He kept rubbing her back and saying what he hoped were soothing things to get her to calm down, telling her it was going to be okay.
“Promise?” she asked in a pathetically tiny voice.
“Promise,” Drew assured her. He was surprised when she almost crawled into his lap, wrapping her arms around him. She had said she didn’t like boats, but this was a little extreme.
“Why don’t we get off the boat? Would you like that?” he asked her.
She nodded shakily, pressing her face into his chest. “Please.”
When had he dropped into crazy town? Drew wondered. And why him? She could have stumbled onto any of the other cops that were hiding in the marina, but she’d chosen him of all people. He carefully picked up Bethany and grimaced at the tiny doorway. It was going to be a struggle to get both through it at the same time. She was light in his arms, fitting like she belonged there.
Whoa, he thought, put a stop to those thoughts. The last thing Drew needed was a gorgeous but not quite right in the head rich lady. She seemed high maintenance on so many levels. First impressions were not good. He hoped she wouldn’t turn into one of those stalker types. One of the other officers had encountered one of those and it had taken him five months to shake the woman when she became obsessed with him. Drew had enough on his plate without any weird woman adding to the mix.
He squeezed through the bathroom door and the tight hallway to the deck of the ship.
It took a moment to decide how best to get from the deck of the boat to the dock without falling in the water. Bethany had him in a near headlock and it was obvious she was in no condition to try to go from boat to dock. She was shaking so badly, Drew could hear her teeth clicking.
“You really don’t like boats?” he tried to make a little conversation. Hopefully he could distract her enough to get her back to normal and send her on her way. If he never saw this beautiful but crazy lady ever again, Drew would be okay with that.
“No,” she whispered. “I don’t like water either.”
“Then why would you go on a boat?” Drew frowned as he carried her along the marina.
“I needed to find out…” Bethany kept her eyes closed and breathed in the scent of him. She didn’t know why, but Drew made her feel safe.
“Find out what?” he questioned.
Bethany sighed. “I’m trying to remember something from my childhood. There’s a memory but it keeps slipping away. I want to know what it is.”
“So, you’re going on boats, which you hate, on water, which you hate, all to try to find a memory from your childhood?” Yup, Drew thought, she was definitely from crazy town.
“Something like that,” Bethany relaxed a little. He must really work out at a gym. Drew hadn’t complained about carrying her around yet.
“Caught yourself a prize Colborne?” a male voice asked. “Pretty big fish.”
“A mermaid?” another amused voice enquired. “Where’s her tail?”
“Shut up,” Drew replied dryly. “If Monroe were doing his job, she wouldn’t have made it to my boat.”
Bethany looked to see a group of five men watching her with varying degrees of speculation. She blushed a little. They were on cement and a little way away from the water. “You could put me down now.”
“Sure thing,” Drew realized she was a little embarrassed from all the attention. Bethany seemed to have recovered from her earlier bout of anxiety. He set her on her feet. “Better?”
“Yes, thank you,” Bethany gave him a small smile. She felt a little silly standing before all these men. She must seem like such a wimp to them to need to be carried just because she was near water.
“Who is she?” a younger man questioned.
“Bethany…” Drew looked at her for an answer. Some detective he was, he didn’t even know her last name.
“Searson,” she smiled. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
A couple of eyebrows shot up. It was obvious they weren’t used to that turn of phrase.
“Colby, Jacobson, Dman, Miguel, and Tony,” Drew introduced them.
“Ma’am,” Colby smiled, confident in his handsomeness. The others nodded to varying degrees.
“Are you all police officers?” Bethany was curious.
