Masquerade by the Sea

by Traci Hall

  Heath scrubbed the bristle on his chin, his eyes reflecting the electric candle flames from the mirror behind the bar. “Whatever the mix, you’re beautiful. Brothers, sisters?”

  “Two brothers, two sisters.”

  “Your poor dad!”

  “Dad had the easy job,” she said, turning away from the dancers to study him. “He fished and helped Gramps at the boatyard. Mom had to stay home.” Jolie shuddered. “Granny came over to get lunches ready or play with us.”

  “You have a big family.” He waved toward Benedict. “Can I get a beer, and another of whatever the captain is drinking?”

  She watched him rest his weight against the chair, averting his face.

  “How about a bottle of water and some pain meds?” Jolie hated to see anybody hurting, but Heath didn’t want to even acknowledge he was suffering. How could she fix that?

  “Ginger ale?” Benedict asked, cutting into her thoughts of Heath. “We have less than a quarter of an hour until we dock. Since you’re standing here, I won’t ring the bell.”

  “Thanks.” She faced the bar, toying with a sea foam green cocktail napkin. “Heath? Medicine?”

  “I’m fine.” He switched the weight off his left leg. “I’ll take my muscle relaxers when I get to the hotel.”

  Benedict slid the short glass of soda across the counter, and the beer to Heath. “Anything else?”

  “You seem like you enjoy your job. You’re good at it.” Heath looked from Jolie to Benedict, his knuckles white around the bottle. “Why are you leaving?”

  “My reasons are personal,” Benedict said without apology or justification. “I love working here. With Captain Jolie. I’ll be back for season.”

  Why was Heath asking, Jolie wondered, discreetly looking at him as she drank. Was he, please, please, please, considering a move?

  She sat on the barstool, hoping that Heath, a gentleman, would do the same. It was obvious that he was uncomfortable, hurting, but he didn’t complain.

  “What are your duties?” Heath asked.

  Benedict stopped wiping down the counter and looked at Heath differently. “You bartend?”

  “I have.”

  “Well, this is a decent gig.”

  Jolie rolled her eyes. “That’s it?”

  Smiling, Benedict said, “You’d be doing the ordering for all the wine and beer, and liquor. Food, too. We try to use fresh fish and local produce. Can you cook?”

  “Pancakes.” Heath seemed to reach into the recesses of his memory. “Eggs and bacon.”

  Benedict plopped a bowl of pretzels to the bar top and slid it down to an older man in a tux. “I don’t think so, Captain. You need someone that can do more than breakfast.”

  “I can make drinks,” Heath said, all joking aside. “Worked my way through college bartending at a ski lodge. I can tap a keg, know which wines are chilled and room temp, and the difference between anise and absinthe. If I was interested, I could figure out how to make fish.”

  Benedict stepped back from the bar, annoyance on his face. “It’s easy, is it?”

  Jolie finished her ginger ale, looking from one man to the next. “Heath, are you thinking about trying it out? I mean, if you don’t like it, you can go home.”

  “Nope.” He tore the edge of the label from the bottle. “I don’t want to be a bartender. I’m a ski instructor.”

  Jolie settled the brim of her hat back, then tucked her curls behind her ears. He used to be a ski instructor in the fresh snow. She hoped he would find the same satisfaction teaching it virtually. But until then?

  What can I do to get him to change his mind?

  Chapter Three

  The heat of Jolie’s intense gaze burned into him, though Heath acted unaffected and swallowed his beer. It quenched his thirst while giving him some time to think. Benedict came off as snobby, but the guy was probably protecting his job. And Heath could cook. Any guy worth his salt knew a dish or two to please the ladies.

  His brother thought he was boring. Afraid of change. So what if he still had his old truck? The three-year-old Chevy had been in pristine condition when he’d picked it out—a graduation gift from his parents. Add ten years, with regular oil changes and tune-ups and it would last another ten years.

  Probably in better shape than him.

  He couldn’t leave his truck behind. What else was there? The scary answer to that? Not freaking much.

