Kiss Me Awake (5 page)

Besides, she could find out just as much from the island as she could from home. She brought along her laptop. This afternoon, she would visit Vickery’s website, do a search for his assistant, and track down her phone number.

The Black Diamond was tethered at the far end of the dock. Clad in a white tee shirt and a pair of gray plaid swim trunks, Lance stood on the lower deck staring off into the distance. But whatever had him riveted no longer held his attention. His gaze lowered, landing on her.

“Hey there, beautiful.” He reached for her, helping her aboard then slipped the overnight bag from her shoulder.

“Did she put up a fight?” he asked, offering Carina his hand.

“She was easy,” Carina said. “With the way she’s been buried in her work, I thought I would have to tie her up and drag her here.”

Jaida frowned. “
She
is standing right here.”

“And we’re so happy that you are,” Lance said with an Irish brogue. She paused and squinted in the direction he’d been looking when they arrived. What had been so enthralling?

She didn’t know much about Lance. None of them did. He’d been at Baseel for less than four weeks. What she did know was all surface. He had a dangerous appeal, a boyish charm that drew even the most resistant of women, which meant she needed to be on guard.

He wrapped an arm around her. “We may have brought the boss along, but just so you know this is a work-free weekend,” he said, stroking the faint shadow of a mustache that lined his upper lip.

“Hey, you made it.” Auggie came up behind Lance, shifting the baseball cap that shaded his face. “I should have told you last night, but…” He shrugged and gave her a look that said, what? That last night was her fault? That reaming her took so long, he’d forgotten to tell her about this last-minute outing?

“Put that inside, will you?” Lance tossed her duffle to Auggie.

It hit his midsection, and he winced.

“What do you have in here?”

“Your ego,” she said.

He shook his head. “Nah, too heavy. Feels more like my brains.” She made a face at his retreating back as he and Carina disappeared inside the salon. 

Jaida followed Lance up to the cockpit. He eased the catamaran out into the open water, and she sank back on the bench behind him. Instead of sitting in the seat at the helm, he gripped the wheel and stood with his feet braced for balance. A black smudge marred the tan leather of what looked like a new pair of boat shoes.

He reached over his shoulder and scratched at an unseen irritant between his shoulder blades. “You’re watching me, aren’t you?” he asked. So caught off-guard by his remark, she didn’t think to look away when he turned his head and proved himself right.

It wasn’t what he thought, but it bothered her that he caught her staring. “You’re so conceited.” 

A subtle dimple carved the lower part of his right cheek when he smiled. He was tipping the mask, revealing his intentions. But they were unwelcome.

“Don’t hold your breath,” she mumbled. Curling inside of herself, Jaida withdrew and looked away. Her life was already too complicated.

“What was that?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.” But his chuckle told her he knew exactly what she had said.

Auggie came up the stairs and poked his head around the corner. “Either of you want anything to drink?”

“Pepsi,” Lance said.

“No thanks.” Jaida dropped the sunglasses over her eyes and leaned back. She just wanted to shut out her problems and enjoy the ride.

“Five miles behind us. Twenty more to go.” She groaned when Lance announced their progress. He was ruining her moment.

“Are you going to do that all the way there? The ride over is the best part.” Jaida kicked her sandals off and drew her feet up onto the cushioned bench seat.

He laughed. “Testy today, are we?”

“Sorry,” she said. She supposed her tone had been a little rude.

“I would have thought you were a woman of refined tastes. You strike me as the champagne and caviar type.”  

“That would be Carina.” She looked up at him then. “But what does that have to do with my enjoying the ride?”

“If you were the pampered type I would see
this
,” he tapped the wheel, “solely as a means to transport you to your natural habitat.”

Again, that would be Carina. “My natural habitat, being…?” Where was he going with this? Should she be offended?

“Never mind. I was just thinking out loud.”

Both of them turned and looked as Carina ascended the steps.
What was this?
Her skin glistened with a generous layer of tanning oil, and the two-piece bathing suit she wore left little to the imagination.

Carina swept past and spread a bright orange beach towel out on the deck, then planted herself in the middle of it.

Had they entered the twilight zone? Jaida couldn’t tear her eyes away. “What are you doing?”

“Just getting a little sun,” Carina snipped. “You don’t need to make a federal case out of it.”

It was all for show, it had to be, but who was the audience she was playing to? Auggie? She’d been discreet about her attraction to him, but Jaida saw it. Besides, why else would the avowed sun hater be sailing to Catalina?

“Hey, Senorita Martin.” Jaida turned.
Speak of the devil
. Auggie tossed Lance a bottle of Pepsi then waved at her to follow him down the steps.

What did he want? If he thought he was going to harp on her about last night he had another thing coming. She had the weekend off.

Down below Auggie reached for the salon door then hesitated. He drew his hand back. Angling his head, he eyed her from over his shoulder.

“What’s wrong? Is it locked?” In answer he slid the glass door over the tracks and ushered her inside.
Guess not.

The chilled air against her warm skin made her shiver. It was like a miniature apartment down here. She had never been on a catamaran this lavish.

“I could live on something like this, travel around from port to port.”

It had an open floor plan. Two love seats, the color of burgundy wine were centered in the room. A narrow oak table stocked with magazines and decks of cards still in their sleeves sat between the two sofas. Beyond the living area was the kitchen. It was small; a galley, but appeared as functional as her own.

Two closed doors. One must be the bathroom, the other… There was movement, and her gaze darted to the right, to a
corner where dusky shadows and the narrow space conspired to hide the vague form of a man.

