Paradise Point

by Dana Volney

  Liv still filled in when her dad needed help, but she hadn’t been to the office in at least five years. We definitely would’ve started off on different footing if Adam knew. Liv laughed to herself. “How long have you worked there?” she asked.

  “Four years.”

  “Your job is pretty big.”

  “Uh-huh.” Adam continued to eat cake.

  “So you’ll be leaving to go back to it?”

  Adam gave her a quizzical look.

  She read his mind with ease. “I’m wondering if you’re staying around or what my future is with this place.” She knew the direct approach worked better with men like her dad.

  “No decision’s been made yet.”

  She fell silent and didn’t know how to fill the void. She just wanted to know if he was staying or going. Was that so hard? Maybe it didn’t matter anyway. She’d still run the place like they’d been, only with less help—an issue that could be easily remedied by a well-placed ad. Adam laid down his fork, started to smile, and then walked out front. She could hear him greet a customer wanting suntanning lotion.

  She took one last bite before wrapping up the bunt cake for safekeeping. She didn’t want her new work of art to dry out before she ate more. She wiped her hands on her shorts and remembered what she’d put in her pocket that morning to give back to him: the thumb drive.

  She made her way to the register and stuck out the silver memory port. “Here ya go.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Your thumb drive.”

  “Not mine.”

  “I found it in the office right before—”

  Adam took it from her; the feel of his fingers grazing hers was euphoric. Her hand tingled and so did her stomach.

  “What’s on it?” he asked.

  “I haven’t looked.”

  “Let’s see.”

  Liv followed him to their office where Vam’s desktop computer sat. Adam plugged the drive into a USB port, sat in the office chair, and opened the file to a bunch of pictures. Liv perched on the desk and crossed her legs. He put one picture on the screen at a time and they scrolled through.

  All of the photos were of Liv’s houseboat.

  “Must’ve been before you fixed it up. Look.” He pointed to the name on the boat, Out & A Boat.

  Liv stood quickly. Oh shit! She remembered the first conversation she’d had with Vam. Vam had said that there were a lot of unsavory characters hanging around. Maybe she’d taken pictures of them. Oh shit! The black bag! Liv bit the top of her bottom lip and with wide eyes she walked out of the office. The fun tingles Adam had stirred turned into lead in her stomach.

  How in the hell did I forget about that bag? She’d been so caught up in her new daily life that it had completely slipped her mind. She put her hand to her forehead. Think!

  “Liv?” Adam called after her, but she didn’t turn back.

  He’s going to think I’m a total nut job magnet. First Ken and now this black bag thing. She could almost hear his lecture now.

  However, Adam could help. She should tell him. She could go to her dad. But then Adam would probably find out and be mad she didn’t go to him first.

  The debate in her mind lingered until she heard a different voice call out her name. She looked up to see Neil in front of her. Neil. You put me in this mess.

  “What can I help you with?” She plastered a smile on her face she knew didn’t reach her eyes. Anger rose up through her body and poured from her ears.

  “How’s the houseboat?”

  “Excuse me?” she asked innocently.

  “The boat you took me to the cleaners on, and still took a commission from, I might add.”

  “It’s fine.” Get to the point, Neil.

  “And this?” Neil raised his hands and surveyed the restaurant portion of the marina. “You are doing quite well for yourself, all of a sudden.”

  “Uh-huh.” Liv inspected Neil more closely. His finely manicured hair lay disheveled, his clothes looked like he’d worn them for days, and his eyes had a wild, panicked glint.

  She stepped back.

  “How?” he asked.

  “Windfall.” Liv took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Have a nice day.” She turned to leave.

  Neil grabbed her arm. She stopped and yanked it out of his grasp. “Leave me alone!” She didn’t want his slimy fingers anywhere near her.

