Page 75 of Save Me
The ladies step off one by one, each one grinning up at Ronan on their way past, heading for the stairs with careful steps.
“Our ride is four minutes away!” Darlene, who made the reservation and is the least inebriated, hollers before muttering, “It’s like traveling with kids.” She grabs a towel and a T-shirt from a hook before slapping a wad of twenties into my hand. “It’ll be hard to top this day. Thank you so much for everything, sweetheart.” With a wink, she hopsoff.
Up ahead, Tabitha stumbles again while laughing hysterically.
“How about I escort you lovely ladies up to the parking lot.” Jeremy trots forward and links his arm through hers.
Ishould have done that—God forbid one of them tumbles off the dock or falls while climbing the stairs—but I’m too distracted.
With them gone, I turn to Ronan.
When he left my house this morning, he was wearing clothes from last night. Now, he’s in a coral-colored golf shirt and light gray dress pants, and I can’t decide if I want to admire him as is or peel his clothes off to enjoy what’s beneath. “What are you doing here?” Suspicion laces my voice.
“Didn’t you get my text?” Ronan wastes no time, hopping onto the tiki and coming around to herd me into my captain’s spot.
My back hits the helm. “I did, just now.”
Leaning in, he meets my lips in a soft kiss, much like this morning, pulling away just far enough to whisper, “Hey.”
“Hey.” I close my eyes for a moment to inhale his cologne. “What’s up?”
He presses his body flush against me.
“Besides you,” I clarify. Whatever brought him here hasn’t upset him. That’s a good sign, I think?
His chuckle tickles my ear. “I’ve got to book a decent fishing charter for a rich and important guest, and I figured you’d know the good ones. My assistant found four that can do it. Everyone else is booked.”
“A fishing charter? That’s what this is about?”
“For tomorrow morning.”
I breathe a heavy sigh of relief.
He frowns. “Why? What’d you think it was about?”
“No idea. What are their names?”
He digs his phone out of his pocket and opens it up. “First one is Marlin O’Keefe. You know him?”
“Yeah, and you don’t want him. That guy’s boat looks like it’s a day from sinking every day. How he keeps his license is beyond me.”
“Okay. What about Barry Philips?”
“Barry?” I scoff. “Did your assistant read any reviews before calling?”
Ronan’s brows pucker. “So, not a good choice?”
“Not unless you get off on being verbally abused. He makes Frank look like Winnie the Pooh. That guy is one of the most miserable assholes in Mermaid Beach. Seriously, look him up on Yelp. I think he has a one-star average rating. There’s a rumor that he made his crew swim to shore once. I don’t know if that’s true, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Shit, I can’t bring Olivia out with someone like that.”
My stomach clenches. “Your client is named Olivia?” As in, a woman?
“Yeah. Apparently, she’s big into fishing.”
“Sure she is.”
He pauses, studying me. “Why?”
