A Coral Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page B

reassured by her obvious lack of concern. She had even offered to drive him to the airport, but he'd refused for the same reasons she refused to take the bird cage.
    He hadn't been feeling as casual two weeks later when he returned. He had begun thinking of Amy on the plane and by the time he landed in Monterey he'd been craving her. It was not unusual to want a woman after an assignment, but it was new for him to want a particular woman as badly as he had wanted Amy. Knowing the need for sexual release was riding him far too hard, he had decided to make himself wait a couple of days before getting in touch with Amy. His resolution had lasted about twelve hours. He was on her doorstep the evening after he'd returned.
    He learned his lesson that night. When he got home the second time he had forced himself firmly under control before casually stopping by to say hello. Her wariness was both frustrating and inexplicable, but he couldn't bear the thought of frightening her or causing her pain.
    For a while he had wondered if she was simply the kind of woman who worried excessively about her reputation. Caliph's Bay was a small town, granted, but it was hardly straitlaced. It was a haven for struggling artists, writers and assorted craftspeople, not exactly the sort of community where people worried very much about what others thought. And Amy was definitely too much of an independent spirit to run her life any way but her own. After a short period of consideration, Jed scratched the theory that she was too conservative to engage in an affair.
    He had gone on to Theory Number Two, which was that she might be gay. But he scrapped that notion when he remembered the deep, feminine awareness in her eyes the first time she had seen his clawing desire. All his instincts told him she was a woman who could respond to the right man. That had led to Theory Number Three: He might not be the right man. That thought had not done much for Ms ego.
    It hadn't been easy psyching himself down to something resembling casual friendliness when he had returned from mat second assignment. The fierce need for her had begun eating at him as soon as he had boarded the plane back to the States. He'd thought about stopping off in L.A. and looking up an old acquaintance who might be willing to drain some of his tension. But he had sensed that wouldn't work; another woman wasn't the answer.
    He thought he'd done a pretty fair job of covering up the desire he felt that second time, but he knew she had seen the traces of sexual heat in him. Once again she treated the flames with wine and food and casual, undemanding conversation. He left the house to the strains of the Beach Boys' "Surfin' Safari;"
    Amy's protective wall of friendship was stronger than ever. But Jed knew that his resistance to the idea of crashing through it was weakening rapidly.
    Then had come this last fiasco of an assignment. Jed clenched his teeth as he stepped into the shower and concentrated on his leg. He was going to have to change the bandage when he got out. Best to keep Amy out of the room while he did it. He looked down and grimaced. Christ, that bullet had been close.
    A little higher and he wouldn't have had to worry about trying to seduce Amy.
    Out in the kitchen Amy heard the shower go off and waited expectantly for the sound of the bathroom door opening. She didn't want to put the oatmeal on the stove until Jed was almost ready to eat. The phone rang just as she was measuring water into the pan. This time when she picked up the receiver, her intuition was accurate. Even if she hadn't guessed who would" be on the line the distant static was a good clue. Private telephone service had come to Orleana Island's little corner of the Pacific about fifteen years before, but it hadn't yet reached the level of quality one expected in the States.
    "Hello, Dad. Are you and Mom finished packing yet?"
    "Your mother has that end of things under control, as usual." Douglas Slater's deep, hearty