Aboard the Wishing Star Read Online Free PDF Page B

hinted of dew covering every surface. The air held a chill.
    Kara leaned against the inner rail and looked up at the moon, partially hidden behind clouds.
    No stars out tonight. Not that it matters. Stargazing is for lovers. This is when it hurts most. This lonely time when night descends and lovers curl up to sleep in comfortable companionship. When I'm unable to sleep and wander alone in the night. Oh, how I wish...
    She closed her eyes and held her breath as she sent wishes into the night. I wish this loneliness would go away and never return again. I wish I never had to spend another lonely night wandering sleepless and unable to sleep.
    When she opened them again, the vast dark of night spread around her. Dark sky and water surrounding the boat erased any sense of a horizon. She could see no edge, no order. There was only this boat and the half-hidden moon to bear witness to her loneliness.
    The open decks now stood almost empty. One couple strolled hand in hand on the deck beneath her, and the bartender below wiped down his bar for tomorrow.
    No one stood nearby to save her if she fell over the rail. It reached almost to her shoulders so the possibility remained slim, and she wasn't standing near enough to the outer rail to fall but still...
    If I fell in who would know? There were news reports of people vanishing off of ships. It would be morning before anyone even started looking for me. The deep, dark ocean could swallow me whole, as if I were a grain of sand. My God.
    Kara shivered and wrapped her arms about herself.
    If only wishes did come true.
    How she'd grown to dislike the night. She had no one to talk to, no tasks to take her mind off dark thoughts. She wondered what Nate was doing tonight.
    He was probably sound asleep like Viv.
    Kara wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.
    "Nights at sea can be chilly," Nate said and she jumped, turning toward him eyes wide.
    "Here, sweetheart." He held out his jacket and stepped in front of her. "This will keep you warm."
    Kara blinked. "Oh, no, I couldn't."
    "I don't mind." He offered her a smile. "In fact, I insist."
    Goose bumps covered her arms.
    "You're cold." He placed his jacket around her shoulders.
    She let him drape the jacket over her shoulders and looked up into his deep brown eyes, her breath catching.
    His hands lingered on her shoulders and he gazed down at her upturned face. As he searched her eyes, she wondered if he would kiss her.
    His gaze lit on her lips.
    Her lips trembled.
    "You're still cold," he said. He ran his hands up and down her arms, warming her.
    "Thank you."
    "My pleasure." He smiled. "Better now?"
    "Yes."
    He moved to stand beside her.
    Wind blew a strand of her long blonde hair across her face, and she pushed it back with her other hand. The silence stretched as the moon shone above them and the ship moved through the dark sea.
    "It's so deep and dark out there. Dangerous."
    "There's nothing to be afraid of, Kara. You're safe here."
    "If the ship were to sink..."
    "You would be safe in your life jacket in the boat assigned to your muster station."
    "If I made it to the boat in time."
    He turned her around to face him and looked into her eyes. "I would find you."
    She gazed up at him, her eyes searching his.
    "I'd see that you made it into the boat. But tonight the boat is not sinking. Everything is fine and you're fine. There's no reason to be afraid."
    She looked back out at the dark water. "It feels as if we're the only people on the ship right now, doesn't it?"
    "There's a whole crew working behind the scenes to make all this happen." He guided her to the inside rail and pointed to the bartender below who'd just hung up the deck phone. "There are plenty of people about keeping an eye on the passengers." He moved closer to her.
    Kara's pulse quickened as his lithe body moved beside her. His jacket around her shoulders felt like a warm hug, and the comfort of his hand on her back made her wish he would hold her close, chasing her