Life, Liberty, and Pursuit Read online

  “Bet!” he said, rushing to her side. “Are you okay?” He threw his giant arms around her, a little too roughly for David’s taste given her condition. What did he call her? Bet? An even more curious name. He frowned, not quite sure what to make of that.

  “I’m fine, Johnny, really.” She tried to smile, wheezing a little.

  “But the nurse said you almost drowned!” He was definitely panicking. David decided it was time to jump in before he smothered Eliza. Or Bet.

  “Um, the doctor was just here, and he said she was going to be fine.” He tried to use the soothing voice he had perfected as an EMT, but it came out sounding strained.

  Eliza’s dad looked at him strangely. “Who are you?”

  “My name is David Marek. I, um, helped …” He wasn’t quite sure what to call her. “Uh, when she fell in the pool?”

  “Oh,” Johnny said, frowning as though this didn’t make sense to him. He seemed to slowly put two and two together. “You rescued Bet?”

  “Um …” he started, not wanting to make a big deal of it, but before he could say anything he was wrapped in the same bear hug that Eliza had just endured.

  “Thanks, kid!” he said, causing David to smile a little in spite of the utter embarrassment of the situation. When Johnny released him, David could see that Eliza had her face in her hands. Johnny was drawn back to her as well.

  “Bet, honey, are you okay?”

  “I’m okay. I just need—” she paused to cough again “—to get some warm clothes.”

  “Right, yeah, come on, honey, let’s get you back to the cabin. Your mom is freaking out, anyway.”

  Her eyes went wide. “You told her?”

  He held his hands out, looking helpless in spite of his massive size. “She picked up the phone! It was all I could do to keep her in the cabin while I came to get you.”

  Eliza shook her head and made to get up off the cot. David could see how unsteady she was and quickly held her by the elbow, one hand at the small of her back. Johnny gave him a strange look and wrapped his arm around Eliza, forcing him to release her.

  “Thanks, um …” Johnny fished for his name.

  “David.”

  “Right. Thanks, David. I’ve got it from here.” He guided her toward the door, holding her more firmly now. She glanced back as they headed out the door, a small smile on her face. He felt an odd emptiness when they were gone. He stood there for a moment, collecting his thoughts, and then decided that perhaps he could use some dry clothes as well. He left his parents’ cabin number with Nurse Draper in case Eliza needed further medical assistance. He wound his way back through the ship to the cabin he shared with Tomasz, exhaustion descending on him like the night.

  Chapter 2

  Darkness

  Johnny gripped her shoulder a little too hard as he towed her down the hallway, his over-muscled arm crushing her in a misguided desire to protect her from David, her handsome guardian angel. She wanted to chastise Johnny about his ridiculous over-protectiveness, but she settled for an internal eye-roll. He did a good job of holding her up, though, as small tremors still ran through her legs.

  She had known this trip was a bad idea, but she had been unable to dissuade her mom. When Mia and Johnny had come home from a weekend trip to Vegas suddenly married two months ago, her mom seemed to think a Caribbean cruise was just the thing for a combination honeymoon for them and birthday-and-graduation present for her. Never mind that cruises were expensive and they scraped by on Mia’s secretarial job and Johnny’s wrestling money. Never mind that tagging along as a third wheel was about as attractive to her as an appendectomy. When her mom had her mind set on something, there was no changing it. Eliza had protested, but when her Princeton scholarship had come through, she caved. Soon she would be leaving for college, and she knew her mom would miss her after that. Spending some quality time with her was the least Eliza could do.

  Besides, with Johnny Keeper off at one crazy wrestling match after another, they might not have many more chances. Sweet Johnny was always ready to throw down with some other over-muscled guy in spandex, wherever they could set up a ring and draw a crowd. She didn’t understand the attraction of professional wrestling—it seemed more over-the-top entertainment than sport. But Mia faithfully followed him around and cheered him on. Eliza glanced up at Johnny’s razor-cut blond hair and saw worry tugging at his clear blue eyes. He really was sweet to Mia, even if he had a strange need to protect Eliza from every male within a quarter mile.

