An hour later she gave up any attempt at sleep. Her brain was running circles around itself and she was hot. The breeze had died down to nothing and all she could hear was the gentle lapping of the water against the boat's sides, and the soft hum of the generator pumping out just enough power to run the fridge, freezer, and air-conditioning units below deck.
Jo decided to break one of the rules she'd spelled out for the passengers. She stripped down to her underwear and padded over to the swimming ladder still hanging over the port side. Quietly she descended into the water that was, only now, hours after sundown, starting to cool below body temperature. The dark water enveloped her and she felt blessed relief from the humidity. Slowly she made her way to the anchor chain and with a deep breath she duck-dived, following it down.
The moonlight gave everything a surreal glow, and the water was so clear she had no trouble finding her way. The creatures of the night were out in force, including a moray eel she could spy, head sticking out of its cave, at the base of the bombora the Seawolf was anchored against.
Jo's lungs started to burn and her ears ached from the pressure as she cruised deeper, until finally, about 30 feet down, and still another 10 or so from the sandy bottom, she turned and headed back up. She broke the surface with a quiet exhalation, stroking slowly back to the ladder.
She froze when she heard movement up on deck, a tingling at the back of her neck making her suspect who it was. It was the same tingling she'd been feeling since a certain green-eyed blonde had gazed out from a hotel balcony at her four days earlier. Jo shook the water out of her ears and hung on the bottom rung of the ladder, listening.
Cadie was furious to the point of frustrated tears. After she and Naomi had shut themselves in the privacy of their cabin, the solidly drunk senator had been bitchy to the point of nastiness with her younger partner. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Arcadia?" she'd demanded.
"What are you talking about, Naomi?" Cadie had replied as she moved around the cabin, stowing some of their gear. She knew damn well where this was going, and wanted to stay as calm as possible. If she could let it play out with minimum fuss, she knew the senator would be out cold as soon as her head hit the pillow.
"We haven't even been here a week and you're hanging on that woman's every word. Could you get any more desperate?"
"I'm not doing anything except being pleasant to a pleasant woman, Nay. She also happens to be trying to give us the best possible vacation."
"You're flirting with her."
"She's attractive. And don't tell me you haven't noticed. Being married to me has never stopped you noticing attractive women."
"If she touches you again, I'll kill her," the senator threatened.
"And I'll just bet you made that perfectly clear to her, didn't you?" Cadie snapped. "I'll bet my last dollar that's why she's been keeping her distance."
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I spoil your little flirt-fest?" Naomi sneered.
"Jesus, Nay, listen to yourself."
The senator leaned in and gripped the smaller woman's shoulders, shaking her slightly. "You stay away from her."
"Get your hands off me," Cadie said quietly, with all the restraint she could muster. The senator backed off uncertainly. "Naomi, I don't know if you've noticed but we're living in a fairly confined space here. We're going to bump into each other."
"Damn you, Cadie."
"What is your problem?"
"You. You're my problem. You don't think I'm giving you enough attention so you've latched onto the nearest pair of long legs with pretty eyes."
"You're drunk."
"And you're a slut."
Cadie snorted in derision. "That's very funny, Naomi. Do you think I didn't hear the way you greeted Jo back at the hotel? 'I can certainly think of some things you can do for me, Miss Madison'," she retorted. "Very classy, Senator. And do you think I'm blind about the look you gave her before you thought I could see you? You hypocrite!"
Naomi struck out with her right arm, but she was already off-balance and sluggish. Cadie easily ducked the swing, even though it was the last thing she'd been expecting. Naomi had never raised a hand to her before, not even when she was a lot more out of it than she was now. Cadie was stunned.
The momentum took the senator on to the bed and she stayed there, mumbling more curses and epithets in Cadie's direction before, finally, she was dead to the world.
Cadie stood motionless for a few moments more, not quite believing what had happened. I've got to get some fresh air. She stumbled out of the cabin and up the companionway.
The deck was empty, thankfully, and Cadie carefully negotiated her way forward, blinded slightly by a sudden blurring of tears in her eyes. She slumped down, sitting on the front of the hatch cover near the prow, and let the tears flow freely, her face in her hands.