  “Is there a problem?” Adam walked up, standing next to Liv. She could feel the heat radiate off his strong forearm. She resisted the urge to loop her arm in his to fend off Neil. Adam turned to her with a weird mix of emotion in his expression. Great, he’s going to think every guy I know is out to hurt me. Adam seemed to care when she got into a pickle, though. It was part of his DNA. She smiled. But really, she had this under control.

  “No problem. Liv was just about to return something that’s mine.” Neil rudely spat in her direction.

  I knew it! This mother-loving creep was into something bad and now I’m involved. When will my life go back to mundane? She narrowed her eyes at Neil and stewed. She wasn’t giving him anything. Not until she knew what to do about it.

  “I don’t have anything of yours,” she lied with wide eyes.

  • • •

  Liv should take self-defense classes. Adam would bet dollars to doughnuts she made most men angry. She had the ability to really get under people’s skin. Still, that wasn’t an excuse for this dumbshit to put his hand on her. He moved his hands to his hips. Liv was lying through her fake smile. He’d get to the bottom of that after the man left.

  “Yes, you do!” the blowhard said. “This isn’t how this was supposed to work. Victor was supposed to buy that damned houseboat and I was supposed to be out!” Neil was in hysterics, his hands emphasizing his crazed state.

  “Neil. Calm down. What are you talking about?” Liv asked.

  “You’ve messed up everything.” Neil ran his hands all over his scalp. “I know you have it!” He pointed at Liv and looked like a man desperate enough to do anything.

  Surprisingly, she stepped closer to Neil. “I assure you I don’t. I can help you look for it though. What is it again?”

  Adam admired her calm tone. Although he knew better, he was even starting to believe she had no clue.

  Neil opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut. They stood in a showdown of wills, Liv’s undisturbed demeanor up against Neil’s increasingly agitated one.

  “Neil, if you’re in trouble”—she glanced at Adam—“I’m sure we can help.”

  “You’ll pay for this.” Neil turned and stomped toward the door.

  “Thanks for stopping in. Come again.” Liv called to Neil’s back.

  Adam turned to face her. “Now you have even more explaining to do.” He watched her eyes move side to side, focusing anywhere but on him, and he could nearly see her thought stream. He wished he could read it, too. “Liv.”

  “I’m trying to figure out where to start.”

  “The beginning usually works.”

  “I’m not sure where that is.” She genuinely seemed puzzled.

  Why did he have a bad feeling about this?

  Liv led him back into the office and leaned her hip on the desk. He folded his arms and filled the doorway, leaving no escape route for her this time.

  “Spill,” he demanded.

  “I think my houseboat was being used for something … illegal, maybe … not good … well, not when it was my boat. And Victor, he’s the guy Ken was showing around. Ken, of all people. What? Neil couldn’t give me the lead? If he had, maybe he wouldn’t be in this position.” Liv shook her head and stared at him like her information should make perfect sense and upset him.

  “Okay. Ya lost me. One step at a time. Why do you think there’s illegal activity?”

  “I found a hiding place on my boat a while back. It had three keys and a military-grade sniper rifle. Seemed ominous.”

  “You found what?” He rubbed his forehead down to his
mouth. Unbelievable. “What did you do with it?”

  Liv shrugged. “Nothing. Forgot about it, actually.”

  “You found a serious rifle stashed away and did nothing with it? You still have it?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Liv.” Good thing he thought her name was pretty—he sure had to say it enough.

  “You have it,” she said.

  “I have it?” He could feel his brows morphing into one, and he raised his voice an octave.

  “Technically we both do. The bag wasn’t just lying around. I had to pick a lock to get to it. I figured someone would come for it, so I hid it. No one saw me. I wrapped it up and secured it under the dock that’s between our boats. And, well, with everything going on, I completely forgot about it until now.”

  “How do you forget about finding a rifle like that?”

  “I don’t know. I have a lot going on. Stress … pressure … death … business ownership.” She rubbed her temples and squeezed her eyes shut.

  “What was Neil shouting about?” Adam did not like the path of this conversation. His experience set off dozens of alarms in his mind.

