“Answer my question, Kelsey,” I said. “Why are you researching me?”
“I suggest you read that folder by tonight so you and Asher can be on the same page for tomorrow’s first activity.”
“So, Asher makes you look into me?” I refused to let it go. “How long has this been going on?”
“Oh wow!” She stepped back. “Look at the time! I didn’t realize it was so late in the day.”
“It’s eleven o’clock in the morning, Kelsey.”
“It feels like midnight.”
“It isn’t.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Answer my question.”
“Okay, uh, well…” She blinked so rapidly that I thought her eyelashes would fall off.
Without uttering another word, she grabbed her bag and rushed away.
* * *
In the morning, I headed to a private boat pier as the folder suggested.
“Hello?” I stepped onto the dock. “Hello?”
“I’m over here.” Asher called out from a white sailboat.
I followed his voice and stopped when I saw him.
He was already dressed for the water—swim trunks hanging low on his hips, his skin still damp from earlier.
I suddenly felt very aware of my own bikini.
He was straddling a seat and tying a rope, his muscles flexing as he wrapped the twine around his fingers.
“Get on the damn boat, Katie.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “We’re running late.”
“For what?”
“I arranged for them to go on a private boat tour,” he said. “We’ll need to watch and listen from a distance to see if I can exploit anything for a breakup.”
“Is it really that serious?”
He looked at me like I’d grown two heads. Then he reached for my hands and helped me climb aboard.
He motioned for me to sit on a seat near the front, and he settled behind the helm.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
The boat cut smoothly across the water, the wind tugging at my hair, the sun settling warm against my skin.
It almost felt…normal.
Until I remembered why we were out here.
After cruising for miles, he finally stopped when we reached a cluster of rocks.
He idled the engine and moved down to the floor.
“Come down here with me,” he said.
