A Distant Shore Karen Kingsbury (fantasy books to read .TXT) 📖

him and looked at him for a long moment. Then she took his face and did the thing she was never supposed to do. She kissed him… on the lips. Slow and sensual, until he put his hand on her shoulder and pulled back. He kept his tone playful. “Honey. Not here!”

Now if the man driving the cab actually did work for the goons on the beach, he couldn’t possibly think Jack and Eliza were anything other than typical honeymooning tourists. Jack didn’t say another word until they were behind the main door to their suite at the Reef.

“I asked you.” He dropped his backpack and searched her eyes. “Please… don’t kiss me like that.”

“We’re supposed to be married.” She sounded hurt. She set her bag down and moved closer to him. “I felt unsafe. So I kissed you.”

Jack had known the rigors of mission work in a hundred different ways. But never had he worked so hard as in this single moment not to take her in his arms and tell her how he really felt. He gathered his determination. “It’s my job to decide what’s safe… and what’s unsafe.” He worked to control his breathing. Then he stepped back and held up one hand. “Eliza… please… don’t do that again. That’s all I’m asking.”

“Fine.” She turned and used her key to enter her room. The door shut with a loud thud.

Jack grabbed his backpack, opened his door and stepped inside. He didn’t exhale until he heard the latch close behind him. Almost. He dropped to the sofa. He had almost kissed her. No one would’ve seen. No one would ever know.

Thank You, he thought. Keep me from doing something stupid, God. Please. The next hour was his, before he had to see her again. Jack stood and walked out onto the balcony. How had he gotten into this situation? Why had he agreed to do a mission with Eliza? His attraction had been there from the first time he saw her.

Jack gripped the rail with both hands. It took a minute for him to catch his breath. God, I need Your help. If she kisses me again…

He didn’t finish the silent prayer. God—if He was listening—had to know the trouble Jack was in. He and Eliza still had twenty-four hours together on Paradise Island. If Jack could survive without breaking down, without giving in and kissing her every chance he had, it would be a miracle. And he had to survive, because this was his job and lives were at stake. He didn’t dare break orders. But one thing was certain. When he got back to San Antonio he would have a talk with Oliver Layton.

Because he could never, ever take a mission like this with Eliza again.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.

—Psalm 40:14

They were back in San Antonio, and Eliza still hadn’t forgiven Jack for the way he’d treated her. Yes, he had been kind. He had listened to her and comforted her and shared his past with her.

But he had also rejected her. Not just as a woman but as an informant. Insisting he alone could decide when they should and shouldn’t kiss. She had tried kissing him again when they visited the underground Dig Aquarium and when they bodysurfed on the public beach. If ever there was a place where a newly married couple would kiss, it would be in the shallow breakers of a Caribbean shoreline.

The kiss in the waves had been the only time Jack didn’t fight her, the single incident where he didn’t step back or push her away. Instead he had drawn her into his arms and returned the kiss. And for the single sweetest moment in Eliza’s life she allowed herself to believe Jack Ryder really loved her.

And that he wanted her the way she wanted him.

But even then he had pulled away before she did. His eyes told her all she needed to know. That he was attracted to her, and that her advances were hitting their mark. But maybe she was wrong. Maybe he didn’t find her appealing—because of her past, no doubt. Her life at the Palace. Because the ocean kiss had only seemed to make Jack more removed. She could still remember how without saying a word or looking at her again, he had shaken the water from his hair and made his way back up the beach.

When they had returned to their suite, she called him out on it. “You kissed me back out there. I felt it. But now you’re acting like you barely know me.”

Jack’s expression was all business. “I wanted to keep us both alive. Everyone could see us.” He stared at her. “What choice did I have?”

After that, Eliza hadn’t tried again. His rejection made her angry. And so she had played the part, but she had played it with hurt and anger in her veins. And when he’d dropped her off at the group home last night, she hadn’t said goodbye.

Now they were having their debriefing with Oliver Layton along with several other agents and senior officials. Never mind how she felt about Jack. They had done great work in Nassau. They had rescued a child and they knew how many men were working the beach. They had photos of the teenage girls who were clearly in charge of luring girls into the operation. And they knew where the kingpin of the trafficking ring lived.

At the end of the meeting, Oliver went over their collective notes and nodded. “Amazing work. We’ll get a few operatives on the ground and set up the raid.” When the other agents had left the room, Oliver looked at Eliza and then Jack. “How would the two of you feel about taking another honeymoon, to San Pedro Sula? The Honduras police need our help with a ring.”

Eliza was about to tell