Shit, Jo thought. She's crying. The sound tugged at her heartstrings unexpectedly and she fought the urge to leap onto the deck and go to the woman's aid. Damn. And I bet I know why she's crying, too. Good one, Madison. Spend less than a week with the woman and reduce her marriage to a puddle of tears. Just great.
Jo shivered in the steadily cooling water.
Well, this was a great idea, she thought desperately. I'll scare the crap out of her if I come up out of the water like the creature from the Black Lagoon. Not to mention the fact I'm practically naked. Just what we need in this situation.
She sighed. She couldn't stay where she was, that was certain.
Slowly she started climbing up the swimming ladder, hoping she was making enough noise to give Cadie some warning and not scare her out of 10 years.
Cadie looked around at the splashing sound coming from her left. She was treated to the sight of six feet of wet, half-naked womanhood, sporting lacy black lingerie, emerging over the side of the yacht. Jo's hair was slicked back and silvery in the moonlight. Seawater cascaded off her well-muscled, sleek arms and legs. Cadie felt like time had slowed to a crawl, and she was glad.
Jo couldn't help but smile at the woman's expression. "Miss Jones," she said quietly, "you're staring."
Cadie shook herself out of her daze. "God, I'm sorry," she said, more than a little flustered. "Jesus, no wonder Naomi is pissed. I really am losing it." She tore her eyes away from Jo, as the dark-haired woman picked up her pile of clothes and came and sat down next to her. "You're going to freeze. You've already got goose-bumps," she said, reaching out her hand to touch Jo's damp forearm.
They both stopped still at the contact, before Cadie pulled her hand away quickly and reburied her face in her hands, groaning.
"Hang on, let me get a towel," Jo said. She remembered her gear bag was stowed below decks, close to the hatch just behind them that opened onto the small cabin Paul and Jenny were sharing. She ducked under the hatch cover and hooked her foot around a deck fitting as she dangled half in and half out of the hatch, reaching for her towel. Paul was snoring softly and Jen had her mouth open, oblivious. Jo smiled as she hooked the towel with a fingertip and scrambled to pull herself back up and out of the hatchway.
"Could you lend a hand, Cadie?" she whispered loudly, trying not to waken the two sleeping crewmembers. She was struggling to get a purchase.
Cadie groaned again as she was confronted with a pair of long bare legs and a toned, damp backside. "To be honest I don't think there's anywhere I could grab on to that I couldn't be arrested for," she objected.
Jo stifled a laugh as she finally extracted herself from the hatch. She quickly dried off and threw her shirt and shorts back on.
They both sat on the deck, their backs against the hatch cover, Jo facing slightly to port and Cadie to starboard, their shoulders just touching each other.
"Are we likely to wake them up?" Cadie asked softly, indicating back over her shoulder to the small cabin.
"They're both sleeping through Paul's snoring, so I don't think we'll penetrate the haze." Jo smiled. "They've had a long day. And they didn't get to take a nap in the middle of i
t, like I did."
"Ah, is that where you got to?" Cadie asked, a small smile playing across her lips.
"Yeah. I thought it was a good idea to hide for a bit."
"Wish I could have," the blonde murmured.
"I bet."
There was a surprisingly comfortable silence as they both took in their surroundings. Cadie looked up and gave a little laugh of surprise. "Your stars are all different," she said, leaning her head back against the hatch cover and gazing at the thousands of glittering points of light. "Now, why didn't that ever occur to me?" she asked wonderingly.
"It's a pretty big concept, stars," Jo replied. "Just trying to figure out what that whole sky-full means," she swept her arm around, "is big enough, without trying to deal with a whole other hemisphere's worth."
"Show me your constellations?"
"Sure." Jo tilted her head back and was slightly unnerved to realize how close together their heads were in this position. "Um, see that kite-shaped one there, just above the horizon?"
"No," Cadie said. "Where?"
"Follow where I'm pointing." Cadie leaned closer still. "See that super bright one, and then those three others under it, making a kind of twisted square? And then there's another bright one between those bottom two?"
