“May Domingo come in?”the captain asked me in a quieter voice.
“I’m not exactly decent.”
“He’s seen you naked before,” Dinesh said.
“Aye.So he has.”
“Yes, come in!”Dinesh said, letting me do up my own trousers whilst he fetched my shirt.
Domingo opened the door and rushed in.Pearl barked and ran to greet him, but he ignored her and came right to me.
“Dios mio, are you all right?”
“Aye, I’m quite well.A bit tired, but feeling much recovered.”
“Oh, thank goodness.I’ve never witnessed anything so terrifying in my life, and I hope never to do so again.”He assessed me with a frown.“Well, you look the same.But you’re…I don’t know…” He put a finger on his chin, contemplating.“You seem different.”
“I don’t have a tail, do I?”I asked, pretending to be worried and craning my neck to look behind me.
“Are you playing with me?”Domingo asked.
“Well, you’re so much fun to play with.”
Domingo looked pleased.“Well, that is true.No, I only mean that you look…older?Or…smarter?Something.”
“He looks like a man who knows his strengths,” Captain Martin said, handing me my shirt, which I pulled over my head and tucked into my trouser waist.
“Squid came to see me,” Domingo said, finally giving Pearl some attention.“Oh, yes, you’re a good girl, you are.Good lass.”
“Oh?”
“We spoke about what we’d seen on deck, how horrible and terrifying the occurrence was.”
“Did you reassure him?”
“I think so.At any rate, I…distracted him.”
A smile spread over my face.“You rascal.”
Domingo clicked his tongue.“Not that way, you dolt,” Domingo said, glancing at the captain, then the door.He lowered his voice.“I’m not the sort to take advantage of a distressed man.”
“Oh.”I tried not to sound disappointed.
“Well, we did get close, so I think there is something there.”
“What do you mean?”Dinesh asked.“Something between you and Squid?Romantic?”
“Mayhap.I suppose we’ll see.Seems that I have to do the seducing in this instance and be, well, patient.”He sighed.“Which is very difficult for a former whore.”
Dinesh covered his mouth and sputtered a laugh.
“Do you good.Must be refreshing to not have men begging for your favours,” I suggested.
“Truly.But frustrating when the one man you do want begging seems to take forever to make a move.Or to suggest that he wants me to make one.”Domingo frowned.“But I’m terrified of scaring him off.That’s already happened once.”
“What did you do?”Dinesh asked, eyes going wide.
“I kissed him.”
