Sailing at Sunset

by Cindi Madsen

  The joke was on him, because she’d felt a fish nipping at her line. Still, surely the interest went both ways. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be slowly consuming him. Right?

  He heard movement near the door and, so he wouldn’t appear as eager as he felt, grabbed a fork. Using the tines, he confirmed that the fish was cooked to flaky, melt-in-your-mouth tenderness.

  Perfect.

  The chatter grew louder, and then there she was. Standing between Mark and Franco, smiling and laughing the way she had earlier, with him.

  Which is allowed, hello. Josh must be tired, because normally he could control his thoughts without so much effort. It had been a long day. He’d also tossed and turned last night, the foreign room around him throwing him off.

  Danae split from the guys, moving over to the stove instead of the table where everyone was passing around plates. Vanessa had sliced a loaf of crusty bread and put it in the center of the table, along with a garden salad and a few bottles of dressing.

  Danae studied the fish, her forehead wrinkling and smoothing as if she wasn’t sure what to make of their dinner. “It smells better than most fish. I’ll give you that.”

  “I figured you were going to go with something smells fishy around here,” Josh joked, and there was the laugh that echoed through him and stirred up joy.

  “I wish I’d thought of that. It was my way of saying I’m trying to keep an open mind.”

  “Hey, don’t do me any favors. I want the truth.”

  Tipping onto her toes, Danae opened a cupboard door and withdrew a white ceramic platter. “Well, hand it over then, and I’ll start passing it around.”

  He did as requested, using a spatula to transfer the two large fish from the pan to the platter. A large bass could feed several people, and since they didn’t want to waste food, they had put one in the fridge for later, and released one.

  The entire group crowded around the table, the mood far more jovial than it had been during last night’s dinner, and Josh wanted to take at least partial credit for Danae’s carefree demeanor. She hadn’t mentioned the schedule or their project since before the lighthouse trip.

  “Um, don’t everyone look at me,” she said a minute or so later, after everyone had taken a bite and declared the fish to be delicious. “It makes me paranoid to eat while people watch.”

  “Seriously, just try it already,” Franco said. “I’m extra picky about seafood, and it’s better than anything I’ve ordered at a five-star restaurant.”

  Josh nodded at the guy. “Thank you, Franco. I don’t have a lot of specialty dishes, but fish happens to be one of them.”

  “Try it, try it, try it,” the group began chanting, until Danae’s skin reddened and she ducked her head.

  Finally, she scooped up a bite and shoved it in her mouth. Her hand lifted to shield her face as she chewed. The fork clattered against her plate as she let it go, and Josh’s stomach dropped.

  She hated it.

  Which again, was fine.

  “Oh my gosh, if that’s what I’ve been missing for years, I’m all regret.” A close-lipped smile spread across her face. “It’s so good.”

  Everyone cheered, as if they also had a stake in the dare he’d given Danae, and a floaty frenetic sensation buzzed through his body. It had been a long time since he’d experienced anything akin to camaraderie.

  Danae dug into her food again, leaving Josh in danger of bursting with pride. She might’ve been able to fake a positive reaction to one bite, but she cleared her plate along with everyone else.

  As people jumped up and pitched in to fill the dishwasher, Josh excused himself. With their fishing lesson over and dinner coming to a close, it was time to sail the ship back to the island so they could dock for the night. He’d heard Paige mention wanting to get a hotel so she didn’t have to spend another night on the ship, but during dinner, the sour mood she’d been in earlier seemed to have dissipated.

  Light footsteps alerted him that someone was coming, and his pulse skittered, hoping it was Danae, while telling himself it would be greedy to want more time with her.

  Then the very woman he couldn’t get off his mind came around the corner. Josh went to turn the wheel and completely missed, forgetting that this ship had a smooth metal steering wheel instead of wooden spokes that were easier to grip. Then again, since he’d also leaned forward to get a better look at Danae, he still would’ve ended up with a knob to the ribcage if they’d been on Solitude.

