Caught Between a Rock and a Hunka Man (Caught Between Romance Book 3)

by Sheila Seabrook

  Bill snagged the condoms from his aunt’s hands at the same time as the captain took Mrs. Readner by the shoulders and moved her aside.

  “Mom, we’re all adults here,” he said as he pulled the sports bag out of her arms and shoved it against Bill’s chest. “I’m sure nothing too important was forgotten and if it was, we’ll make do. Now, we have a long way to travel today and I want to reach our destination before nightfall.”

  Bill turned his back to the others, held up the condoms as though Trudy had missed them, and winked.

  With a disgusted snort, she turned on her heel and trudged onto the deck, anxious for the captain to set sail so they could hurry up and make the return trip home.

  Because the moment they arrived back on dry land, Trudy intended to scrape up enough cash for a breast reduction. Maybe then everyone—especially Bill—would take her seriously.

  But first, she had three days to teach Bill a lesson, and she intended to start out by hiding every last condom he owned.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Thirty minutes later, as they pulled away from the dock, Marla took a deep breath and mentally prepared for the fireworks ahead. Because there would be fireworks, and without a doubt her mom would be at the center of the storm.

  But there was nothing she could do about it now, so she settled down on a nearby lounger, her laptop balanced on her legs, and tried to focus on the audit she was doing for The Heavenly Estates Retirement Home. Except the memory of her bodily encounter with their hunky boat captain refused to go away.

  Behind the cover of sunglasses, she studied the man at the helm of the yacht.

  Reed stood with his big hands on the wheel, his open shirt blowing in the ocean breeze, his strong tanned legs braced against each roll and swell of the waves. And every female cell in her body urged her to slip into one of those naughty outfits her mom had packed and have her way with him.

  The thought of spending the next three days below deck with Reed, where she could lick him from head to toe and he could reciprocate in kind, made her feel restless and itchy and kind of panicked. But she hadn’t been with a man since her ex walked out on her. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if she could remember what to do with a man.

  The cute teenage boy who used to let her tag along with him to his dad’s accounting firm after school and on weekends had grown up into a man with a presence. Sexy and funny and surprisingly nice. Even the beach bum appearance looked good on him, which would explain why she was intensely hyper aware of his killer abs and drool-worthy body.

  Maybe her mom was right. Maybe she did need to hook up with a man for a night or two, release all this pent up tension, but the thought scared the bejeezus out of her. She was ten pounds overweight, and at thirty-two, she felt used up, worn out, and ready to be retired to the old maid’s pasture.

  Still, she hadn’t missed the way Reed had given her the once over, a big improvement from the last time they’d seen each other, when he’d worn the same disappointed and disillusioned expression his dad always seems to wear.

  Not that Reed had ever wanted her like that back then. No sireee. She’d been too young for him to consider her as anything more than jail bait, too geeky to compete with all those high school cheerleaders, too much like a pesky little sister to ever see her as anything more.

  Off limits and unwanted, the story of her life.

  A movement near the galley steps caught her attention, and she saw her mom round the corner and come face-to-face with Mary Readner.

  Marla set aside her laptop, prepared to jump into the fray, but Mary simply hissed bitch, and Betty heckled hag right back, and the two women skirted each other like they were convinced the other one had the cooties.

  When her mom settled onto the lounger next to her and opened the e-reader in her hands, Marla sighed. “If you can’t get along with Mary, then for the next three days, please stay away from her.”

  The other woman smirked. “Only if she jumps ship.”

  “Great,” she muttered as her gaze returned to the front of the boat and the man at the wheel. “Maybe I can convince Reed to split babysitting duties with me.”

  Her mom waggled her eyebrows. “When you ask him, make sure you’re wearing that black eyelet corset with the fur handcuffs fastened—”

  On the opposite side of the deck, Paul’s loud voice interrupted her mom. “Staff meeting in the galley. Right now, people.”

