyed dinner."
"So did I. I'll walk you to your hotel."
"There's no need. It's just around the corner."
"Nonetheless."
She didn't argue. She had no intention of allowing him to walk her to her door, or to talk his way into her suite. All in all, she felt she was handling him, and a difficult, confusing situation, very well. An early night, she mused, would give her time to sort out her thoughts and feelings before she saw him again the next day.
And since the boat was docked at his home, the odds were good that she would see Seth again, too.
"I'll come down in the morning," she began as she stopped a few feet from the lobby entrance. "Ten or so?"
"Fine."
"Is there anything I should bring? Besides Dramamine?"
He shot her a grin. "I'll take care of it. Sleep well."
"You, too."
She prepared herself for the easy and expected good-night kiss. His lips were soft, undemanding. Pleased with both of them, she relaxed, started to back away.
Then his hand cupped the back of her neck firmly, his head changed angles, and for one staggering moment, the kiss went hot and wild and threatening. The hand she'd laid on his shoulder curled into a fist, gripping his jacket, hanging on for balance as her feet all but swept out from under her. Her mind went blank as her pulse leapt to roar in her spinning head.
Someone moaned, low and deep and long.
It lasted only seconds, but it was as shocking and burning as a brand. He saw the stunned arousal in her eyes when they opened and stared into his. And he felt that basic need claw to a new level inside him.
Not a cool, controlled, and distant response this time, he decided. One layer down, he mused, and skimmed his thumb along her jawline.