  Danae Danvers turned his insides into a mushy mess, and he found he kind of liked it.

  “Hey,” she said. The tip of her nose and cheeks were rosy and wind-whipped, and she still wore his jacket. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

  “For proving you wrong? Most people don’t thank me for that, but I’ll take it anyway.”

  She laughed, and he took that as a sign she finally understood his humor. “I meant more for…” She tucked her hair behind her ear, suddenly shy. “The whole day. The lighthouse and the hike on Cuttyhunk afterward. For making sure that Vanessa got pictures of that mansion, and for helping everyone with fishing.”

  “Everyone?” he repeated, unsure why.

  Her eyes lifted to his and the air between them crackled, charged with a day that had felt like one amazing, multi-location date. With extra people, sure. But those amazing moments when they had ended up alone—mostly because he’d finagled his way next to her, unable to get enough—had felt like the best date ever.

  “Well, as the ambassador of the group, so to speak, I don’t want to leave anyone out.” She took a few more steps until the toes of her shoes nearly met his. “But of course I’m extra grateful for my fishing lesson. And for the ability to talk about my dad. It helped me concentrate on the good memories. I’ve been guilty of focusing on the aftermath and forgetting the allure of the sea, and why he spent so much time and money there.”

  “Happy to help.” This time he took a step. He reached up and snagged the runaway strand of hair that kept sticking to the glossy stuff on her lips.

  Which left him studying her mouth, thinking about how soft and silky her hair was.

  How beautiful she was, inside and out. He could tell she cared about her team and her goals, and he could only imagine how hard it had been for her to step up after her father passed away and become a responsible adult at such a young age. He swallowed, hard, as he tucked her hair behind her ear the same way she had.

  Electricity flowed from him to her, or from her to him. His fingertips lingered on the shell of her ear. “Speaking of the fish…You honestly liked it?”

  She licked her lips and her voice came out slightly breathless. “I honestly did.”

  “Care to admit defeat?”

  “Discovering I actually like fish if it’s been seasoned and cooked right can hardly be called a defeat. It’s all win.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew a tiny slip of paper. “But you definitely earned that gold star you’ve had your eye on.”

  As she lifted it, more details stood out. Sure enough, a glittery gold star caught the light coming from the control panel. They weren’t like the stickers he’d very occasionally received in elementary—he’d had trouble sitting still, his gaze forever drifting out the window. This star was about the size of a quarter and completely over-the-top, much like the woman in front of him.

  If anyone had asked him earlier, he would’ve said Danae wasn’t his type. After talking to her about sailing and her father, and spending some time getting to know the real Danae, he found her drive and determination completely alluring.

  “I don’t know if you want to save it, or—”

  “No way. I’m wearing that bad boy with pride.” He peeled it off and almost placed it on his shirt. But he’d change his shirt.

  I’ve officially lost my mind, stressing out over the longevity of a sticker. It was more than that, though. So
much more.

  After a moment of deliberation, he stuck it on his jacket—the one currently on Danae. He pressed it to the spot where a police officer would wear their badge. “Now I won’t lose it,” he whispered.

  The smile she bestowed upon him lit him up inside like the fireworks at the big 4th of July show.

  She began shucking the coat. “Right. Here, I’ll get this back to you. Mine’s in my cabin, and you’ve got to be cold.”

  Josh placed his hands on her shoulders, preventing her from removing the jacket. “I’m not cold.” With Danae so close and his heart pumping like crazy, he could hardly imagine ever being cold again. “You keep it for tonight. I don’t want you to shiver on your way back to the cabin, and you can just bring it to me tomorrow morning.”

  Danae rubbed the sticker, securing it to the fabric. “Okay.”

  Yes, he would give her the coat anyway, because he was a gentleman, but he also wanted her to stay. If she was cold, she’d want to leave.

  With land approaching, Josh gestured to the wheel. “Want to park it?”