  “I think the boat-selling thing was all some sort of setup. I think that Neil meant to sell the houseboat to a guy named Victor, who I met briefly when Ken was showing him the boat unannounced and I made them leave. I told him it was sold.”

  Adam hated Ken for so many reasons right now. “Why didn’t Neil know who bought his boat?”

  “I said the buyer wanted to remain anonymous.” She raised her eyes to his. “I didn’t want him to know it was me. I got a really good deal—”

  “Let me get this straight,” he interrupted. He didn’t need to hear about her deal. He needed to know the relevant details. “You found a bag with a sniper rifle and didn’t tell anyone. Then you bought a houseboat that wasn’t supposed to be sold to you. And now Neil is mad because you, presumably, have the bag but won’t give it to him.”

  “Yep.”

  “I’m missing something.”

  “No, you have it all.”

  “I seriously doubt that.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  If she’d ever thought her dad was a stubborn man, it was only because she hadn’t known Adam existed. They’d talked over the entire black bag/Neil situation until she literally had nothing more to say on the topic. Adam grumbled something and told her he’d look into things and get back to her. That suggestion rang like music to her ears. At this point, he cared a heck of a lot more than she did. She wanted to forget about the pre-marina and houseboat rehabbing chapter of her life.

  And at the moment, her focus was on relaxing for a few moments with Hannah, who’d stopped in for the evening.

  Adam caught Liv’s eye, winked, and sat down at the ivory keys in the corner. He plays the piano? He swiped his hands through his hair and managed to be sexier than he ever had before.

  Adam’s deep voice sang a soulful rendition of Jack and Diane. She found herself bobbing along, lip-syncing to the catchy tune. She closed her eyes momentarily, listening to his baritone resonate. It was magical. She loved a soothing, deep voice, and Adam had one in spades. He seemed to know his place in life. She was jealous of people who knew what they wanted to do in, and get out of, life. Some days she would be sure and the next she was lost again. The marina was finally different. Here and with her houseboat, she felt at home, at peace. Silver Lining was living up to its name in more ways than one. The decision to drop anchor here was, hands down, the best of her life.

  “Great voice,” Hannah said.

  “Yeah.” Adam continued to entertain their early evening crowd, taking requests and never faltering on a song. Where’d he learn to play so well? There were a lot of things she didn’t know about him, but somewhere during these past two weeks her opinion of him had changed. Maybe not the core of it, but the edges were certainly starting to soften. They truly had just gotten off to a bad start.

  Her dad didn’t hire dimwits. If Adam was on team Wingfield, she really had to rethink her approach.

  She could freely admit, if only to herself, Adam was a damn sexy man. His dark tan only accentuated his lush, spiky brown hair, and his daring, brown eyes and thick lashes made her a little gooey inside. If she really let her guard down, Adam would be bad news. Or should that be good news? Maybe I should give him a chance like Vam asked. That was a simple thought, even a fun notion, but the nuts and bolts came down to Adam and his profession. Was that the lifestyle she wanted for herself? She’d known how hard it was on her mom, and on her.

  “And this one is just because.” He struck familiar notes on the piano. “Raise a glass if you love the Irish!”

  Irish? Her head shot up. She loved this song! Did he know it was one of my favorites? Surely not. How would he? She mouthed the words, bobbing her head and tapping to the fast-paced tune about drowning on dry land. How apropos. Gaelic Storm topped her list of favorite Irish bands.

  All of sudden she heard Adam call out, “You know this one?” over the jovial crowd. “Come here!”

  She gritted her teeth and smiled. She sang, but for fun and not in front of large crowds.

  “Come on. I’m not singing the next verse without you.” He played the melody and didn’t start the next verse. “Clap for Liv, folks. She needs a little encouragement.” Glasses of beer sloshed above heads as hoots and hollers prodded her.

  Liv gave him a searing eye. She did love this tune. And, with the bar being so loud, the crowd wouldn’t be able to hear if she sang out of key. She rolled her eyes and walked briskly around the bar and to the piano where Adam sat pounding away on the ivories. She sidled up next to him on the bench seat. Her arm grazed him and her nerves kicked up a notch.

