Page 32 of Paradise West
He laughed. “Sometimes life’s curveballs can be a good thing, right?”
“Right,” she answered, silently hoping he was correct on this one.
Charli gasped as the plane suddenly dipped and tilted to her right. “What’s happening?” she asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.
Jack chuckled and pointed toward her window. “It’s a shipwreck from the 1880s. Take a look.”
With her heart in her throat, Charli braced herself and timidly peeked out the window, then gasped at the sight directly below her. “Oh my god. Jack, that’s incredible.” Forgetting her fear, she pressed her face against the window to see as much as possible. “What kind of ship was it?”
“A merchant ship. It was unfortunately normal for them to get caught by storms in this area. Plus, the seabed moves around here so much that it’s difficultto determine the water depth in some areas. No telling whether a storm got them, they ran aground, or some combination of the two.” He glanced over his left shoulder. “Ah, here we go. Hold on.”
Charli squealed as the plane tilted almost 180 degrees to the left, with only the sky visible through her window.
“Lean over me,” he ordered. “It’s a school of sting rays.”
Her eyes widened, and she leaned over him without hesitation, her hand landing on his upper thigh for support. “Wow. They’re so beautiful,” she breathed, her lips mere inches from his. She glanced up at him, a huge grin on her face and froze. His eyes were intense and focused solely on her, his breath coming in short, quick pants.
Charli drew back sharply, hoping she hadn’t offended him. The poor guy probably thought she was molesting him. She’d once had to fend off a guy on a plane who had done nearly the same thing with the excuse to look out the window, and she had labeled him as a creep and a pervert. He’d verified that label shortly thereafter by hitting on her the remainder of the flight.
“I’m so sorry, Jack. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Jack stared back at her for a moment, his expression quizzical. He didn’t say a word andCharli’s heart dropped down to somewhere below her stomach.
Way to go, idiot. Now you’ve really screwed this up!
A mask seemed to drop down over his face. Jack’s gaze softened and his usually happy-go-lucky grin was firmly back in place. “You didn’t upset me.” He swallowed and pointed out toward the horizon—redirecting her attention and effectively changing the subject. “We’re almost there, about another fifteen minutes before we pull in.”
She nodded, feeling slightly ashamed of her behavior, accidental or not, and determined to keep her hands to herself. Jack was her partner in Paradise West for the foreseeable future, and the last thing she wanted was to damage their new relationship.
* * * *
Jack grit his teeth and focused fiercely on the horizon, trying to forget the feeling of her hands on his thigh. He shifted back into tour-guide mode, occasionally pointed out a group of hammerhead sharks, dolphins, and turtles, and personally enjoying her exclamations of surprise and delight as they quickly approached the island.
It had taken everything he had not to react when Charli’s hand had landed on his thigh. With her face so close to his and her alluring scent surrounding him,the urge to capture her lips with his was nearly overwhelming. He wanted her...badly, but he couldn’t afford to screw this up.
The idea that she had upset him was laughable but laughing was the last thing Jack felt like doing. What he really wanted to do was land the plane somewhere secluded, pull her into his arms, and really show her how he felt. From the moment he first saw her, he’d wanted her in a way that he’d never wanted another woman.
When he’d spotted her standing by herself across the crowded airport, he’d felt an instant pull like a compass pointing north, and he’d instinctively known that she would be important to him. It was one of those chill-down-your spine kind of moments when your world shifts and nothing will ever be quite the same again. He still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about these feelings, and Dottie’s will and the business partnership it established certainly complicated things.
So despite his impulse to charge in full steam ahead—which came naturally to him—his instincts told him he had to tread carefully and build Charli’s trust.
He drew in another deep breath and slowly released it, trying to lower his heart rate and clear his mind. Now was not the time to reveal how he felt—she probably wasn’t ready for that given the circumstances of the last week, and especially not today. He would bide his time because he knew right in his soul that Charli was worth it.
He glanced at her and smiled, then pointed out the island with its hexagon-shaped brick prison growing ever larger in the windshield. “There it is.” The knot in his chest released at her big smile, glad that the awkward tension between them had dissipated. “We’ll be pulling up to it in just a few minutes. Watch out your window for turtles. They like to lay in the sun on those little keys.”
Approaching the island, Jack circled it slowly and then dropped the nose of the plane, descending rapidly toward the water. He chuckled when Charli squealed at the water spraying around them as they landed. The smile of delight on her face was worth the entire trip.
There were three boats anchored around the island, but no other seaplanes or ferries so he motored slowly toward a quiet stretch of beach on the southeastern side of the island. He waved to a park ranger as he beached the plane.
“Hi there,” he shouted as he stepped out. He motioned to Charli. “We’ll be on the island for a few hours at least.”
“Are you with Sullivan Charters?” the ranger asked.
“Yep,” Jack answered as he handed over the necessary paperwork. Then he turned to help Charli out.
The ranger nodded to them. “Enjoy your stay.” His gaze was fierce. “Remember. If you bring it with you, you take it back.”
“Will do. Thanks.” Jack turned to Charli and grinned at the sparkle in her eyes as she stared at the fort, awestruck, her mouth hanging slightly open. It was as if she had momentarily forgotten why they were there, and he hated to remind her of it. This island had a way of making people forget about their troubles and simply enjoy the beauty.
