Desire In His Eyes Read Online Free PDF Page A

and lowering the canvas sails, polishing the brass-works, swabbing other areas of the deck, and all the while singing strange and somewhat bawdy songs. They steered clear of her, acting as if she were not working alongside of them. She had to say that Captain Fleming ran a tight ship, for it seemed quite clean, organized, and efficient.
    She sighed and squinted at the glittering waves. She had heard of people becoming seasick, but the swaying of the ship did not bother her in the least. Glancing upward, the huge white sails of the Sea Minx billowed gracefully against the cerulean sky. Admittedly, Captain Fleming’s ship was beautiful, as far as ships went, of which she knew relatively little. In fact, she had never even set foot on a ship before in her life.
    Now apparently, she was expected to clean the entire thing!
    Last night, thrilled that he had not taken her directly home, Juliette would have done anything to remain on board. However, since dawn she had begun to rethink her easy acceptance of the situation. The man was batty if he expected her to clean his blasted ship for the entire journey.
    Her boast of letting Captain Fleming ravish her had not been that much of a lie.
    For a fleeting instant she thought she would have preferred being taken to his bed than perform the labor she had been subjected to thus far. Captain Fleming was an attractive male and being ravished by him seemed much more exciting than scrubbing the deck with sandy saltwater all morning, at least judging from what precious little information her sister Colette had divulged to her on the matter of sex. Her friend Jeffrey Eddington had also alluded to the great pleasures of the act on more than one occasion but refused to share any details, no matter how much Juliette cajoled him. How bad could it be if everyone did it all the time? At the very least her curiosity would have finally been appeased. That would be something.
    But not now! She would never consider Captain Harrison Fleming’s bed! Now she would gleefully push him overboard and sail away laughing without a single regret.
    She would not give up or give in to him. As much as she loathed scrubbing his wretched deck, the triumph she felt at having gotten her way more than made up for the discomfort. She was going to have her great traveling adventure and there was nothing to stop her now. The Sea Minx was sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.
    So she would scrub his moldy old boat and do anything else he asked.
    “Excuse me,” a hesitant voice began. “But you’re in need of a hat, miss.”
    Glancing up, Juliette looked into the face of a young man. Realizing immediately that it was he who had discovered her hiding place the night before, she scowled. Then her hand touched the tweed cap that sat upon her head, containing her mass of black hair. What did he mean?
    “I am already wearing a hat, thank you,” she said, unable to keep the sarcasm from her voice.
    Shaking his head, he held up a wide-brimmed straw hat. “That little cap won’t keep you cool when the sun hits noon, and you’ll need more shade around your face or you will burn to a crisp. The captain sent me to give you this.”
    Ah, so it was the captain, still giving his orders, was it? This time he sent a minion to do his bidding. Juliette studied the young man standing before her. She sensed that he possessed an innate kindness, evident by his easily readable expression. “What is your name?”
    “Robbie Deane.”
    “I am Juliette Hamilton.”
    “Yes, Miss Hamilton, I knew that already. I think you should heed my advice.” He handed her the hat. “Although I reckon that’s not something you do easily.”
    “That’s the truth.” Juliette smiled ruefully. She stood up and removed the tweed cap from her head, her dark hair falling in heavy waves around her face. She swept it up again, and taking the straw hat from him, she placed it upon her head, securing a few stray tendrils beneath the wide brim. She had to admit