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He laughed again. “Temper, temper, Anna.” Then in a silky baritone voice he said, “It’s nice to see I’m Robert again. I thought I’d be forever Major Marsh.” He took a deep breath and said. “Can’t a man see a beautiful woman, and offer his assistance? Is there a crime in that?” He offered with that devilish smile on his lips.

She wished he’d stop doing that; he had her nerves on edge with those sexy looks he kept giving her. It made her want to wrap her arms around his neck and nuzzle her head under his chin, while borrowing into his chest. She could feel his warmth even though his body wasn’t touching hers and it seemed to radiate from his body to hers. Stop it! She commanded herself and knew he was deliberately trying to confuse her.

Anna decided to change the subject. “Captain Drake offered me the use of his Great Cabin for sleep, so I could get away from you, since he thought you were bothering me.” She said simply, sure she knew what the affect would be with how he had been acting earlier.

“What! The hell you’ll sleep there! I will not allow it. Do you hear me? If you won’t look out for yourself, you force me to do it for you.” He was furious. Robert squinted his eyes at her and shook his head as he clinched his mouth into a tight wad.

Now it was her turn to be amused at his reaction to her announcement of the Captain’s offer, and she began laughing. It was a good thing no one else was around them or the tongues would be wagging again.

“The thought of me protecting you seems to amuse you Miss Pemberton. Well, I can tell you it’s no easy feat. You are too damn friendly to everyone.” He conceded, as he tilted his lips sideways into a grin.

“Yes, great protector.” She retorted as she bowed in front of him and laughed. “No one has ever accused me of being too friendly. Is it a punishable crime?” She sucked in her bottom lip and pretended to be afraid, while batting her luscious eyelashes.

He started chuckling. “Miss Pemberton, you are quite a handful to look after.”

“Well, that leads me to my next question, Major, why are you trying to look after me. Maybe you’ve mistaken me for someone else?” She studied his face seriously. “Why didn’t you pick one of the other females to protect? Why me?” She asked, as she leveled her eyes to his.

Major Marsh looked at Anna and grinned again. “So the Lady wants to know if I know who she is. Is it because the Lady doesn’t know herself? Or could it be because the Lady knows but wants to know if I know? I wonder which it could be?”

“Stop that Robert! Can you give me a straight answer? What are you doing following me around? Why not someone else?” She demanded, her fiery temper lighting.

Once on the main deck again, she could feel the spray of fresh saltwater on her face and she closed her eyes lifting her face up toward the hot sun. She slowly licked her lips and savored the taste of salt on them.

This didn’t escape the notice of Major Marsh, who strolled over to Anna’s side. “Have a nice time with the Captain, Miss Pemberton? Talk about anything I should know about?” He asked in his deep English drawl.

She opened her green eyes to find his blue eyes dangerously close. “Why Major Marsh, still following me around?” She questioned him in a sultry voice, trying to aggravate him. “Actually earlier today Captain Drake was concerned that you might be bothering me.”

He leaned toward her confidentially. “Oh did he now, and what did you say?” He quizzed, with a gleam in this eye.

Did the man have no scruples, standing so close to her on the deck in front of everyone? She thought about making some clever remark so he’d stop following her, but for some reason she didn’t want to do that. It was the perfect chance to get rid of the cad, but the idea was not very appealing to her. She liked his company and actually looked forward to seeing him, because he stirred something in her no one else had.

“Actually I told him you weren’t bothering me at all, and that you fancied yourself protecting me.” She answered with a slight smile and amusement in her voice.

“I’m not here to take up any of your time Captain, I just wanted to come thank you once more for letting me hold the classes in the between-decks.” She told him graciously.

“No need to thank me again Anna. You are doing me a favor by teaching some of my men.” He pointed out pleasantly. “So how are your classes going?”

“It was better than expected!” She replied excitedly. “We even have a few women who had some skills who help out and I believe your men really liked the extra attention.” She interjected with a grinned.

He chuckled, thinking she might be right. “Yes, I’m sure they did at that. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to have a seat and visit for a while Anna? I could have one of my crew bring some food.”

“No thanks Captain. I brought my sketchpad with me, and I’m planning on doing a little drawing for a while. I love sitting in the sunshine.” Then through narrowed green eyes she challenged him. “Now, if you think you’re up to playing me in a game of chess or cards later this evening, I’d be more than glad to beat you.”

“Consider it a date Anna and I’ll meet you on the main deck later for our match.” He suggested as he leaned back comfortably in his chair, and chuckled as she left.

Stepping down onto the main deck, she thought about the match with Captain Drake and thought it would be great fun. Every since she arrived on the ship, she had tried to fill her evening hours playing games of sport with other passengers and crewmember.

She would write about this in her letter to her family and she knew if her father were alive he would be happy too, since he was a champion for equal education for woman. He had made sure all of his daughters were trained in educational skills equal to his son. How she missed her father and their long talks every evening. She shook her head to clear her mind of these thoughts so she could get to matters at hand and finish her class for today.

The next two hours she spent teaching basic skills of vowels and sounds and she was pleased how well everyone was doing. A few of the women that had some basic knowledge of reading and writing were a big help in the class with the pupils who knew nothing at all. The sailors seemed to really enjoy themselves, but she wasn’t sure if it was the fact they were learning or being in a room full of flirting women.

Once the class was over, she packed her things back into her trunk, and headed to the main deck, so she could go thank Captain Drake again. A sailor told her she’d find him in the Round House, so that’s where she went and found him going over the navigation charts.

She knocked on the door casing. “Captain Drake I hate to bother you, but can I interrupt you for one moment?” She inquired, dragging his attention from his maps.

He smiled broadly. “What a pleasant surprise. Please do come in and have a seat Anna.”