  Marla scrambled to her feet, eager to escape another discussion that would no doubt include whips and dildos and husbands-for-the-night. She’d much rather deliberate tax laws and accounting practices and Excel versus Numbers, anything that kept the focus on work instead of her personal life. Because quite frankly, spreadsheets and numbers never lied or cheated or broke her heart, whereas the personal stuff always messed up her life and her mind.

  As she stumbled across the deck, the ocean waves rocking the boat gently back and forth enough to throw her off balance, Bill fell into step beside her.

  “This is supposed to be a vacation,” he grumbled.

  She kept her tone even and detached. “Paul doesn’t do vacations.”

  “Neither do you,” Bill muttered as they fell into line behind their boss who was still dressed like he was headed into work for the day—tan trousers with the crease line just so, white short-sleeved shirt perfectly pressed.

  Trudy, who had stripped down to a teeny weeny bikini to suntan on the deck, brought up the rear. Every time Bill glanced over his shoulder, his gaze deliberately bypassing Marla to focus on the younger woman, Marla wanted to smack him. Not just because he’d never looked at her like that when they were married, but because Trudy was still young and innocent, and she didn’t need Bill to ruin her life.

  Marla made a mental note to corner her ex after the staff meeting and nip whatever ideas he had into the bud.

  They followed Paul in an obedient line down the steps, and when he noticed their receptionist, he frowned. “No need for you to be here, young lady. This meeting doesn’t concern you.”

  “But Mr. Readner, I’m part of the staff.” Her voice turned small and she shrank two inches into herself. “Please can I stay? It’s lonely up on deck.”

  For the first time ever, Marla felt sorry for her.

  Paul had a soft spot for the young woman, like he had a soft spot for every single one of his employees, even though he played the tough guy with no heart. When he grunted his agreement, Trudy straightened and sat down, a relieved smile washing the worry from her expression.

  The older man cleared his throat. “This is as good a time as any to tell you all that Mary wants me to retire and travel the Mainland in a motorhome. She thought this trip would show me all the fun I’ve been missing.”

  Finally, all those brain sucking days and exhausting nights were about to pay off. Everything Marla had done since she’d started working at the firm when she was a teenager had prepared her for this moment. She could envision it all now. Readner & Blackhorne Accounting Firm.

  Take that, Dad. You walked out, but I’ve worked my way back in.

  Paul would probably make her manager first, then later when his iron-fisted personality let him release a wee bit more control, he’d let her buy out the share of the firm that should have been hers, if only her dad had stuck around instead of running off.

  She sat a little straighter, prepared to negotiate the terms of their agreement.

  Paul’s steady voice brought her back into the conversation. “But I refuse to retire until I have someone trustworthy to run the company.”

  He looked around the table, contemplative as his gaze paused on each employee. When he looked at Marla, she gave him an encouraging smile.

  He rested his hands palm down on the tabletop and leaned forward. “I want all of you to know this has been an extremely difficult decision to make.”

  Trudy patted his hand. “We know how much you love your company, Mr. Readner, and how much you love us.”

  Paul sobered up even more. “I�
�ve worked to build the business up to where it is today, ensuring future generations will benefit from my hard work.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Marla saw her ex glance her way and smirk, so she smirked back because she felt confident that Paul would never turn the company over to Bill. Despite the fact that Bill was Mary's nephew, everyone knew he’d rather play than work.

  Paul looked from Marla to Bill. “Which is why I’m making this offer to both of you.”

  “Offer?” Marla choked out the question at the same time Bill said, “What offer?”

  “Whichever one of you can convince my son to return to the family business and take his rightful place, I will give you a forty-nine percent share of the business, thereby making you a partner in Readner & Son Accounting Firm.”

  In the silence that followed Paul’s statement, Marla sat speechless.

  There was no way…

  He wouldn’t, couldn’t…

  But apparently he was.

  Paul knew how much she wanted her family name back on the firm’s signage, and how she was positive that single action would erase the ugliness of her dad’s rejection.

