Read Aboard the Wishing Star for Free Online

fears away. Yet they'd just met, and the intensity of what she felt, despite that fact, scared her.
    For a moment she'd thought he'd kiss her, but maybe she imagined it. Maybe she imagined it because it had been so long since someone kissed her.
    She moved beside him and glanced where he'd pointed. A man rolled a cart of liquor out of the elevator and over to the bar. The bartender began to restock supplies while a deck hand mopped the floor in front of the bar.
    As Nate stood next to her in silence, the night breeze bathed her in the scent of his cologne, filling her senses.
    He smelled so good.
    "There are hundreds of people on this ship you'll never see," his low voice rumbled.
    Oh, that voice. She could listen to him all night long.
    "You're not as alone as you think."
    How can he read me so well? I just met him. Yet somehow he doesn't feel like a stranger. I feel so comfortable standing here beside him.
    "I'm glad. I wouldn't want to be alone, out here."
    She watched his strong shoulders as the wind blew against his shirt. Now he was probably cold.
    "I should give your jacket back. It's chilly out here."
    "No, sweetheart, I'm just fine."
    He gazed into her eyes and she looked back into his deep brown eyes, losing all sense of time, or moments sped up or slowed down. There was only his gaze and his hand on her back, his warmth surrounding her.
    Somehow she felt calm and nervous all at once. Butterflies flitted in her stomach.
    He was attentive. She wasn't used to that quiet attentiveness or the way he gazed into her eyes...
    "I'm afraid of deep water." The words spilled out before she could call them back.
    "Yes, I know." His hand, warm and comforting, continued rubbing her back. "And yet, there you were, on the top deck by the rails when the ocean is pitch black at night. You're a brave woman, Kara Worth, to face your fear."
    "Oh, I don't know about that."
    "Well, I do."
    "Yes, I guess you would, with your job."
    If she were looking for a man, she wouldn't choose one who faced danger daily by diving into the bottom of the ocean. But she wasn't looking. She wasn't.
    "It's slick out here." Nate ran his hand across the rail then rubbed it down his slacks. "From the sea." He inhaled deep as if enjoying the night air and squinted off into the distance. "We're moving at a good clip. Some passengers might get seasick if we moved this fast during the day. The ship travels faster when they retract the stabilizers. But it can also rock the passengers to sleep."
    His voice rolled over her like a warm breeze. Now she noticed the rocking of the ship on the sea.
    "Well, good," she said, "Because I have trouble sleeping." It wasn't like her to share so much of herself with someone she barely knew. He'd know her whole life story if she kept this up.
    "What do you do for insomnia?" he asked.
    "Usually I get up and move about. Do something. Then try going back to sleep."
    Great. Now he'd give her all sorts of manly advice as if he could cure her problems. Like Neil used to do. Sometimes a woman just needed someone to listen.
    "You and I have something in common," he said. "I usually go for a walk. Like tonight."
    "Oh. That's good." Brilliant, Kara. He'll be swept away by your intelligent conversation as well as the boatload of fear you have.
    He smiled at her. "Want to walk around the deck with me?"
    "Sure." She was unaccustomed to companionship during the evenings when night terrors struck. Maybe after a stroll around the deck, she'd be able to sleep tonight.
    She pulled her long, blonde hair out from under the jacket and he watched it slide loose as an easy smile played at the corners of his mouth.
    They walked for a minute in silence. Her foot skidded, and he caught her elbow, his hand warm and strong.
    "Careful, sweetheart. The wind picks up as we near the bow." He left his hand on her elbow to guide her.
    His touch comforted and created a stirring deep within her. She shivered as an ocean breeze blew across the deck.
    Nate's touch