Roarke's Kingdom

Quickly, Jennifer shoved her arms into the sleeves, pulled the lapels of the robe together across her breasts and knotted the sash. Her blood was pounding in her ears and she spun around to face him without thinking of anything but how he had almost scared the life out of her.

That, and how he’d seen her naked.

“How dare you?” she said tightly. “How—”

Her face reflected a moment of surprise. Turning toward him that quickly hadn’t been a very good idea, she thought with amazing calm, and then her knees buckled.

Roarke cursed and scooped her into his arms before she could sink to the floor. When the room stopped spinning, she found herself staring into his hard face.

“Do you specialize in doing whatever damned thing comes into your head?” he said furiously. “Would it be too much to expect that you would once stop and think before you act?”

“Put me down, please,” she said in a shaky little voice.

“Why? So you can get into the shower again?” His face grew even darker. “Perhaps you were planning on going for a walk. Or a run.”

“Will you please put me down?”

“Gladly.” Jennifer could hear the rapid thud of his heart beneath her ear as he stalked into the bedroom. He was angry, she thought incredulously. He was angry!

“Just what in hell were you doing?” he said through his teeth.

Jennifer’s eyes flashed as she looked up at him. What right did he have to be angry?

“Why ask?” she said coldly. “I mean, you must have had a rather good view.”

His jaw jutted forward. “Playing Peeping Tom is not one of my hobbies.”

“Then what were you doing in my bathroom?”

He gave her a quick, cold smile as he deposited her on the bed. “It’s my bathroom. And I much prefer it as it is, thank you, without crumpled bodies in the shower stall.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Her voice rose, following after him as he retraced his steps to the bathroom. “I was doing just fine until you came along and tried to scare me to death.”

Roarke reappeared with an oversize towel in his hands. “Did I or did I not tell you to ring if you needed help?”

“I didn’t need help. I was only—” Her voice grew muffled as he draped the towel over her soaked hair. She caught the ends and twisted them up into a turban. “I was only showering, for heaven’s sake. You make it sound as if I were—”

“It was a damned stupid thing to do.”

Jennifer felt her cheeks blaze with heat. “Look, I know you took me into your home—”

“Only because I had no alternative.”

“Is it impossible for you to be pleasant for more than five minutes at a time?”

“I’m simply being honest.” He walked to the French doors and opened them, letting in a warm, sea-laden breeze. “Believe me, if there’d been something else to do, I’d have done it.”

Her chin lifted. “If you felt that way, why didn’t you take me to a hospital?”

He smiled tightly. “There is no hospital on this island.”

“Well, then, you could have taken me to an inn. Or a hotel.”

Roarke put his hands on his hips. “Keep trying.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning, I would have, gladly, if there were such a place.”