Beyond the Tide

by Noelle Marchand

  Ava’s whisper shot over his shoulder. “Pirate’s what?”

  That’s right. She’d thought she was on a historical reenactment show. Well, she was bound to be disappointed to find out she was merely an extra on a reality show. He was disappointed for her. Or, maybe he was just disappointed for himself. He might have liked the chance to get to know her better. She was obviously intelligent. He liked the way she’d taken everything in stride up to this point. She’d had every right to be rude. Instead, she’d been helpful and kind. What were the chances she was a Christian?

  It shouldn’t matter. He was supposed to be avoiding relationships, staying focused. The deck shifted with a swell and Ava’s hand landed on his shoulder long enough for her to steady herself. His muscles tensed at the fleeting touch of heat. He frowned. Ok, he was attracted to her. So, what? It didn’t matter.

  She’d be off the ship in a matter of minutes. After that, he’d never see her again… which was fine. Right? It was fine.

  R

  Emersons were unflappable under pressure. They showed no weakness—especially not to the media. Years of pageant training straightened her spine. Her hands lowered from her cheeks to perch on her waist. She didn’t try to smile. It wouldn’t look sincere. Instead, she allowed her brow to furrow slightly while she watched the proceedings as if she was trying to put the pieces of this disjointed puzzle together. Of course, that was exactly what she was trying to do—to no avail. Nothing about this made sense.

  Logan Kittredge. The Logan Kittredge, who hosted Superstar and happened to be one of Ava’s biggest celebrity crushes, braced his boots on the swaying deck and set his hands on his hips. Authority rang in his voice as he addressed the pirates. “Crew, your treasure will be evaluated to determine its worth and your ranking. As you know, the two pirates that receive the lowest ranking will be in danger of being voted out at pirate council.”

  She allowed a small shake of her head to betray her confusion. This pirate show seemed far better thought out than her reenactment one. So much so that it was making her nervous. She blinked in surprise as Logan Kittredge pinned her with his smoldering gaze. He sauntered toward her and removed his tricorn hat to give her a deep bow. “Miss Emerson, if you would join me, please?”

  Logan Kittredge knew her name. She was still staring in disbelief at the hand he extended to her when Ian’s hands latched onto her waist. He lifted her down slowly, carefully until her slippers met the deck. She met his gaze, and the rest of the world seemed to fade away. The corner of his mouth tipped ever so slightly into a smile. He gave her a bolstering nod before releasing her.

  “Miss Emerson?”

  She blinked. Her gaze connected with Logan Kittredge’s brown eyes. She removed her hands from Ian’s shoulders, even though she was entirely sure how they’d ended up there in the first place, and slid her hand into Logan Kittredge’s grasp. He promenaded her in a circle, allowing her to get a good look at the other men on deck. Was everyone on this ship ridiculously attractive? It certainly seemed that way.

  Feeling all of their eyes watching her, she stood confidently beside Logan Kittredge and waited for all of this to start making sense. Logan— Could she call him Logan? He stared down the others. “Due to the advantage he earned by being the first to spy the merchant ship, Ian was able to collect the most desirable and valuable treasure. Men, say hello to Miss Ava Emerson.”

  The men grumbled out a collective greeting.

  “Ian, you captured a governor’s daughter en route to St. Augustine. We demand a ransom, which is met. The lion’s share of it is credited to you. The rest of the crew will receive a small portion as well.”

  Logan finally turned to her. He kissed her hand, which oddly enough, made her want to tug it from his grasp. However, he was holding it quite firmly, so she left it where it was. “Miss Emerson, although your freedom has been purchased, I renege on my promise to free you. You will stay on board under my protection as the captain’s woman.”

  “What?” She snatched her hand from his.

  He gave her a rakish grin. Someone yelled ‘cut’. A man in a white T-shirt, denim cutoffs, and dark sunglasses emerged seemingly from nowhere. “Kitt, what have I told you about improvising?”

