“No, but I don’t particularly have a ‘type.’” Curiosity got the best of him, and he asked, “Why? Do you?”
“No,” she said softly.
Staring into her eyes, he realized they were wading into dangerous territory. Time to retreat. He rolled back to lay on the sand next to her. Silence stretched between them for a long moment. Ava finally asked, “So it’s a ‘no’ to Camille then?”
They both burst out laughing. He turned to look at her again. “What have you got against Camille?”
“She scares me a little,” she admitted before offering an embarrassed smile. “Ok. Maybe more than a little. Plus, I really hoped we’d forge some kind of bond since we’re the only ladies on a ship full of men. That didn’t happen.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, I think the production crew was told to keep their distance. They all have the same sort of attitude.”
“Maybe so.” She frowned and slid her fingers through the sand between them. “You know, now that I think about it, even Ted has kept to himself.”
“The cameraman?”
“Yes, I knew him in Austin years ago. In fact, I went to school with his son. Ted interviewed me and my dad on occasion.”
“Then I’m probably right about the crew. Try not to take it personally.”
“I’ll try.”
He glanced past her to the steadily rising moon. “We should probably head back to camp.”
“In a minute. It’s so relaxing here.”
“All right. Just a few minutes.” He turned his gaze toward the stars only allowing himself to check on her now and then. Her lashes were definitely turning languid. It was no wonder with the steady rhythm of the waves in the background.
He nodded off once. That was enough of a warning for him. He rubbed her arm until she awakened. “Ava, we need to go back to camp before we fall asleep here.”
She murmured something that sounded an awful lot like, “We are not sleeping together.”
“No, we aren’t, but if we don’t get back to camp, that’s exactly people might assume.” He stood, helping her to her feet.
“I should have thought about that,” Ava said as they brushed the sand from their clothes as best they could. “How long do you think we’ve been gone?”
“Maybe an hour. I’m not sure.” They really should get moving before one of the guys noticed they were missing. “Let’s go, sleepyhead. The sun will be up before you know it.”
They whispered a quick ‘Goodnight’ before they entered the camp and slid into their respective bedrolls. A few yards away, Brian opened one eye and gave him a covert thumb’s up. Ian sent him an exasperated look and shook his head before turning away.
Nothing had happened between him and Ava. Nothing would happen. Any question about that had been settled tonight. Neither of them could afford the complications of a televised romance. Not only was their romance officially over, it had never gotten started.
Chapter Nine
Ian was right. Morning came early. Way too early. Dawn was barely stealing across the horizon when Noah started singing Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-go.” A chorus of groans filled the air from everyone else.
Ava peeked one eye open to discover that the cameras were back. She burrowed deeper into her blanket in a vain attempt to blot out the morning light and to hide from the lenses. One of the guys must have hit Noah with a pillow because the singing stopped. It was followed by the sounds of a struggle, then muffled laughter. There would be no going back to sleep around these ruffians.
With a sigh, she scooted out of her bedroll, grabbed her satchel, and headed for the woods to freshen up. The guys already had everything packed including her bedroll by the time she returned. “What’s the rush, fellas?”
Ian tossed her an orange. “We have to meet Captain Kitt at sunup, remember?”
“Oh, right. The competition.”
Noah laughed, walking backward toward the path to the village. “What? Did you forget?”
“I guess I had other things on my mind,” she admitted as she picked up her bedroll and followed Noah.
“Like what?” Brian asked, his tone a little too innocent.
She paused, allowing him to pass her. What was that supposed to mean?
Ian rolled his eyes at Brian, then pressed a hand to her back to urge her down the path ahead of him. “Ignore him. He’s being a pest.”
About what? She wanted to ask, but something told her to hold her tongue. Perhaps it was the quick look Ian spared the cameras. She picked up the pace to catch up with the other guys. They turned in their bedrolls and money to the purser, then headed to the rendezvous point where they met up with the pirates who’d stayed at the inn.
“Good morning, pirates.” Logan Kittredge, dressed in the more casual pirate garb of a poet shirt, black vest, and dark blue breeches, stood before them with two necklaces in his grasp. “You’ve spent the last seven days working to improve your ranking within your pirate crew. For two of you, the worrying will end now… at least for a while.”
He held up the necklaces. “These are pirate medallions. Earning one will keep you safe from being voted out at the next pirate council. Even if you were in the bottom two, you will not be going home. The next lowest ranked pirated will slide into your spot. Meanwhile, you will be able to stay another week and improve your ranking. How does that sound?”
All of the pirates cheered, except Ava. She offered a smile for the sake of the cameras, but waited for Logan to explain the catch. There had to be a catch.
“You will be split into two groups. Each group will duel. Whoever wins their group wins one medallion. Who will rise to the challenge?”
The “duel” was an obstacle course out in the woods. She tried not to scoff at how historically inaccurate it was to call this a duel. After all, did she really want them to pull out pistols or sabers? Kind of. It would have been cool to watch.
