Page 76 of Meet Me in Tahiti

How could she imagine a future now, without Russ in her life?

In just one week, against all odds, he’d become everything to her.

And now he was gone.

Chapter

Twenty-One

The charter agency’smain office was on the marina—simple, low-key, a converted two-story building with painted shutters and potted palms. Russ had been here more times than he could count, usually to pick up a schedule, turn in a report, or debrief a trip.

Never like this.

They were to park and leave the van here for the next charter; they’d docked theLatitudenearby. The charter hadn’t been a round-trip this time, since they’d picked up the passengers on Moorea, but that was often the case. He was scheduled to take out another group, however, from this dock, for seven days this time, starting Wednesday.

If he didn’t get fired.

He sat in the passenger seat of the rental van, duffel bag behind him, hat in his lap, staring straight ahead while Malik parked the van in the marina lot.

“You sure you want to come in?” Russ asked, glancing sideways.

Malik shifted into park and looked at him like the question was ridiculous. “I already told you. The answer is yes.”

Russ gave a quiet nod, throat tight. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Malik unbuckled and grabbed his sunglasses off the dash. “For the record, man… I didn’t see it at first. I had my own thoughts. But watching the way you handled everything? What she meant to you?” He shook his head. “You did right by her. You did right by all of us.”

Russ ran a hand down his face. “Yeah, well… she meant something. Doesn’t mean I get to keep her.”

Malik frowned. “Really? You two aren’t gonna try to make it work?”

Russ gave a half-shrug. “This kind of thing never works. You know that. Women don’t like being left behind while we’re out there at sea, chartering for weeks at a time.”

Malik pushed his sunglasses up, cocked an eyebrow. “The right woman don’t mind. My woman doesn’t.”

Russ managed a quiet laugh at that. “Yeah, well. Maybe you just got lucky.”

Malik smirked. “Maybe I just picked the right one.”

They headed inside, Malik walking just half a step behind him like backup in a silent showdown. The receptionist gave them a tight smile and told them to go on back—he was expecting them.

Their boss, Marco Larent, was already standing behind his desk when they walked in. No handshake. Just a nod.

“Russ. Malik. Come on in.”

Russ shut the door behind them.

Marco gestured toward the two guest chairs. “I read your email last night. Thank you for your honesty.”

Russ nodded once, his pulse quickening. He honestly had no idea what Marco was going to say. But Russ had always found him to be fair with his employees.

Russ was ready either way. “I take full responsibility for what happened. My actions were out of line, and I crossed a boundary that shouldn’t have been crossed.”

“And no one else knew?” Marco asked, folding his arms.

“No,” Russ said immediately. “Jules didn’t know. Malik didn’t know until the very end. Neither of them were involved in any way. It was private. I made sure of that.”

Marco looked over at Malik, who added calmly, “I didn’t know a thing until last night. And I can vouch—Captain kept everything professional. Guest safety was never at risk, not for a second. He kept it quiet.”

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