  “Since I was only ever the co-captain and mostly in charge of the sails, it’s been a while since I’ve steered. And I’ve never parked before.”

  “I’ll be right here to help you. Just like with the fish.” Josh placed his hand on Danae’s lower back and maneuvered her in front of him.

  Ever so slowly, she wrapped her fingers around the wheel. He helped her guide the sailboat into the marina, showing her how to accelerate and decelerate and line it up. One thing was clear: she was a natural sailor through and through.

  “I need you to do me another favor,” he said, his lips close enough to her ear that he caught a whiff of vanilla perfume or shampoo or whatever women used that smelled so incredible. Something Danae definitely took to the next level.

  She glanced over her shoulder at him, the lights around the dock dancing in the reflection of her glasses. “What?”

  “Once you get back to your cabin, make sure you dig out another gold star, because you earned it.”

  “What if I prefer pink?” One corner of her mouth twisted up, the happiness radiating from her transferring to him.

  “What if I’m not surprised?”

  “Oh, you think you know me already?”

  “No,” he said. “But I’m figuring it out. Well enough to realize that I judged the sender of the emails a little harshly.”

  “Full disclosure: I judged the non-answerer of the emails a little harshly too.”

  Josh cut the engine, and other noises from the marina filtered in—someone hadn’t secured their halyards, leaving a hank clanking against the mast. Under other circumstances he’d grumble about people not knowing how to properly button up their boat, but right now he was grateful for the sounds that jerked him back to reality.

  What on earth was he doing? While it might be fun to forget for a while that he didn’t date anymore, flirting with a client was an epically bad idea.

  After his divorce shattered any romantic notion he’d ever had, he’d sworn off attachments to anything besides his boat and carefree lifestyle. Sworn off anything that would cause future pain.

  While he knew nothing could happen between him and Danae—not really—he didn’t want to give her the wrong idea. “I’d better go tie up the ship and get us secured for the night.”

  “Need help?”

  “No, thanks,” he said, resolving to be more reserved around her for the rest of the trip. “I’m used to doing things alone.”

  Chapter Ten

  “So, you’ve probably visited here a whole bunch of times,” Danae said to Josh as they exited the Oak Bluffs Marina and headed to check out the north end of Martha’s Vineyard. She’d worn her contacts today, and while both with and without glasses were a win in his book, he enjoyed the unobscured view of her eyes. She also had on a blue-and-white striped shirt and blue pants with a bow, making her look like the cutest sailor he’d ever seen.

  An observation he was going to tamp down in order to stick to the vow he’d made last night. Instead, Josh let his many trips to Martha’s Vineyard flicker through his brain. “It’s a popular destination, so enough times I can’t even count.”

  Honestly, this side of the island was busier and more touristy than he preferred, but beautiful, with old-timey shops that lined the streets. Since everyone here seemed to be in vacation mode, both visitors and locals alike, things ran at a slower pace that suited him.

  “Tell the truth…” Danae leaned in conspiratorially, as if she were about to confess something. Josh held his breath, an ill-advised surge of adrenaline rumbling through his veins. “Do you know Martha?”

  “Martha?”

  Vanessa giggled, signaling she’d overheard. “She means Martha of Martha’s Vineyard.”

  Danae skipped more than walked, as if her energy had been cranked to high, and he’d thought she was plenty zippy before. Must’ve had a good meeting this morning as they’d sailed from Cuttyhunk to the vineyard.

  “Hate to break it to you,” Josh said, “but Bartholomew Gosnold named it in the sixteen hundreds, which is just a wee bit before my time.”

  “You weren’t around then?” Danae asked, having the audacity to act surprised by that news. “Are you sure? Because yesterday you told me you were in the older demographic.”

  He raised an eyebrow that only made her grin spread into the canary-eating range.

  “Sorry. What I meant was”—she tapped a pensive finger to her lips—“go on.”