"Oh, yes," Cadie breathed, right next to Jo's ear, sending tingles down her spine.
God, how does she do that? Jo cleared her throat. "That's the Southern Cross. It's the one we have on our flag."
"Ah yes. That one up there looks like a bicycle to me." Cadie pointed out another cluster of stars.
"A bicycle?" Jo laughed softly. "How do you get a bicycle? It looks like a fish to me."
"A fish?"
They both turned their heads towards each other simultaneously and the world contracted sharply around them, their faces so close they could feel each other's breath on their skin.
"Jo—"
"Cadie—"
Slowly they backed away, holding gazes. Jo felt Cadie's hand slide into her own and she grasped it tightly.
So warm, Jo thought. Everything about her is so warm.
Cadie felt Jo take her hand firmly. God, this thing between us is so strong, the blonde acknowledged to herself. "It's like I've—"
"...known you forever," Jo finished.
"Yes," Cadie nodded, breathing deeply.
"Cadie... this is a really... really... bad idea," Jo whispered sadly.
"I know."
"Apart from the fact you're married... and you're a client... and you live half a planet away... well... even if those things didn't exist..."
"Don't tell me...you're an axe murderer, right?" Cadie joked weakly, her heart sinking at Jo's words, even though she knew them to be truth.
Jo closed her eyes, swamped by the irony of the blonde's joke, and an overwhelming loneliness that threatened her composure. Get a grip. She opened her eyes again. "Let's just say you don't want to get to know me too well," she muttered, still held by the sea-green eyes just inches from her own.
"But see, that's just it," Cadie replied softly. "Four days ago I didn't know you existed. Now all I want in the world is to know everything about you."
"Shhh." Jo placed her fingers over Cadie's mouth, wondering at the softness of those lips. Wow. "Cadie, it's not possible." Tears welled up in green eyes and Jo's heart broke at the sight. "I'm sorry," she said. "I've caused you so much trouble already. Four days in and you're already crying on deck."
"That wasn't your fault," Cadie objected. "It's not your fault I'm married to a paranoid, neurotic, jealous—"
Again Jo's fingers silenced her. "You can't deny that we've been bouncing sparks off each other from the moment we met, Cadie. She noticed, is all." She smiled quietly at the beautiful blonde. "If you were mine, I can't say I'd be happy about that either."
"You wouldn't threaten someone over it," Cadie muttered unhappily.
"I would have, once," Jo replied. Cadie looked at her quizzically, but Jo just shook her head slowly. "Don't be angry with her for feeling threatened.- We both know she had every reason to be."
"Had?"
Jo nodded, trying to be resolute as she felt Cadie pull her hands closer, her tears returning. "Tomorrow, I'll call my boss. Get him to send a replacement skipper."
Cadie's hand flew to Jo's face, cupping her cheek. The skipper couldn't help but lean into the touch. "Please don't make that call, Jossandra."
Oh, God, don't say my name like that, sweetheart, Jo thought. How can I leave you be, if you say it like that?
"I have to, Cadie," she said out loud. "You and Naomi obviously have a lot of problems. But don't run from trying to fix them just because you think you've met your—"
This time it was Cadie's turn to silence Jo with gentle fingertips across her lips. "Don't say it," murmured Cadie, looking deep into Jo's silvery-blue eyes. "It's not possible is it? We don't even know each other. How can..."
Jo nodded silently in acknowledgement of the strength of the bond she felt with this sweet American she'd known only a few days. She reached forward and gently wiped the tear from Cadie's cheek. "Don't cry, Cadie," she whispered. "By the time you wake up tomorrow, you'll have a new skipper and it'll be like I was never here."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Cadie asked plaintively. God, why can't I think of another solution before she disappears from my life completely?
"I'm sorry." Jo cocked her head to one side. "Is Cadie short for something?"
The blonde nodded. "Arcadia." Jo raised an eyebrow in enquiry. "My mother had a thing for Greek antiquity."
"And what is Arcadia the god of?" Jo asked.
