Way Too Deep (Love Overboard Book 1)

by Andrea K. Stein

  “Any time,” Alton said.

  “Thank you,” Manning said, and grasped Alton’s hands. He took in a deep, shuddery breath, and then walked with renewed vigor to where Carrothers crouched on the deck. His partner looked like a whipped, half-charred dog. The bruising from the flare gun shell would be epic.

  “Well, old man,” Manning said, “in this cat-and-mouse game of high-stakes poker, the king of espionage, the queen of the ocean, and her ace of kitchens check-mated you.”

  Carrothers grimaced and dropped his head.

  Lindsay ignored Manning’s convoluted speech. “Carrothers, come clean. Why try to kill us all and blow up your boat?”

  “I can answer that,” Devin said, but Lindsay silenced him with a look. Holding a machine gun also probably helped.

  Carrothers shrugged. “Money, you imbeciles. My business has been bleeding money for years, and I needed cash, fast.”

  “Our business,” Manning interrupted.

  Carrothers snarled. “My business. All you ever did was strut around. Regardless, it was all about money. Blow up the Bonnie Blue, get the cash from the insurance, get the life insurance from the silly bitch I married, and get rid of a mistress who would come at me with her hand out once I cashed it all in.”

  “CeCe loved you,” Lindsay said.

  “She loved my money,” Carrothers said with a hiss. He tuned to his partner. “And you, Devin, you dickhead. Killing you would’ve been the crown jewel, because I have all the access information to your Swiss bank accounts. You talk a good game about security, but all your passwords are James Bond references.”

  Manning squinted in what might have passed for a cool assessment, but merely came off as an uneasy, unsettled look. “If it hadn’t been for a cook, his lover, and me, your arch-nemesis, your best frenemy, your plan might have succeeded.”

  “Ugh,” Alton said, “shoot them both. Please.”

  From behind them, Moj, Fiona, Becca and CeCe stumbled up onto the deck. In the distance, Lindsay could hear the hum of the engines of The Other Woman’s launch returning.

  She couldn’t wait to tease René about fleeing just because of a little automatic weapon fire. There went his macho rep.

  “What the hell happened?” Moj asked.

  Lindsay went over the high points, enjoying Carrothers’s sighs, winces, and general humiliation for being a bloodthirsty, greedy asshole.

  “We are done, and I am so getting half of your money.” Becca ripped off her wedding ring and chucked it at her soon-to-be ex-husband. “No, on second thought,” she added. “I’m going for everything you’ve got, since you’ll be in prison for life, you bastard.”

  “Fine man like you will make someone very happy in the joint.” Moj grinned and pulled Fiona close.

  Fiona shook her head, “How could you do this to so many innocent people? Moj and I would’ve died as well.”

  Carrothers rolled his eyes. “Innocent? Don’t get too attached to that word, sweetheart. Moj didn’t return my texts at that Hollywood party. Totally ignored my invitation. What the hell?”

  “I had no time for your uppity shit,” Moj said and shrugged.

  Lindsay had to sigh. It was all so high school in a fiendish way.

  “But I didn’t do anything,” Fiona whispered.

  Carrothers gave her a long look. “That night on Catalina? You and me? You totally snubbed me. And I brought you roses and everything.”

  CeCe shook her head in disgust. “You were smart, Fiona. In the bed, he is not so good.”

  “You can say that again,” Becca sniffed.

  CeCe walked over to her. “I’m sorry, Becca, I’m sorry for us both, getting mixed up with a bastard like him.”

  Becca embraced the masseuse. “All is forgiven and forgotten. You’ll get a slice of the Carrothers cake, I promise.”

  “And I want the Bonnie Blue,” Lindsay said, grinning. Yeah, they were going to divide up his empire, right in front of him.

  René pulled his launch alongside, wrapped a line around a cleat, and shouted up to them, “Are you all okay?”

  “Just fine, René,” Lindsay said. “Glad you could join us now that all the hard stuff is over.”

  “Win one for the American cavalry!” Alton shouted.

  The Frenchman called out, “Well, Yankee, your horse would’ve drowned back at Secret Harbour if it hadn’t been for the French Foreign Legion.”

  Carrothers rose. “I am not giving any of you anything. You’ll have to kill me.”

  Lindsay jabbed the bastard in his belly with the AK-47. “Done and done. Hey, Becca, I can have the Bonnie Blue, right?”

  “Done and done,” Becca echoed.

  Carrothers sighed. Beaten. “Fine. How about this? You all get everything, as long as I don’t see jail time. I’ll sign it all over.”

  “And I will make sure he does,” Manning said. He reached into his pocket and removed zip ties, which he wrapped and tightened around Carrothers’s wrists.

  “You want in on the cake, Devin?” Fiona asked.

  “I prefer the pie of justice and lemon tart of truth,” he said. “I stopped a great evil. That is enough for me. And as you know, I am already a very wealthy man.”

  He carefully took the machinegun away from Lindsay, and she let him have it. He could clean up that particular mess.

  She had other things on her mind. Lindsay crooked her finger at Alton. “Come over here, and don’t even think about ever leaving me again.”

