Choppy Seas (A Rowan Gray Mystery Book 5)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Nothing specifically happened.” Rowan took them both by surprise when she rolled to press her head against Quinn’s chest. “They’re just so loud … and so screechy … and so full of complaints.”

  Quinn calmly stroked the back of her head. “I think that’s because they’re teenagers. It seems to be part of the package.”

  “I wasn’t like that as a teenager.”

  “As perfect as I think you are, I doubt very much you escaped that particular curse. It’s probably more that you became blind to your actions.”

  “No. I was an angel compared to these girls.”

  “I can already see your halo and wings,” Quinn teased, kissing her forehead. “I’m sure you were the only teenager in history who never once acted out.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “I believe you.”

  Rowan understood he was merely placating her, but she wasn’t in the mood for a fight – even a fake one so they could enjoy making up later – so she let it go. “All I know is that we’re not going to let our kids act like that.”

  The words were out of Rowan’s mouth before she realized what she said. The instant she recognized how incredibly foolish she sounded in regard to planning for kids with a man she’d only been dating for a few months, she wanted to crawl under the covers and hide her face.

  “I didn’t mean … I … um … that came out wrong.” Rowan’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. “That is not what I meant to say.”

  Quinn’s expression was hard to read, but he didn’t pull away when she lifted her head. “How did it come out wrong?”

  “I didn’t mean that we’ll have kids.” Rowan felt like a dolt. “I wasn’t trying to pressure you to have kids.”

  “I certainly hope not. Raising a child on a cruise ship would be difficult. We barely have enough space in these rooms for ourselves. Kids are loud, messy, and they take up a mountain of space.”

  “I definitely didn’t mean now.” Rowan was mortified. “I wasn’t talking about now.”

  “So you were just talking about in the future.”

  “A long way in the future,” Rowan explained. “Like … decades in the future and only if you want.”

  Even though he enjoyed messing with her, Quinn found he couldn’t hold out in the face of her misery. “I know what you meant. I’m not embarrassed by it. I’m actually fine with it. I am, however, having a great time with your reaction.”

  Rowan turned sour. “You’re teasing me.”

  “I am. It’s fun.”

  “It’s not fun for me.”

  “It will be once you learn to relax,” Quinn argued. “As for what you said, I can see that one day. I think we’d be fun parents … even if we have the world’s worst teenagers.”

  Rowan shifted her head, curious. “And it doesn’t bother you that I said that so soon after we started dating?”

  “No. Why should it?”

  “Because most guys would be running for the door about now.”

  “I’m not most guys.”

  “I’ve noticed.” Rowan tugged on her bottom lip as she regarded him. “I’m still sorry I said it. We haven’t been together long enough to talk about things like that.”

  “I think, when it comes to talking and a healthy relationship, no one should ever put restraints on the conversation. I believe it’s a little soon, but I’m not opposed to having fun with the suggestion. For example, if we have a girl, I hope she looks like you. Of course, that means she won’t be able to leave the house as a teenager, but I’m fine with that. I’ll build a dungeon.”

  Rowan snorted. “Just for the record, I was not a cute teenager.”

  “I’ve seen photos. That’s not true.”

  “It is true.”

  “Then you don’t see what I see.” Quinn tapped her forehead. “You’ve always been beautiful.”

  “Well … that’s sweet.” Rowan rolled her hips so she was pressed tight against his side. “It’s still a little early to be talking about this.”

  “It definitely is,” Quinn agreed. “Children aren’t something we can add to the mix until we’re done with cruise ship life, and I think that’s a bit down the road.”

  “Yeah.” Rowan turned thoughtful. “What are you going to do when you’re done here? I mean … where do you want to go? Where do you want to end up?”

  “I’m open to anything.”

  “That’s not much of an answer.”

  “It’s the only answer I’ve got,” Quinn answered truthfully. “I’m not fixated on a place. I don’t think home is a location. I think it’s a feeling.”

  “What kind of feeling?”

  “Like what I’m feeling right now.” Quinn gestured with his hand, indicating the way their bodies were essentially fused together. “This is home right now.”

  Rowan felt ridiculous and yet she went warm and gooey inside. “Oh, wow. You’re about to get so lucky.”

  Quinn snickered. “Before dinner? That’s got to be against the rules.”

  “Who cares about rules?”

  “Definitely not me.” Quinn lowered his mouth and brushed his lips against hers. “Rules are for those kids we might have way in the future.”

  “Definitely.”

  “Okay, I guess we can start with dessert tonight.” Quinn rolled so he was on top of her, delighting in the way her lips curved. “I think we both could use some cheering up after our rough days.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “We’ll start with once and see where the night takes us.”

  ROWAN AND QUINN WERE markedly more relaxed when they hit the dining room for dinner. Quinn excused his men to eat and relax, taking over Leighann watch until another shift could pick up the duty in an hour. They opted for a table that was close but not so close they could hear the nearby conversation. For now, they were glad to spend time together and that Leighann was still alive. They couldn’t hope for more than that.

  They were happily ensconced at their small table and basking in amiable silence when a figure appeared at the edge of the dining surface. Before either could say a word in greeting – or ask if something was wrong – Claire took the open chair between them and rested her plate on the table.

