“I didn’t ask. And neither should you. Asking questions isn’t part of my business—you should know that.” The less-than-subtle reference to Dan’s own hazy background was well-taken. “They hired us to take four of them and an inflatable on an overnight dive. I hired you to captain the fucking boat, not make decisions. You got that?”
If this job wasn’t so good—pretty damned perfect actually—Dan would remind the old buzzard that any scrutiny into Dan’s background was likely to provoke scrutiny into MacDonald’s own business “enterprises.” But deciding not to press him, Dan nodded.
But he nearly reconsidered when MacDonald added, “ThenI will leave it to you to find them and fix it before they hire another company to take their money.”
Dan knew exactly what “fix it” meant, and every bone in his body balked at the idea of apologizing to that smug asshole. But if he refused, he had no doubt that MacDonald would fire him. He weighed the likelihood of finding another job as good as this one and swore.
Looked as if it was time for him to eat some shit.
•••
This sucked. Dan stood in front of the door with a brass “2” staring at him. It hadn’t been difficult to find out where they were staying. When he hadn’t seen them at the protester camp at the port, he’d guessed that they were at the Harbour Bar & Guest House. He’d wager what he had in his pocket—which, as he’d just cashed a check, was about two weeks of work—thatJuliendidn’t do roughing it.
He lifted his hand to knock and hesitated. He didn’t need this shit. He could find another boat.
If the door hadn’t opened, he might have turned around.
The gorgeous brunette nearly ran into him. She gasped and then just stood there, clearly surprised to see him, with her killer mouth parted in a way that made him think of all kinds of really inappropriate things.
“Hi,” he said a little more softly—and huskily—than he’d intended.
The simple greeting seemed to take her aback. It was as if she didn’t know what to do with it. He supposed that was his fault. He hadn’t exactly encouraged conversation in their prior exchanges.
She didn’t respond right away. Their eyes met and held—and didn’t let go. He felt the buzz of something hot and unwanted. But the physical attraction was there. From the uncomfortable pause, he guessed that she had felt it, too—and didn’t like it any better than he did.
“Hi,” she finally said.
Christ, her voice was insane. Low and throaty, and sexy as hell. She’d make a killing in phone sex.
The vaguely intimate moment was ruined by the arrival of Julien.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, stepping in front of his girlfriend. From the frown on her face, Dan took it she didn’t appreciate the show of masculine posturing.
Dan kept his expression blank. “I came to tell you there was a misunderstanding. The boat is available for you to charter.”
Julien didn’t disappoint, proving Dan’s ability to size people up quickly and accurately. Unfortunately, although he might be a douche bag, he wasn’t a stupid one. He’d quickly figured out that Dan wasn’t here of his own volition and was being forced to make amends. And from the slow sneer that crept up his face, it was clear that he wasn’t going to make that easy.
“A misunderstanding?” Julien repeated. “There wasn’t any misunderstanding. You told us the boat wasn’t available and the deal we had with your boss wasn’t good with you. So if that’s all...” He started to shut the door, but Dan held out his hand to stop him.
“That isn’t all. I have the paperwork. All I need is a signature, and a fifty percent deposit.”
“Don’t you have something to say first?” Julien demanded, clearly savoring the prospect of making Dan grovel.
But Dan didn’t engage in power plays with little girls—or men who acted like them. “I’m sorry for the confusion.”
Julien’s satisfied smile was punctuated by a single raised eyebrow. “I’m sure you are. But I’m afraid it’s too late. After your unprofessional behavior yesterday”—Dan’s jaw clenched at being scolded like a toddler—“we contacted another company.”
If Dan needed proof that Julien was lying, his girlfriend’s reaction was enough. Up until that point, he’d sensed her watching them both as if it were a Ping-Pong match. But now her gaze stayed on Julien, a frown between her eyes. She seemed about to object, but then slammed her mouth shut as if she’d thought better of it. Oddly Dan appreciated that. The little bastard needed upbraiding, but not publicly.
“Look. Another company isn’t necessary. The boat is available if you want it.”
Apparently the woman had had enough. She didn’t wait for Julien to make another objection. “That will be fine,” she said. “We spoke to Mr. MacDonald right before you arrived, and he told us about the, uh... confusion. We were just on our way to the dock. He didn’t tell us you would be coming in person to apologize. Thank you.”
She smiled, and despite the fact that her boyfriend had just been trying to make him look like an idiot, he found himself smiling back.
It had been so long since he’d had anything to smile about. It felt wrong, and he immediately sobered.
“Annie Henderson,” she said, holding out her hand.