  He walked the few steps across the deck to stand in front her. He saluted and took her in his arms. He’d learned his lesson.

  She was the captain.

  Epilogue

  Three weeks later

  Aboard the Bonnie Blue off Carriacou

  Lindsay stopped sanding the wood deck trim beneath the Bonnie Blue’s safety rail for a moment and sneaked a glance at Alton. He wore a ragged pair of cutoff jeans he’d snagged at a thrift shop before they left Grenada. His hair hung down over his eyes, and sweat dripped off his nose. He was bent over patching holes peppering the deck from the machine gun bursts.

  She wanted to crawl over and lick the sweat from his face, but they had too much work to do before he went back to Zoe and Yann’s restaurant to get ready for the dinner hour. They were anchored off Carriacou for a few weeks to make repairs while Alton decided what he wanted to do.

  Lindsay had offered him a job, but he hadn’t accepted yet. He said he needed to keep his promise to the battling restaurateurs to help them ramp up their menu. Also, Moj and Fiona were still offering a position as their personal chef. To sweeten the deal, Fiona said she’d talked to some of her contacts at the Culinary Network, and they wanted to do a show with him, Neptune’s Bounty, a cooking/travel show. Alton would be the Kitchen God once again.

  Lindsay returned to sanding with a sigh. Weeks before, she would’ve gone over and demanded he tell her, right now, what he was going to do. However, Tommy’s Cosmo Yoda wisdom had been working. She was afraid he’d leave, but that didn’t mean she had to get angry.

  But for God’s sakes, why couldn’t he just make up his mind and tell her? She had no idea what he would finally choose, but she’d give him the time he needed. He was such a different guy—he barely resembled the arrogant ass who had climbed aboard a month ago in dark Gucci loafers, dragging a load of attitude.

  He’d changed, she’d changed, everything had changed.

  In Grenada, Manning and Becca had marched Carrothers off the Bonnie Blue, not exactly at gunpoint, but close enough. Manning might have been laughable as a spy, but he certainly knew his international law. In no time at all, Lindsay got all the paperwork she needed to own the beautiful yacht. The Bonnie Blue was hers.

  Becca and CeCe would split the rest of the Carrothers estate.

  Before he left, Manning swore he would bring Raoul to justice. She wasn’t sure where the Russian had headed after stealing away in the launch into the dark waters off Glover Island that night, and she didn’t care, as long as
he never darkened her decks again.

  Moj and Fiona had resumed their global jet setting and had recommended cruises on the Bonnie Blue to a number of their friends. Lindsay and Tommy would be busy catering delicious cruises all over the world to the rich and famous through the next year. Well, she would if she had a chef.

  As for CeCe, she’d surprised all of them by hitching a ride with René as his first mate back up the Atlantic. His latest yacht delivery was a classic old ship in need of a lot of TLC. He was sailing her to a boatyard in Southampton for a re-fit and had quickly agreed to fly CeCe to her next spa gig in Portugal at the end of the trip.

  Lindsay wished she could be a bug on the bulkhead while the two made their way up the Atlantic. The look the sexy, honey-blonde masseuse had given the Frenchman when he suggested they share a cabin could have lasered paint off wood.

  Lindsay had been so absorbed in sanding and worrying over Alton, she hadn’t noticed him leave the deck and go below. Now he was headed back toward her with a bundle of brightly striped fabric under one arm and balancing a tray of food and drinks with the other.

  “What are you doing? We have a butt-load of work to finish before you head off to Yann and Zoe’s.”

  “Oh, captain, my captain, it’s time for a break.” He set the down the tray with lemonade and a plate loaded with something looking suspiciously like potato chip cookies.

  “If you continue to feed me like this, I’m going to look like Captain Bluto.” She went back to sanding but kept her eyes on him while he unwound the fabric and attached the ends to the lifelines at the bow.

  “You bring the cookies,” he said, and then picked up the drinks and folded his long frame into the hammock.

  “We’re never going to finish the repairs if you keep distracting me.” She put down the sandpaper and socked her hands onto her hips.

  “And why are we in a hurry to finish the repairs?” He gave her a heated look that usually meant she wouldn’t accomplish much the rest of the afternoon.

  “Because someone has to get back to being Kitchen God to the rich and stupid. You’ve had three or four calls now offering you that show on the Culinary Network. Also, Fiona has taken a turn for the worse and needs your food. Not to mention, your gig at the On y Va! restaurant.”

  “Yeah, I’m a wanted man all right,” Alton said, and sighed. “And what would you do while I’m gone?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. My nails. Maybe catch up on my reading. We have a few months before our first gig with paying passengers. If you don’t take the job, I’m hoping Raoul can come back and cook for us.”

  “Stick with his borscht and avoid his sushi,” Alton said with a snicker.

  “Yeah, no fugu fish for me,” Lindsay said. And smiled wearily. “Tommy and I might have enough time to cruise down to New Zealand. Always been a dream of ours.”

  “No, it hasn’t.” Tommy suddenly appeared above deck. “The Caribbean is fine with me. Don’t even want a sniff of those cantankerous southern waters.”