  Not rich by any means, he had enough to get by until he started his virtual instructor job in October. He’d met Doug in physical therapy, when the owner of the virtual ski place was getting advice from the therapists on how the machines worked. Guy had offered him a job, once the new shop was opened, before snow season.

  No dogs, no house. He was renting a converted garage apartment from an older lady with a hearing problem. So long as he paid his rent on time, she might not even notice he was gone. His truck would sit in the carport until he was cleared to drive again.

  Depressing as hell. He took a deep swallow of beer.

  He jumped when Jolie put her hand on his shoulder. “You alright?” Her sweet breath held a tang of ginger, a teasing hint of lime. Her hazel eyes were outlined in dark brown, and her expression held compassion. She was even pretty in the blue-green flash of the disco light.

  “Yeah.”

  She moved her hand in a circular motion down his back before pulling away to touch the pearl necklace at her throat. “Looks like you went down the wrong memory lane.”

  Heath chuckled in surprise. “You got that right.”

  Talking with the bartender reassured him that Jolie hadn’t been joking about a temporary job. Just maybe a little bit of sunshine would be what the doctor ordered. He could handle change, and he wasn’t boring. He’d be doing the captain a favor.

  Jolie smiled at him, leaning her tan, bare arms on the bar.

  Just say yes. He had zero to lose.

  Ah, shit. Shit, shit.

  The muscles around his leg twisted and cramped, bringing tears to his eyes as he sucked in a breath to keep from shouting aloud. He pushed back from the bar and used both hands to clamp the protesting muscle.

  It happened like this, sudden, and out of the blue. Excruciating agony that made him cry like a girl. The cramp upstairs had been nothing compared to this and came as a cruel reminder that he wasn’t whole.

  Jolie, cool as could be, put her hand back on his shoulder and squeezed. “Do you have any of your medicine with you?”

  He shook his head, unable to speak as he ground his back teeth together. One, two three. He counted in his head, focusing on the numbers instead of the pain, like Kendra taught him. Four, five, six. Nausea churned, beer threatened to erupt from his nose but he clenched his eyes closed, gripped his leg muscle and rode out the tsunami.

  Jolie kept her touch light. “Be right back.”

  He didn’t want her to go. Wanted her to come back and just be with him. Ridiculous. The second wave rushed over him. Scalding. He dug his fingers into the muscle and willed the piercing spasms to stop, before he made a fool of himself in public.

  What had he been thinking? To leave Utah would be stupid. He had a medical team back home, with his physical therapist on call. Kendra. But no, she was leaving for Europe for a month-long honeymoon with his brother.

  Both of them gone. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Change was fine, but this time it had left him all alone.

  Jolie hustled behind the bar, skipping the acetaminophen in the first aid kit and going for her purse, where she had muscle relaxants from a sprained back a few months ago. Every once in a while it still twinged if she didn’t have the meds.

  She grabbed the prescription bottle and went around the bar. Heath’s mouth was pinched and white, his eyes shut, both hands around his leg. Gesturing to Benedict for water, she put her hand on Heath’s back.

  “Here you go, hon. I don’t have anything good for pain, but I’ve got some muscle relaxants. Will that help?”

  She kept her
touch gentle and showed him the bottle. He slowly opened his eyes and read the label.

  “My dosage is three times this.”

  At least it was the same thing. “What can I say?” she joked, hoping to take his mind off of his pain, knowing she couldn’t. “I’m a light-weight.”

  Benedict placed the cup of water on the bar. “Everything okay, Captain?”

  “Yes.” She nodded to her bartender. He was always cool and in control. “Heath?”

  “Vodka,” he mumbled.

  “Can I have a tumbler of Grey Goose?” Jolie asked Benedict. “No rocks?”

  “Yeah. That’ll help.” Heath nodded and uncapped the bottle, shaking out two, then three, pills.

  He drank them down with water and then reached for the glass from Benedict. He slammed the shot back with a grimace.

  “Are you sure mixing them was the right thing to do?” Jolie knew lots of people partied with pills and alcohol, but she wasn’t one of them.

  “Feel this.” Heath took her hand and placed it over the muscle around his knee. Knotted and hard, hot beneath his black slacks, Jolie snatched her hand back.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, returning her touch to the middle of his back.