  She started singing the hard Irish song on cue, melodically bumping into Adam as he sang along to the chorus a couple of more times.

  This was what she’d been missing in life. Laughter and the freedom to unwind, to go with the dose of responsibility it took to run her—er, their marina. The sun was shining and the water sparkled turquoise. This day had shaped up to be terrific, much better than the start.

  “Well done.” Adam nodded. “I’m impressed you knew that tune.”

  She raised her eyebrows and gave him a devilish grin. “There’s always more than meets the eye. Didn’t we talk about you not underestimating me?”

  “Touché.” His perfect grin took up a third of his face. “What else do you have up your sleeve?”

  Their eyes locked and she couldn’t look away. Not even if she wanted to. He searched her and she saw something she hadn’t seen before. Interest? Flirting? His stare shifted and a twinkle of passion shone through. She had no words. Is this a good or bad thing? Her mind spun too quickly to decide and she took a quick breath.

  At that moment, timing surely calculated on Hannah’s part, her friend yelled out, “Sing Cups, Liv!”

  She jerked her head to the right to give Hannah a curt head shake. Singing with the crowd had been a blast. Signing by herself in front of them wasn’t on her list of things to do—ever. “Sing Cups!” Hannah excitedly persisted and winked.

  “Cups?” Adam asked.

  Oh, she knows how evil she’s being. Liv wagged her head no but felt a nudge from her other side.

  “Oh come on.” Adam’s eyes sparkled and were accompanied by a smile.

  Liv could do the song with her eyes closed, but her normal audience consisted of only two: Hannah and Sadie. She didn’t have a bad voice—well, horrible voice—but she’d never tested it in public either.

  Then something moved deep in her soul and she felt like showing off a bit. I’m gonna blow their socks off.

  “All right. All right.” She waved to the crowd, and Hannah in particular, to settle down.

  “What shall I play?” Adam asked, a little hoarse.

  Liv didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, she spied the perfect cup on the bar to use. She stood and reached for a twenty-ounce plastic cup off the bar. She waggled her eyebrows as sh
e stood to the side of the piano. By him.

  She took a deep breath, allowing his scent to calm her, and started the clap-and-tapping routine. Tap the cup on the table once. Clap twice. Flip the cup over, hitting it on the bottom and top. She had her rhythm down. She repeated the string of actions before adding the lyrics.

  She continued the a cappella cup routine and nervously glanced at the crowd, landing on Adam. Adam’s expression was priceless. Almost irreverent. She nearly lost her train of thought. She just needed to get through one more verse. She found another face to focus on.

  She ended the short song and set the cup in front of her, feeling the heat in her cheeks. She bit her bottom lip and flitted her eyes over the room and then to the floor. The previously silent crowd roared in claps, hoots, and hollers.

  • • •

  Adam walked out on the patio to make a call. That was sexy as hell. The memory of Liv’s performance was seared into his brain forever; her cute jean shorts that ran higher on her thigh than normal, her yellow and orange tank top hugging her curves, and her peachy full lips. He glanced over his shoulder as he brought the phone to his ear and watched Liv serve drinks. Trouble.

  “Wingfield Intelligence Group. How may I assist you?”

  “Hey, Madison. It’s Adam. Is the commander in?”

  A late hour loomed, but Adam had promised he’d check in to let his boss know when to expect him back. The answer would be short: whenever you need me.

  “No. He’s gone for the day. I can leave a message.”

  “Nah. I’ll try him back in the morning.”

  Adam pocketed his phone and walked back into the marina, where caught a familiar face. “Commander. I was just trying to reach you.”

  “Adam.” The commander stuck out his hand.

  “Are you checking up on me?” he razzed his mentor.

  “No. I’m here to meet my daughter.” The commander surveyed the bar.

  “Good choice.” Adam stuck his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts.