Baited by CRYSTAL GREEN Read Free Book Online Page A

loved one.
    The teen sighed, just as though he’d sensed her uneasiness, as though he was all too used to it. “I’m tougher than they think. Sometimes, people call mellow kids like me wimps, but…maybe it just takes more to get me mad.”
    “Or maybe you’re more mature than people give you credit for.” Kat patted Chris’s back as they walked into a dining area, where Dr. Hopkins was seated, snacking from a plate of assorted cheeses Chef Linda had probably put together.
    And even though Kat tried to keep her mind on the conversation as it turned academic again, she couldn’t. The temper she’d inherited from her dad— her very own legacy—wouldn’t allow her to forget Duffy’s bullying. Because she knew exactly what being picked on felt like.
     
    An hour later, when Kat went back up to the deck to find Duffy, she discovered that everyone had deserted the area to get ready for dinner. Everyone, that is, except Alexandra. And Will.
    He was rubbing suntan oil on Alex’s back as she satupright, holding her long fall of bleached blond hair in one hand as she tilted her head to the side.
    An empty twinge needled through Kat’s chest, spiking her loneliness, bursting any hopes she’d entertained about…What? Them getting back together?
    Numbness gripped her heart and she told herself to leave, that horny captains could touch anyone’s back they wanted to. But her feet wouldn’t move. They were rooted to the spot, forcing her to listen to Will’s jaunty banter, Alexandra’s laughter.
    As Kat helplessly watched, she could almost feel the trail of his fingers burning along her own back, massaging away the knots of her own muscles. The whisper of his soft voice almost warmed her ear as they talked about their ambitions, their days.
    They’d talk about things like Will, investing his money in get-rich-quick schemes that always burned him. Kat, wondering what it would be like to travel to Mexico City or Japan with him someday. Will, playing nice with the men who’d watched his father’s pathetic demise in the hopes that they could help him. Kat, assuring the man she loved that he was a better person than the lot of them.
    That they already had everything they needed in each other.
    She’d been so wrong. So young, even if it was just a year ago. But dammit, he wasn’t her boyfriend anymore, so why was she still so territorial, so torn up?
    Sucker punched by the sight of his hands on someone else, she forced herself to go.
    As Kat headed back to her cabin, passing a couple of random crew members on the way, she boiled withfrustration, longing, the unfairness of her lingering need for him.
    Will. A high-priced cabana boy. Kat suspected that if he had the opportunity to hook up with someone like Alexandra Delacroix and the millions she was in line to inherit, he’d probably do it in a heartbeat, just to make his family name shine again.
    By the time Kat found a nook with its own wet bar, she was ready to tear a hole in the wall. Unfortunately, that’s where she found Duffy.
    He was nursing another martini, elbows resting on the mahogany of a small table, gaze on a TV that was playing highlights of last year’s Superbowl.
    Just seeing him brought back her rage at his treatment of Chris. Heightened anger, stoked by Will’s actions, prodded her.
    She leaned against the door frame, her hand braced on a hip. “Is this where the boys come to man up?”
    Straightening in his chair, Duffy had the grace to seem guilty. A flash of pity stole through her at the image of Louis Delacroix bullying his son, but it didn’t last long. As if sensing her momentary sympathy, Duffy rolled his eyes, putting her at a mocking distance. A sheen of moisture from the beverage lingered on his bottom lip, still giving him some vulnerability whether she liked it or not.
    “Chris didn’t get hurt, okay?” he said. “So drop the guardian-angel act.”
    “Listen.” She stood, sauntered into the room. “I don’t know if that kind of