  “Wonderful night, isn’t it?”

  Rowan swallowed a huge mouthful of scallops before speaking. “Um, yeah. It’s a great night.”

  “I thought I would join the two of you since you’re over here all alone … where it’s quiet.” Claire daintily placed her napkin in her lap, cast a dubious look at the huge amount of food on Rowan’s plate, and then focused on her much smaller serving. “The food here is divine. That’s one thing I will never be able to complain about.”

  Quinn’s smile was bemused as he wiped the corners of his mouth. “Oh, don’t sell yourself short. I’m sure you could find something to complain about if you really tried. You seem good at it.”

  Claire took the dig in stride. “I like you. Most people here are frightened of me. I encourage it, at least for the most part, because I’m not keen to talk to people unless I absolutely have to. You’re different, though.”

  “That’s what it says on my business cards.”

  “Is that because you were in the military?” Claire was the type of woman who asked whatever came to her mind and this was no different. She clearly had an agenda when she joined them and she wasn’t about to beat around the bush before getting to it.

  “How do you know about his background?” Rowan asked, instantly alert.

  “I make it a habit to know exactly who is in a position of power when it comes to a trip or vacation.” Claire lightly buttered her roll and flashed a smile for Rowan’s benefit. “For example, I made sure proper research was done on the captain and Mr. Davenport here before I purchased my tickets.

  “You, on the other hand, weren’t a concern for me until I met you,” she continued. “I didn’t have a background check run on you until earlier today.”

  Rowan couldn’t hide her discomfort
. “You ran a background check on me?”

  “I did.”

  “And what did you find?”

  “Rowan Gray. Twenty-seven. Grew up in a suburb of Detroit. You were a middling student – neither good nor bad – and you kept your nose clean. Your mother died when you were in your early teens and you were raised by your father after that. He disappeared right around your eighteenth birthday and is assumed dead.”

  Rowan swallowed hard. “I see.”

  “That was rude,” Quinn admonished.

  “How was it rude?” Claire was nonchalant as she met Quinn’s dark gaze. “Is any of that not true? Or is it that you didn’t know the full story of your girlfriend’s upbringing?”

  “I know everything I need to know. I’m the head of security. It’s my job to run background checks on every employee – and potential employee, for that matter – who walks onto this ship. I don’t see how it’s the same for you.”

  “You don’t?” Claire bit into her roll, making sure to chew and swallow before continuing. “I brought impressionable young girls onto this ship and they’re my responsibility. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but unlike Leighann’s girls, I’m one of the only adults watching my girls. I actually had to pay people to come and help when I realized that there wouldn’t be the proper number of chaperones to watch my young charges.”

  Quinn recognized that Claire was used to getting her own way. By virtue of who she was and the money she had access to, she was considered powerful. That didn’t mean he was about to quiver in front of her. “I would guess that the difference between the two factions is money. The girls you sponsored probably have mothers who can’t take off from work if they want to help feed their families and keep a roof over their heads.”

  “I understand that.” If Quinn’s tone bothered Claire, she didn’t show it. “I get it. I’m not as out of touch as I seem.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Quinn supplied. “I would hate to think you were that out of touch because it hardly seems fair to the girls you’ve brought with you. While I’m sure everyone else ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ over your philanthropic spirit, I happen to think you owe these girls a little more than they’re getting.”

  “Really?” Claire leaned forward, intrigued. “And what do you think I owe them?”

  “You brought them here. You owe them your time. They don’t realize that you only did what you did to stick it to Leighann. It doesn’t seem fair to me that you’re ignoring their needs simply because you’re playing a very old game with a very old enemy.”

  “Quinn.” Rowan’s voice was low and full of warning when she snagged his gaze. “Maybe you shouldn’t say everything that comes to your mind.”

  “No. It’s fine.” Claire waved off Rowan’s concerns. “He has a point and I don’t mind it being brought up. He’s not wrong about my motivations. He’s also not wrong about the lack of time I spend with the girls.

  “I thought it would be easier,” she continued. “I didn’t think they would be so … needy. I don’t have children of my own, you see. I don’t spend a lot of time around teenagers. They’re very loud and they just won’t shut up. Why do you think I really joined the two of you for dinner? It looked quiet over here. Absolutely, blissfully quiet.”

  Quinn chuckled as he shook his head, alleviating some of the tension settling over the table. “You’re a piece of work, aren’t you?”

  “I am,” Claire agreed without hesitation. “I’m spoiled and full of myself. I think I’m the most important person in the room. I do what I want when I want. I am also not blind to my faults. I know I’m rigid and not a very nice person. I would like to say that those are things I’ll work on so I can improve, but it would be a lie if I bothered to say it, which I won’t. I don’t want to improve. I like my life the way it is.”

  “So why did you do any of it?” Rowan challenged. “Why give if you were only going to go halfway?”

  “Because I wanted to mess with Leighann and I knew this was the way to do it,” Claire replied. “We’ve known each other a long time. She’s always hated me even though I tried to be her friend back in the day. Heck, I’ve tried to be her friend more than once, which was a mistake on my part. I recognized quickly that we would never be friends, though. Leighann doesn’t work that way.

