by Claire Adams
"What's going on here?" I asked.
"There's the threat of a strike because the crew thinks that we're going to ship in foreign workers to do the job for less pay," he said as he squeezed my hand. "We've never even thought about doing it, but somehow the rumor has gotten around the crew and they're threatening to walk off the job. If they do that..."
"If they do that, then you're really in trouble if you're not actually going to bring in new workers," I finished.
"Precisely," he nodded. "But I don't know how to stop the rumors when I don't know where they're coming from and I can't make them not strike if they don't believe me. I'm in a real bind."
"But who would start the rumors?" I asked.
"That's just it, we're not sure," he said, getting lost in his analytical thoughts and taking me along for the ride. "I think it's Daniel and his henchmen."
He saw the confused look on my face and explained, "Daniel is one of the guys who worked with my father. He's hardcore old school. You know, one of those guys when you think of mobsters and mafia."
"No, seriously?" I burst out laughing and pulled my hand away as I clapped in disbelief. Austin reached out and gently took my hand in his, guiding it back to his arm without a word. I looked up at him and saw a gentle pleading in his eyes, so I didn't pull away.
"Yeah, seriously," he said. "Daniel and his guys have a project that they're trying to get green lighted, but I've been dragging my feet because I don't have a good feeling about it. I think they started this rumor to get me out of the country with my mind on other things so they could push forward with their business deal."
"So, they're going behind your back to get the other project started?"
"That's exactly what they're doing, but I can't prove it." He nodded as he ran his fingertips over the back of my hand causing me to inhale sharply as I felt the sensation. I wanted to move closer, but I didn't dare. I wanted so much more than I would ever dare to want, but I stayed where I was and simply listened.
Chapter Forty-One
Austin
I had tried to be a good host and give her a tour of the harbor, but the conversation had turned personal and now I found myself holding her hand and confessing all of the problems I was facing as I tried to run Marks Enterprises. Emily looked up at me with eyes that made it incredibly difficult for me to not touch her and the hand on my arm was pushing me close to the edge. The funny thing was that I was okay with just sitting here feeling her hand on mine and not rushing her off to the stateroom for wild sex. I wanted her, to be sure, but there was something about her that made me want to do things the right way and not screw it up like I had so many other times.
"So, yeah, I'm not sure what they're up to, but it's definitely not good," I sighed.
"What are you going to do?" she asked. I could feel her hand resting on my arm and as my fingers traced a light path across the back of her hand, I could hear her breathing change ever so slightly.
"I'm going to meet with the crew leader again, and I'm going to try and figure out a way to make sure the crew doesn't strike," I said. "But I don't know how to make that happen."
"Why not just offer them a contract that says you won't hire anyone else?" she offered. "I mean, that's what happened with the flight attendants a few years ago and it seems to have worked out pretty well, if you ask me."
"Holy moly, you're right!" I cried as the words came out of her mouth. "We did do that, didn't we?"
"Yes, and everyone benefitted from it," she said. Then, she looked at me and tipped her head. "Where are we headed?"
"Oh! I want to show you this really cool beach and then we're going to head back up the coast to my house," I said.
"Wait, you have a house in Sydney and you stay at the hotel?" she asked confused.
"Yes, I do," I shrugged. "Well, it's a little bit bigger than your average house, and it requires a staff and all kinds of things, so sometimes it's just easier for me to stay at the hotel than to try and get everything together to go to the house. Plus, it's a little far away from the city if I have to be there for meetings in the hotel, which is usually what I have to do,"
"Oh, I see," she said nodding and looking away. She was thinking something, but I couldn't tell what that something was and I didn't want to upset her by asking.
"We don't have to go to the house," I quickly offered. "I just thought it would be a nice place to have dinner together without all of the interference that happens at the hotel."
"I see," she said moving back at little bit. "Well, then do go on."
"Emily, what's wrong?" I asked. "What just happened?"
"I just..." she stammered.
"You just what?"
"I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about me," she said. "I mean, you planned a getaway in your little private love nest, so that must mean you thought I'd be willing to just drop everything and sleep with you."
"Wait, what?" I said suddenly perplexed at the change from playful to serious.
"You were going to try and get me into bed, even though you said you understood that I've got things to deal with and that I can't just go hopping into bed with you!" she cried as she stood up and stalked across the front of the boat. "God, you're all alike, aren't you?"
"All who? All alike what?" I countered.
"All you rich boys. You think you can have whatever you want and whoever you want, whenever you want them, so you completely disregard the rest of us on the bottom," she was pacing the deck angrily and looking up at me with each turn.
"Emily! No! I didn't plan this with the intention of just pushing you into bed," I said calmly, trying to reassure her. "I really did just want to spend time with you and get to know you better."
"Sure, sure, is that all part of the story?" she asked defensively. "Oh my God, is it all part of the ploy? Is this some kind of game you use with all women?"
"Emily, stop for a minute, please," I said quietly as I walked over to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Just listen to me for a minute, okay?"
