Permission to Come Aboard (The Great Outdoors Book 2)

by Shayne McClendon

  They’d been exposed to many women like the mistress over the years. She needed to go trolling for her next meal ticket and a kid was sure to hinder her preferred lifestyle.

  In less than half an hour, the stunningly beautiful and cold woman signed over all parental rights of her son to his siblings.

  None of them talked about her. It was too awful.

  Chaz and Dakota opened the charter company when they finished their individual stints with the military and business had been damn good from the first season.

  After restocking, re-fueling, insurance, and marina fees, they made out. Between selling the unclaimed fish and what they charged for charters, they typically walked away with substantial profit for three days of work.

  The twins put a few hundred in Bubba’s bank account after every booking. He worked as hard as they did.

  Dive charters generated less but made up for it in quantity. More people fit on the boat without fishing gear in the way.

  Dakota could book three two-hour dive trips and match what they made for twelve hours of fishing with less fuel.

  Smoothly guiding the boat into their slip, she waited while Chaz and Bubba tied them off before cutting the engines.

  As she descended to the deck, one of the marina assistants called out and she waved. They spoke for a few minutes and she enlisted help with the day’s catch.

  She kept Gunner in her peripheral vision. The big man chatted with the others while he gathered his gear.

  Shawn, his best friend, watched Chaz as he jumped back and forth between the dock and boat.

  Normally, an alpha male watching Chaz so intently would have set off her internal alarms. She didn’t know why Shawn didn’t.

  He seemed to admire her twin and that made her wonder.

  Marina staff and Gunner’s group talked about the fish in the deck’s cold storage. She smiled as he told one of the runners, “I need at least two hundred pounds this time. Mostly snapper and Mahi. Filet it, wrap in that same heavy paper, and label it like you did last time. I’ll throw in another fifty for tip.”

  He glanced up and winked when she chuckled. “I’m not running out this time, Dakota.”

  She helped secure the boat. By the time the fish was unloaded and the clients had their gear over their shoulders, the three of them stood on the dock.

  One by one, the men shook the Hardings’ hands and it made her happy when they didn’t leave Bubba out. They teased him and ruffled his hair.

  The first four men headed up the dock and Shawn made small talk with her brothers as she found herself toe-to-toe with Gunner.

  “We’ll be here through the weekend. Will you have dinner with me?” He said it in a low voice so she didn’t feel put on the spot if others overheard.

  She pushed her sunglasses up and pinned her crazy curls out of her face, staring into the man’s gorgeous green eyes.

  “Yes.”

  The smile that broke over his face made her breathless. “Good. I promise to be the perfect gentleman.”

  Laughing, she shot back, “How about you be yourself? I like the person you are with your friends.”

  “Deal. I’ll call you in the morning?”

  She nodded and they shook hands. As she went to remove hers, he lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Electricity raced through her blood and her lips parted slightly.

  “The gentleman thing is sort of bred in, Dakota.” Then he winked and headed up the dock with Shawn beside him.

  She’d be lying if she denied the butterflies in her stomach.

  Chapter Four

  Chaz and Bubba grinned at her and she shrugged.

  “You finally agreed to go to dinner? About damn time!” Chaz’s words made her blush. “You’ve never had a suitor willing to entertain your brothers to get closer to you.”

  Bubba elbowed him in the side. “They like me for me not because I have a pretty sister. Nobody wastes time on kids if they don’t like them.”

  “True. I stand corrected.” He scooped his little brother over his shoulder and groaned dramatically. “You’re getting huge! Don’t know how much longer I can lift your ginormous body.”

  In fits of laughter, Bubba gasped out, “Yeah, right. I’m way smaller than fish trying to get back in the water!” He drooled and then yelled for Dakota to rescue him.

  A wrestling match ensued and when Chaz pinned her, Bubba added his slight weight and declared himself the winner.

  Her stomach growled loudly. “I need food.”

  “Same. Get your butt together.”

  Dakota gave him a raspberry after he helped her up and ducked his playful swat before heading below.

  She lived on the boat every weekend. After a quick shower, she considered what to wear. In the back of her mind, she wondered if they’d run into Gunner and his friends.

