Free Nobody's Saint by Paula Reed Page B

with a shaky laugh. “For a friend! You shouldn’t look at a woman like you’re going to eat her up, especially when she’s helpless on board your ship!” Although his reaction had been just what she expected, the jolt she’d felt when he’d looked at her had taken her breath away.
    Diego sighed and then chuckled. He had to admit, she made him laugh. And he liked this side of Mary Kate, this irreverent and entirely too straightforward side. “Somehow, I cannot think of you as helpless. I have seen how well you wield a cutlass.”
    Mary Kate flung her hair behind her with an elaborate toss, covering her sudden uncertainty with bravado. “See that you don’t forget. I think I’ll be off to bed, after all, now that I’ve made my peace with you.”
    “I do not recall granting you forgiveness.”
    His voice was somber, and Mary Kate gave him a quick, worried look, but the corners of his mouth were twitching and finally curved upward. He had fine lips, too.
    “Shall we kiss and make up, then, Diego?” she asked. Before he could answer, she stepped closer and brushed her lips over his narrow jaw, the day’s stubble rasping them lightly. She started to dance away, but he grabbed her arm and held her close.
    “I wonder if you know where to draw the line when you tease, María Catalina. Or are you making me a serious offer?”
    He was warm, his hand was strong, and his body smelled of citrus and sea and sweat. She thought of the feel of him when he had held her against him and wondered again if he might still taste of oranges and wine from dinner. It wasn’t supposed to be like this! She was supposed to be in control, to merely keep him off his balance.
    “You’re an honorable man, Captain,” she protested breathlessly. He let her go, and she backed away, both relieved and disappointed.
    Diego felt the same peculiar mix. He had seen in her eyes the fear that she had pushed him too hard. For all that she was bolder than any maid he had ever met, she was an innocent. And while he found himself glad to know that, it meant that he would have to leave her as he had found her. She was right. He was an honorable man.
    He forced a casual grin. “Off to bed with you, then. I trust you will behave yourself for the rest of the trip.”
    Mary Kate nodded and walked sedately away, but a few steps later, she turned back. “I like it best when you smile,” she said softly.
    “Then give me no cause to frown,” he replied with what he was quite certain was a fool’s grin.
     
    *
     
    Diego tossed and turned in bed that night. Sleep, dreams, visions, these were fickle things. How could he confront Magdalena when he could not catch the merest hint of her presence?
    Actually, she sat in the captain’s chair, snugged up to the table in his room. When time ceased to appear linear, one was not trapped by trends or expectations, and she wore a pair of loose trousers that very nearly looked like a long skirt. She had seen them on a 1940’s Hollywood actress and had immediately adopted the style as her own. They were topped by a loose blouse with dolman sleeves.
    “Isn’t that just the way of it, poor Diego? The harder you look for a thing, the more it eludes you, even when it’s under your very nose.”
    “You should not toy with him so.”
    The other Mary appeared abruptly in her customary robes, seated next to Diego on the bed. She lay her hand on his brow, and instantly his body relaxed and his sleep became deep and calm.
    “I’m not toying with him,” Magdalene replied. “You have a mother’s wisdom, Mary, and her soothing touch, but I know a thing or two more than you about matchmaking. These two are perfect for each other.”
    “Then you should let them figure that out for themselves. I saw what you did, by the way, that little luminous mist on the deck vision. And while Mary Kate is a lovely girl, you really should not be walking around with her face. It is deceitful.”
    Magdalene rolled her eyes, but they quickly