"Fine." She stopped pacing and stood staring up at me. She looked both so vulnerable and so strong, and I wanted to gather her up in my arms and kiss her, but I knew if I did, then she'd feel as if she'd been proven right and I would feel like a jerk.
"I'm not trying to do anything," I told her, looking directly into her eyes. "I've got a trip to Depot Beach planned for this afternoon and a dinner planned for this evening. That's the extent of my planning. I just wanted to share this with you."
She relaxed a little bit as she looked at me, and as she softened, a smile slowly began to spread across her lips. I smiled back, but waited for her to move away first.
"So, what is this beach you're taking me to?" she asked, moving back toward the couch and sitting down in one corner to tuck her tan limbs underneath her and look up at me expectantly.
"Depot Beach is this awesome place where there are kangaroos lounging around on the beach," I said as I looked out over the sparkling water and watched the boat plow through the swells. "There are also a whole bunch of interesting birds, but mostly, the water is a beautiful shade of aqua and is incredibly clear, so I thought we could do some snorkeling."
"I didn't know we were going to swim," she said. "I didn't bring a bathing suit!"
"Well, lucky for you I called down to the shops and had them bring over a variety of suits in all sizes, so you can go find one you like and put it on," I smiled.
"Oh, you're good," she laughed. "You're smart enough to know not to pick one suit and get the size wrong!"
I laughed out loud at this because it was true. "My mother taught me lots of things, but she always said that making sure a woman didn't feel self-conscious about how she looked was one of the most important lessons I'd ever learn. And she was right."
Emily laughed out loud and when she did, she threw her head back and I caught a glimpse of what she'd look like in the throes of passion. It took my breath away and I looked away as she hopped up off the couch and asked
, "So, where do I find this plethora of suits?"
"In the state room, of course," I laughed with her as I pointed the way. She laughed all the way down the hall and then went in and shut the door. I walked back out to the edge of the front deck and looked out at the water, wondering what it was I thought I was doing here. This was a dangerous game we were playing since we both knew where we wanted it to head, but it seemed like we were both dancing as close to the fire as we could get and then pulling back before either of us got burned.
I wanted to know more about Emily, but I didn't know how to ask without sounding like I was trying to manipulate her. I sighed as I realized that I was going to simply have to have patience and wait for her to make up her mind. I only hoped that she was going to make it up in my favor this time.
A few minutes later, Emily came bouncing out of the stateroom wrapped in a towel and giggling like a little girl.
"What on earth is so funny?" I asked, laughing with her even though I had no idea what I was laughing about.
"Oh my gosh, Austin!" she cried. "That state room is unbelievable! How do you even imagine a room like that? And how many bathing suits did you have them bring?"
"As many as they needed to," I said confused. "Why? Was that too many?"
"It's more than what's in most of the stores, Mr. Morning!" she laughed. "You're nuts!"
"Mr. Morning?" I said, even more confused. "Who is Mr. Morning?"
"You are, silly," she laughed. "It's your initials: AM. Morning!"
"Okay, now who's being the silly one?" I laughed. "That's just weird."
"No, it's not," she said. "Your initials are everywhere on this boat! It's like looking at announcements all over the place. AM! AM! AM! And all I could think was, my gosh it's like an announcement that it's morning...over and over and over!"
I burst into laughter because she was right. My initials were all over the place and it did like they were announcing daybreak.
"So, which suit did you choose?" I asked casually.
"Oh no, you don't get to see it until we hop into the water, Mr. Morning!" She laughed again. "Now, go change into your suit!"
I laughed all the way back to the stateroom where I pulled out a pair of swimming trunks and put them on. I scanned the room trying to see it with Emily's eyes, and realized that she was probably seeing it the same way I had five years ago when I'd first inherited the money. It all looked so elegantly unbelievable, and even now, five years later, I still sometimes stood looking at things I owned shaking my head in disbelief.
As I emerged back out on to the deck, I saw Emily standing at the rail with her face tipped into the breeze, her eyes closed and her arms stretched wide as she felt the waves rocking beneath her. It was a picture I wanted to keep, so I stood watching her until I heard the captain announce that we were arriving at Depot Beach and to prepare to anchor and go ashore.
At that moment, Emily opened her eyes and turned to look at me, and I felt a shiver run down my spine.
"Are you ready to go ashore, beautiful?" I asked. Emily giggled in response and dropped the towel that had been covering her. Underneath was a black string bikini that seemed impossibly small and yet covered way more than I wanted it to. I nodded my approval and then let loose a low wolf whistle.
"Oh stop," she waved me off with another giggle. "But thank you."
"My pleasure," I said bowing a little. "Entirely."
"Alright," she smiled. "So, how do we get to the beach?"
"What do you mean?" I asked as a small smile played around the edges of my lips. "We're gonna swim for it!"
"Austin!" she cried. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have picked a more practical suit! Arrgh! You are impossible!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," I laughed. "We've got a small skiff that will take us over for a picnic on the beach. Grab your towel, missy!"
Emily laughed happily and then followed me to the landing where the skiff waited to take us to shore.
