Stormy Vows - Iris Johansen [159]
“She'll get over it,” Jake said harshly. “You know as well as I do that she needs someone as fresh and wholesome as herself for a lasting relationship.”
“I'm not at all sure of that,” Benjamin said slowly, “I rather think that Jane might need someone older and more experienced to take care of her.”
There was a brief flash of hope in Jake's face before he shook his head. “Thanks for trying, Marc,” he said morosely, “but I know that I'm right about this. She'll be better off without me.”
“I'm not giving you some bull to give you an excuse for doing what you want to do,” Benjamin said bluntly, his voice rough with impatience. “For God's sake, shake off that martyr's air and look at the girl's record to date. She's gotten herself mixed up with a bunch of crackpots and almost blown up the Sea Breeze. She nearly got herself raped or killed at that cockfight in San Miguel. She came within an inch of being devoured by a shark. To top it all off, she's become the mistress of one of the most notorious men in the Western world. Now, this has all taken place in the space of less than two months. Heaven knows what other trouble she's gotten herself into that I'm not aware of.” He smiled grimly. “Personally, I don't know any wholesome young man on the face of the earth who could have handled all of that!”
There was a stunned expression on Jake's face. “You're absolutely right, you don't have the complete list,” he breathed softly. “God, Jane's a walking time bomb!”
Coolly Benjamin regarded the dawning uncertainty on Jake's face. “You should also consider that a girl like Jane isn't going to recover from any love affair very easily. She's not the type to bounce back and locate this paragon you've mentally linked her with any time soon. It's far more likely that she would look around for some kind of work to take her mind off you.” Benjamin's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Yes, she'll probably revert to her original plan.”
Jake looked up swiftly, alarmed. “What original plan?” he demanded.
“The Peace Corps,” Benjamin answered blandly.
“The Peace Corps?” Dominic echoed blankly.
Benjamin nodded. “She confided to Simon that she'd been considering joining for some time. She seemed to think that they'd take her like a shot. She'd be a godsend to them, with all the languages she knows.”
Jake's dark eyes were dazed. “Jane in the Peace Corps!”
Benjamin smiled gently. “It's more than likely they would assign her to the Middle East. Kahlid was very impressed with her command of Arabic, wasn't he?”
Burying his face in his hands, Jake groaned. “Good Lord, even the United States Government couldn't make that big a mistake!”
“They'd snap her up, and you know it,” Benjamin said bluntly. “Young, intelligent, charismatic, and fluent in several languages.”
“No!” Dominic almost shouted, his hands dropping from his face as he whirled to confront Benjamin. His dark eyes were wild and blazing. “In six months' time she'd be in a Middle East bordello or decorating the post outside some head hunter's hut.” He ran his hand through his crisp dark hair. “Do you think that I'm going to spend the rest of my life worried about what kind of trouble she's going to get herself into next? No, by God!” He turned and strode furiously away, every line of his tall muscular body breathing fiery determination.
Benjamin gazed after him with a curiously enigmatic smile on his face before turning and strolling back to the bridge.
Jane was still in the peach bikini and the white terry beach coat when Dominic stalked into the cabin. She looked up from throwing things haphazardly into an overnight case on the bed, her cheeks wet with tears. “My hour isn't up yet, but I'm almost finished packing,” she said defiantly. She closed and snapped the lock on the suitcase. “This is all I'm taking. You can give all the rest of those Diors and St. Laurents and whatevers to someone else.”
“I suppose camouflage denims and khaki jungle shorts would be more practical for what you have in mind,” he spat out, glaring at her furiously. “Well, you can