From the Heart Read Online Free PDF

kissed her gently on the temple. “Come with me, Kasey. I need a day away from this room, away from these books.”
    Perhaps just this once, she thought.
     
    The boat was everything she had expected: sleek, luxurious and expensive. It had pleased her to watch Jordan handle the fifteen-foot sailing yacht with an ease that spoke of long experience. She sat at the bow so she could watch the boat slice through the ocean. This is his escape when that world he’s locked himself into becomes too much for him, she mused.
    Kasey watched him at the tiller. He was stripped to the waist. There was power in his arms and in his eyes. What would it be like to make love with him? She curled her legs under her on the padded bench and studied him carefully. Hehad marvelous hands. Even as she sat with the wind whipping around her, she could feel the touch. He would be a demanding lover, she decided, remembering the aggression of his kiss. Exciting. But . . . there’s a but, and I’m not sure yet why it’s there. I’m not sure I want to know.
    Jordan looked over and caught her eye. “What are you thinking?”
    “Just working out a hypothetical problem,” she said, coloring. “Oh, look!” Over his shoulder she could see a school of dolphin. They leaped and dove and leaped again. “Aren’t they marvelous?” She uncurled herself to go to the stern. She balanced herself by putting her hand on his shoulder, then leaned further out. “If I were a mermaid, I’d swim with them.”
    “Do you believe in mermaids, Kasey?”
    “Of course.” She smiled at him now. “Don’t you?”
    “Is this the scientist asking the question?” He lifted a hand to her hip.
    “Next you’ll be telling me there’s no Santa Claus. For a writer, you have a faulty imagination.” She took a deep breath of sea air. She started to move aside, but he caught her arm. The boat listed a bit, and his fingers tightened to hold her steady. Keep it light, she told herself, trying not to respond to his touch. “You can think about it over lunch.”
    “Hungry?” He smiled and rose. His hands moved up her sides to rest on her shoulders.
    “I usually am. I’d like to see what Francois packed in that hamper.”
    “In a minute.” He lowered his mouth to taste hers.
    It was a different sort of kiss than they had shared the day before. His lips were still confident, but today they were gentle, slower. She could feel the heat from the sun, the ribbons of wind as they whipped around her. The scent of salt was in the air. Over their heads the sails flapped and billowed.
    She was losing herself again. This wasn’t what she wanted, this loss of power. Very carefully she drew herself out of his arms. “Jordan,” she began, then blew out a breath to steady herself. He was smiling at her, and the hands on her shoulders lightened to a caress. “You’re very pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” she observed.
    “As a matter of fact, I am.”
    He turned away and remained busy for some moments dropping sail. Kasey leaned against the rail without offering assistance. “Jordan, perhaps I’ve given you the wrong impression.” Her tone was lighter again, more at ease. “I told you I wasn’t a professional virgin. But I don’t go to bed with just anybody.”
    He didn’t even glance at her. “I’m not just anybody.”
    She tossed back her hair. “You don’t have an ego problem, do you?”
    “Not that I’ve noticed. Where did you get that ring you wear?”
    Kasey glanced down at her hand. “It was my mother’s. Why?”
    “Just curious.” He picked up the hamper. “Shall we see now what Francois has packed for us?”

3
    T he days were green and golden in the perpetual summer of Palm Springs. The sky was cloudless, the desert air dry and warm. To Kasey, the sameness was both inescapable and stifling. Routines were a necessary part of life which she characteristically rebelled against. The Taylor household moved smoothly—too smoothly. There were no curves