Cadie shook her head. "It's not a who, it's a where. Arcady was a province in the middle of Greece. Pretty unromantic, huh?"
Smiling, Jo pulled Cadie's hand closer and softly kissed the back of it, taking in the blonde's clean, apricot-tinged essence that seemed so familiar to her. The aroma resonated somewhere in her memory. "You are even more beautiful than your name, Arcadia Jones," she whispered, taking one last long swim in those sea green pools.
Cadie's throat ached from trying not to cry. "As are you Jossandra Madison."
Only the soft lapping of water, and the gentle stroking of Jo's thumb across the backs of Cadie's fingers broke a long, tearful silence.
"Goodnight," Cadie whispered.
And goodbye, sweetheart. "Goodnight," she whispered back, feeling a pair of warm fingers sliding from her hand.
Chapter Four
Jo jogged steadily along the dirt track, letting the rhythm soothe her jangled nerves and tired mind. It was about 8am and she was crossing Hayman Island at its narrowest point, the well-used path from Blue Pearl Bay to the resort on the southeast side of the island. It was already stiflingly hot despite the early hour, and sweat caused Jo's grey t-shirt to cling to her back as she ran.
The tall skipper didn't mind. It was just a relief to be off the Seawolf and doing something physical. She had felt like death warmed over before she started and at least the run was getting her blood flowing.
Sleep had eluded Jo after Cadie had returned below decks. The skipper had been a basket case by the time the tendrils of dawn were curling their way around the mound of Hayman Island. Any small scraps of sleep she had caught were haunted by disjointed nightmare visions of that damned back alley in King's Cross and a certain pair of green eyes at the end of her gun barrel. Eventually she'd given up the quest and had just sat with her feet dangling over the side, thinking.
What the hell happened here? Four days ago this was just another boatload of tourists, and I was happy being alone and unattached and... untouchable.
And now? Jo was irritated with herself. Now what, Madison? How did she let this happen? It was ridiculous, wasn't it? There was no way she could feel what she thought she was feeling for the blonde American, was there? Less than a week, for God's sake. And now the senator is on high alert and is going to make it difficult no matter what the actual feelings are... no matter how far
away from each other we stay... shit. Jo felt ambushed by the whole experience, a sensation she was not in the least bit comfortable with.
She had lain back on the deck, her arms folded across her eyes, growling softly to herself.
I've got to get out of here. She had glanced at her watch. Jesus, it's only just 6am. Ron is going to love this. She sighed and reached for her cell phone, pulling up the Cheswick Marine boss' home number, and pushing dial.
Three rings later a bleary voice had answered. "Yeah?"
"Ron, it's Jo."
"Jesus, Madison, have you looked at the time?" came the grumpy response. "Ohhh fuck, what did you hit?"
"Nothing, nothing, Ron, relax," Jo said hurriedly. "But... uh, there is a problem. "
"Well, which is it, Jo-Jo, for Chrissakes? What's wrong?"
Jo took a deep breath. "Ronny, I need you to get a replacement skipper out here, " she said.
"Wh-what? What's going on, Jo? Are you sick, or something?"
For a moment she contemplated telling him exactly that, but then honesty won out. "No. It's... it's just a personality clash, okay?"
Ron sighed. This wasn't the first time he'd bailed Jo out of a situation with a client because she'd been a little unwilling to believe in the "customer is always right" philosophy. But the last time had been three years ago, and he 'd hoped those days were over. "What happened, Jo? Some American just get a bit too pushy? I mean, Jesus, it's only been a few days. "
"No, nothing like that Ron. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but can you just take my word for it that it would be best for the clients and for the business if you just got another skipper to take over?"
Ron heard the worry and stress... and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on yet... in his favorite employee's voice. But he also knew he couldn't get her out of this one. "Jo, I can take your word for it. I trust you, you know that. But there's nothing I can do. There isn't anybody who can take over. Frank's out on the Beowulf with a bunch of Japanese who need babysitting every step of the way, and Jim's gone in for surgery on his knee. He's going to be out for a month. You 're it, baby. "
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