When Tomorrow Ends (2 page)

He brought her hands up to his mouth and kissed them, one knuckle at a time. “I am so sorry. Let’s start over. Tonight we go for a ring. I’ll work until 5:00 and when I come home, be ready for a night out on the town, you and me.”

“I’ll be ready. I do love you Jake.”

“I want to put a ring on your finger and marry you right now.” He gathered her in his arms and kissed her so long she almost lost herself in him again. She pulled back before she was late for her appointment.

“Are you sure you won’t go with me?”

“I’m not sure where you are going baby.”

“Last week I told you about the ship they’re going to sink off Key West. When I explained I wanted to get some writing material they were happy to let me ride along. I’ll be on the boat with the explosive expert. I think my next book series is going to be about these alpha male bad boys and one of them plays with dynamite.”

Jake shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t, but you have a good time. I’ll see you here right after five, I promise I’ll be here. I’ll call you later.”

Maggie headed for the shower. Tonight would be another glorious love making session with her own alpha male. She shivered at the thought. Jake was coming around at last.

Chapter 2

Key West boomed with activity. After she secured the top, Maggie parked her pink convertible Impala in a space at the docks and wandered around as she looked for the demo team. Sail boats, small speedboats and any other kind of ship you can imagine appeared out of nowhere. They reached so far out in to the water, it looked like dots peppered the ocean.

Maggie hoisted her slick new camera over her head and checked the lens to make sure the cap was off. Photos always helped when she began her research. She snapped a few pictures while she stood on the dock and then spotted the demo boat. BKH Dive Team stood out in bold script across the side.

The testosterone dripped in spades when she got on the boat. Four men, all in dark dive suits, smiled at Maggie and welcomed her. They stood in a half circle, their muscular bodies surrounding her. Maggie couldn’t believe her good fortune. She stood smack dab in the middle of a sexy romance scene. The sinking of the ship was going to be a minor part in her next book, but all of a sudden she came up with a whole series that included four divers with sexy, drop dead smiles and muscles that made a lady drool.

“You must be Maggie McCoy?” one of the men said.

Maggie smiled. “Yes, I’m Maggie. Who is the demolition expert?”

“That would be me,” a deep voice said from behind her. She turned in time to see a larger man get on to the boat, his dive suit like the others except he wore a hard hat and a bright orange vest. He had the most disarming smile ever and when Maggie reached out to shake his hand, his warmth flowed over to her. He was to die for handsome with dark, steady eyes and had a body that would render most women speechless. Except Maggie had Jake.

“I’m Ben.”

“I’m here to watch the sinking of the ship and learn a few things about explosives.”

He motioned for the other guys to retreat. “Go find someone else to drool over,” he told them. “Miss McCoy is with me for this ride. She’s mine so back off men.”

She looked at him, surprised and worried at the same time. “I’m not anyone's. Well, I’m Jakes. I have a man.”

The demo expert placed an arm around her shoulder. “This way, Jake’s woman. Perhaps we can change that before the day is over.”

Maggie wondered if perhaps she should turn around and get off the boat right now. The guy was hitting on her, it became obvious as he spoke to her about how he placed the explosives to make the ship sink upright. Every time he pointed to something, he would brush his hand on her arm or get too close.

It was a bit disarming because he was so hot. But she loved Jake and even though another man made her feel like this, Jake was the one to make her tremble and shudder with his touch.

“How long will it be before we reach the site?” Maggie asked. She could see the vessel over the horizon but it looked so far away.

“It won’t be long now. Here.” He handed her a hard hat. “Wear the hat from this point on.” He placed it on her head and his fingers were gentle as he ran them down the side of her face, along her neck and shoulder and down her arm.

She swallowed and dared to look in to those eyes. Maggie needed to tell him to stop. She wasn’t a frozen statue! She struggled with her emotions because it felt good to have someone pay attention to her. Jake didn’t have time to take her places like this.

Ben was a player. He was the type of man who had no desire to be with one woman. He loved them all and would take advantage of the fact he was drop-dead gorgeous. She had a man who loved her to the moon and back. Why did this guy have to be so sexy?

Maggie looked over the water to see the majestic Naval ship in the distance. The other ships and sail boats in the water dotted the ocean as they stayed on the back side of the barriers that bobbed in the water. The sun wasn’t shining much today. It seemed a storm brewed somewhere in the distance.

“Let’s get this done before the storm.” Ben began to take his job serious as he moved away from Maggie and belted out orders. He checked several devices on board then checked his watch. Phone calls began to come in and Maggie watched as the team of divers prepared for this event. These playboys weren’t pretty boys who stood around and looked, well, um, fine. They took their work serious.

She snapped a few photos when no one watched but realized she didn’t need a picture. The images were in her head and they’d stay there for sure. “Miss McCoy, come on over here,” Ben offered.

She stood beside him on the deck and it seemed as if the whole world became quiet. The noises in the background of people talking seemed to fade. Not even the soft music playing on the stereo deflected from the scene at hand. A tug boat sounded off it’s horn as a warning to all who were close to the ship.

“And we’ll be blasting in three minutes,” Ben spoke in to a mic attached to his ear. “Maggie, do you want to count down?”

“Yes!” She scooted closer to the microphone as the two stood face to face. Ben could have removed the piece from around his ear and held it out for her to speak in to, but he didn’t.

“All you have to do is talk in to here,” he said and moved a bit closer to her so they were almost touching. Maggie noticed a television camera to the side but didn’t pay much attention until Ben told them they were live on their local station.

“This is so exciting,” she blurted out, as the adrenaline kicked in. “I know what kind of story I’ll write.”

“What’s the storyline?” he asked, his mouth so close to hers.

“Woman meets bad boy explosion expert. They get stranded on a desert island for a start,” she said, the excitement in her eyes. “Then they get caught up in a love affair of the heart and -”

“Countdown begins now,” a voice said from another boat. Ben nodded to her.

“I’ll start, you finish,” he told her. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six.”

She spoke in the mic. “Five, four, three, two, one and fire.”

The moment she said the last word an explosion racked the air. The subtle riveting of the water rocked the boat. Maggie, fascinated, watched as the swirling foam began to pull the ship down as it made it’s slow descent in to the ocean waters. It began to sink and the back end went down first. “Amazing!” Maggie whispered. She forgot to snap any photos of the scene before her.

After a minute and a half, the ship disappeared below the surface of the water. All that stood in it’s place was a whirlwind of swirling water topped with white waves. A shout riveted the air and the men on board raised their arms and yelled along with the others. It sounded like the waters off the coast of Key West came alive as people roared in victory.

Maggie watched the commotion from behind the scenes as the men on board clapped each other on the back and shook Ben’s hand. “Congrats. You did a great job with the explosives.”

Ben grinned. “Now let’s get the flag raised.” He began to put some tanks on his scuba diving suit, then he walked over to her. “You can watch us from inside the cabin over there,” he pointed. “We have an underwater camera and you can see what we’re doing.”

Maggie took a seat on the stool in front of the screen. A few others stood with her and watched as the five divers went down in the water towards the ship. There was still a bit of disturbance and cloudy water as it settled in the ocean’s floor, but the divers were easy to spot.

Maggie had the privilege of being right here, up close and personal to this historic event. She kept her mind on that thought instead of the five men whose bodies filled up the wet suits with their big, strong muscles.

When the divers reached the ship, one of the men took a flag and unrolled it, then attached it to the ship. It’s material unfolded and the Key West logo stood proud on the helm of the sunken ship. The five men faced the flag for a moment and then, Ben turned and faced the camera and mouthed her name right before he blew her a kiss the world would see.

What would Jake think if he saw another man blow her a kiss on national TV?

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Jake paced back and forth in front of the display case. He told Maggie they would get a ring tonight, but he planned to surprise her with one instead. It was hard to take time off with his busy schedule at work until it occurred to him he could do whatever he wanted since he was the boss. It wouldn’t hurt him a bit to relinquish some of the work to someone else. His secretary wouldn’t do it, he asked her to go look for one earlier and she threw a fit.

He grinned when he thought back at the conversation. He was late for a meeting and one of the work sites had a few complications. Bonnie came in to his office with some papers for him to sign.

“Bonnie, since I’m running late for my meeting, can you do me a huge favor?” he asked her, his head down as he looked over the papers she put on his desk.

“Sure boss. What can I do for you?” Bonnie asked, her cool, no nonsense attitude ready for whatever task he asked of her. That attitude was the reason he hired her because she got the job done and didn’t need to be coddled.

“This isn’t work related and I hate to ask, or even have you do this, but there’s a ring at the jewelers I want to get for Maggie. Can you pick it up for me?”

Bonnie didn’t say anything, which seemed unusual. After a few seconds of silence, he looked up from the paperwork. She stared at him. Hard.

“What kind of ring?”

“A diamond. You know we are engaged. I haven’t been able to buy a ring yet with my schedule and all.”

“Have you picked out this engagement ring yet?” Bonnie’s blue eyes bore in to him and he came to the sudden realization she was about to tell him off.

He set the pen down and looked at her. “No, I didn’t. I hoped you could pick out a nice one, you know.”

She walked over to the desk and yanked the signed papers from his grasp. As she walked out the door, she turned her head and said to him. “Jake Hatfield, that is the lamest thing you ever asked me to do. The answer is no. Do it yourself.”

Now here he stood in front of the display case as nervous as a teenager going on a first date. He stuffed his hands deeper in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. The jeweler wanted him to come back for the inscription but he insisted on waiting. Now he stood there almost in a panic because he never picked out a ring for a woman before. He never needed to. She was the first woman he ever loved enough to want to buy a ring for.

The TV screen on the wall caught his attention as a red strip flashed the words LIVE across the screen. A young, pretty, dark haired news reporter stood on a charter ship reporting the latest.

Jake watched for a moment before he picked up the remote sitting on the glass case and turned up the volume.

“This is Angela Dalton of QTY Channel 14 reporting from the BKH Diving Charter. I’m here with the Bad Boys of Boat Key Harbor who are about to sink this fine Navy vessel.” Her voice droned on but Jake followed the camera as it focused on men in wet suits lined up to watch the explosion.

“Bad boys of Boat Key Harbor!” Jake fumed. Maggie was going to meet an explosive expert to do some research. He didn’t realize it would be Ben’s group. Jake began to breath in short bursts of air through his nose. He dished out his cell and called her number but it went straight to voice mail.

He called his secretary instead. “Bonnie, have you heard anything from Maggie?”

“Since you left?” she asked. “I hope you’re where I think you are.” Bonnie was younger than him but acted like his mother at times. Any other time he didn’t mind, but not now. “No, she hasn’t called. What’s wrong?”

“She went to do some research today. Turn on your TV.” He waited, the seconds seemed like minutes before he heard her reply.

“Oh! I see her now.”

Jake had turned away from the screen to make the phone calls. When he looked up there was Maggie, her face up close and personal with Ben Trooper. The news reporter stood right beside the two and held the mic towards them. He bent his head to hear her voice. “I know what kind of story to write now,” he heard her say. “Woman meets bad boy explosion expert. They get stranded on a desert island for a start. Then they get caught up in a love affair of the heart.”