Deep Blue by Kat Martin Page A

man. Besides, we’re not talkin’ marriage here. We’re talkin’ sex. Screamin’ hot, no-strings, get-your-rocks-off sex. Hope’s not some twenty-year-old kid. She’s a woman, Conn, and I think she’s as attracted to you as you are to her. As long as you’re both on the same page about that, I don’t see where there’s a problem.”
    Joe reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Think about it, buddy.”
    Conn made no reply. He was already thinking about it. He’d been thinking about hot sex with Hope Sinclair almost from the moment he had met her.
    But maybe Joe was right. Hope was a grown woman and there was definitely an attraction between them. As long as they both knew where they stood, maybe they could just enjoy each other for as long as the attraction lasted.
    “So…are you hearin’ me, man?”
    Conn smiled. “I’m hearin’ you. And if I think about sex any more, I won’t be able to walk.”
    Conn could hear Joe’s laughter all the way back to his cabin.
     
    It was morning, the sun well up, the crew finished with breakfast and were beginning the tasks they needed to get the boat resupplied. Conn looked over the rail, pleased to see the professor walking toward them. Earlier, he had been to Ace Truck Rentals to hire a flatbed to take the cannon to the maritime museum in Kingston.
    The museum was deeply involved in the preservation of Caribbean history and contained the equipment necessary to properly preserve whatever artifacts they might find in their search for the Nuestra Señora de Rosa. The professor had already gained their enthusiastic agreement to help in any way they could, and now he was ready to deliver the first artifact that would need to be preserved.
    First, however, the piece would undergo the professor’s intense scrutiny, which Conn hoped would provide the verification they needed and point them toward the treasure. He waved at Doc, then straightened at the sound of Hope’s voice as she walked up beside him at the rail.
    “Looks like the professor has arrived.”
    “He’s come to see the cannon,” Conn told her.
    “Joe says the two of you are taking it to the museum. I was hoping I could go with you.”
    “More information for your article?”
    “Actually, I finished the first in the series last night. I sent it to the magazine over the Internet, along with Tommy’s photographic work. I would have liked to get Dr. Marlin’s comments on the cannon, but yesterday was the last possible day I could make my deadline.”
    She smiled. “In a way, it left kind of a good cliffhanger. You know—‘Has the dedicated crew of the Conquest really found the lost Spanish galleon, Nuestra Señora de Rosa? Will they discover millions of dollars in treasure?’ Readers will be dying to buy the next issue to find out if you did.”
    Conn frowned. “Great. Now a bunch of lookie-loos will turn out to watch us diving for Spanish gold—or worse yet, try to find it themselves.”
    Hope just shrugged. “Everyone but you and the professor wants this story done.”
    “You mean Talbot and Markham want it done.”
    “That’s right. And so does Adventure magazine.”
    Conn sighed. “Well, I suppose you might as well come along. But first let’s see if the professor thinks we’ve found the Rosa. ”
    She fell into step beside him and he tried not to notice how good she looked, her lips glossy with some pretty peach shade of lipstick, her sea-green eyes shining with excitement. Her breasts did this sexy kind of jiggle as she walked, and he started getting hard.
    Cursing himself, he let her move a little ahead of him, then cursed again and tried to look at something besides her round little derriere. Damn, he wished Glory hadn’t gone back to Florida. Maybe he wouldn’t be so damned hot for Hope Sinclair.
    They left the boat and walked along the dock to where the professor stood waiting, his pale blue eyes twinkling, thin face wreathed in a smile.
    “I just got your message this morning.