Desire In His Eyes Read Online Free PDF

she felt cooler already. “Well, please thank the captain for me. And thank you, Mr. Deane.”
    “You’re welcome. You can call me Robbie.” He grinned at her, his boyish face alight. “Everyone else does.”
    “Then you can call me Juliette.” She cast him a brilliant smile, knowing she already had an ardent admirer and an ally. He had reddish hair and a sweet face, covered in a generous sprinkling of freckles. She had never seen so many freckles on a face before! “You were the one who found me last night, were you not?”
    “Yes. That was me.” He eyed her carefully. “You gave me a quite a scare. It’s not often we have stowaways on the Sea Minx .”
    “That’s not too surprising.”
    He gave her a shy smile. “But even the few we’ve had, they’ve never been girls.”
    “Never?” she asked with feigned innocence. “Not even once?”
    “Not once.” Robbie shook his head. “You’re the first girl stowaway I’ve ever seen. And by far the prettiest stowaway we’ve ever had. Why, you’re the talk of the ship!”
    “Am I now?” she exclaimed with a light laugh. She had seen a few of the crew this morning giving her a furtive glance or two, but not one of them had uttered a single word to her. The captain must have given them orders not to speak to her. “If you don’t mind my asking, what are they saying about me, Robbie?”
    To her surprise he blushed beneath his freckles. “Most of it I can’t repeat in front of you, miss.”
    Juliette smiled kindly at him. “You certainly do not need to tell me anything you don’t wish to, Robbie.”
    “Well, we—I mean they—were all wondering why a lady like you would hide on a ship in the first place.”
    “I’m certain they were wondering why, but I have my reasons.” She nodded decisively. “Very good reasons.”
    Robbie paused briefly before blurting out, “We—They think it’s because you’re in love with the captain.”
    Juliette laughed aloud, so loud that she drew the attention from a few of the other sailors on deck. The laughter flowed from her too easily and she could not contain her amusement. Robbie stared at her in surprise, his brown eyes full of confusion. Tears trickled down her cheeks and she swiped at them with the back of her hand. It was too funny. Men were all alike.
    When she could finally catch her breath, she responded. “Let me assure you—and them—that I am not in love with Captain Fleming. The thought has never even entered my mind.”
    “I see,” Robbie said, but clearly he did not. His expression appeared quite puzzled, his young brow furrowed.
    “What else are they saying about me?”
    “They are saying you should get back to work.”
    Startled, both Juliette and Robbie turned to see Captain Fleming looming over them, looking decidedly displeased.
    Robbie straightened up, the sweet smile disappearing from his face. “Yes, Captain.” He fled to the opposite end of the deck, leaving Juliette alone with Harrison. Folding her arms across her chest, she sighed.
    “Well?” he said.
    Their eyes held a moment longer than necessary and Juliette felt her stomach flip over.
    “Well, what?” Juliette asked, looking up at him from beneath the brim of the straw hat. He seemed more handsome today. More rugged. His hair glinted like pure gold in the sun, almost blinding her with its brightness. “Am I supposed to say, ‘Aye, aye, Captain’ and hurry back to my scrubbing?”
    “Yes.”
    She stared at him, trying to decide if he was serious. Deciding he was not, she remained standing, her arms crossed.
    “Come with me,” he barked. Turning on his heel, he strode away, expecting her to follow. She hated being ordered about. But she was no one’s fool either. If following him got her out of scrubbing the deck for a while, she would follow him to the bowels of his infernal ship if he wanted.
    In the end, she merely followed him back to his cabin. As she entered his quarters, he closed the door behind them. They