He burst into laughter. “Gad, I adore this temper of yours, sweet, indeed I do. Such spit and fire in such a little package.” He reached across the board to tweak her hair. “’Course I didn’t mention us to your friend. We spoke of the ship, nothing personal.”
And he would have said something if he’d recognized Mac, wouldn’t he? Mac would have, too. Georgina relaxed with that conclusion.
“You should have let me bash you with the board,” she said now, her humor returned. “You’re losing, after all.”
“The devil I am.” He snorted. “I’ll have your king in three more moves.
Four moves later, James found himself on the defensive, so he tried distraction again and tried to appease his curiosity at the same time. “Why are you going to Jamaica?”
Georgina grinned cheekily. “Because you are.”
Up went the single brow, just as she expected it would for such an answer. “Dare I be flattered?”
“No. Yours was just the first ship heading to this side of the world, one that wasn’t English, that is, and I was too impatient to wait for another. Had I knownyouwere English—”
“We’re not going to startthatagain, are we?”
“No.” She laughed. “And what about you? Are you returning to Jamaica, or just visiting?”
“Both. It was my home for a long time, but I’ve decided to return to England for good, so I need to settle my affairs in Jamaica.”
“Oh,” she said, aware of the disappointment his answer brought her, but she hoped he didn’t detect it.
She shouldn’t have assumed he’d be staying in Jamaica just because Mac had said the vessel was out of the West Indies. Jamaica, at least, had been an acceptable place she could come back to. England she never wanted to see again. Of course, this voyage wasn’t over, and yet—Georgina shook herself mentally. What was she thinking? That there might be a future for her with this man? She knew how impossible that was, that her family would never accept him. And she wasn’t even sure whatshefelt for him, other than passion.
“So you won’t be in the islands long?” she concluded.
“Not long a’tall. The chap on a neighboring plantation there has been after me to sell him mine for some time. I likely could have handled the matter through correspondence.”
Then they’d never have met a second time, she thought. “I’m glad you decided to see to it personally.”
“So am I, dear girl. And your own destination?”
“Home, of course. New England.”
“Not immediately, I hope.”
She shrugged, leaving him to draw his own conclusion. It depended on him, but she wasn’t brazen enough to say so. Actually, it also depended on how soon a Skylark vessel would be in port, but there was no reason to tell him that. That was something she didn’t want to think about yet. And to get his own mind off it, she put him in checkmate.
“Bloody hell,” he said, looking at what she’d just done. “Very clever, George, to distract me into losing.”
“Me!? With you asking all the questions? I like that,” she huffed. “Just like a man to find excuses for getting beat by a woman.”
He chuckled and lifted her across to his side of the bed. “I said nothing about questions, you darling girl. It’s this luscious body of yours that’s been the distraction, for which I don’t mind losing a’tall.”
“I’m wearing my shirt,” she protested.
“But nothing else.”
“You should talk, with this skimpy robe,” she said, fingering the silky material.
“Was it distracting?”
“I refuse to answer that.”
He feigned amazement. “By God, don’t tell me you’re finally at a loss for words. I was beginning to think I was losing my touch.”
“To render people speechless with your drollery?”
