A Distant Shore by Karen Kingsbury (books for students to read .txt) 📕

of victory in Eliza’s eyes. As if she wanted him to know she could handle the mission. Despite her lack of experience when it came to relationships. She kissed him once more, her lips on his, and then she turned to the window.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t pull away or act uninterested. In case one of the traffickers actually was on the plane. That wasn’t likely, but still. Jack closed his eyes and leaned back. Her kiss stayed with him. It captured his breath and undid his mind so that even five minutes later the feeling was all he could think about.

Everything in him wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and kiss her. The way she had kissed him. But that would never work. He was the experienced agent, the one who knew the rules and the price he’d pay if he broke them.

The sooner he could tell her that, the better.

She didn’t try to kiss him as they made their way off the plane and through customs, or as they picked up their bags and hired a van outside the airport to take them to Atlantis. She gushed about the flight and remarked about the pale blue water and white sand. As if she’d never been to the beach.

But she didn’t kiss him. Didn’t do more than hold his hand.

“This is going to be the best week.” She leaned her head on his shoulder again as they drove up and over the bridge to Paradise Island, home of Atlantis. “I love you, Luke.”

“Love you, too.” He smiled at her, then glanced at the rearview mirror. Locals involved in trafficking sometimes worked as drivers to cover up their illegal activity. So unless the two of them were behind doors in their hotel suite, they had to play their parts. Jack kissed Eliza’s forehead.

Jack had said those words before in situations like this. But there was something different about saying them this time. Something that made his knees tremble. Stop, he told himself. This is a mission. You’re a machine, Jack Ryder. Don’t let her get to you. She was pouring it on, goading him, challenging him. Trying to prove she was up for the mission. That’s what this was.

He took a long breath and felt himself relax. The things she’d said, they were just words, nothing more. She didn’t love him. This was a job. And she was playing a part.

They checked in at the front desk of the Reef, the nicest of the seven hotels that made up Atlantis. Any doubt about Eliza’s intentions dissolved when they got to their suite. Often these suites were rented by different parties altogether. They were that private.

Eliza’s smile faded as soon as the bellman closed the main door behind him. She pointed to the separate room on the right. “I’ll take that one.” She grabbed her bag, unlocked the door and slipped into the room without looking back.

Jack watched her go. This was the last mission he would do with Eliza Lawrence. If she hated him, if she enjoyed mocking him, then she could work with someone else. And he would do his very best to put her out of his mind forever.

If only he could forget the way she had kissed him.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Listen! My beloved! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.

—Song of Solomon 2:8

The wall around Eliza’s heart had stood firmly in place since her first day at the Palace, the day she found out that her mother and Daniel were dead. It was a barrier made of solid brick and razor wire, that no one would ever breach. But today the fortress she’d built to protect herself was beginning to crumble, one chunk of cement after another.

All because of Jack Ryder.

Jack was different. He was the first man she’d ever known who didn’t want her body. He was also the first man she had ever kissed, though he didn’t want that, either. That much was obvious on the plane. He didn’t think she was capable of being an informant, pretending to be married and in love. Yet, for some reason, he treated her with kindness. Not the way she’d seen men treat the other girls at the Palace. Which created a situation Eliza wasn’t familiar with. Rather than hating Jack Ryder for not believing in her, she found herself falling for him, needing him.

The way she’d treated Jack earlier hadn’t felt like acting at all.

Jack was waiting for her when she left her room later that day. The two of them needed to walk the grounds, give off the appearance of a normal couple on their honeymoon. After how she’d broken the rules and kissed him, Eliza expected Jack would barely speak to her.

Instead, he held out his hand. “I’ll carry your things.” He smiled at her. “If you want.”

“That’s okay.” Eliza clutched her oversized leather bag to her body. She’d never had a purse and now this one held a cell phone, bottled water, and a small makeup bag, along with a scarf and perfume.

No one would carry it but her.

Jack looked tanned and muscled, dressed in the same short-sleeve button-up shirt and khaki shorts he’d worn in Belize. The sun was still low in the sky out the window at the end of the hall, and Eliza glanced at Jack. He wasn’t wearing sunglasses, but Eliza was. She planned to keep them on.

One more attempt at keeping the walls from falling apart.

Eliza allowed an exaggerated sigh. As if she were bored and not distracted by his cologne. “Tell me the plan again.”

“Okay.” If Jack was frustrated by her cool attitude, he didn’t show it. “We’ll walk from here to Marina Village on the other side of the island, get dinner, then walk back.” He reached for her hand. “Like any other newlyweds.”

Eliza said nothing. Before she could push the elevator button, Jack suddenly stopped walking. She had no choice but to