  Alton held up the two lemonades, the glasses sweating from the crushed ice and gave her a look. “Come here, and we’ll discuss this some more.”

  Lindsay sighed and picked up the plate of cookies, stuffing one in her mouth as she plopped next to Alton in the hammock.

  Tommy gave them a mock salute and disappeared back below.

  “Now that I have you where I want you …” He handed her one of the drinks and then with his free hand deftly unhooked her bathing suit top.

  When she opened her mouth to protest, he covered her lips with a deep kiss. After he finally let her go, he looked into her eyes. “I don’t want to be Neptune or any kind of god, and I don’t want to be Fiona and Moj’s kitchen trophy. In the end, there is only one person I want to cook for, and that’s you.”

  “So you’ll stay with me?” Lindsay sat up abruptly and set the hammock swinging.

  “You, me, Tommy and the Bonnie Blue.” Alton smiled. “I’d be crazy to go anywhere else.”

  The End

  The Adventure Continues…

  If you enjoyed the high-seas hijinks and steamy sauces of Way Too Deep please leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or your favorite book blog. It really helps us to spread the word!

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  Love Overboard Series

  Way Too Deep (Love Overboard Series Book 1)

  Captain Lindsay Fisher has committed the unthinkable in the tight little world of superyachting. She's lost not one but two ships under her command. She takes chances, she’s a little too abrasive, and, oh yeah, she’s taken swearing like a sailor to a whole new level. Celebrity Chef Alton Maura earned the acclaimed “Kitchen God” title and basked in the international limelight for years until his affairs with his kitchen staff landed him twice in a poisonous stew. When Lindsay and Alton are thrown together on an uneasy cruise through the Grenadines, sparks fly. She doesn’t like his shoes or his attitude. He can’t believe a woman who looks that good in a captain’s uniform can be such a hard ass. This is their last chance to prove themselves, but the worst thing you can do when trying to save your career is to fall in love…WAY TOO DEEP.

  Up Too Close (Love Overboard Series Book 2)

  CeCe Ahlstrom, massage therapist to the rich and famous, is done with men. Her last rich boyfriend tried to kill her on an ill-fated cruise through the Grenadines. Now she’s determined to get on with her life but can’t find the funds to get to her next spa gig in Portugal. Then along comes notorious womanizer Captain René Baudoin. He’s hell on the hearts of women, he can handle any storm at sea, yet he might have met his match in a leaky old boat. He needs a first mate crazy enough to help crew the wreck known as the Tourbillon across the Atlantic. Destiny draws CeCe and René together, but things are not what they seem. René struggles with a family secret that could destroy his future, and CeCe will have to face a truth not even she knows yet. Out on the open sea, René and CeCe soon find themselves…UP TOO CLOSE.

  Out Too Far (The Love Overboard Series Book 3)

  Rania Elsaeid is the brilliant engineer aboard the 115-foot yacht, the Bonnie Blue. She’s also a deadly, well-trained security guard. She keeps her cool when everything around her heats up. Morris “Moj” Johnston, internationally famous music producer, is on a much-needed vacation cruise through the islands of the Indian Ocean. He’s not looking for love but trying to heal a broken heart. When Moj meets Rania, everything changes. Suddenly they find themselves on the run from pirates, lost on a deserted island, and dangerously close to going…OUT TOO FAR.

  About Andrea K. Stein

  Andrea K. Stein’s daddy was a trucker, her momma was an artist, and she's a scribbler. The stories just spilled out—the pony escaped, the window magically shattered. Not her fault. Twenty years as a journalist couldn't stifle the yarns. Yacht delivery up and down the Caribbean only increased the flow. Now those tales celebrate romance on the high seas. As a sailing captain and instructor since 1996, she's logged nearly 30,000 miles to destinations around the world. She now lives in the Rocky Mountains and is the author of four historical sailing romances available on Amazon.com. Sail on over to her website at http://www.andreakstein.com/

  ANDREA K. STEIN BOOKS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

  Historical High Seas Romance Series

  Fortune’s Horizon

  Horizons East

  Secret Harbor

  Rhum Bay

  About Sawyer Stone

  Sawyer Stone grew up dreaming of far-off cities and far-flung continents, even though those exotic locations seemed way out of reach. But the dreams of travel and love never left. It wasn’t long before Sa
wyer walked the alleys of Istanbul, watched the sun set from the island of Santorini, trekked the Himalayas, and dove through shipwrecks in the Andaman Sea. Still traveling, Sawyer writes all kinds of books under all kinds of names. The world needs more stories about quirky characters falling in love.

  Potato Chip Cookies

  1 cup shortening

  1 cup sugar

  1 cup light brown sugar

  2 eggs

  ¾ cup chopped nuts (pecans)

  3 cups flour

  1 tsp. baking soda

  1 tsp. vanilla

  1 cup crushed potato chips

  Cream shortening with sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and beat.

  Add flour, nuts, baking soda, vanilla, and potato chips. Mix.

  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheet.

  Flatten top.

  Bake at 325 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.

  TIP: Since the dough is very rich, keep dough and cookie sheets as cold as possible.

  Recipe courtesy of Louise Jones Bolton