  “Nothing you could do would top this.” He swallowed, his jaw clenched. “Just when I think I’m on the mend, this shit happens.”

  “Heath?” Kendra came over, her cheeks flushed and her laughter trailing as she joined them at the bar.

  “It’s all right.” Heath raised his head.

  “No, it isn’t,” Kendra said in stern tones. “I recognize that look.” She scooted between Jolie and Heath, putting her hands on the hot mass of pain and pressing down so that Heath paled, grabbing onto the bar.

  “God, Kendra, warn me or something! I almost puked.”

  “Stop being such a baby,” his sister-in-law said.

  “Damn it, Kendra.” Heath gritted his teeth, the strong muscle of his jaw tight. Jolie stopped herself from putting her fingers along his neck to soothe him.

  Obviously Kendra knew what to do in this situation because her claw-like grip slowly eased the furrow between his brows.

  Well, that combined with the vodka and muscle relaxer cocktail. Heath should be putty any minute now. If it were her, she’d already be on the floor.

  Cody joined them at the bar, tousling Heath’s hair as if he was a kid. “Better?”

  “Yeah. It was a bad one.” He exhaled and covered Kendra’s hand with his. “I don’t know why it doesn’t work when I do it.”

  “You have to get under the scar tissue,” she scolded in a soft voice, kissing his cheek. “I know it hurts.”

  Jolie moved to the other side of the bar so that she could still see Heath, but be out of the way. “Kendra, your fingers are smaller,” she said, remembering how Heath had clutched his leg hard enough to separate muscle from the bone.

  “That’s true.” Kendra pulled away from Heath. “Do you have your meds?”

  “They’re at the hotel. But Jolie hooked me up.” He pointed to the bottle still on the counter.

  “I thought those were yours! You shouldn’t take other people’s prescriptions.”

  “It’s the same thing I take, but in a lesser dose. I added some vodka, so they should be kickin’ in any time.”

  Kendra closed her eyes and groaned. “You mixed pills and alcohol? How am I supposed to enjoy my wedding night when I’m worried you’ll overdose?” She pushed against his shoulder. “Thanks a lot.”

  “It was just a shot,” Jolie quickly explained. “Of the vodka. After a bigger glass of water.” She was touched by the affection between the three. It was obvious that they were tight.

  “Are you a doctor, too?” Kendra snapped.

  Jolie wisely shut her mouth.

  Heath said, “Stand down, Kendra. Don’t bark at Jolie just because you’re worried. I’ll be fine. See for yourself, it’s the same thing.”

  Cody looked at Jolie, as if really noticing her for the first time. “Hmm. Thanks.”

  “It’s my job.” But it wasn’t, offering muscle relaxants. Kendra seemed annoyed, while Cody was curious. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.

  “No worries, Kendra,” Cody said. “We can pour him into his hotel room, and then go to ours!”

  “I’m a grown man,” Heath reminded them, his voice slurring the slightest bit. His eyes lowered before he opened them wide.

  Oh, hell. She was the captain, she’d created this situation. It was up to her to fix it for her clients, Kendra and Cody.

  “Listen, I’ve offered him a job,” she said. “Bartender for a few months until Benedict gets back, and Heath needs to be in Utah before ski season and his new position at the virtual place.”

  “What?” Kendra asked, her gaze suspicious. “Heath doesn’t really like the ocean. He’s a mountain guy.”

  Cody burst out laughing. “He was a good bartender through college. The chicks loved him. He made a ton of tips. I’m sure he said no, though. He doesn’t do change.”

  He hadn’t exactly said yes, Jolie thought, looking from Heath to Cody. Though she sensed he’d been about to agree to at least try it out. Either way, she’d stay with Heath tonight on the Masquerade, making sure he was okay, and take him back to the hotel in the morning so that Cody and Kendra wouldn’t be inconvenienced.

  No wonder he didn’t do things differently—seemed he wasn’t allowed out of the box.

  “I’m right here.” Heath lifted his head quickly, a hunk of hair falling over one eye. “I accept,” he told Jolie, flipping his brother the bird. “I can do change.”