  Johnny paused at the bottom of the stairwell. She desperately hoped he knew the way back to the cabin because she was completely lost. The ship was huge, and she had trouble making sense of her own neighborhood in Albuquerque, much less a rambling multi-deck cruise ship. Johnny seemed to be considering carrying her up the stairs. She was grateful when he simply hooked his massive forearm under her arms and hoisted her up the steps one at a time.

  Her eyelids were starting to droop, and she was glad she didn’t have to actually see where she was going. She just wanted to go lie down in her room, alone. When they first boarded, she had been grateful to find she had her own cabin. She had brought a knapsack full of paperbacks, but somehow still ended up watching Johnny and Mia make eyes at each other over dinner. Afterwards, they wanted to go to some comedy show at the Latin-themed lounge. She had cringed at the thought, begging off to explore the ship and escape the Mia and Johnny love-fest. Little had she known she would nearly tumble to her death. Or meet the most gorgeous boy she had ever seen. Her eyes fluttered open, the thought of him bringing her out of her sleepiness.

  David.

  In a way, it was his fault that she had nearly drowned. She had been so distracted by his unnerving beauty, so desperate to escape his piercing gaze, that she hadn’t seen the pool. The deck and water had been lit with the silver glow of the full moon, and he was angled away from her. So she had stared, thinking she was hidden in the shadows of the ship. He had dark hair close cropped on the sides, with a long shock on top falling in a wave across his forehead. His lanky body was modestly attired in khaki pants, an open collared shirt, and a light jacket that fluttered in the wind. His eyes were closed and his face was upturned, as if he was drinking in the night air, reveling in the salt breeze on his face. She was entranced.

  The full impact of his beauty didn’t hit her, though, until he turned and looked straight at her. He startled her, freezing her with the handsomeness of his face, at once boyish and strong, planed tight with jawbones carved from moonlit granite. Horrified that she had been caught staring, she unlocked her limbs and stumbled across the deck, trying to escape his gaze. Next thing she knew, she was in the pool, disoriented by the inky blackness and sinking fast, until a guardian angel plucked her from an untimely death.

  When the spastic coughing had subsided, she realized it was him, and her mortification was complete. She further cemented her idiocy with rambling answers to his incomprehensible questions, all the while trying to fight through the nausea. At least she managed not to throw up on his shoes. His white shirt, nearly transparent with pool water, had revealed the heart stopping perfection of his body. He had literally made her swoon. It was horrifying.

  Meeting his similarly gorgeous father had distracted her a little. She could see the family resemblance, of course, and they both spoke softly with some kind of lilting accent that sounded Russian. It had a soothing effect on her, but then David had given her that look, boring a hole through her with his sea blue eyes, and the room had started to spin. The effect he had on her was unsettling, not to mention humiliating.

  Johnny continued to half-carry her through the twisting corridors of the ship, and she felt her cheeks burn with the memory of her embarrassment. She hoped he couldn’t feel the heat as he clutched her to his side. He had somehow found their rooms, but unfortunately towed her into the cabin he shared with Mia. All she real
ly wanted was to lie down, maybe forget the stabbing pains of mortification in her chest. But that would have to wait until Mia was convinced her daughter was still among the living.

  Calming her mom down was almost more traumatic than having nearly drowned. Mia flitted from Eliza’s side, to the window, to the bed, bouncing slightly as she sat, repeatedly asking her if she was all right—as though she weren’t standing before her mom, alive and breathing. Johnny brought her one of the luxurious white fluffy robes that came standard with their cabins and draped it over her shoulders. It felt heavy, like a shroud.

  “Mom, I’m fine,” she said, settling on the bed next to Mia and draping an arm around her. Her touch seemed to quell the shaking that agitated her mom’s shoulders. Mia reached up, petting Eliza’s cheeks over and over, and then let out an exasperated sigh.

  “You scared me, Bet.” Mia dropped her hands into her lap. Eliza was sure the tears would come any second if she didn’t say something.

