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Wade narrowed his eyes. “I don’t usually—”
“We keep it strictly business.” Gina had allowed personal feelings to get the better of her in business once before and that had landed her with a pile of bills, slimy pawnshop receipts and creditors pounding on her door. She couldn’t let that happen again to her pocketbook or her heart. “Agreed?”
Wade’s lips thinned.
She stood her ground and kept her focus on his unflinching face.
Finally Wade nodded. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. Now, let’s go over those files. I don’t want to get you home late. We’ll be setting sail at eight sharp.”
Gina drew in a deep breath wondering how she would fare spending her days and nights with the only man who could anger her, confuse her and make her ache desperately for his touch.
I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.
Great, she thought ruefully. She’d just realized that Wade hadn’t agreed to her terms at all, but instead, issued her a challenge.
She felt herself slowly sinking and she had to paddle fast to keep from going under. Which was saying something for a woman who had a dire fear of water.
Three
The next morning, Wade watched Gina make her way down the ramp that led to his docking slip at Marina del Rey. He’d told her to dress comfortably for the trip over to the island but as he watched her descend the steps he was almost sorry he’d given her that instruction. Her flowery sundress hugged her body perfectly and the tight white jacket she wore only accentuated her full breasts and slender waistline. July breezes lifted the hem enough to show her shapely legs as she strolled toward him. She’d pinned her hair in that knot again, but the breezy weather wouldn’t allow it and those chestnut tresses fanned out in tempting disarray. The vision she created of simple elegance and unquestionable beauty turned heads at the marina. Wade winced as he caught men stop what they were doing on their boats to watch her walk by.
Wade muttered a curse and told himself this was a business trip where he needed to keep his focus. He’d never let a woman get in the way of what was important to the company. Yet, when Gina approached his yacht he had a hard time remembering that. He peered up from the stern of the boat to greet her. “Morning,” he said, none too pleasantly.
“Good morning,” she said, but her eyes weren’t on him, or his yacht. They focused off in the distance, to the ocean that lay beyond the calm marina.
“You’re right on time.”
She took her eyes off the ocean long enough to answer, “Thanks to the driver you sent to pick me up.” She bit down on her lip and stood there looking quite businesslike, her chin at an unapproachable tilt and her stance slightly rigid. But that dress…that dress could make a man forget his own name.
“Come aboard,” he said, putting a hand out to help her.
She scanned the length of the boat and drew a deep breath as if steadying her nerves.
“You haven’t changed your mind, have you?” he asked.
She gazed once more at the ocean beyond the marina and shook her head, but her soft tentative answer left room for doubt. “No.”
Wade gestured with his outstretched hand. “Come on, Gina. We have to set sail soon.”
From the minute he’d seen it, Wade had known he had to own this fifty-two-foot Jeanneau sloop. It hadn’t mattered that he didn’t know how to sail. He’d made it a hobby and a far-reaching goal to master the craft when he’d first arrived in California. And he’d never been sorry.
Gina’s gaze scanned the deck and the steps leading to the quarters below. “I don’t see the crew? Are they late?”
“You’re looking at the crew.”
Gina’s dark almond-shaped eyes opened wide. “You?”
“Sam’s the pilot in the family and I’m the sailor.”
He stepped from the boat onto the ramp and grabbed the suitcase from her hand. “Come aboard and I’ll show you around.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Gina accepted his help and he guided her down onto his boat, releasing her the moment her feet hit the deck.
“I had no idea this was how we would arrive in Catalina.”
Wade had purposely left that detail out. He didn’t know how she would’ve reacted to his sailing them across to the island. Some people got jittery when they realized only one man had full charge of the boat. But that was what appealed to him most about sailing—the solitude and the challenge of being at the helm. And since he’d had a hard enough time convincing Gina to take the job last night, he’d thought it best to leave their travel arrangements out of the conversation.
His old man once told him that timing was everything. Wade believed him. He knew that after that kiss last night and then the untimely appearance from Veronica, he was on shaky enough ground with Gina. She’d been ready to walk out of his life again.
But that kiss had him tied up in knots all night long. Gina had melted in his arms. That much hadn’t changed. She’d tasted like wine, her lips soft and full and ripe. Her body molded to his, they fit each other like two puzzle pieces. He couldn’t hide his reaction to her any more than she could to him. Wade had lost himself in that kiss and he realized that he couldn’t let her go until they’d cleared up all of their unfinished business. Then and only then, would he say farewell to Gina for good.
“Can’t say that I ever imagined I’d get you on Total Command.”
Gina arched her brow. “Excuse me?”
“Total Command. The name of the boat. And the only way I operate these days.
Gina cast him a disapproving look.