Instead, she found herself crawling around in warm, oozy mud to search for the seventh of eight puzzle pieces in a duel Logan rather smugly called “pieces of eight.” He had a real problem with puns. He also gave a running narrative of what was happening, which was actually pretty helpful until he started trying to motivate them. Honestly, if he yelled “dig deep” one more time…
“Why are you here?”
The question jerked her back to reality. Why was she here? Why was she…?
She glanced up at the camera tracking her every move. She was here because they’d hidden the true nature of the show, given her an iron clad contract to sign, and press-ganged her into service on a tall ship. Wars had been started over that very thing.
“How far do you want to go in this competition?”
To be honest? Not far. She sat back on her heels and stared at Logan. Her only way off this show was to be voted out at a pirate council. Well, what was stopping her from doing poorly at everything until she landed in the bottom two? It wouldn’t be hard to convince the other guys to vote her off since they all wanted to stay.
Logan finally caught her watching him. “Ava, why are you stopping?”
“Just thinking.”
His brow furrowed as he searched her gaze. Jeff’s whoop drew his attention elsewhere. Logan announced, “Jeff found his seventh piece! Ava falling behind. Dash falling behind. Philip and Scott still looking for their seventh.”
Ugh. Regardless of why she was here, she couldn’t let Jeff win the medallion. He’d made life unpleasant for everyone on board with his caustic nature. The guys were hoping to vote him off. She needed to win if only to prevent him from claiming the medallion.
She scrounged frantically through the mud. Her fingers connected with something hard and flat. She’d found the eighth piece!
Ava staggered out of the mud hole, dove into a trench of green water, and swam the fifteen feet or so to the other side. She tossed the puzzle pieces onto the platform, then hauled herself onto it. A few seconds later, Jeff
did the same. Scott arrived next, then Phillip. She ignored them all and focused on the surprisingly complex puzzle that soon began to resemble the actual gold coin the duel was named after. She had two pieces left when Jeff let out another victorious yell.
Logan checked Jeff’s puzzle. “Jeff wins the first medallion and will not be going home.”
She rubbed her hands over her face before remembering they were muddy. What did it matter if her face was dirty? She’d let the rest of the guys down. If she hadn’t hesitated, she would have won the duel. Instead, Jeff preened as Logan handed him the spoils of war. She, along with the other guys, congratulated Jeff on his win.
Logan patted Jeff on the back. “Congratulations, Jeff. Pirates, head on back to the village to get cleaned up.”
Ava paused to set the last pieces of her puzzle into place, then moved to follow the others. Logan called out, “Ava, a minute of your time, please.”
Eyes widening, she turned to face him while the pirates filed past her. She tried to ignore the looks they gave her ranging from speculative to suspicious. She hesitated, feeling like she’d been called into the principal’s office. Logan motioned for her to follow him as he stepped from the platform onto the dry grass. He watched her with concern as they walked back to the starting mark of the obstacle course. “Want to tell me what happened back there?”
“What do you mean?”
He turned to face her. “You froze.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip.
“My questions threw you off. You realized you weren’t here of your own free will and you didn’t care about the competition.”
“How do you know that?”
He smiled, but it wasn’t the one he gave the cameras. This one was more genuine, more understanding. “It was all over your face. To be honest, some of us on the production staff have been wondering when you’d realize it. Ted has been concerned.”
“Ted.” So, even though he’d kept his distance, he was looking out for her behind the scenes. “I appreciate the concern. And, yes, it did hit me particularly hard out there that I was covered in mud and digging around for something I didn’t want in the first place.”
“Understandable.” Logan glanced toward the woods as if searching for words… Or, listening to his earpiece. He met her gaze again. “Listen, I know you signed up for a different experience than the one you’re getting. That doesn’t mean this has to be a bad one.”
“I know.”
He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “Find your ‘why’, Ava. Find your motivation whether it’s the money or the fame or the relationships you’ll gain or simply the adventure of it all. Don’t throw away your chance simply because you can.”
“I won’t,” she said softly, mostly because it’s what he wanted to hear. Plus, she was freezing in her soaked, muddy clothes. She wanted nothing more than to be dry and clean.
“That’s my girl.” He winked at her. “Here come the other contestants. I’ve got to get back to work. Keep refining your ‘why’, ok?”
“Ok.” She smiled, but it didn’t feel genuine. In fact, all she could think about was the fact that she was not his girl. She was too smart and maybe a tad too suspicious to believe he wasn’t trying to manipulate her for the sake of the show. It sounded like the whole production team was afraid she’d quit on them. Her behavior during the duel had likely confirmed their fears.
Well, they should be scared. She’d been manhandled by the legal team, and the director had been something of a bully. The only thing she liked worse than being manhandled was being bullied. As for Logan, she’d like to think his concern was sincere, but she wasn’t sure she trusted him. She wasn’t sure she trusted anyone other than Ian and Brian. Noah seemed harmless as did most of the other guys. The jury was still out on Dash. Jeff was a definite no.
He was the first to try to wheedle out the reason behind her one-on-one with Logan when she got back to the village. She just smiled and said it was personal, then headed for the bathhouse where, wonder of wonders, a stack of freshly laundered pirate clothes awaited her.