  After some thought, she threw on a mid-thigh sundress and slipped on heeled leather sandals.

  Her hair was too thick to waste time drying so she left it loose. The breeze off the water could do the work. Insane curls sprang up as the moisture evaporated and she sighed.

  While she waited for her brothers to shower and change, she did the books topside.

  Depending on their bookings, they usually stayed at the house but she hated getting up even earlier for dawn fishing charters to get the boat ready.

  It was easier to sleep aboard. It also allowed her some much-needed privacy and a change of scene.

  When her brothers emerged clean, wearing t-shirts and cargo shorts, she piled her hair on top of her head with a clip and they locked up the boat.

  The raw bar at the marina was fantastic and the selection was always fresh. They served a lot of what the Hardings and other charters brought in throughout the day.

  Grabbing a booth, their regular server skipped over to take their drink orders and flirted with Chaz. He bantered with her playfully and only his siblings knew his heart wasn’t really in it.

  Dakota ordered a tequila shot. Chaz and Bubba ordered iced tea. When their order of oysters arrived, their little brother fought Chaz for the biggest one.

  It was easy to take advantage of their distraction to snag a couple from the edge, sucking them back quickly before shooting her tequila. They paused mid-wrestle and stared at her with their mouths hanging open.

  She winked. “I’d stop arguing and eat. I’ll have that tray gone if you keep wasting time.”

  Upending her shot glass, her eyes met Gunner’s on the other side of the bar. He nodded and she smiled. The men took up a huge table in a back corner. They waved at the Hardings.

  Dakota pointed them out to her brothers. Bubba waved enthusiastically before wiggling his way from the booth. They watched as he walked over to say hello.

  The older siblings watched him laugh with the group and she could tell her brother was a little sad.

  “You’re alone too much, Chaz.”

  “Pot and kettle, sweetheart. I’m good.” She winked and one corner of his mouth went up in a smile.

  Bubba returned and said, “You guys need to go say hi.”

  Gunner motioned her over and if she wasn’t mistaken, Shawn’s eyes were on Chaz’s profile.

  “Come with me,” she murmured. She didn’t take her eyes of a man who’d caused her a lot of sleepless nights recently.

  He shook his head. “The food is here. Go, Kota.”

  “Be right back,” she said with a sigh.

  Gunner’s eyes roamed lazily over her body as she walked toward them. Their table was piled with plates of demolished chicken wings and fries, hot sauce, oysters, and shot glasses.

  “Fancy seeing you guys here. How’s everyone recovering?”

  Shawn told her, “At my best, I didn’t look as young and fresh as your table. When do the photographers get here?”

  She waved her hand at him. “Puh-lease, we’re not all that but thank you. I wanted to thank you for ideal behavior yet again. You might have noticed we’re not accustomed to large groups of men keeping it
together for so long.”

  “You get problems from your clients?” Gunner asked quietly.

  She gave a small shrug. “Pack mentality. Drinking, fishing, usually no girlfriends or wives to temper the bullshit. Fortunately, we don’t have trouble handling issues.”

  “That’s why you stay in the captain’s seat on the water. The only female, a boat full of men, thirty miles from shore. You were never in danger from us. Not ever.” Gunner’s steady gaze was unnerving.

  “Don’t give it another thought. You don’t make us feel threatened. It’s been nice to let our guard down for once.”

  Talking to them was easy. Alan and Joey checked their phones and smiled at the screens. Tyler turned his to Shawn and showed a photo of his toddler.

  “That’s one cute baby,” Dakota told him. “Yours?”

  “Yeah. He’s a riot,” the father said proudly. “Never thought I’d have kids.”

  Their server delivered a tray of shots and there was one for Dakota. Gunner handed it to her and she drank with them.

  Her glass went upside down on the table. “Hmm. I’m going to head back. Bubba’s stomach will eat his face. We have dive groups going out tomorrow and he’s ready to crash.”

  “Feed that poor starving child!” Lance told her with a grin.

  “He can eat his weight.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m staying on the boat tonight. If you’re still here, I might hang with you when the guys head home.”

  All of them were welcoming but she could tell Gunner was particularly pleased at the prospect. She headed back to her table with a playful wink.

