I entered to find Kendra alone, her fingers brushing over the ship’s wheel. The small space smelled of mahogany and the faint citrusy tang of her shampoo. Her hair had fallen loose from its bun again, framing her face in soft waves, and despite her rumpled uniform, she exuded an effortless competence that made my chest tighten.
“Hey, Captain. Where is everyone?”
She glanced around. “I gave them a break. We don’t have much to do until it’s time to turn back. Chef always has a few extra goodies for the crew. I told them to bring me back a piece of cake.”
I swallowed thickly around the lump in my throat. She was more pulled together tonight than she was yesterday. Although her clothes were still wrinkled, at least her shirt was tucked in properly.
“You’re looking at me funny,” Kendra’s voice broke me out of my daydream.
“Funny?”
She touched her hair, which had fallen out of her bun again. “It’s my hair, isn’t it? Decker told me you have a strict policy about uniforms and appearance. I have a hard time keeping myhair out of my face. It’s so thin, my hair, not my face.” She laughed. “I have one of those full faces that my grandma once compared to a moon.”
“What the fuck?”
Kendra’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry?”
“Don’t be sorry. People who love and care for you shouldn’t talk to you like that,” I growled.
She waved her hand from side to side. “Meh. She was an old woman with a stick up her ass. I take everything she said with a grain of salt.”
I needed to calm down. I still hadn’t told her the bad news, and at this rate, I might have a heart attack from the stress.
“Boss? Did you need something?” She frowned at me.
I blew out a breath and looked at the ceiling. “Um. I have some interesting news.”
“Okay.”
I pulled her away from the helm. “Come sit down in the Captain’s chair.”
She tilted her head at me and narrowed her eyes. “Rather not. You’re acting all kinds of shifty, Boss.”
“Stop calling me Boss.”
“You are my Boss.”
“This is weird enough.”
“Weird enough because I saw your ding dong?”
I flopped down into the Captain’s chair. “What the hell, Kendra?”
She tapped my shoulder. “Take it easy, Boss. No one’s around to hear me. And you look like you need a laugh. What’s the trouble, bubble?”
My throat tightened. “Promise me you won’t get mad.”
“I can’t.”
I glared at her. “Why not?”
“It’s not fair to make me promise you something before you tell me whatever it is you will tell me. What if you tell me you sunk my boat 100 percent this time? That would make me mad, and if I went against the promise I made you, then I wouldn’t be a woman of my word, would I?”
“That’s an excellent point,” I conceded.
“Tell you what.” She tapped her chin and sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. “I promise I’ll hear you out before I react to the best of my ability. Fair enough?”
I nodded.