  “Kitt” took off his hat, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed his forehead. “Robbie, I’m a pirate captain for goodness’ sake! I don’t see why I can’t be a little salty. Get it? Salty? We’re at sea. The ocean has salt in it.”

  Kitt laughed at his own pun while a makeup artist rushed forward to powder his forehead. Robbie removed his sunglasses to roll his eyes. Backing away, he commanded, “Pick it up from the hand kiss.”

  Kitt placed his hat back on and waited until the cameras were rolling to kiss her hand again. “Miss Emerson, your freedom has been purchased. However, I renege on my promise to free you. You will stay on board as the final member of our crew.”

  “I… Wait. What?”

  He released her hand and gave her a stern look. “Join your fellow crew members.”

  Her mouth fell open. He swept his arm toward the equally shocked men. Frozen in place, her gaze darted to Robbie. The smirk on his face told her all she needed to know. They’d planned this from the start, and they were proud of it.

  She’d been press-ganged. Now she was stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean with a crew of pirates. Not just pirates, though, there was also a sailing crew and who knew how many other production crew members. Except for one or two women behind the scenes, all of them were men. Uneasiness filled her.

  She had not signed up for this. Or had she? She’d signed a forty-day contract with Living History Production. They must want her for more than a three-day voyage. No doubt the contract she’d signed somehow reflected that. Right now, there didn’t seem to be any way out of this.

  Conscious of the cameras still trained on her, she gave a little shrug and offered a smile filled with amusement she didn’t truly feel. “I guess it’s a pirate’s life for me.”

  Chapter Five

  Ian knew where he’d seen Ava before. She’d been all over the news a few months back after someone had tried to attack her, intending to throw acid on her face. The man hadn’t succeeded, thank the Lord. In fact, the governor’s security detail had ended up killing the man in a shootout. It had happened right around the time of the Emily’s accident.

  He’d spent most of his time sitting at Emily’s bedside in the hospital with the news on the TV in the background. He’d learned a lot about Ava back then. The whole nation had. She was the daughter of one of the most popular governors in Texas’ history. Beyond that, she’d been Miss Texas and runner-up to Miss America a few years back. She’d been pursuing her Ph.D at the time of the attack.

  In an interview he’d seen of her, she hadn’t been shy in talking about her faith. Her grace under pressure and the way she’d reached out to the assailant’s orphaned daughter had made her Texas’s darling. Within the state’s vast borders, she was like Princess Kate and Jackie O all rolled into a long-legged package with dynamite smile. He may have recognized her sooner if not for the historical costume.

  The director and producer Robbie Heath called “cut.” The pirates swarmed over to meet Ava, all of them talking at once. The production crew faded into the background like busy worker bees, rushing back and forth between the two ships. Ava’s voice held the perfect mix of friendliness and reserve. “Thank y’all for welcoming me. As much as I’d like to meet all of you, I’d like a few questions answered first. It doesn’t seem as though the director or producer will be able to give those right now, so I’m relying on y’all.”

  She’d gone full-on Southern belle at the end there, and it had the desired effect of making the men stand up straighter. She offered a smile. “This show is called Living History: Pirate’s what now?”

  Ian held back a chuckle. Apparently, Robbie didn’t think it was funny. He pushed past the pirates saying, “Pirate’s Plunder, Miss Eme
rson. You guys need to clear out. We need to appraise the pallets before the pirate council. Miss Emerson, come with me. You need to consult with wardrobe.”

  Robbie turned on his heel and walked away. Ava moved to follow him, then hesitated. “My trunk! It has all my clothes.”

  “Go on. I’ll bring it.” Ian picked up the trunk and followed her as Robbie led the way to the empty officers’ cabins.

  Robbie didn’t bother to look back at her. “We are trying to keep things historically accurate, which means you’ll be our only female contestant. That, along with your father’s insistence that we treat you like a porcelain doll, scored you a private room.”

  She let his comment pass with a nod even as a blush betrayed her true emotions. Ian knew that frowning at the director would do no good, so he set the trunk beside the bunk without comment. Robbie frowned at the trunk. “You won’t need any of those gowns. Diana will outfit you like the rest of the pirates.”

