Kissing Fortune (Man Season) Read Online Free PDF Page A

outfits in the
guest room bureau,” Travers told her their second day out. “She’s about your
size. I don’t think she’d mind if one of her favorite reality stars wore her
clothes.”
    He grinned. Tierney thanked him and
entered the guest room to look for something fresh. She found a pink polka dot
bikini and some nice but preppy shorts. A few shirts and sundresses, too;
nothing fancy, but then she wasn’t out to impress anybody. She slipped on the
bikini and a pair of pink shorts, ran up to the deck.
    A boat came sloshing up beside
Travers’ yacht. Two men ventured towards them.
    “Careful, girl. Go below. I’ll do the talking.”
Travers whispered then he turned to the men. “What can I do for you,
gentlemen?”
    Tierney watched from a porthole as
the men stepped aboard. Both seemed to be shadowing their faces on purpose with
caps and lowered heads.
    “Do you have a Miss Evans on your
boat?”
    “No, I don’t. My daughter and I are
out here to have a bit of fun … fishing, you know. Great
weather for it!”
    “Tell her to come up,” the other man
ordered.
    Tierney peered hard at the men – she
gasped as she realized it was the same two who had interviewed her the day
before. But they weren’t wearing suits, and they hadn’t flashed any FBI badges!
Travers was in danger. She knew it. But what could she do about it?
    She searched the hull for weapons,
found a small automatic in a drawer. It wasn’t loaded. She removed some
cartridges from a case, began to clumsily load the gun.
    “I’m no Annie Oakley,” she thought,
her hands shaking, “but Istvan did show me how to use
one of these things.”
    She hurried back to the porthole, in
time to see the two men assaulting Travers in tandem, and him fighting back
like a pudgy wildcat. Tierney ran up top and pointed the gun at the men.
    “Back off, jerks! And leave him
alone!”
    They stopped fighting, reared back to
look at her. One laughed.
    “Put that down, Miss Evans. We’re not
playing games here.”
    “I’m not playing either. Let him be!”
    They studied the set of her jaw, nodded
to each other and stepped back. Travers came to her, took the gun.
    “Nice work.” He pointed the gun at
the men. “I suggest you two get on your own boat and head off. And no more
trouble.”
    “Right,” one huffed. They eased over
onto their boat. Both began to smile as they cleared out.
    “Why are they … oh, God, do you hear
that ticking?”
    Tierney ran to the side of the boat.
The creeps had placed a bomb on the side and it was ticking down to zero.
    “Not again! Travers, hit the water,
quick!”
    They both jumped for the blue,
splashed in just as the bomb went boom, splitting the yacht into kindling.
    “Are you all right?” Travers yelled
as he and Tierney were bombarded by debris.
    “No, my leg, it hurts, bad. What’ll we
do? We’re stuck out here in the middle of nowhere! And if my leg is bleeding,
the damned sharks will be on us in minutes!”
    “Don’t panic, girl. We can make that
island.” He pointed his gaze towards a dark gray, barren mound sticking out of
the sea. “If you can’t use your leg, hold on to my neck! I’ll get you there!”
    She nodded, clung to his thick
freckled neck as he bounced towards the island. It was uninhabited, by humans,
anyway. But there were sea lions lounging in the afternoon sun, and elephant
seals honking at each other as they cooled themselves on the wet shore. A moray
eel passed by the swimmers; Tierney squealed.
    “It won’t hurt you, unless you get
too close! Scoot up a bit, I’m losing you.”
    She readjusted her grip, tried to
relax as he kept going. Her leg stung like fire, the salt water invading her
wound. She wanted to be strong for Travers’ sake. He wasn’t young, and the
effort of dragging her to shore was undoing him. He breathed hard, and fast –
Tierney feared he might have a stroke.
    “Let me off. I can swim in.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Yes.”
    He slid her off; she began to