“What?” he blurted, getting into it and, astonishingly, enjoying himself. His bad mood vanished like mist hit by the heat of her wit. “And I suppose you thinkLostHighwaywas?”
“Sure enough.”
“Ha! I’m sorry. But there’s no comparison between Bill Pullman’s performance and Naomi Watts’s performance. She blew the roof off that role.”
“Says you.” She shrugged a shoulder. “But maybe that’s because you’re aguy, and Naomi Watts is a hot blond. Oh, and also because it’s now clear you’re an idiot.”
The twinkle in her eyes and the way she was fighting a smile told him she was having as much fun as he was.
“In case you weren’t aware,” he informed her haughtily, “idiots are a barrel of laughs and super cool to hang around. That’s why they’re the rage in all the villages.”
She couldn’t hold it in any longer. She barked out a laugh. And then they stood grinning openly at each other, caught up in the game and the banter.
“I’ve got one for you,” she said after a bit, the tilt of her head decidedly feline, like that of a cat watching a mouse’s nose protrude from a hole. “But fair warnin’, this one’s a doozy. If you get it, I’ll…” She trailed off.
He was suddenly breathless. “You’ll what?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head, laughing. “I have no idea what kind of boon to give a guy who’s basically a big question mark.”
Howaboutakiss?Okay, this was getting out of control. He was pretty much a hornball 24/7, but…wow. Just wow. “How about…” He tapped his chin. “If I win, then you hafta tell me the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you.” For some odd reason, he wanted to know more about her.
“And ifIwin?” she asked, reaching toward her hair as if to push it behind her ear. Her fingers faltered when she discovered there was nothing to tuck back.Newhaircut, apparently.A pretty daring one at that. And,damnit, he likedthattoo.
“I tell you the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened tome.”
“Deal.” She stuck out her hand. He hesitated to take it. And when he finally did, he realizedwhy. Her palm was baby soft, her hand tiny compared to his, and his dirty mind immediately conjured up an image of what her fingers would look like wrapped around his dick. Said dick twitched to life.Oh great. That’s just great.
“So, Alan Ladd stars as a Naval gunnery officer durin’ World War II,” she began. “But here’s the thing. He’s a pacifist. And he refuses to fire on an unidentified plane. Of course, when this gets out to the others in his unit, they label him yellow-bellied, a guy they can’t depend on. Turns out the plane was one of their own, but that doesn’t really change anything. The whole movie is about the conflict between conscience and duty. Name that film.”
Oh,fangul.It was right there. On the tip of his tongue and the edge of his brain. “Who directed it?” he asked.
“Are we allowed to give clues?” She was smirking, sure she’d won.
“Since we never officially stated the rules, then yeah.”
“Hmm.” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think that’s…”
“Aha!” He pointed at her face. “It’s because you don’tknowwho directed it. And you said you could name every film, the leads, the director, and usually the—”
“Rudolph Maté,” she said. He grinned gleefully. “Hey! You tricked me!”
“Maybe,” he admitted with an exaggerated shrug. “But regardless, I now know what the movie is. Drumroll, please.”
She rolled her eyes. When he looked at her expectantly, as if he was prepared to wait all day, she huffed and started rolling her tongue. “Dddddddddddd.”
“TheDeepSix!” he crowed triumphantly. She blinked up at him, her mouth hanging open. Yeah, because he’d pulled that one straight out of his ass. Talk about an old, totally esoteric film. He was impressed with her choice. Of course, he wasn’t going to tell her as much. Because where was the fun in that? “What?” He grinned. “No applause?”
The sound of clapping—slow clapping—echoed from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Mason standing there. “Hey, bro. What’s up?”
“I think you just named our salvage company,” Mason said, head cocked contemplatively.
Bran blinked at him, trying to comprehend. He couldn’t, so he asked the only question available to him. “What the huh?”
“Deep Six Salvage.” Mason rolled the words around on his tongue like he was tasting them. “It’s fuckin’ perfect. There are six of us. We make our living in the deep.”
“And in case you’re forgetting,” Bran said, “our salvage ship wasdeep-sixeda couple of hours ago. Without it, we don’thavea company, nameless or otherwise.”
“That’s not true,” Olivia chimed in from the swim deck below. “I told Leo I’d make sure you guys—”