  Ava’s gaze landed on Ian’s bare chest. “Hopefully, they’ll be more fabric in my case.”

  Ian held back a laugh but couldn’t stop his mouth from quirking into a smile. “More fabric was provided. I chose to forgo it. Habit, I guess.”

  “Habit?”

  “I swim a lot.” He pantomimed the breaststroke with his hands as if that would somehow make it all less weird. Honestly, he went without a shirt so often on Rick’s ship that he hadn’t even realized he’d left the blousy white garment on his hammock at midday. He dragged his gaze from her gorgeous eyes and caught Robbie watching them speculatively. “Sorry, Robbie. You were saying?”

  Robbie zeroed in on Ava again. “Yes, as I was saying, you’ll pull your own weight on this ship just like the other contestants. You’ll learn to sail. You won’t get any special treatment.”

  She met Robbie’s gaze with steely determination. “I never expected any.”

  “Good.” Robbie pointed to the folder on her bed. “You have a production and chore schedule. Make sure you read them both. You’ll also find an amendment to your contract specifying the rules of the competition. I’ll need you to sign it and return a copy to me. Everything else was covered in your original contract. Let me know if you have any questions.”

  “I will. Thank you,” she said as he walked out with a dismissive wave. Ava placed her satchel on the floor and picked up the folder, but didn’t try to open it yet. Instead, she offered Ian a grateful if guarded smile. “Thanks for bringing the trunk.”

  “You’re welcome.” Ian tipped his head to the door. “Don’t worry about Robbie. He’s kind of prickly with all of us. I think your calm reaction to everything got his dander up.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I’m pretty sure he was waiting for you to have a meltdown.”

  She bristled at the mere suggestion. “I would never.”

  “Not much fazes you, does it?”

  “I’m a politician’s daughter,” she said as if it explained everything. Maybe it did.

  “I know. I met your father once by the way. It was about two years ago at a meet and greet for Treasure Hunters.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Oh, he loves that show.”

  Ian nodded. Rick had been pleased as punch about that fact. “Your dad was in Corpus Christi for another event and came down to meet us not long after we’d discovered the Mariposa.”

  “The Mariposa? Wait. That was Treasure Hunters? The artifacts recovered from that ship shed so much light on the history of early Spanish expeditions to Texas. Man, I have got to watch more TV. Were you a part of the crew?”

  “Yes.” He wanted to tell her he’d helped discover the wreck and had recovered many of the artifacts, but that smacked of trying too hard. This wasn’t a first date. He didn’t need to try to impress her.

  She looked impressed anyway and shook her head in what seemed to be awe. “It must have been an amazing experience.”

  “It was a dream come true.” One he’d been enthralled by since he’d first heard the legend of the lost Mariposa as a kid.

  She gave him a curious smile. “If you have another TV show, how did you end up on this one?”

  He shrugged. “The executives wanted to do some cross-promotion. I got drafted.”

  “Interesting. Are you from the Corpus Christi area?”

  “Born and raised.”

  The wardrobe lady knocked on the doorjamb. “Miss Emerson, I’m here for your wardrobe consultation.”

  Ian took a step back. “That’s my cue to leave.”

  Ava nodded, then held out her hand for him to shake. “Thanks for talking with me. It’s nice to know there’s someone here from home.”

  “Sure thing.” He took her hand and ignored the electricity surging through their touch.

  A quick sideways glance told him the wardrobe consultant was distracted by the luggage she was toting. He should have left well enough alone. After all, Neil’s advice to steer clear of women had been sound. But wasn’t it a tad overreaching?

  There weren’t any other contestants of faith on this ship besides Brian as far as Ian knew. It was important for them all to be able to rely on each other. Besides, with everything Ava had gone through and the way she had already been treated on the show, it would be good for her to know she had someone in her corner. He stepped closer to murmur, “And, hey, one Texan to another and one Christian to another, I’ve got your back.”