  She risked a glance toward the helm of the boat where the man about to get hosed stood tense and hard-faced at the wheel. If she hadn’t worked so hard to get this partnership, she might be tempted to warn him about what was going on.

  Except warning him would do no good.

  Reed would still refuse to return to the firm.

  And Paul would still stubbornly refuse to see that his only son wanted nothing to do with a real job.

  Marla gritted her teeth and got down to business, careful to keep her expression and tone of voice neutral and businesslike. “Reed’s not interested in the business or he would have come back a long time ago.”

  Beside her, Bill nodded, his agreement with her a sure sign that he was as disturbed by this direction as she was. “I agree. Reed’s not interested. He’ll never return to the island.”

  Paul’s angry voice rumbled through the galley. “Giving diving lessons was fine when he was in college, but he’s a grown man now. It’s time he took his rightful place at the head of the firm.” As the silence lengthened, Paul’s frown deepened. “If the partnership isn’t enough incentive, then I’ll throw in a ten thousand dollar bonus to whoever convinces him to change his mind.”

  Trudy bounced up from the chair, drawing Marla’s attention from the frown on their boss’s face, to the bounce of her ample bosom, and finally to the intense expression on the younger woman’s face.

  She leaned forward so she was practically in Paul’s face. “What about me, Mr. Readner? Don’t I get a chance at the bonus?” Almost as an afterthought, she added, “And the partnership?” Across the table from her, Bill snorted, and every bone in Trudy’s spine stiffened as she gave him a dirty look, then turned her attention back to Paul. “I know I haven’t been with the company as long as these two, but I’ve worked hard, contributed to the buildup of our client base, and pulled my weight.”

  Paul shook his head, his jaw firm. “Trudy, you don’t have an accounting degree.”

  She straightened from the table, stood tall and determined, and in Marla’s opinion, totally delusional. “But you know I’m working on it.”

  After a few tense-filled moments, Paul sighed and gave her a resigned look. “Fine. If you can convince my son to return to the firm, I’ll give you the bonus and consider you for a future partner.”

  “Yes, good enough for me,” Trudy exclaimed as she pumped her hands in the air and did a happy dance which, Marla thought, was putting a dopey expression on Bill’s face as he watched her bigger body parts jiggle to the rhythm of her dance.

  Marla grabbed Trudy by the wrist and tugged. “Sit down.”

  The younger woman complied, but she couldn’t seem to sit still on the bench. She wiggled and squiggled and showed her pearly whites, her smile so big it nearly consumed her face. Finally she squealed, “Ten thousand?”

  Paul slapped his hand over her mouth, glanced toward the helm, and hissed. “Hush. I don’t want Mary or Reed to know about this. I need them both to think it’s his idea.”

  The younger woman pushed his hand away, lowered her voice to a whisper, and leaned forward, arms and breasts resting on the tabletop. “Oh, wow, a bonus. I’ve never gotten a bonus before. And ten thousand. I could use the money for—” She glanced around the table, the ecstatic light in her eyes suddenly somber and shuttered. “—my sick mother.”

  When Bill said, “You’re mom’s dead, babe,” and Marla pulled her gaze away from Trudy’s huge breasts and focused on her ex, he turned a brilliant shade of red. “Uh, yeah, sorry that was inappropriate. The babe part, that is, not the mom part. That part’s true.”

  “Bill, you’re babbling,” Marla said, dismissing his slip of the tongue as one more idiotic thing coming from her ex. She chewed on her bottom lip. Was it possible to convince Reed to give up his freedom and return to the life he’d run away from? Knowing what she knew about him, she seriously doubted it. She addressed her boss. “So what happens to the partnership if Reed refuses to return to the firm?”

  Paul glowered. “It’s off the table and so are my retirement plans. Which means if any of you want the partnership, you’ll do whatever it takes to convince him to return.”

  Everything Marla had planned for, everything she’d worked towards, deflated in an instant. Tears burned at the back of her eyes, but she willed them away.

  Paul’s gaze swept over them. “Who’s in?”

