“It’s really good,” she moaned around a mouthful of spicy tomato sauce and melted cheese. “It is. You’ll have to try Zane’s when we get to High Tide Harbor. It’s even better.” “I'm sure it will be,” she said. “Best pizza I ever had was in this little town in Italy. My Grams and I took cooking lessons one summer. Pulled the tomatoes right off the vines on the villa property where we stayed. Now that’s an experience.” He glanced away, his jaw tensing. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t a fan of the real stuff. "Okay. So back to what I was about to tell you… I spoke to your father.” The slice of pizza stopped halfway to her mouth and she shook her head. "Okay… so what did he say?" she asked. David reached for another slice and Bonnie considered if they should order a second pie. As if he read her mind, he signaled their server, ordered another beer and, to Bonnie's amusement, another pizza. “I think he's beginning to get used to the idea of you not being home. I told him you were fine and sa
Darkness descended and Bonnie waited, minute after minute, breath after breath, for the worry to cease and the calm to return. One call from her dad and she was right back in the lonely hole she’d been trying so desperately to climb out of. She sighed, regret lodged in her chest. She couldn't blame David. How could he not doubt her when there were times she doubted herself? Duchess’s talons clipped along the fiber-glass deck as she approached Bonnie and dropped her new toy, the plastic keys, into Bonnie's lap. Bonnie managed a weak smile and drew her finger down the parrot’s head. “You’re such a pretty girl, Duchess.” she whispered. “Make it work.” Duchess bobbed her head. “You’re also lucky, Duchess. Flying from boat to boat. Nothing to worry about other than who you’re going to annoy next. No one to disappoint.” “No one’s disappointed in you, Bonnie.” David's voice echoed out of the darkness. She was shocked when she heard him and even embarrassed that he'd heard her, but sh
In unselfconscious masculine display, he dragged one hand through his chest hair, scratching a little, then flexed his shoulder and rotated his head. Bonnie’s mouth went dry. In something of a rasp, she asked, "What are you doing?" "It's a bit warm out here." He glanced down at her. "And I'm a little stiff." So saying, he turned to head inside and Bonnie caught sight of a bruise on his ribs. "David ." She was out of her chair in a flash, catching his arm and holding him still. "What happened to you here?" He looked down at the darkening flesh she indicated. "Nothing serious. Just bruised myself a little when I went to check on the engine." Wishing she could soothe him, even heal him, her fingertips grazed over his warm skin. "I'm sorry." she said softly. His gaze stayed on her face, piercing and bright. "No problem, Bonnie. You getting hungry?" She jerked, but she didn't reply. Instead she took an automatic step toward him. Good Lord, the man oozed sex appeal. She could
They spoke in muted whispers, hers awed, his raw with arousal. Suddenly he kissed her again, so ravenously that she forgot what she was doing and her hands left him to grasp his neck, holding tight. Strong arms enclosed her, stealing her breath. Her lips were swollen, her head spinning, when David again cupped her face to place sweet little pecks on her chin, her cheeks, her forehead. "You know what I think, Bonnie?" Overwhelmed, she whispered, "What?" "That turnabout is fair play" Her stomach jumped and her heart began a wild race. When she got her eyes open, David was smiling at her. "You'll love having me touch you, Bonnie . I promise. But for right now, we should take this indoors before things get out of hand and neither one of us makes a clear headed decision." Her head would never be clear again. David nodded. "Tonight," David whispered to her, "I want to sleep with you curled that close." He didn't give her a chance to reply to that, not that she had a reply anywa
Parting her legs, he licked the joint of her thigh and groin, where her skin was ultrasmooth and delicate. "David please..." Regardless of what she said, she couldn't be ready yet. His mouth open and his kisses deliberately damp, David made his way back up her body. She grabbed him, kissing him hard, while his hands covered both her breasts. Her nipples were tight now, her breasts swollen. He caught her nipples and rolled, squeezed, tugged. She pulled her mouth away. "David…" "Shh." He kissed her again, silencing her protests while continuing to torment her nipples. The more aroused she got, the more she'd enjoy his caresses. Her legs shifted restlessly, moving alongside his until he stilled them with one of his own. Caught under him, Bonnie could barely move, and that suited David just fine. Keeping her legs trapped, he leaned up to look at her face. "I want you as ready as I am, Bon." "I am," she all but wailed. "No." Smiling, he dragged his callused fingertips ov
“Kiss, kiss, kiss.” Duchess spread her feet farther apart to keep her balance. Bonnie returned. The wind had kicked up again and the waves were starting to swell. She’d thrown on one of her sweatshirts and her deck shoes. She’d also tied her hair up and out of the way. “I’ve got everything as locked down as I can make it. What now?” “You’re going to take the chair.” He eased back a little on the speed and got up, then pulled her around him. “You’ve been watching me, right?” “Yes.” He heard the hint of nerves in her voice even as she wrapped her hands around the wheel. “This is where I follow the direction you’ve set, right?” She jerked her chin toward the indicator. “Compass is right there. Speed here.” “Right. We’re going to veer to the east and try to keep it between forty and forty-five degrees. The swells will come at us from the back, and when they start to hit, we’re going to reduce speed by at least fifty percent.” “I do that here.” She touched the lever that affected th