  “Instead of dwelling on the problem and crying about it, I decided to embrace it,” she continued. “I had a great time messing with her in college. After that, I moved away for a bit because I got married. Fate wouldn’t keep us apart, though, and eventually we ended up in the same town again.

  “I could’ve ignored her and stayed out of the limelight in the social circles where we both run but that’s not really how I’m built,” she said. “As I already told you, I like being the center of attention. So does Leighann. You can’t have two centers.”

  “You could share the attention,” Quinn suggested.

  “Not and be happy. We’re not sharers.”

  “So, basically, you invited those girls to get a dig in on Leighann and never once considered how it would affect them.” Rowan made a tsking sound with her tongue. “That’s not very nice.”

  “It’s not,” Claire agreed. “I didn’t realize how difficult it would be until we were already here. They weren’t real people to me before that. They were simply a weapon I could wield.

  “I’m not heartless, Ms. Gray,” she continued. “I see what I’m doing and how it’s being perceived. I am trying to be more approachable and not so cross when dealing with the girls, but I’m only human and I have limits.”

  “The girls you brought are great girls,” Rowan argued. “I’ve spent time with several of them and they’re bright and engaged. They could be so much more than you think they could be.”

  “And if they succeed I will applaud them. I’m simply not the mentoring type. That’s why I pay people to help me. I’m aware of my limitations.”

  “Well, I guess that’s something,” Rowan grumbled as she stuffed another scallop into her mouth to keep from saying something incredibly rude.

  Claire could do nothing but laugh at her reaction. “You have a good heart. You would be good at something like this. Believe it or not, though, I ran a background check on you because I wanted to be sure you weren’t a threat to the girls. There are a lot of predators out there – sexual and otherwise – and I wanted to protect my charges to the best of my ability.”

  Rowan balked. “You thought I was a sexual predator?”

  Quinn’s smile was rueful. “If only. Don’t worry, Ro, you can be a predator with me later.”

  Claire barked out a laugh, truly delighted. “I can see why your interaction irritates Leighann so. She thought she would be able to charm Mr. Davenport with her money and position, but he’s clearly got other priorities. People like Leighann don’t understand that.”

  “Do you understand that?” Rowan asked, curious.

  “I understand it. I don’t see a lot of it, but I understand it. That’s why I like both of you. That’s also why I’m fine with you hanging out with my girls. You have tragedy in your past and yet I’ve watched you with them a bit. Life isn’t all about you when you share information. You listen to their concerns and try to help. That’s something I can’t give them.”

  “And it’s something I shouldn’t be giving them,” Rowan noted. “I shouldn’t be playing favorites.”

  “You’re not playing favorites. You’re simply filling a void. Don’t worry about any of that. Anyone who has ever dealt with Leighann knows she’s a pill. Whatever complaints she lodges will be quickly discarded because she’s known as a complainer. Nothing ever makes her happy.”

  “And what makes you happy?” Quinn asked. “Does doing good for others make you happy?”

  “In a way. Sticking it to Leighann makes me happier. It is what it is.”

  Quinn shook his head. Despite himself, he liked the woman. She was full of it and imperious, but she was also self-aware and blunt. “Well, at least you’re hones
t. You’re not pretending to be something you’re not.”

  “No. I’m always me. Leighann is another story.”

  “This really is going to be the longest trip ever,” Quinn complained. “It’s not even halfway over yet.”

  “Just wait until the competition hits.” Claire’s eyes sparkled. “This will get doubly worse then.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  10

  Ten

  Once Quinn and Rowan were free from Claire after dinner, they decided to take a stroll around the ship. It was an opportunity to spend time together … and get away from it all to gossip without having to worry about anyone eavesdropping.

  “Come in here.”

  Quinn led Rowan down a private hallway, stopping in front of one of the salon rooms that were often utilized by guests for various projects. They had to be reserved and paid for, and if Rowan was any judge, it looked as if Leighann was the one who paid for this room.

  “What the … ?” Rowan was flabbergasted as Quinn used his security credentials to fob them into the room and then stood back to watch her face turn a variety of different colors. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  Quinn grinned as he trailed behind her, smirking as Rowan took in the huge trophies and myriad of photos scattered around the room. “Yeah. I didn’t realize this was a thing until I heard Demarcus and Sally talking about it this afternoon. They couldn’t stop laughing. Apparently Leighann has very strict rules about keeping it locked and inaccessible.”

  “But … what is it?” Rowan was honestly flabbergasted as she stood in front of one of the trophies. “This is big enough for me to sit in.”

  “Try it.” Quinn’s eyes sparked with amusement as he stood beside her, idly running the back of his knuckles up and down her spine as he considered what looked to be a giant urn. “How many dead cheerleaders do you think are in there?”

  It took Rowan a moment to realize what he was referring to. “That’s not funny.”

  He grabbed the finger she waved in his face and gave it a mock bite. “I love it when you scold me. It gets me all hot and bothered. Now tell me you’re going to spank me later.”