Could it be? Was it possible Cade had taken the pillow from her bedchamber? He had been in her bedchamber the last time she’d seen him, after all. But why had he taken it? To remember her by? Contemplating the enormity of that thought, she snuggled into the sheets and laid her head on the pillow. Her yawn was so big her ears popped. The fact that she hadn’t slept all night, combined with the gentle rocking of the ship and the supreme comfort of the bed conspired to lull her to sleep.
The next thing Danielle knew, she was awakened by a husky male voice near her ear. “In my bed, I see. Does that mean you’ve decided to take me up on my offer?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Danielle’s eyes flew open and she scrambled up, her back against the luxurious pillows, instinctively pulling the covers to her chin even though she was still fully dressed. “Wha-what?”
Cade stood over the bed, his hands on his hips, laughing. “Sorry to wake you so suddenly. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Danielle rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced around. It was dark outside the windows and only moonlight and the brace of candles sitting on the desk illuminated the room.
Had she truly slept all day? “What time is it?”
Eight bells sounded. “It’s the dog watch,” Cade said with a grin.
“Eight o’clock,” she whispered.
“No,” he replied, still grinning.
“Surely it’s not twelve?” Her eyes went wide.
His brows rose. “You know time on a ship?”
She rolled her eyes. “I already informed you that I know quite a lot about ships.”
“You did.” His grin was positively wolfish. “And yes, it’s twelve.”
“I can’t believe I slept all day,” she said.
“Well, we didn’t exactly get much sleep last night.”
She eyed him warily. “Don’t say it likethat.”
“Like what?”
“Like we… spent the night together.”
“Didn’t we?”
“No! Not likethat. You know we didn’t.”
“Ah, that’s right. You only told me youwishedit had been like that. Right before you took off to stow aboard my ship.”
She scrambled off the bed and stood next to it, sheepishly, her feet bare and her hair, which had come free of the cap, streaming over her shoulders.
“You look absolutely nothing like a boy right now, by the by,” he informed her. “What do you think would happen to you if you were in the bunks with the others?”
“If I were a cook’s assistant I wouldn’t have been asleep. I’d have been working.”
“A convenient answer.”
“A truthful one.”
He sat on the far edge of the bed and began shucking off his boots. “Would you like to help?” he asked. “I seem to remember you have some experience in this quarter.”
“You’re endlessly amusing,” she shot back.
Ignoring that, he stood and began to take off his shirt, unbuttoning it and pulling it over one shoulder.
