Читать книгу Deception Island - Brynn Kelly, Brynn Kelly - Страница 14

Chapter 8

After a couple of minutes Jack’s footsteps trailed back from the cabin. “You’re not supposed to be enjoying this.”

Holly opened her eyes. He stood over her, a wry half smile imprinting a dimple in his cheek. A pirate with a dimple—who’d have thought? “You’re in my sun.”

“Sorry, your highness.”

He settled on the grass in front of her feet, his long legs sprawled, with a bowl of water and first-aid kit beside him. Crap—he intended to play doctor?

She pulled her foot under the bench. “I can do it.”

“You eat. I like having something to do with my hands. Doing nothing drives me crazy.”

She blew out a breath. When was the last time she’d willingly let a man touch her? An hour or two ago, he’d pinned her to a tree. She could let him clean a stupid cut. Laura would have no problem with someone worshiping at her feet—and it was a chance to get close to him, maybe draw him out.

“Come on, I won’t bite,” he said.

The run and swim sure had relaxed him. She inched her foot forward. He grabbed the heel and pulled it onto his knee. Awareness reverberated up her leg and pooled in a part of her that hadn’t seen action in a long time.

“Doesn’t look too bad,” he said, all business. “But I’ll give it a thorough clean.”

He poured a cloudy liquid into the bowl and directed her foot into it. It was as warm as the air surrounding them.

“This might hurt.” With a piece of gauze, he gently brushed over the wound.

She flinched.

“Painful?”

“Ticklish,” she said, through a mouthful of baguette. Thank God boredom had prompted her to raid Laura’s bathroom supplies on her last layover and wax her legs and paint her toenails, for the first time in six years.

“Suck it up, princess. The guy who taught me to do this ordered us to spend a good ten minutes cleaning coral wounds.”

“Is first aid something you were taught in the military?”

He froze. Dark eyes flicked up to meet hers. Bingo.

“Don’t look so scared,” she said. “It’s obvious you’re some kind of military man—you don’t smell bad enough to be a real pirate. I won’t tell, I promise. But I can’t help wondering how you got caught up in all of this.”

“If I told you I’d have to kill you. In fact, I’d have to kill me.”

“I’m not asking for name, rank and serial number. Just a, ‘Once upon a time there was a nice young pirate called Jack...’”

“Consider ignorance your ticket to freedom.”