A splash of light from the window revealed a stony face. Kevin? What was he doing here? Is this why Auggie was behaving so strangely?

How dare he do this to her? She spun around and speared him with a glare. He offered a half-hearted shrug, had the decency to look embarrassed, and then muttered some excuse before fleeing the scene.
Coward. 

Jaida stood facing the door he’d hastened out of, wanting desperately to follow. But they were in the middle of the ocean. Kevin would catch up to her sooner or later.

When she turned around he had emerged from the shadows. He was watching her with that same shyness, that painfully awkward timidity.

“Hey,” he said. His shoulders were slouched, and he had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his khaki shorts. He was a man of few words and most of them borrowed from movie scripts.

She saw her duffle bag on the floor near the breakfast bar and picked it up. “How are you?” Her greeting was flat, almost perfunctory. But she had no real desire to know the answer, just to escape this awkward situation.

He spread his hands. “Sorry about this. Carina said you wanted to give it another shot, but I can see you had no idea I was even here.”

Of course, this poorly planned rendezvous had Carina written all over it. And as Lance said, they were five miles out. There was nothing she could do about it now.

Kevin looked so mournful, like a human Eeyore. She almost felt sorry for him, but no amount of pity would change her mind.

“Friends is good, Kevin,” she said. She never wanted anything more than that.

He nodded again, strands of chestnut-colored hair hanging in his eyes. He was letting his hair grow long, and the ends already grazed his unshaven chin.

“I’m still willing to help you out with your finances. Setting up some investments, building a portfolio. Anything you need.”

“Thanks for offering, but I’ve got that covered.”

A brief flash of disappointment crossed his face, and then he smiled. “Money’s only something you need in case you don’t die tomorrow, right?”

She recognized the quote, but couldn’t recall the movie he’d pulled it from. He was an odd man.

Bag in hand, Jaida walked away and closed herself inside the bathroom.

                                        *

Lance contemplated the empty stairwell to his right and the fact that Auggie had come back up alone. He was now occupying the seat Jaida had vacated and his mood appeared to have soured. Just what transpired down below?

He cracked a grin. “What happened to my view?” he asked.

“She’ll be along.” Auggie was tight-lipped, as usual. The man was easy to read, but hard to crack.

Lance surveyed the surroundings. He glanced at Carina, who was absorbed in a novel, then turned his gaze back to the water where rows of cresting swells the size of speed bumps rumpled the glassy sea.

Auggie said, “The review board approved your 30 day increase yesterday. They’ll send you a formal notice on Monday.”

The news gave him the opening he needed. “And not a moment too soon. I don’t know how I’m supposed to survive on what they pay. How does Jaida manage so well? I barely made rent.”

“I have a good broker.”

Lance jerked around and blew out a sharp breath. Man, she was stealth. Where had she come from?
He eyed the melon-colored swimsuit she changed into and held up an appeasing hand. “Didn’t mean to pry.” 

He drained the last of his Pepsi then crushed the plastic bottle in his palm. “I was just curious. Maybe you can offer me some tips later on.”

“Maybe,” she said then sank down beside Carina on a towel.

“So, what’s the name of this broker?” Auggie asked. “I know what you get paid, and he must be a magician. You couldn’t possibly have anything left to invest at the end of the month.”

The corners of her mouth curled up, and Lance smiled to himself. She had a secret. And he was just the man to dig it up.

Auggie snorted and adjusted his hat. “Broker my eye.” 

“What are you reading, Carina? Is it any good?” Jaida asked. Lance watched her tilt the book clutched in Carina’s hands to get a glimpse of the title.

Carina said, “Nothing you’d like. It would keep you up at night.”

“I don’t know how you can read those gruesome horror stories. They creep me out.”

He noticed the unnatural pitch to Jaida’s voice. Something had her riled. Was it his probing about money, or the
cargo
they were hauling downstairs?

Allowing Kevin to join them was a regret he would have to live with. At Carina’s request, he’d agreed to include her friend, but that was before he knew her purpose for inviting him. Kevin was just one more obstacle, and right now what he needed was a clear field.

Besides, there was something off about him, but he couldn’t get a clear read on what it was. And he wasn’t too sure he wanted to climb inside that brain and wade around unless he had to.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and in his first appearance since boarding the Black Diamond,
Kevin joined them on the upper level. He was less than cordial. Much less.

He stood alone, looking ill at ease in his own skin when Lance called him over. “Want to take the wheel for a while?”

He scratched his head, looked down at his sandaled feet then said, “Sure, why not.”

They switched places, and Lance gave him a brief rundown on the basic operation of the vessel then stepped aside. “Thanks, man.” He could use the break and the opportunity to mingle.

He pulled his tee shirt over his head and tossed it on the seat next to Auggie, fully aware of the attention it elicited from Jaida. He smiled to himself, glad that he didn’t have to work too hard to attract it.

“I didn’t know you had a tattoo,” she said. “Wicked-looking dragon.”

Auggie snickered. “Who is that supposed to be? Puff?” 

“If you weren’t such a woman, I’d punch you.”

“Go ahead. You hit like a girl anyway.”

Lance chuckled at Auggie’s gibe. Waving it off, he insinuated himself into the narrow spot left beside Jaida then dropped to his stomach.

She angled her head, their eyes connecting, hers full of questions, the wheels turning. She was analyzing, trying to make sense of his motives. Not something she ought to do.        

“The dragon needs a little sun,” he said. He watched the corner of her mouth tip up and then spread into a brilliant smile. He knew then this was going to turn out better than he’d planned.