The thought of broaching the subject with her made his stomach knot with anxiety, but he needed to know for sure that the reason she hadn’t told her parents about him wasn’t because of his employment situation. He only hoped his need to know wouldn’t cause trouble between them. He’d do anything to avoid that.
Chapter 7
Why won’t he take the hint and go away , Kara wondered as she ate her lunch as fast as she could, wanting to get back on the water and away from the annoyance named Dan Torrington. He’d found an excuse to stop by the marina every day for the two weeks the launch service had been open for business.
“Nice day,” he said from the dock.
She was sitting at the helm of the launch. “Uh-huh.” The boat bobbed in the chop from a passing dinghy, making her feel nauseated after shotgunning the lunch she’d planned to enjoy during a leisurely break that he’d ruined with his presence. Most of the time, she ignored him, but today he ventured down the ramp to the floating dock that housed the launch.
“So how does this work?”
“How does what work?”
“The launch service.”
Wasn’t it rather obvious? “Ah, we give people rides to and from their boats.”
“If someone wanted to go along for the ride, how much would that cost?”
“A ride to where?”
“Wherever you’re going when you leave here.”
“We don’t do that. You have to be going somewhere to come for the ride.”
He puzzled over that for a minute. “Isn’t the goal of this venture to make money?”
Kara hoped her scowl answered for her.
“If I’m willing to pay…say…twenty dollars to ride along, you’d say no to that?”
“If you have money to burn, you should give it to charity.”
His lips quirked with amusement, highlighting very appealing dimples. Kara hated herself for finding his dimples appealing. She knew his type. Nothing good came from spending time with guys who thought they were entitled to take anything they wanted. She’d learned that lesson the hard way.
“It’s a nice day. I’d like to take a boat ride. You have a boat. Are you sure we can’t negotiate a compromise?”
His use of lawyer speak didn’t help his case, not that he needed to know that. “Ask Mr. McCarthy if you can borrow his boat.” Kara gestured to the pristine Chris-Craft that Luke Harris had lovingly restored.
“Since I don’t know the first thing about how to run a powerboat, he’d be crazy to let me borrow his. Besides, I heard he’s off-island today. Something about his brother the judge getting an award from the state bar association. Mrs. McCarthy, Shane, Owen, Laura and baby Holden went, too.”
He was certainly well informed on island gossip. “Who’s minding the store at the Surf?” she asked and then instantly regretted the question because her goal was to get rid of him, not to continue the conversation.
“Owen’s mom.” He squatted to bring himself to her eye level. The scent of his expensive cologne invaded her senses, making her want to lean forward to get a better sniff. “Will you take me for a ride?”
“If I do, will you go away and leave me alone?”
Damn those dimples. “For now.”
“Fine. Get in, but don’t talk to me when I’m working.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He scrambled on board and slid precariously when the bottoms of his fancy shoes made contact with the boat’s deck. “ Whoa .”
“Those aren’t exactly boat shoes,” she said, laughing at the faces he made as he barely saved himself from pitching over the other side and into the water.
He handed her a twenty and took a seat on the bench in the aft portion of the boat.
Kara had expected him to sit near her and was slightly disappointed when he didn’t. Knock it off , she thought. What do you care where he sits?
He rested his arms on the back rail and stretched out long legs. They were nice legs with dark hair. Not too much dark hair. Just the right amount.
When she realized she was
Similar Books
