Read Online Marooned with a Millionaire by Kristi Gold - Free Book Online Page B

then tossed you overboard.”
    â€œHow do you know that? They looked pretty harmless. I mean, they’re fishermen.”
    â€œDid you see any fishing equipment?”
    Lizzie thought a moment. “No, I guess I didn’t, but then I wasn’t paying that much attention.”
    â€œWell, I was, Dorothy. Chances are they’re smugglers.”
    â€œMaybe you’re wrong. Maybe they’re what they say they are, just innocent fishermen.”
    â€œInnocent?” Jack’s laugh held no mirth. “Didn’t you notice the way they looked at you? You have no idea what men like that could do to a defenseless woman.”
    â€œI’m not entirely defenseless, Ahab. I’m not stupid, either.”
    â€œYou are too trusting, Dorothy. Your sassy mouth might work on me, but it wouldn’t help you with those two miscreants.”
    â€œMy sassy mouth works on you?” She sauntered up to him. “How does it work on you?”
    His gaze slipped to the mouth in question. “It drives me crazy.”
    She laced her hands around his neck and pressed against him. “Is that in a good way?”
    â€œLizzie, behave yourself.”
    She wiggled against him. “Why?”
    â€œBecause I’m not going to kiss you again, dammit.”
    This time Lizzie opted to let it go—for now. She dropped her arms and took a step back. “So what now, Ahab?”
    He glanced away. “We wait and hope they do call someone. If not, we’ll just have to ride out the storm the best we can.”
    Not the answer she’d wanted. “Jack, be honest with me. Just how bad is our situation?”
    He let go a harsh sigh. “The batteries should be down completely by dusk. The water’s just about gone. We have enough bottled water and food to lasta couple more days. Unfortunately, we’re drifting away from shore, right into the storm’s path.”
    Lizzie refused to believe that someone wouldn’t come to rescue them soon. She refused to believe that Jack couldn’t find some way to keep her and Hank safe, get them back to shore, if not tomorrow, then the next day. She refused to believe that they wouldn’t survive the storm. If she didn’t, she would give in to fear, and she refused to do that, too.
    Her hand automatically went to the necklace at her throat. Hadn’t her dad always told her that her mother was her guardian angel? And now he was with her, both of them watching over Lizzie.
    Lizzie sent up a quick prayer to her mom and dad, the same as she had when she’d spotted Jack’s boat the day before. Her parents hadn’t failed her then; they wouldn’t fail her now.
    Feeling a bit more relaxed, Lizzie presented Jack with her best smile, albeit a shaky one. “I know it will all work out, Ahab. I feel it in my bones.”
    His smile came halfway but it didn’t conceal the concern in his eyes. “I’m going to trust you on that one, Dorothy.”
    Lizzie laid her palm on his jaw. “I trust you, Jack. I know that you’ll do whatever you can to keep me and Hank safe.”
    Â 
    Jack watched Lizzie return below, burdened by the faith she had bestowed upon him. She had no idea how cruel and unpredictable the elements could be, how even the most skilled sailor could easily become the sea’s victim. She had no clue that he had oncethought himself capable of mastering the rankest of storms. How quickly he had learned that arrogance was no match for nature. How in one horrendous moment he had suffered the loss of two of his most faithful friends because of a choice he’d had to make between saving his crew and a woman who never should have been onboard in the first place. His weakness to resist that persistent woman had cost him. It was still costing him, at least when it came to his peace.
    And now he was charged with keeping another woman safe, a woman who was carrying a child. But Lizzie was there due to