“Listen, I’ll get us both to the island safe and sound. There’s no need to worry.” Wade picked up her travel bag and stepped down into the living quarters of the boat first and reached for her hand. She advanced carefully down the steps. But when the boat rocked slightly, she lurched forward. Wade grabbed her and their eyes met as their bodies collided. Intense heat sizzled between them. She was soft where she needed to be soft, and firm in all the right places. Wade held her for only a second before stepping aside.
He showed her the open space that would serve as a living room and then they walked through the galley where he had fixed them a mid-morning snack of fresh fruit, cheese and coffee.
Next he explained about the VHF radio and the SSB, the Single Sideband system used for a wider perimeter of communication. He’d even explained to her how she should call for help in case of an emergency. “But don’t worry about that. The weather is clear, the wind perfect, I’m in good health and we’ll be in Catalina before lunchtime.”
Gina nodded, but he didn’t miss her wide-eyed expression when he described to her how she could reach the coast guard if necessary.
“And what’s in there?” she asked gesturing toward a doorway.
“The master bedroom and bath. There’s two more bedrooms on the opposite end of the boat.”
“You don’t expect, uh, you don’t expect me to sleep down here.”
Wade wouldn’t get a lick of work done if she did. “That’s not in your job description. You’ll have a room in the finest inn on the island.”
“And you?” she asked. “Where will you be?”
“Right here. I stay on the boat when we moor. I don’t get as much time as I’d like on the boat. So I’ve set up an office in one of the spare bedrooms.”
He guided her back to the stairs, catching a whiff of her perfume, some exotic fragrance that reminded him of sultry tropical nights. As she climbed up the steps to the top deck he admired the wiggle of her bottom and those long tanned legs as he followed her up.
“Ready?” he asked.
She drew another deep breath into her lungs then put on dark sunglasses. She looked mysterious in them, a superstar trying to conceal her identity. And in a way Gina was a mystery to him. He didn’t know her mind, how it worked, what made her tick. He’d known her body and, hopefully, would try his best to know it again, but he would never believe he knew what she was thinking. He refused to make that mistake again.
Wade prepared the yacht for their departure, untying the ropes and setting the sails. Soon they were moving through the marina, past the rocks that harbored the bay, picking up wind that would take them into the Pacific Ocean.
Gina shook with fear the moment the boat began its journey out of the calm marina waters. She took a seat in the cockpit area as salty sea spray lightly drizzled her. With slight desperation she tried to block out images of the last time she’d been on the water, the last time she’d seen her parents alive.
She prayed for enough courage to sustain her through this trip and placed her faith in Wade and his sailing abilities. She watched him move along the sheets and sails, making adjustments and setting the course.
In faded blue jeans and a white tank, Wade might have looked like a typical sailor except his muscles strained harder, his body held more steadfastly, the concentration on his face appeared deeper than on any man she had ever known. Studying his fluid movements along the rigging, Gina could only admire him.
His kiss last night had been something.
But it had meant nothing to him.
I need you.
Yes, she understood that he needed her as his personal assistant, a right-hand man and a secretary all rolled up in one. He didn’t need her in any other capacity. Not in the way she had needed him nine years ago.
Wade took his place behind the wheel and they sailed in silence for a short time. The boat rocked and waves smashed up against the hull as they sailed along. Gina shuddered, unable to suppress the trembling of her body.
Wade turned at that very instant, catching her in a moment of fear. Their eyes held for a moment before he angled around again and Gina hugged her middle, tamping down the tremors that passed through her.
A few minutes later, Wade left the wheel and handed her a life jacket. “Put this on. You’ll feel better.”
Gina didn’t bother to protest. He was right. But though wearing a life vest might help with her fear, it wouldn’t erase the memories she had locked away that were surfacing. She put her arms through the armholes and closed the jacket taut.
Wade helped her fasten the snaps and tied it for her. And when she thought he would return to the wheel, he surprised her by taking a seat by her side. “Feeling seasick?”
She shook her head. Her queasiness had nothing to do with the motion of the sea. “No.”
“You’re trembling and pale, Gina.”
“I’m not—”
“You are.”
“No, I meant to say, I’m not seasick, but this is the first time I’ve been on the water since…the accident.”
Wade’s dark brows rose. He appeared genuinely surprised.
“I realize that this is the ocean and the accident happened on a lake, but—”
“You haven’t been on the water since?” he asked.
Gina closed her eyes. Memories flooded in of the ski boat, the laughter, her mother’s smiling face and then…the collision. Gina went flying into the water, out of danger. Her parents hadn’t been so lucky.
She shook her head and stared at the hands she’d placed in her lap. “No. I haven’t had the courage. It’s been almost ten years.”
“So, why now?” Wade asked softly.
