Free The CEO's Accidental Bride by Barbara Dunlop

loaded, and Kaitlin jumped from her seat to cheer.
    Zach watched her in the sunlight and struggled very hard to feel annoyed. But then she punched a fist in the air, and her T-shirt rode up, revealing a strip of smooth skin above her waistband. And annoyance was the last thing he was feeling toward his accidental wife.
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    The chamber dinner was a dream come true for Kaitlin. The people she met were friendly and professional, and she cameaway feeling as if she’d met the who’s who of the Manhattan business world. Zach had certainly stuck to his pledge of helping her. He’d introduced her to dozens of potential contacts, left her in interesting conversations, but seemed to magically appear whenever she felt alone or out of place.
    It was nearly midnight when they finally climbed aboard his thirty-foot yacht for the return trip to Manhattan. Like the suite at the baseball game, the yacht clearly showed Zach had the means and the desire to enjoy the finer things in life. Lindsay was right, Kaitlin could spend as much as she needed on the renovations, and he’d barely notice.
    The chamber dinner had been held at an island marina just off the coast of southern Manhattan. Most people had traveled by water taxi but a few, like Zach, had brought their own transportation.
    â€œThis is a nice ride,” she acknowledged one more time, as they settled into a grouping of comfortable, white, cushioned furniture. The sitting area, on a teak wood deck, was positioned next to a covered hot tub near the stern of the boat, protected from the wind by a glass wall at midship, but providing an incredible view over the aft rail.
    Kaitlin chose a soft armchair, while Zach took a love seat at a right angle to her, facing the stern. The pilot powered up the engine, and they glided smoothly out into the bay.
    â€œIt’s slower than a helicopter,” said Zach. “But I like it out here at night.”
    Kaitlin tipped her head and gazed at the twinkling skyline. A three-quarter moon was rising, and a few stars were visible beyond the city’s glow. “You have a helicopter?”
    â€œDylan has the helicopters. My company owns ships.”
    Kaitlin had liked Dylan, even if Lindsay hadn’t seemed to warm up to him. Then again, there were few things Lindsay enjoyed more than a rollicking debate, and Dylan had played right into her hand. Kaitlin was convinced Lindsay missed being in a courtroom. Lindsay had worked for a year as a litigator, and Kaitlin had always wondered about her choice to take the teaching position.
    â€œTell me more about the pirates,” she said to Zach. She’d never met anyone with such a colorful family history.
    â€œYou want a drink or anything?” he asked.
    She shook her head, slipping off her shoes and bending her knees to tuck her feet beneath her in the shimmering black cocktail dress. “One more glass of champagne, and I’ll start singing karaoke.”
    â€œChampagne it is.” He started to rise, his devilish smile showing straight white teeth in the muted deck light.
    â€œDon’t you dare,” she warned, with a waggle of her finger. “Trust me. You do not want me to sing.”
    He rocked back into his seat and loosened his tie. He ran a hand, spread-fingered, through his thick hair and crossed one ankle over the opposite knee. In the buffeting breeze, with the faint traces of fatigue around his dark eyes, he looked disheveled and compellingly sexy.
    â€œBack to the pirates,” she prompted in an effort to distract herself from her burgeoning desire. “Is it all true?”
    He shrugged easily. “Depends on what you’ve heard.”
    â€œI heard that your ancestor was a pirate, arch enemy of Dylan’s ancestor, and the two of them formed a truce nearly three hundred years ago on what is now Serenity Island. I heard the nexus of your fortune is stolen treasure.”
    Criminal or not, she still found herself envious of