Pirate of My Heart: A Novel by Jamie Carie Read Free Book Online Page B

of our family. Please do not think of this as a final good-bye, for one day I plan to return and I expect this place to be in excellent shape.” She bobbed a quick curtsy and turned away before they saw the trembling of her bottom lip. Refusing her uncle’s outreached hand, she climbed into the carriage and waved one last time. Her uncle ignored the slight with a careless flick of his hand and climbed in beside her.
    Three days trapped in this tight space with him. Kendra stared out the window at the rolling farmland that had been her home and wondered how she would endure it.

    “You didn’t. Tell me you’re joking.” Dorian could not believe his firstmate had made such a decision. After hearing the story of how some English earl had cornered him at a tavern the night before and how John had been goaded into taking on a passenger, a female passenger, he squeezed his hands into fists, hardly able to contain his anger.
    “I told him no at first.” John slung his hands into his pockets and grimaced, looking away.
    “Don’t you see, the man was trying to force you into giving in.”
    “But I raised the fee by a hundred pounds! I couldn’t believe he met my price and figured it would make our trip more profitable.”
    “Did you also figure on all the trouble a woman is going to give us? Confound it, man, what could you have been thinking?”
    “Sorry, Captain. I won’t make a decision like that without consulting you again.”
    Dorian stopped pacing and took a deep breath. “Well, the damage has been done so we may as well make the best of it.” Even as he said it the damage was moving toward him like the lit string of a firecracker.
    “There he is.” John pointed toward a tall, blond man walking up the dock toward them. Beside him was a stunning creature, decked out in a plum traveling costume with an enormous hat that bordered on being comical. Huge ostrich feathers drooped and waved over a mass of purple, orange, and white flowers on the brim. No doubt the ridiculous monstrosity was the height of fashion. Dorian groaned. They looked to be London’s finest.
    “You’ll be responsible for her, as you got us into this mess.”
    John paled beside him. “What do I do with her? She’s—ah, she’s—”
    Dorian laughed. “Move her into my cabin and tell her to stay there. I’ll bunk with you.”
    “What makes you think she will listen to me? I mean, look at her!”
    “Just keep her away from my men.”
    As the elegant couple drew closer, Dorian sucked in his breath. She was tall by standard, her head reaching just above his shoulder. Her golden hair was swept up into the monstrous hat, a hat that matched the most arresting bluish violet eyes he had ever seen. He felt as if he had been punched in the stomach and had to order himself to breathe again.
    She soon came to be standing in front of him. She tilted her head back to see his face from under the wide brim. As her gaze met his it seemed a sparking electricity, the kind of which the famed Benjamin Franklin told about with his kite, passed between them, jolting him with its suddenness and strength. She blinked, surprise filling her brilliant gaze as if she too felt it and then quickly lowered her eyes. Dorian noted the small nose with two tiny freckles on it and then his gaze became fixed on a pair of cherry-colored lips, the color of his mother’s prized roses back home. He wanted to lean in and kiss them. Absurd. And stupid to even let the thought cross his mind. What was wrong with him? His mind screamed the question while his body stood as taunt as a mainmast in the wind. She was going to be a whole new kind of trouble. He looked down at her and scowled.

    Kendra’s glimpse of the man had only lasted a few seconds but his image burned in her mind. She’d never met an American before and he looked as wild as she’d heard them to be, handsome in a rugged way that she was unaccustomed to. His face was tan, so different from the milky white