  Ava stilled. Her gaze dropped to their joined hands, then lifted to search his. She smiled. Lowering her voice to match the volume of his, she gave him a single nod. “Thank you, Ian. Right back at you.”

  See? No flirting involved. They were simply two like-minded individuals forming an alliance of sorts. Neil didn’t need to worry. Ian could handle this. He copied her nod. “Welcome to the Intrepid.”

  R

  “I’m sorry. Would you go around wearing your unmentionables on the outside of your shirt?”

  Diana, wardrobe consultant extraordinaire, rolled her eyes. “Ava, it’s just a corset.”

  “Same thing. Give or take a couple hundred years.”

  “Am I going to have to call Robbie down here?”

  Ava froze. “You wouldn’t.”

  Diana’s eyes narrowed. “I will if you don’t get off that trunk of dresses and try on your new costume.”

  Pressing her lips into a tight line, Ava slowly rose. Diana shoved the corset, breeches, and blouse into Ava’s arms, then dove for the trunk. Ava’s mouth fell open. “Hey!”

  Ava scrambled to sit on it again, but landed smack on her backside, since Diana was already dragging it out the door into the hall. Diana jumped back in the room and barred the door behind her. Crossing her arms, she lifted an eyebrow.

  Not even bothering to rise to the woman’s challenge, Ava went straight to pleading. “Please let me keep at least one dress.”

  “You’ll stop fighting me and try on the pirate gear?”

  Ava clasped her hands together. “I promise.”

  “One dress,” Diana mumbled reluctantly even as laughter filled her dark eyes.

  “Two?”

  “One!” Diana insisted, then neither of them could hold it in anymore, and they both started laughing. Diana shook her head in exasperation. “Hurry up already! We don’t have all day.”

  “Ok. Ok.” She sent Diana a grateful grin, then unlaced the green dress. “Are you going to be on this ship for the entire voyage?”

  “No. I’m leaving with Kitt and some of the production crew on the merchantman tomorrow morning.”

  She stepped out of the dress. “Well, that’s disappointing. Are there any other ladies on the production crew?”

  “There’s a sound technician who will stay on board.” Diana picked up the gown and laid it carefully on the bed while Ava shimmied out of the bloomers under the protection of the petticoat. “Her name is Camille.”

  Ava took the brown britches Diana handed her a
nd put them on under the petticoat. “We’ll have to become best friends.”

  “She tends to keep to herself.”

  “Of course, she does.” Ava blew out a frustrated breath. She untied the petticoat. It dropped to the floor. “Sunblock was allowed. Why not deodorant?”

  “Deodorant?” Diana folded the petticoat.

  “Yeah. All those men. Limited bathing opportunities. It’s going to be pretty awful since we aren’t allowed deodorant.” Ava took off the corset cover, which still left her with the corset and the chemise underneath. She reached for the poet shirt.

  Diana pulled it away. “I think pirates are supposed to be smelly. The blouse goes under the corset. You promised. No fighting. Just try it.”

  Ava made a face. Diana handed her a leather corset, then turned her back while Ava changed into it. It stopped right below Ava’s bust. “Um. I think I’m going to need more…”

  “Support. I told Robbie you might.”

  Ava’s eyes widened in horror. “You discussed my bust with Robbie?”

  “I discussed all the costumes with Robbie.” Diana pulled another brown leather corset from the suitcase, which seemed to hold no limit of options. “Try this.”

  It was going to work. Ava knew it immediately. It had more structure to it and looked more like a vest with shoulder straps. It took a while to lace up the front, but, all in all, it felt much better. She tried on a black one next. It was similar in style, but a little more revealing, especially when it was paired with an off-the-shoulder poet shirt. Lastly, she was given a vest made of green fabric.

  Diana approved three pairs of pants and one skirt. By the time they were finished trying things on, Ava was wearing a black corset, a white off-the-shoulder poet shirt, and cobalt blue britches. Camille arrived to tape Ava’s wireless bodypack transmitter and microphone in place. Professional but not personal, the lady in her forty-somethings gave Ava a few instructions about the mic, then left.

  “That was fast,” Ava muttered.