So he continued speeding across the water’s surface.
At one point during the drive, Kam stretched out onto the cushioned bench. With her eyes closed, it was nearly impossible to tell whether she was enjoying the afternoon sun had fallen asleep.
It wasn’t until the sky above them became filled with an amber glow that he realized just how much time had passed. Between that and his growling stomach, he knew the time had come for them to stop for the night.
He cut the engine, waiting until the biggest of the boat’s rocking movements eased before pushing himself out of his chair. Without a word to his passenger, he walked over to where one of the boat’s two anchors lay.
The water splashed as the weight of forged steel struck the surface. Van held the anchor’s thick rope between his hands, carefully guiding it as it continued to sink. When he was finished with the one, he walked over to the opposite side of the bow.
With the boat’s position secured in the water, he looked over to the bench to find Kam alert and watching.
“Does that mean we are staying here?” Her gaze scanned the area around them.
He knew what she was seeing. Water for as far as the eye could see, with the nearest strip of land far off in the distance.
Van cleared the dryness from his throat and nodded. “If you’re not comfortable with that, I can pull the anchors back up, and we can head back to the marina.”
It would take hours for them to make it back to his slip, but if that’s what she wanted…
“It’s like you said last night.” She rose to her feet. “If you wanted me dead, I’d be dead. Right?”
His chest grew tight. “I won’t hurt you, Kam.” Not here.
Not ever.
“I believe you, Van.” She smiled.
Damn, but she truly was beautiful.
“You hungry?”
“I could definitely eat. But you don’t have to keep waiting on me.” She gave a slight shake of her head. “If you’ll tell me what you want, I’m happy to make us something for dinner.”
He considered this before responding with, “Or we could make it together.”
Together? Are you an idiot or just a masochist?
Apparently, he was both because Van couldn’t seem to find it within him to withdraw the invitation for her to help. Worse yet, when Kam’s smile grew even wider, he found himself feeling…
Happy.
Okay, maybe nothappy. But he couldn’t deny the tendrils of something he didn’t normally feel bubbling up inside.
“Come on.” He jutted his chin toward the other end of the boat. “I’ll show you our options, and then you can choose.”
“Me?” Her dark brows arched high. “I’m honored.”
“You should be,” he teased.
And where the hell had that come from? He didn’t tease. He didn’t joke. Not like Lucky and the other guys on his team.
What is happening to me?
But as he motioned for her to walk ahead of him—because ladies first and all that—Van already knew the answer.
It was her.Shewas what was happening to him. And if he could feel himself changing inside after only being around the woman for a couple of days, what would be left of the man he once was by the time Webb and his men took her off his hands?
His steps faltered and his stomach filled with a sense of dread as he followed her on the railed deck running along thestarboard side of the boat. Van watched her moving casually, as if she didn’t have a care in the world, oblivious to his team’s plan to hand her over to SECNAV as soon as the other man landed in Seattle.