  “I’m sorry.” The words fell like lead from her mouth. “I promise not to fall into any more pools.” She felt bad about worrying her mom, but right now she could use someone else to lean on. Someone to comfort her, instead of the other way around. Before she could stop herself, the words came out. “I’m lucky David was there.”

  Mia’s shoulders straightened and her eyes flashed to Johnny and back to her daughter. Eliza immediately wished she had kept that thought to herself.

  “Who’s David?” Mia’s perpetually avid interest in her love life seemed to erase the worry from her face. Eliza gave her a grim smile, casting about for a way to avoid talking about David with her mom right now. She didn’t have the mental reserves to deal with it, and the robe felt like it was growing heavier by the moment.

  Johnny came to her rescue. “David’s the kid who pulled Bet from the pool.”

  Mia raised her eyebrows, but she didn’t say anything. She appeared to be turning this new piece of information over in her head. Eliza stood, determined to leave before her mom collected her thoughts and decided to grill her.

  “I’m really tired.” A yawn overtook her as she spoke, stretching out the words. The worry returned to her mom’s face, but Johnny had already claimed her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and guiding her to the door.

  “Come on, Bet,” he said. “I’ll take you back to your cabin.” She let him lead her out, too tired to turn and see if Mia was reassured enough for her to leave. Johnny would have to take it from here. Her cabin was right next door, and once Johnny had left, she shrugged off the robe and struggled out of her still wet clothes. She searched around for something resembling pajamas, but her brain was too fuzzy to find what she needed. She slid the furry bathrobe back on and fell into bed. As she sunk into the pillow, David’s face, shining in the moonlight with a slightly furrowed brow, drifted through her mind. And then the darkness closed in on her.

  * * *

  David swam. The dark water surrounded him, a fathomless pit with an undulating black surface that stretched away from him. It seemed to take forever to swim to the edge, each stroke only inching him forward. By the time he reached the end of the pool, exhaustion pulled at his arms, and he clung to the wall. She stood above him on deck, silent, holding her arms slightly out and apart as if to beckon or welcome him, he wasn’t sure which. Everything about her was luminous—her skin, her clothes, the moonlight reflecting off her hair—but her eyes were as dark as midnight and as bottomless as the pool …

  Something landed on his head with a thump. He was in his bed, the bright sunlight of morning sneaking past the pillow to push on his eyelids. His grimace tightened them.

  “Rise and shine, pretty boy,” said Tomasz, the sound muffled by the pillow on David’s head. Another pillow landed on him with sufficient force to knock the first one off. He groaned at Tomasz, but made no attempt to move.

  “Śpię tutaj.” He mumbled in Polish that he was sleeping, lapsing into the language their father had insisted they master first.

  “Spisz jak suseł,” Tomasz replied, literally accusing him of sleeping like a gopher, which made sense only if you knew that gophers hibernated for about half the year. But he hadn’t had any rest at all with the dramatic events of the night before and his dream, so his brain was still half-asleep.

  “Out late last night,” he grumbled, still hoping to beg off from whatever Tomasz had in mind.

  “Yeah, well, they’re not going to toss pillows at you in Basic Training, kid. You better get used to it.” David drew a deep breath and pushed the pillow off his face, squinting his eyes against the onslaught of light. As they adjusted, he could see Tomasz was up and dressed. He looked around for a clock, but their cabin didn’t have one. He fumbled for his watch on the nightstand.

  “And I heard about your adventure last night,” Tomasz said with a grin. “Only six hours on the boat and already you’re playing the hero? Lucky you—I heard she’s a looker.”

  David glared at his older brother. Tomasz thought of every patient as a potential girlfriend—at least the one-night kind. He was an excellent paramedic, but somehow he thought the uniform entitled him to a kind of hero status that he could use to his advantage with female patients—or friends of patients, or onlookers, or just about anyone. Having surfer blond hair, their mom’s green eyes, and a certain charm didn’t hurt his chances. Tomasz’s success with women was well known back home in Green Bay.

  “I don’t take advantage of my patients.”