  His first instinct was to tease her back, but that would only lead to conversations that would get him in over his head. Facts were his friends; being an uber-professional tour guide his new rule of thumb. “While its namesake isn’t definitively known, his mother-in-law and his daughter were both named Martha.”

  “That leads me to believe it was for his daughter.” Vanessa gathered her thick head of hair into a loose curly bun and then readjusted her sunglasses. “I don’t know many guys who like their mothers-in-law well enough to name an island after them.”

  Mark sniggered. “I’m glad she said it so I didn’t have to.” His gaze drifted to Danae and the amusement in his features faded to something softer. “Although, for the record, Danae’s mother is lovely. Wanted to put that out there so no one assumed otherwise.”

  “Aww, thank you, Mark. You know she adores you, too.”

  Wait. What? Were Danae and Mark…?

  Obviously they weren’t married anymore, or he would’ve picked up on it. Or Danae would’ve surely mentioned it. Someone would’ve said something. If Josh had witnessed a guy helping his wife—or even girlfriend—reel in a fish, arms wrapped around her, he certainly would’ve given the dude a heads up.

  Of course, he had noticed a weird vibe, but it was more like they tiptoed around each other. They didn’t sit next to one another, and there was a competitive spirit crowding the air whenever they discussed business.

  That would fit if they’d gotten divorced, he supposed, although he couldn’t imagine working with Olivia after everything had fallen apart.

  Josh hadn’t realized he’d stopped walking along until Danae spun around. “Is something wrong? You’re coming along, right?”

  He shook his head, attempting to dislodge the whir of thoughts. “Sorry. I was just…” If he said thinking about his ex-wife and former mother-in-law, that would lead down a strange path, one he didn’t want to discuss. Although for the record, he’d had good experiences with Olivia’s mother. Her father, on the other hand, had heaped on the pressure, demanding that Josh provide a better life for his daughter. Which made it hard not to feel like a failure, even back in the days when he’d been going as hard and as fast as he could.

  A few long strides caught him up to the group. “Where to first?”

  “Are you saying you didn’t look at the itinerary?” Danae clicked
her tongue, but the smile she aimed his way made it clear she was teasing. Mostly, anyway. “The Flying Horses Carousel. Vanessa scheduled this stop, hoping to get some awesome videos for…the app that I’m totally going to download.”

  “You already forgot the name?” Vanessa placed her fists on her hips and addressed the entire group, her narrowed eyes flicking from face to face. “Did anyone finish their registration on Trendster yet? I haven’t gotten any follow requests.”

  Vanessa lifted her phone and shook it at the team. Then she sighed and tapped the screen. “I’ll check myself and Barton in on Trendster, but the app I want everyone using today is actually a different one. It’s called Quest Obsessed. Danae, you’ll love it. You get stickers for everything you check off.”

  That piqued Danae’s interest, and her eyes widened as she studied the screen. “Ooh. You have so many stickers, too.”

  Vanessa mimicked a hair flip, in spite of the fact that she’d pulled up her curls. “It’s part of my job, darling.”

  The two of them grinned at each other. They seemed to be growing closer by the day. Apparently not as close as Danae and Mark used to be, and Josh needed to scrub that out of his head. It wouldn’t do any good. In the long run, it didn’t even matter.

  His memory had been jogged, flooding his brain with the countless complications that came along with relationships and marriage. All the compromising and hard work and hurt feelings on both sides, only for it to end in divorce. For a while it had been hard to imagine a happy life without Olivia and the belongings they’d spent years acquiring.

  Eventually, though, it became harder to imagine a life that included anyone but himself, his sailboat, and the water.

  I was perfectly happy before Danae came along. She’d reminded him of how nice it could be to laugh and talk and be open with someone else. Then there was that enticing pull of the possibility of more, and the interest that tugged at your gut the entire time you were around the person who sparked it.

  Getting involved with anyone required risk, and he just wasn’t willing to gamble any more of himself away.