  The action would have been memorable if he’d been able to keep his hand from wobbling. But the relaxants had trashed his mobility so the bird was at half-mast.

  Cody groaned.

  Kendra, hands on her hips, glared at Jolie. “I am not spending my wedding night babysitting, thanks to you and your ‘help.’”

  Jolie stepped up to the plate, realizing that she had a potential unhappy customer. Heath’s stoned smile, charming and pain-free, was hard to resist so she kept her gaze on Kendra. “Of course not. As bartender, he would have room and board on the boat. Benedict has already moved out, so if you would like to help me with Heath, we can get him bunked down before you leave. That way you’ll know he’s all right and you won’t have to worry once.”

  Kendra’s shoulders relaxed an inch. “You have to stay here tonight, too. You can’t just leave him. What if he gets sick or something?”

  “I’m not a damn child,” Heath insisted, sliding sideways off the bar stool. Cody caught him and propped him back up.

  Jolie held up her hand. “Please, don’t worry. I promise to take good care of him.” The last thing she wanted was a complaint about her services. The competition was tough enough.

  Cody put his arm around Heath’s waist and helped him get his balance. “Are you sure you want to be a bartender for the summer? On a boat? With strangers?”

  Heath’s gaze cleared as he met Jolie’s and he nodded. He’d been about to agree before the muscle relaxers, she was certain of it. She felt a shimmer down her spine and smiled.

  “You’ll be doing me a big favor, Heath. We never got to talk about the particulars, but the wage is competitive and you get your own room.”

  She wanted him to say yes, and not just because Kendra looked ready to kill her.

  She wanted him to say yes so that she could see him happy.

  Without pain. Jolie knew her cousin could help.

  “Yes.” Heath answered in a firm voice, his amber eyes dark, mysterious. Intriguing. “I want the job. But only for a coupla months.”

  “That’s all you get it for,” Benedict broke in, looking from Jolie to Heath then back to Jolie for confirmation.

  “That’s right.” Jolie relaxed her shoulders. She’d see how Heath felt in the morning. If he changed his mind, there’d be no hard feelings.

  “It sounds awesome,” Cody said. “Kendra, what do you
think?”

  Kendra crossed her arms, her mouth unsmiling. “I think if anything happens to Heath while we’re away? There will be trouble.”

  Jolie backed up, keeping her mouth shut as a good captain should. The female part of her went on the defensive. She took a deep, professional, breath. “I’ll make sure he wears his water wings.”

  Heath’s laugh was a chest-deep rumble and he balanced himself against the bar stool. “I can swim, Captain. But right now? I’d love to see that bed. I’m feeling a little woozy.”

  “You’ll be a sailor in no time,” she said, trying not to show her amusement.

  Jolie nodded to Benedict and led the way below deck, past the galley to where the two rooms were. They each had full-sized beds with dressers and televisions attached to the wall.

  “Here we are.” Jolie opened the door to Benedict’s old room. The bed was neatly made with fresh sheets and plump pillows. Cody cracked jokes the whole way down the hall about Heath being a seasick sailor, but now helped his brother across the threshold.

  Kendra emanated her displeasure with a tight-lipped mouth as she surveyed the space.

  Heath hit the bed and fell sideways, his eyes closing. “Cool.”

  Cody took off his brother’s shoes while Kendra tapped her foot, annoyed.

  It was like a kid being dropped off at camp by reluctant parents, Jolie thought.

  “I have to go upstairs and prepare for docking. I offered Heath the job after we talked earlier on the upper deck. It sounded like he had some free time, and I am in desperate need of a bartender. Tonight was Benedict’s last night. I’m sorry about the muscle relaxer. You’re right, of course, Kendra. It’s just that he was in a lot of pain. I really wanted to help.”

  “Because it hurts, damn it,” Heath mumbled, his eyes still closed. “I’m so glad my best friends got married. Love you. Go have fun.” He smashed the pillow into shape. “I love change.”

  Kendra’s eyes spilled over with tears and she turned on Jolie ready to kill.

  Jolie looked at Cody, who stepped between the women. “It’ll be good for him to have an adventure. Besides, if he doesn’t like it he can quit.”