But she sensed he was really asking her, “Why me?” Why would she take her first boat trip with him? She’d been desperate for work she’d wanted to tell him. She needed the money and was determined to start her business again, without anyone’s help this time. She’d been betrayed, but not destroyed. She wouldn’t give up, and if that meant facing her fears, then so be it. She peered into a face filled with concern, an expression reminiscent of the sweet, caring Wade Beaumont she’d once known. “It’s time, Wade. That’s all.”
Wade leaned back in the seat and put his arm around her. “That’s not all. Tell me about the accident.”
“I—I don’t talk about it.” She’d never really spoken about that day except with a support group that had really helped and understood what she’d been through. Losing both parents had been devastating enough, but to be the sole survivor of the crash that had taken four lives had been equally difficult. The result was major survivor guilt.
“Maybe you should. Maybe it’ll help you overcome your fear of water.”
She shook her head and gazed out upon the open sea. “I doubt that.”
Wade took her hands in his and the look on his face, serious but earnest, urged her on. “Try, Gina. We’re going to spend a week on an island surrounded by water. There’ll be times we’ll have to come back to the boat.” He cast her a slight hint of a smile. “I can’t have you fainting on me.”
Gina peered into his eyes. They were warm with concern. But she wondered if that look was about keeping his personal assistant calm or if it was truly for her benefit.
He squeezed her hands gently, coaxing the words that she hadn’t spoken to anyone but her support group. “It was Memorial Day weekend,” she began, “and we never once thought to worry about drunk drivers on the water…”
Emotions rolled in the pit of Gina’s stomach. She’d purged herself of her burden, sharing the events of that horrible day with Wade. He’d listened to her as she tried to communicate without tears, but at times her voice broke and she choked up. Wade sat there with a soothing arm around her shoulders, listening. And when the last words were out of her mouth, he thanked her for telling him.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked.
Gina nodded feeling a small sense of relief. “A little.”
He stood and peered down at her. “You need to eat something.”
“No,” she said, placing a hand to her stomach. “No, I couldn’t.”
“If you don’t want to eat, there’s coffee down below.” He glanced at the blue skies overhead then looked into her eyes as if deciding what was best for her. Then he took hold of her hand, guiding her up. “You look tired, Gina. Take a little rest. Get away from the water for a little while.”
He spoke softly and his tone comforted. She thought she could fall for him again—if she hadn’t sworn off men completely and if he would always look at her like he was now, without contempt and regret in his eyes. “Maybe I will go down below.”
He walked her to the steps and turned, tugging her close. She nearly bumped into his chest when the boat swayed. He steadied her with both hands on her shoulders then, with a slant of his head, brought his lips to hers. The kiss was brief and chaste and when it was over she gazed deeply into his eyes and smiled.
Wade looked off toward the horizon a moment then returned his focus to her face with narrowed eyes. His soft expression turned hard once again.
“Don’t think I gained any satisfaction seeing fear in your eyes or hearing pain in your voice, Gina. I’m not that big a bast—”
Gina pressed her fingers to his mouth. “I know, Wade. You’re not—”
He pulled her fingers from his lips. “I am. Make no mistake. But I draw the line at preying on another’s weakness. Take that as fair warning.”
Gina shuddered at Wade’s harsh tone. He’d let her glimpse the man he’d once been, but only for a moment. The young man she’d fallen in love with was gone, she feared, forever. And she’d had everything to do with his demise. “Consider me fairly warned.” She turned to walk down the stairs, feeling Wade’s penetrating gaze following her every step of the way.
Wade guided the boat toward the mooring can in Avalon harbor on Catalina island and set about tying the lines to secure the boat from bow to stern. The trip had been uneventful, the weather calm, the sailing smooth. But his passenger had yet to return to the deck.
With the dinghy ready to take them ashore, Wade made his way to the cabin below. The galley was empty, the food he’d set out was untouched and there was no sign that Gina had even been there.
With a curious brow raised he walked to his master bedroom and bath, finding that room empty as well. He’d have guessed as much and smiled to himself, but his smile faded quickly when he finally found Gina, sprawled out on the bed in the guestroom.
“Gina,” he said quietly.
When she didn’t rouse, he entered the room and gazed down at her, lying across the bed, her hair in a tangle, the dark tresses half covering her beautiful face. The dress she wore rode up her thigh, the material exposing thoroughly tanned, shapely legs. She’d kicked off her shoes and made herself comfortable on the dark-russet bedspread. She looked peaceful and more tempting than a woman had a right to look. Hell, even her polished scarlet-red toenails turned him on.
Her eyes opened slowly, as though she’d sensed him watching her. With a sleep-hazy sigh, she stretched her limbs, reminding him of a cat uncurling after a long sleep.
“Mmmm…Wade,” she purred and continued that long slow sensual stretch while keeping those lazy half-lidded eyes on him.