“Okay, that’s as slow as we go. Let me take over.” “All right.” She kept her hands on the wheel and slid her butt out of the chair. As she stood, she lifted her eyes to the window. “David!” David swiveled to see the giant wave crest and slam over the starboard side of the boat. Water exploded into the wheelhouse. Duchess squawked and flapped her wings as the boat rocked violently back and forth. Bonnie lost her grip and went flying. David let go of the chair and grabbed for her, but she slammed shoulder first into the bulkhead. She hit the deck on all fours, but even as David reached for the wheel, he could see she was still moving. “Bonnie! You okay?” “Yes.” But her voice wasn’t nearly as loud as it had been before. “Stay there!” As he finally righted himself, he saw another wall of water heading right for them. He managed to grab and yank the wheel another thirty degrees east before he heard the deafening whumph. Then everything went black. —-------------- The world dropped i
“Bonnie, let the bird sing.” He said. She gasped and spun around on the captain's chair. “David! You’re awake!” “Work it. Work it.” Duchess said. “I take that back,” David growled. “Duchess, quiet.” “Thank goodness.” Bonnie abandoned the chair and dropped to her knees next to him, fingers prodding the very sore skin on his forehead. “I didn’t know how I was going to get you into the cabin if I had to. Does it hurt?” “Yes.” He caught her searching hands and brought them together. “What happened? How’s the boat?” “Boat’s okay. I think. You knocked yourself out trying to get to me. Your foot slipped and blam!” She tried to smack her hands together. “You conked your head on the railing.” “Yeah. That I got. You okay?” “I’m great!” She beamed at him. “We did it. We rode out the storm. Took a few hours and so Duchess and I covered about thirty years of musicals, but yeah.” She sighed and sank back onto her heels. “We’re okay. Me, Duchess, Blue Blood and now you.” She pulled her han
"You're awfully quiet" David said to Bonnie when they got into the taxi that was supposed to take them to High Tide Harbour. She had been that way during the flight and David was starting to get worried. "I'm not" Bonnie protested, but even she knew that she didn't sound convincing enough. "Yes you are. You barely spoke to me on the flight except for when I asked you a question. And you slept during most of it. Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong? You can tell me and I'll make it right." Bonnie gave him a small smile. She felt guilty for making him think that he'd hurt her. He'd been perfect the entire time even after they said goodbye to her parents. The truth was that she had a lot on her mind. Her fears had been confirmed. She was pregnant! The weird thing was that she was thrilled about it. She was happy in fact. She was having a child… David's child was growing inside of her and she knew she'd love the baby with all her heart, but she was worried too. Having a baby ch
"You shouldn't be the one to apologize." Robert replied, as he touched her chin gently so she would look at him. "I was selfish, and I guess I was a bit too focused on what I'd benefit from your marriage to Marcus. I'll admit that I was really angry at first when you left, but after a while I thought about it, especially after David Stewart confirmed that you were alright, then I realized that I pushed you away. For that I'm sorry… ""Oh, dad""I see how… different you are now" Robert continued. "You look more confident in yourself and you're so happy… am I wrong?" Bonnie blushed as she shook her head. Was it really that obvious? But he was right. She was happier than she'd ever been in a long time. "No you're not" she replied finally. There was a pause, before Robert added. "And am I wrong to assume that David Stewart has something to do with that happiness?" Bonnie averted her eyes. She knew the topic of David would come up sometime. His presence alone was going to bring it up an
"Do we really need to do this?" Bonnie asked David as they got into the car. Finally, she was going to visit her parents for the first time since she ran out on her wedding, and no matter how much she tried to stay positive about it, there was this nagging pit in her stomach. She also had this horrible headache that just wouldn't go away. David sent her a heart warming look. "Yes, we do," he replied, then he tried to make her feel better by saying, "I'm sure they would love to see you. When your father hired me to find you, all I could see was a man who was really worried about his daughter and her safety. Whatever you might be thinking, nothing is going to go wrong. You called and told them that you were coming, right?"Bonnie sighed." Yes, I did." "And what did they say?""They said they'd be thrilled to see me" David raised an eyebrow. "So what's the problem? I'm sorry, but I fail to see it." Bonnie shook her head at him. "You seem to have forgotten, but I ran out on my weddi