Chapter Forty-Two
Emily
When Austin lifted me off of the ladder and set me in the skiff, I could feel his large hands spanning my waist and the sensation of his fingers on my bare skin caused me to inhale and hold my breath until he'd set me down. I hadn't wanted him to let go, but he was doing his best to be a gentleman and I didn't want to push it.
I turned my face toward shore and felt the spray from the skiff hitting my face. We were headed to the coastal area where full grown kangaroos lounged all day, and Austin was excited to show me where they hung out and to share a picnic lunch on the white sand.
I used to my peripheral vision to watch him as he guided the boat to shore and I couldn't help but notice his broad shoulders and muscled arms now that he wasn't wearing a shirt. For a moment, I let myself fantasize about what it would feel like to run my hands up and down his chest, and then I shook my head to clear the thought and smiled as I felt the skiff hit the sand.
"Are you hungry or should we look around a bit first?" he asked as he hauled a basket out of the vessel and set it on the shore.
"Let's look around, I'm okay for now," I replied. I watched him stack the supplies and wondered who had packed all that for us. We were only two people, but it looked like there was enough lunch for a big group.
"Great, then follow me!" he called as he began trudging across the sand. I quickly tied the large scarf I'd brought with me around my waist and followed after him. My legs were shorter, so I ended up running to match his stride. When he noticed, he laughed and slowed down so he could walk beside me.
"Over there is where we can do some bird watching," he said as he pointed to a shady spot near the edge of the woods. "There are many different types of birds in this area, but I'm really hoping that you'll get to see a Satin bowerbird."
"Oh really, why is that?" I asked, curious as to why he would be so interested in showing me a particular bird.
"No reason really, they're just interesting little birds," he replied as his eyes followed something in the sky. He excitedly called, "Oh look, there's a wedge-tailed eagle!" I followed his finger and saw a majestic gray bird floating on the wind current then swooping around to take another pass at lower ground. "It's either scouting its territory or it's trying to keep cool," Austin explained.
"It's very big and it looks quite intimidating," I said.
"They've been known to hunt red kangaroo together with other eagles," he said with more than a bit of awe in his voice. "They're rather formidable and quite vicious when they need to be. I kind of admire that level of tenacity, don't you?"
"I think it's barbaric," I replied. "But they're birds, so I don't take it personally."
"Nor should you," Austin said as he burst into laughter. "You're hilarious, missy. A real comedian!"
"Why thank you, I think," I said with a smile. I liked walking the beach with Austin. He knew so much about the wildlife and the plants that it was fun and interesting. He showed me a cabbage palm and noted that its flowers, which resembled huge white heads of cabbage, inspired its name.
We'd walked quite a way away from our lunch when suddenly we rounded a corner and came into viewing range of a group of eastern grey kangaroos. They were stretched out under a shady tree near the beach but off the sand. There were a few joeys hopping around their mothers and playing rather half-heartedly in the mid-day sun. The male kangaroos looked like human sunbathers as they reclined on their sides with their back legs stretched out and their front legs spread on the ground in front of them. It was an interesting tableaux and I was stunned by how close we were to them.
"Look at them," Austin whispered as he bent close and slipped an arm around my waist. I shivered a bit, but I leaned into it hoping that he would stay there a bit longer.
"I know, it seems there is a commonality in all species," I whispered back.
"In what way?" he asked.
"It seems that in every species the females are always working and looking after the offspring, and the men are lazing around watching," I deadpann
ed in his ear.
Austin choked on the laughter that bubbled up in his throat and then swallowed it down as he clung to me. I slid my arm under his and wrapped it around his waist. He was still as we sat arm-in-arm watching the lounging grey kangaroos. I didn't say a word because I didn't want to break the spell or the contact. I liked the feeling of his warm body pressed against mine and how his arm fit perfectly around my waist.
Suddenly, the kangaroos spotted something in the trees and they all jumped up and hopped toward it, away from the beach. Austin looked over at me. Our eyes locked as we held each other with one arm. I looked up at him and wondered if I should lean over and kiss him, but thought about how he'd promised to give me room to figure things out, so I simply held his gaze and waited.
"Um, lunch?" he finally said as he cleared his throat and withdrew his arm.
"Sure! I'm hungry now," I said in a much too cheerful voice as I turned and headed back from where we came. I could feel Austin close behind me. "What's for lunch?"
"I'm not sure, I didn't pack the basket today," he replied.
"Do you normally pack a picnic basket when you take a woman to the beach?" I asked playfully as I skipped down the path.
"Only when I don't care about impressing her," he shot back. I laughed out loud, and we raced back to the beach where our lunch awaited us.
The chef had packed deliciously thick turkey sandwiches on homemade bread that smelled like it had recently come out of the oven. There were containers of tender potato salad seasoned with cumin and vinegar, crisp bean salad with a mustard dressing, and pasta salad with fresh peppers, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. There were bottles of ice-cold pale ale and for dessert we stuffed ourselves with fresh melon and macaroons. When I'd eaten as much as I could, I leaned back and lay in the sand groaning about how full I was. Austin laughed and lay down next to me.