Against the Tide by Kat Martin Page B

the trip was over. He wanted to talk to Chip Reed. He wanted to know if the police had located the actual crime scene, or the man in the security cam photo, or any other damned thing.
    If the engine on Sea Dragon wasn’t fixed by the time he got back, Rafe was handing Scorpion over to Mo for tomorrow’s charter. Instead of working, Rafe could spend the day digging, nosing around, doing whatever needed to be done to find the cowardly scum who’d killed Scotty.
    He’d make a run at Reed tonight—a thought that brought him full circle from where he’d started this morning. Thinking about Liv Chandler and reliving that hot, mind-blowing kiss. Jesus, the lady made his blood boil. He wanted more of her and he wanted it soon. He was tired of waiting, and he had a hunch, deep down, Liv was tired of it, too.
    As Jaimie and Zach worked to change out the rigs, he started the engines and headed for the spot where he’d had good luck fishing halibut before.
    Though he usually enjoyed every minute he spent on the water, Rafe couldn’t wait to get home.
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    â€œNeed some help with that?” Zach’s deep voice rolled over her and tension settled in Jaimie’s shoulders.
    â€œI can handle it.” Ignoring him, she continued to rig up one of the halibut outfits. It was weird being out here with Zach instead of Scotty. Where Scott was always laughing and joking, treating her like one of the guys, Zach’s mood was dark and brooding. He did his job and he was polite and helpful to the paying customers, but he wasn’t an outgoing kind of guy.
    Jamie remembered him from high school, though he was a couple of years older. He’d been reserved back then, too, but his dark good looks made him popular with the girls, who thought of him as the strong, silent type, kind of an Alaskan Johnny Depp. He wasn’t an easy guy to read back then and that hadn’t changed, though he made it no secret he thought of her as a woman, not a guy.
    Jaimie wasn’t sure how she felt about that. When he looked at her from beneath his thick, black lashes, her stomach kind of lifted and she felt oddly unnerved.
    He liked the ocean, though, and he knew what he was doing when it came to fishing. He gave good advice and it didn’t take long for him to earn the customers’ respect.
    She wasn’t sure yet, but maybe she would cut him some slack—as long as he left her alone.
    Jaimie almost smiled. She figured the way she looked in her rubber coveralls and knee-high rubber boots as she gutted a big, bloody fish, leaving her alone wouldn’t be a problem.

Chapter Eleven
    The sky had begun to clear but the wind had started blowing by the time Rafe parked the Expedition in front of the Pelican that evening. The door opened as he turned off the engine and Liv walked out, shrugging into her pea coat against the fifty-degree weather. She was wearing a pair of those black skinny jeans he’d seen her in so often, but had changed out of her comfortable work shoes into low-heeled, knee-high, black leather boots.
    He took in those long, long legs, thought of what they would feel like wrapped around him, thought of that sexy kiss last night, and heat slid into his groin. Even with her hair twisted up and very little makeup, she was one good-looking woman.
    He got out of the vehicle, rounded the hood and opened the passenger door as she approached. He could tell by the way she was avoiding his gaze, she was remembering that hot kiss, same as he was, wondering if he would bring it up. Which he wouldn’t.
    She climbed into the seat, and he closed her door, went around and slid in behind the wheel.
    â€œHave you heard . . . umm . . . anything?” she asked as he fired up the engine.
    â€œNot today. But I just got in a little over an hour ago. Let’s talk to Reed, see if he has anything new to add.”
    â€œDo you know if the police have tried to track the killer through