Her pulse quickened even more and her lips parted as she struggled to breathe. She wanted that now—to be in bed with him. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.“What? It’s not your fault,” he said. “It's not your fault that I couldn't stay focused on my job. Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t and I don't regret any moment I spent with you. It was all worth it.”Bonnie smiled, then for some reason probably just to tease him, she used her hands on his knees to lever herself to her feet. Then she turned to walk away from him, but he stood and reached out. Catching her wrist, he whirled her around to face him. “Oh, hell,” he muttered before he lowered his mouth to hers.David kissed her hungrily—like he had earlier. His lips nipped and nibbled at hers, tugging until she parted them. Then he slid his tongue inside where it tangled with hers. She gasped and panted for breath as passion overwhelmed her."Were you really going to walk away from me?" he asked as he withdrew, breathing deeply. "Nah, I just wa
Bonnie unlocked her house and stepped in, carrying a big bag of groceries. Before she could finish locking the door behind her, David appeared beside her. He flashed her a smile that was difficult not to return. “Everything okay?” she asked him.He didn’t stop smiling. “Yeah. Why do you ask?”“Well, you were almost at the door waiting for me”“That’s because I missed you,” David replied.Bonnie simply blushed and looked away from him."Let me help you with that" he said, but Bonnie moved out of his reach and headed for the kitchen. He followed her. “You don’t have to. Besides, your shoulder hasn’t healed fully”"You know I'm not helpless, right?" he said behind her. "I'm just injured, and I have seen worse injuries." Bonnie dropped the bag and glared at him, "I’m sure you have. But like I said, your shoulder isn't completely healed yet," she said. "Don't put so much stress on it for now. I can handle the bag, and while you are here, you will do exactly what I say." "Yes, ma'am" Dav
George nodded his head. "Yeah, I already told the cops everything. They'll handle him." "Good" "He's alive too." "He is?" Both David and Bonnie stared in surprise. "Yeah. Apparently he's a tough old bastard, but he's going to spend a lot of time cooling off in prison." "I guess so" came David's reply. "I also checked on Michael," George added. "And?" "And he will be alright. The doctors say it might take a while, but the surgery was successful. If everything continues to go as planned, he will be alright" Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief at this information. Everything would be alright. Everyone was going to be okay. She watched as George tapped David on his leg and realized that they weren't just partners. They seemed very close and genuinely cared about one another. After he said goodbye to David, he turned to her. "It was really nice to meet you, Bonnie" George said, "although the circumstances and situation in which we met were… really wild, but I'm glad I met you. You h
Bonnie screamed as the shots went off, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw David and Jonathan crash to the floor. She thought he was dead. But he’d been fine. Not totally fine. Fortunately for him, Jonathan had missed hitting anything fatal, but David's shoulder had been hit. Jonathan, on the other hand, lay dead on the ground. She flinched as she remembered the image of Michael lying helpless on the floor, unable to do anything for him, then she snapped out of the shock and ran towards David. She shook him and watched as he slowly opened his eyes "Oh God, David," she cried. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Are you going to be okay? Can you hear me?…I'm so sorry, David" “It’s just a scratch,” David said to her and gave her a small smile to assure her and make her calm down. "Stop worrying. I'm fine… and so are you" "Thanks to you." said Bonnie, unable to stop the tears from falling. You saved my life. If you hadn’t come in when you had…” She shuddered as she realized that could
While the other two men stayed outside and watched the building, David and George went into the house. It was empty. That was something David already knew, but he signed George to look around the other rooms while he went straight to the room he suspected Bonnie would be in. He got to the room but it was locked from inside. But he was now one hundred percent sure that Bonnie was in there because as soon as he tried the door, he heard her muffled voice. She clearly wasn't alone because someone made her stop. David's chest ached from the pain that had struck his heart when he’d heard Bonnie cry out from within the apartment. He had to get inside—without that man hurting Bonnie any more. He hammered at the door again. “C’mon, I'm here. lemme in.”“No—” Bonnie began but then cried out again.He stepped back, so he had room to kick in the door. When he tried once and the door didn't budge, he put his gun in the waistband of his jeans and moved backwards to try again. But before he could
Bonnie sat quietly in the room where she was kept. Her face felt hot and she knew she had a cut on her lower lip from where she had been hit when she was grabbed. She had cried her eyes out until she didn't have the energy to cry anymore, so she just sat on the floor with her knees raised up to her chest and tried to think. Her life had changed so much since she ran out on her wedding…. It hadn't even been up to four months but so much had happened that it felt like years had passed. Her thoughts drifted to David. She was in this situation right now because she had gotten involved with him, but funny enough she still didn't regret it and didn't regret running out on her wedding. How stupid was she? She couldn't help but wonder because only a crazy person would think the way she was thinking right now. She sighed…. A person crazy in love. She winced when she thought about Michael. How was he? Was he dead? Did someone find him? The question bothered her and the assumption that he ha