She stepped outside right as the second group of duelers arrived. They were caked with mud and missing a camera escort. “Hey, guys, how’d it go?”
Noah held up the medallion hanging from his neck as he passed. “I won!”
She laughed. “Congratulations!”
Caleb shook his head as he passed her. “The dude was an animal out there.
“He left me in the dust,” Finn added, looking worried.
“You’ll get ‘em next time, Finn.”
“If there’s a next time,” he gave her a sad smile on the way into the bathhouse.
Brian opened his muddy arms for a hug. “Bring it in.”
“No, thank you.” She danced away from him as he passed her, only to stop just shy of running into Ian. “Sorry.”
“It’s ok.” He wiped his muddy brow. “We heard Jeff won your round. How did you rank?”
“I came in second.”
His eyebrows rose. “No kidding? That’s great!”
“Yeah.” She glanced back at the bathhouse to make sure they were alone, then stepped closer to Ian. “Hey, I’ve been thinking… Maybe I should go home.”
Concern filled his eyes. “You want to go home? I mean, I know you were homesick last night, but— You’d really leave?”
Suddenly, she wasn’t sure. Ian was here. Why that should have any bearing on her decision was beyond her. Sure, they’d gotten close—especially last night. Even so, they’d only met a week ago. It had been a long, arduous week, but still only a week. She shook her head. “I’m not that homesick. It’s just that other people want to be here more than I do. It doesn’t seem fair for me to stay if one of them would have to leave.”
He shook his head. “Ava, you have just as much right to be here as anyone else.”
“Maybe.” She bit her lip. “Logan says I need to find my ‘why.’”
“Your what?”
“My motivation for participating in the show.” She shrugged. “He tried to help me find a reason to stay. He mentioned fame and fortune.”
“You kind of have both of those already, don’t you?” At her nod, he glanced away thoughtfully. “What else did he tempt you with?”
“Adventure.” She snorted. “I don’t have an adventurous bone in my body. I’ve always done exactly as I’ve been told.”
“Not true. We determined that last night. And, you volunteered to effectively travel hundreds of years into the past. Sounds pretty adventurous to me.”
She shook her head. “I wanted to learn. Not roll around in the mud.”
He frowned. “So you’re going to leave?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t decided.”
Silence stretched between them. They both searched each other’s gaze. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for until he finally said, “Stay.”
“What?”
“You should stay.”
“Why?”
“You deserve this. A chance to be on your own, away from your parents’ expectations, figuring out how to be you without interference from other people. You’re breaking out of your shell. You’re standing on your own two feet without worrying about how you look doing so.”
She thought back to the moment after she’d lost the duel when she hadn’t cared a whit about the mud on her face. She smiled. “I guess I am, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are. It’s breathtaking to watch,” he said fiercely. “Forget what production wants. It isn’t their life, it’s yours. It’s your choice, but if you want a reason to stay, I think you’ve got a good one.”
Wow. He was waiting for her to respond, but she couldn’t even breathe. She forced her lungs to work. “I think you’re right.”
“Good.” He lingered as though he wanted to say more, do more. Instead, he crooked his thumb toward the bathhouse and took a step backward. “I should go clean up.”
“Sur
e thing.” They exchanged a smile before he turned and walked into the bathhouse. She watched the door close behind him, then slid her fingers into her hair. “Oh, boy.”
There was no denying she was developing a first-class crush on Ian Sinclair. She still wasn’t sure if he felt anything more than friendship for her, but it didn’t matter. The timing wasn’t right. His heart was still aching over his ex. She’d promised her parents that she wouldn’t consider a romance with anyone right now. He’d promised his manager the same thing. So even if they wanted…
She shook her head. “Stop it.”
Most likely, her brain has simply traded her old crush on Logan for a new crush on Ian. No big deal. She’d get over it, be his friend, move on. Starting right now.
R
It had been three days since they’d left the city of St. Augustine behind along with the contestant voted out by the pirate council. As hard as it was to see Finn’s disappointment in leaving, Ian couldn’t help being relieved not to have been the one to go. Caleb had been the other person in the bottom two which meant the people Ian was closest to had been safe as well—including Ava, and she’d decided to stay.
He grabbed his bowl of salmagundi and then angled for one of the spots near her. They were already occupied by Philip, Dash, and Noah. That had been happening a lot lately. He could see why she was friends with Noah and even Philip. Dash, on the other hand, had told a few too many stories about his wild exploits with female models and celebrities for Ian to completely trust him around Ava.
Still, it was her right to hang out with whoever she wanted. There was no reason to feel like a kid who’d been rejected from the popular table in the cafeteria. He glanced at Brian, who offered him a light shrug from further down the table. No seat available there either.
He ended up at the opposite end of the table near Scott, Caleb, and Jeff. It was probably a good thing to get to know some of the other guys better, anyway. Not only would it make for a more pleasant trip, but it could help him in the game should he ever end up in danger at pirate council. With Jeff and Caleb glaring at each other in combative silence, Ian turned to the much more Zen-like Scott, “Hey, Scott. How was the navigation lesson with Captain Palmer?”
Beyond the Tide Page 10