  Tomasz gave a short laugh. “She’s Dr. Marek’s patient, not yours, junior. Still, I would think she would be grateful, you having saved her life and all.”

  He gave Tomasz a disgusted look. “Don’t you have something to do? Besides annoy me, I mean.” He wasn’t about to take advantage of any gratitude Eliza might have, but he couldn’t keep flashes of her from flitting across his mind. Last night, drenched in pool water, her hair clinging appealingly to her neck. Just now in the dream, beguiling him. He swallowed and sat up in bed, turning away from Tomasz and trying to push the images from his mind.

  “Hey, you don’t need to get all excited about it,” Tomasz said with a laugh. “And I’m ready to go work out, so get your sorry butt up, bro.” He tossed another pillow, which David blocked without looking. The last thing he wanted was another gym session with Tomasz. He closed his eyes, rubbing his fingers into his temples. A couple of hours of sleep sounded nice. Possibly another dream.

  “Aren’t we on vacation?” he mumbled.

  “Don’t go soft on me now. I don’t want you messing up all my hard work here.” Tomasz was right, of course. Basic Training was only two weeks away, and the only way he was going to survive was if he stuck to the maniacal workout schedule Tomasz had set up for him. At one time David thought he might follow in Tomasz’s footsteps—granted, with a little more integrity when it came to female patients—or possibly become a physician like the famous Dr. Jozef Marek. But somehow neither of those options quite captured the sense of purpose that he desired. Grudgingly, he got up from the bed and started hunting around for something to wear.

  “I think we should check out the climbing wall.” Tomasz waited for him to get dressed. “We can hit the gym after that.”

  David grunted his assent, waking a little more as he moved around. His mom and dad had sprung for a cabin with a porthole window, and the streaming sunlight made the events of last night seem like a distant memory, like the dream he had just awoken from. He couldn’t believe he had been that affected by her. It wasn’t as if he had never seen a beautiful woman before. There were plenty in Green Bay, and at Lakeland College, and he certainly had been on the receiving end of some offers that Tomasz wouldn’t refuse. But there was something different about her. He wasn’t even sure he knew her real name, and it nagged at him. He didn’t understand why she fascinated him. Maybe it had merely been the adrenaline and drama of the rescue. Maybe she just h
appened to look really good soaking wet … He shook his head, trying to clear it of that thought. He couldn’t think of her that way. She had briefly been his patient, for lack of a better word, and even if she was his father’s patient now, he wouldn’t be taking advantage of any gratitude she might have for the rescue—he’d be no better than Tomasz, and that simply wouldn’t do. As he slipped into some shorts he found lying on the floor, he hoped the brutal workout that lay ahead would push thoughts of her, drenched in moonlight, out of his mind for good.

  Chapter 3

  Daylight

  Darkness enveloped Eliza when she woke up, and she had no idea what time it was. She heard people bustling in the hall outside her room and guessed it must be morning. She fumbled around for a light switch, only halfway remembering that all the lights were affixed to the wall. When they’d first checked in, she found it comforting that everything was bolted down—as though they were expecting a torrential storm to kick up on the high seas and didn’t want the furniture to crush the guests inadvertently.

  Last night’s misadventure on the deck seemed like some kind of extreme waking nightmare—except for all the parts where he was involved. David. She rolled the name around in her mind and decided it suited him. He was gorgeous but reserved, his face dignified and serious. He reminded her of an avenging angel, the kind that carried a sword but whose beauty was enough to slay you outright. She sighed. They were clearly from different worlds, his being the one where people were outrageously good-looking, made amazing rescues, and did not embarrass themselves by falling gracelessly into pools.

  She dragged herself out of bed and glared at the mirror over the tiny sink in her cabin. The late night escapade in the pool and the long sleep had done a serious disservice to her hair. She needed a shower before she tackled breakfast. Her stomach was still lurching from pool water, but she was proud she had managed not to throw up. She cleared her throat—it was still raw, but somewhere in the night the coughing had subsided. She was starting to feel somewhat human again.