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The night air was hu in the roouely awake Fro off the clinging sheet The voices kept up a steady racket, and she realized theyup fros Soet so
The voices outside weren&039;t all that was keeping her awake, though Since Arthur&039;s death, Peta had sublihts of men; none could ever take his place When her mentor and lover had been alive, she&039;d had a healthy libido and often found herself aroused by soers, or broad shoulders Now those feelings brought only guilt
She also considered herself pretty immune to charm, especially when she knew intellectually that it was a con But Blaine&039;s eyes, his ready smile, his - for lack of a better word - charisma, had burned a neat little picture in heremotions of desire and embarrassment
She turned onto the other side
Sleep, daers below herlaughed as a bottle shattered
She flipped onto her stomach, tucked her headeerily Not very patiently she waited for sleep to return
A grinding noise broke through the fog in her brain A buzzing Can&039;t they stop with that racket? she thought sleepily
She rolled over and opened her eyes It was ht that said dawn had passed hours ago While her eyes adjusted, her : an inboard s off the bed and rushed to the , trying her best to ignore the rough, splintery feel of the wood floor Pushing aside the sheer curtain, she looked out to see a boat e at top speed toward the mouth of the harbor, out to the open sea Simon&039;s boat
"Shit" As Peta stepped away from the , a splinter penetrated the soft skin of her arch On her other foot, she hopped to one of the chairs and yanked out the splinter She grabbed her jeans frorowl of the engine re second Siht, to a dive that was likely to kill hi, she picked up her T-shirt fro roach tu his early- sleep disturbed
She was teht wryly, she was paying to have the room to herself Instead she pulled on the T-shirt without checking for any more residents, and looked around the floor for her sandals
As she put them on she wondered why Blaine hadn&039;t kept his pro the evening What the hell rong with her? Trust wasn&039;t so of eyes and smile and she acted like a lovesick lamb
She opened her door and al, slumped over only a few feet frouard duty, she thought Frikkie&039;s words echoed in her head:Take care of her, or - Another roach to squash, she thought When she had tiht nohat she had to do was catch up with Siear
She charged downstairs to the front desk, where a sleepy-eyed Trini woman in a sih she were crazy
"Eduardo Blaine Which is his room?"
The woman looked confused
"Senor Blaine?" Peta repeated
"Ah, si" The wo the hallway beside the stairs "Room two End of the hall on the left" She s to sneak into Blaine&039;s roo quickie
"Gracias," Peta called out as she ran down the hallway to the door le Banging loudly, she yelled, "Blaine? You there? Blaine, wake up!"
She stood there, waiting, the ti away Si over the water
The bolt clicked open
"You said you&039;d wake me You said that you&039;d be up, and wake me before Simon could leave"
Blaine - in white Jockeys, no shirt, and looking more asleep than awake - held the door open wide and backed up to let her in He raised his left arm as if to check a watch that wasn&039;t there
"What time is - God, my alarm I must haveMaybe Si out of the harbor Thanks for the help"
"Okay, okay! Relax Let ot a boat We&039;ll catch hiot close to ten minutes on us"
Blaine sht before had lost its appeal "No problem, I have a very fast boat"
"Hope it works better than your alarainst any iet dressed and be out in aeach second tick by, she thought through the possibilities Could Blaine&039;s boat beat Simon&039;s? If not, ould happen if she had to dive after hiases - nitrogen, oxygen, heliuet you killed
"Let&039;s go," Blaine said, running out of the hotel She followed him to the town&039;s small wooden dock At the last boat in the line, he stopped "Jump in"
Peta stared "Thisis fast?"
The boat looked like a fisherman&039;s trawler, built for steadiness, perhaps, but surely not for speed It did, however, have everything in it she would need for the dive, like the several pairs of tri-ear
"Don&039;t knock my boat" Blaine untied the stern line "Unless you want to swiht be faster"
"Just start her up," he said, running to untie the bow line "Hit the silver button"
Peta pushed the button, and the inboard started with a substantial roar that i the lines and, ju onto the deck, clambered back to the wheel "Okay," he said "Now hold on"