  Bill sat back and folded his arms across his chest, smug as only a man certain of his win could be. “You can count on me, Uncle Paul.”

  “Me, too,” Trudy echoed, careful to keep her voice barely above a whisper.

  And then Paul looked directly at her, impatience oozing from his stance. “Well?”

  Marla frowned back at him. “I’m thinking.”

  “What’s there to think about?”

  She planted her hands on the table and pushed to her feet. “Sir, may I have a word with you in private?”

  “What’s there to discuss? Either you’re with me or against me.”

  Half off the bench, Marla froze.

  He wasn’t going to give an inch, not today, and probably not tomorrow. She’d worked with him long enough to know when to poke the bear and when to hide the stick. There would be time enough to speak with him privately and try to get him to be reasonable. In the meantime, she needed to appear to be a team player.

  Affection for the man who had been like a father to her deflated her anger, and she knew in her heart that she had no choice but to support him. She sat back down. “Of course you can count on me.”

  “Good. I don’t care what the three of you have to do to convince him to return, but get it done.”

  He turned and retraced his steps up the galley stairs, and headed toward the back of the yacht where he once again settled with his laptop.

  As they all stood up to follow him out, Trudy smiled, clearly pleased with the outcome of the discussion. “I can’t believe Mr. Readner is willing to give me a shot at the bonus and the partnership too.”

  “He was just being nice,” Bill drawled with a bravado that sent a shard of something unpleasant up Marla’s spine. He stood at the entryway, blocking their exit.

  “But he said—”

  “Trudy, honey, think about it with your head, not your heart.”

  All the fight seemed to go out of the younger woman, and Marla remembered what it was like to start out with nothing but a dream and a desire so heartfelt, it could be crushed with the smallest negative remark. Everyone needed someone’s encouragement.

  She elbowed her ex out of the way and turned her back on him. “Trudy, don’t listen to him. You were right. You’ve worked hard and earned a place in the office. You deserve to be part of this…whatever it is.”

  Spirit crushed, the younger woman hung her head. “What Bill said is true. Mr. Readner isn’t going to give me th
e partnership. He was just humoring me.”

  Bill poked Marla in the back, redrawing her attention, and lowered his voice. “By the end of this trip, she’ll have Reed eating out of her hand…or off her body. Looks like the only way you’re going to succeed in this is if you grow a pair of tits.” The evil Bill she’d divorced grinned at her. “Come on, Trudy, you and I have some planning to do.”

  Head hung low, she slipped past Marla. “Coming, Bill.”

  As Bill headed up on deck, Marla caught Trudy by the arm. “He’s not going to help you climb the ladder. He’s going to use you to get to Reed, and then he’ll drop you like a hot potato.”

  She carefully extracted her elbow and stepped back. “We shouldn’t be talking about him behind his back. He’s still m—”

  Whatever she’d been about to say, she zipped her mouth closed.

  From up on the deck, Bill called down, “Marla, want to play a game of chess? Something to keep us busy? I hate having nothing to do.”

  Marla followed their receptionist up the steps.

  The man had the attention span of a gnat, and the sticking power of an empty bottle of glue. But she was done with that, done with him. He’d left her, and now he was her competition. She marched up on deck and stomped past him. “No thanks.”

  He shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe Paul will play.”

  Like a scolded puppy with her spirit crushed, Trudy’s small voice followed Marla. “I’ll play, Bill.”

  Bill laughed as though the thought amused him. Marla turned to face him, ready to stand up for the younger woman. He had his full attention on the blonde, his gaze assessing. “I could probably teach you the basics. It would give us something to do besides feed the seagulls. But when I beat the pants off you, no pouting, okay?”

  The blonde smirked, a tiny bit of spirit sparking in her eyes. “Right back at you, Bill.”

  Then Bill reached up and brushed something off Trudy’s chest, and Marla thought whoa, dirty old man alert. It was definitely time to have a heart to heart with the younger woman and warn her to be careful, then keep an eye on her just to be sure.