His brown skin reddened as much as it could, and he gruffly admitted to not being impartial to her.
“Not impartial, eh?” A giddy feeling of power surged through her. “So you no longer think I’m a spy for Peter Pan?”
James arched one eyebrow.
She chuckled and held up her hand. “Can we just pause to appreciate the irony of you thinkingIwas a spy for Peter, only to get thrown overboard by Peter’sactualspy?”
“How can you be so laid back about all of this?” James looked at her askance. The drowsy calm vanished as he seemed to recall their circumstances. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re stranded on an ‘island’ that barely has two grains of sand to rub together. It’s definitely not on the maps, and there is no land in sight. The likelihood of being found before dying of heat stroke or starvation or dehydration is nonexistent!”
She’d never seen him riled up. Even when she pushed his buttons, he maintained that irritating sense of control. This was kind of fun.
She scrunched her nose. “I . . . have one last secret to share with you.”
Chapter Six
In Which the Status Quo Shifts
Wendy smiled at his confusion. She faced forward. “Leq?”
From James’ perspective, her tiny faery popped into existence right before his eyes. He jumped.
“Leq is a sheerie,” Wendy explained. “You may have heard the term will-o’-the-wisp?”
He nodded slowly. “Why is he here?”
“I befriended a sheerie colony as a child. There are usually one to six of them with me at any given time.”
“So youdon’ttalk to yourself?” A smile crept across his well-formed lips.
“Oh, no.” She flapped her hand. “I talk to myself all the time. Can’t blame that oneon the sheeries.”
James stared at the mini person, who stared right back. “I’m afraid I don’t understand how a sheerie can help us.”
“Sheeries can find each other anywhere. Leq has stayed with us the whole time.” The unusually solemn faery continued trying to intimidate James, who remained undaunted. “Disa, on the other hand, has been with the crew.”
“Will they listen to . . . Disa?” he asked.
Wendy nodded. “Disa can be pretty forceful when he wants to be. Plus, he’s been playing with Phillip, and I’m pretty sure Tam knows about the sheeries.” Her words trailed off as she tried to remember who on Neverland had been privy to the sheerie secret. Her portion of the colony hadn’t been as discreet as they tended to be on the mainland.
“That’s brilliant!” James invaded her space and kissed her full on the mouth. He pulled back quickly and asked, “Is this—?”
“Good. This is very good,” Wendy interrupted, then tugged him close to finish what he started.
During a pause for breath, she recalled a pertinent detail. “I should also mention”—his eyes narrowed at her words with good-natured suspicion—“I’m pretty sure that dark speck in the distance is theJolly Roger.”
James didn’t bother looking toward the water. “We have time,” he dismissed, then resumed kissing her.
Eventually, their interaction included words. James apologized for treating her poorly at the beginning of their acquaintance, and Wendy expressed remorse for her cranky outbursts.
“You’re doing quite well for not having eaten in several hours,” he praised with a glint in his eye.
Wendy ran her fingers up his beard and into the short, salty curls on his head. “I have a sufficient distraction.”
“Is that all I am to you? A distraction?” He widened his eyes in mock horror.
A sly smile curled her lips. “I’ll let you distract me for as long as you want.”
“I expect that to be a very. Long. Time,” he promised, punctuating each word with a kiss.
