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She was so glad she’d come up with this idea. Not only did it solve the problem of keeping her safe, but it was also going to give her the space and time she needed to start healing from the ordeal the last few days had been.

Definitely helped that she wasn't alone.

While she would have absolutely understood if Jake needed to be with his family right now, it wasn't something she would ever have held against him, she was glad that he’d decided to come with her instead.

And maybe there was a teeny tiny piece of her that wished it wasn't just because of a promise he’d made to her when he was five years old.

That made her feel a little bit like a responsibility he’d rather not have, and yet at the same time, she knew that was her own insecurities talking.

The emotion and intensity in his voice when he’d told her that he was a failure and he hadn't protected her like he wanted to told her that he wasn't here out of obligation.

Her head knew that, but her heart wanted … more.

Which was stupid.

Jake had been clear yesterday in what he wanted, and she couldn’t even argue with him. It wasn't like she expected him to suddenly fall in love and want to marry her.

One day she’d find the kind of love she saw between his brothers and the women who had captured their hearts.

“Why don’t you go and put our things away and I’ll get us going,” Jake suggested as he carried the last of the bags of groceries down into the little galley kitchen below deck.

“Umm, you aren't much of a sailor,” she said a little hesitantly. It wasn't like she was going to be winning races any time soon, but her parents had a boat when she was growing up, and virtually the only happy memories she had of her childhood was the time spent on it.

It wasn't that they’d shown her any love and attention, it was the same as it was at home, but out there with the fresh sea air and the warmth of the sun on her skin, she’d found a peace that remained elusive at home.

She’d find a little corner of the deck to make her own and watch for dolphins or whales, she’d read, she’d watch the sunlight glimmer like diamonds on the water, and just enjoy being miles away from anywhere.

“I think I can manage getting us out of the marina,” he told her in that macho way that said his boy brain had already decided it was his job to drive.

Arguing seemed pointless, and she didn't want to ruin this tranquil feeling she had, so Alannah merely shrugged and headed down.

Her yacht wasn't huge, but it was cute and cozy. She’d bought it as a treat when her gym started making money, and she loved it.

There were two reasonably sized bedrooms, then the galley kitchen that opened out onto the small living room space.

Both bedrooms had their own tiny bathrooms, and although the entire space was small, it was cute, and it was all hers.

After about thirty minutes she had her clothes unpacked in her room, and Jake’s suitcase sitting on his bed in his room. The groceries were all packed away, and she paused in the kitchen to make them both a snack, then took it back up to the deck.

As soon as she stepped out into the fresh air, she felt another piece of the stress she’d been carrying around these last few days melt away.

They were no longer in the marina, and while she could still see land when she looked behind her, out in front of her there was nothing but sparkling blue water.

Perfect.

Exactly what she needed.

“I see you got us out of the marina without crashing into anything,” she teased Jake who had almost crashed the yacht the last time he’d gone out on the water with her. He’d decided he didn't need to listen to her instructions and could handle it himself, which turned out not to be true.

He grumbled, mumbling something under his breath, with both his eyebrows drawn down into a frown, but there was a sparkle in his eyes.

He knew she was teasing, and he was playing along.

There might be a little awkwardness between them after the almost-kiss the previous afternoon, but it hadn't ruined anything.

As disappointed as she’d been not to kiss Jake, she had to agree it was for the best that they’d been interrupted.

After all, she didn't want to lose this.

This easiness that had always been between them. The next however long they were going to spend at sea would eradicate the awkwardness and then things could go back to the way they’d always been.

Brushing away the little twinge in her heart, Alannah carried the bowl of chips and two glasses of soda over to the little table that sat undercover. “I brought snacks if you're hungry,” she said as she laid them out.

“Corn chips?” he asked hopefully, eyeing the bowl.

“Course. I know your favorite snack,” she reminded him with a laugh.

“And it’s Coke, not Pepsi, since I know that’s also your favorite.”

“Perfect.”

There was something in his voice that made her shiver as though there was another meaning to his words even though she knew there wasn't.

It wasn't like her feelings for him had changed, so how could she expect his for her to have changed?

Although part of her believed that, a voice whispered at the back of her mind that it was a lie.

Her feelings had changed, she just wasn't sure to what.

Alannah had no idea what she wanted right now, and she had to put down all this uncertainty, confusion, and swirling craziness inside her as a result of almost dying several times over.

Since they were almost a month into fall, the weather had cooled dramatically, but it was a sunny day, and even with the sea breeze she wanted to feel that sunshine on her skin.

Slipping off the T-shirt and jeans she’d put on that morning, leaving her in a bright red bikini, she stepped out into the sunlight. Then she chose a spot right in the middle of the deck and lay down, stretching out and closing her eyes.

A small moan of delight fell from her lips as the sun’s rays hit every inch of her skin. It had been far too long since she’d been out on the boat. The summer had flown by, and she’d been preoccupied with Jake’s sudden disappearance from her life.

If she’d known what had been going on for him and his family, she would have made sure to do anything she could to help. Even though she got why he’d kept her out of it all, a decision she couldn’t argue with given how she’d been targeted as soon as he made contact with her, it still hurt a little.

Did she want more than Jake was capable of giving her?

Truth was, she didn't know what she wanted or even what she needed.

All she knew was that something kept pulling her toward Jake, and the more she tried to ignore it, pretend it didn't exist, or fight against it, the stronger the pull became.

“You shouldn’t be getting all the fun,” Jake’s voice rumbled suddenly right beside her.

Blinking up at him, Alannah found the boat was no longer moving, and Jake had stripped off his T-shirt, leaving him in just a pair of shorts that hung low on his hips.

Try as she did, she couldn’t seem to stop her hungry gaze from roaming all over his tanned skin and that delectable six-pack. She knew she had a decent body, she certainly spent enough time working on it in her gym, but Jake was something else.

With the sunlight streaming down on him, the breeze ruffling his brown locks, and his perfectly cut and muscled body, he looked more like a Greek God than anything else, and she found she was almost drooling over him.

Don’t look lower .

The whispered order did nothing to stop her gaze from dropping to the waistline of his shorts and the v that couldn’t help but guide her eyes right to the bulge at the front of his shorts.

What would it be like to make love to Jake?

Would it be better than all her previous sexual encounters?

As embarrassing as it was to admit as a thirty-two-year-old woman who’d had her share of partners, Alannah had never had an orgasm in her life.

Not even when she’d tried touching herself.

Would that be different with Jake?

Realizing her thoughts were straying into dangerous territory, she cut them off with a ruthlessness that Jake would be proud of. He was always telling her she was too kind, too trusting, too sweet, and it was why she kept picking the wrong men.

Jake would be a wrong pick, too.

Because he wasn't in love with her, and he didn't see her as anything other than a friend. Something she had a feeling she was going to have to keep reminding herself of while they were stuck alone together on her boat.

The last thing she wanted to do was make a fool out of herself.