  The hair prickling on the back of her neck told her there was at least one pair of eyes on her ass as she walked away.

  Sliding into the booth, she stared at the tray of demolished oysters and wings. “You didn’t save any for me?”

  “You snooze, you lose,” Bubba said without guilt. “We ordered another tray.”

  “Pigs!”

  “Oink, oink!” they squealed together.

  The three of them relaxed and chatted as the sun went down and the light dimmed in the dining area.

  Each time Dakota thought she could sense Gunner watching her, she turned to discover she was right. Their eyes locked several times and she realized her body was coiled in expectation.

  Bubba yawned loudly and Chaz laughed. A day on the water wore him out. Standing, he pulled him from the booth. They bent to kiss her cheek, waved at Gunner’s table, and left.

  She paid their bill and tipped the server well. Sliding from the booth to avoid questions about Chaz’s availability that never seemed to stop, she made her way across the bar.

  As she approached, Gunner pulled up a chair for her beside him. “What do you drink, Dakota?”

  “Tequila. The answer to that question is always tequila.”

  Chapter Five

  Within the first hour, Dakota learned more details about the men starting with the fact that Gunner and Shawn owned a private security company out of Hialeah.

  “No wonder you vacation together.” No wonder they all looked like they could invade a small country.

  “We use the time to talk about business, too,” Shawn offered.

  “It’s not all about the fishing then?”

  Deadpan, Gunner said, “No, it’s not all about the fishing.” Unable to stop her blush, he quickly added, “Tell us some weird stories about the charter business. You must get a pretty diverse crowd.”

  For an hour, she talked to them about the odd things that sometimes happened on the water. “We had a family reunion group who wanted underwater photos. One of them was very pregnant so she couldn’t dive. We got back to the surface and she was in labor.”

  “What? No.” Shawn looked stressed on her behalf.

  “Oh yeah. We were ten miles from shore. Honestly, there’s only so fast a boat like ours can go.”

  Joey’s eyes were huge. “What did you do?”

  She crossed her arms on the table. “Chaz delivered a healthy baby girl and Bubba kept me posted. I had an ambulance waiting at the marina when we tied off.”

  “Cool under pressure.” Lance nodded. “Not everyone can say that. Well done.”

  “In my personal experience, losing your shit in an emergency only makes things worse. I was most impressed with Bubba. Chaz and I are trained but he was only seven at the time.”

  All of them were impressed with the youngest of them and she didn’t blame them. He was pretty extraordinary.

  “I prefer male clients as a rule because too many women have no clue what to expect when we pull away from the marina. I’ve had a couple freak out when the shore disappeared.”

  Accepting another shot, she added, “Another vomited from the moment she put one foot on the deck.”

  “Vomit is one way to ruin everyone’s good time,” Tyler said laughing.

  Alan shook his head. “Why go?”

  “Some don’t seem to want the man to have fun without being involved. Typical insecure shit. A few have been okay. The ones married for years tend to be more relaxed about letting their mister out of their sight.”

  “I’m sure there are a few who consider you a threat.” Gunner seemed sincerely curious.

  “That goes both ways. Chaz has his share of issues with females. We had a bachelorette party that was completely out of control.” She shrugged. “I stay in the captain’s chair. I dread the few interactions that go badly.”

  “Gunner mentioned you were in the Coast Guard,” Shawn inserted. “How did you like it?”

  “I loved it. Made it to captain in two years.” Winking at Gunner, she said snarkily, “I earned the rank before I ever had the boat.”

  “Badass.”

  “We left home young. I loved the Coast Guard. The charter business was a natural progression when we inherited Bubba. We spend all our time on the water. Diving, fishing, taking photos. Some have ended up in magazines.”

  “You work hard.”

  “We do. Taking care of Bubba boiled things down to the simplest parts for us. I don’t regret the choices we made.”

  “Do you mind talking about how you came to have custody?”

  She gave them the short version and all of them peppered her with questions. “The first year was the hardest. We weren’t done with our tours. I had to juggle taking care of Bubba with a nanny and hated it.”

  Her questions about their lives were answered without holding back and she appreciated their openness. They’d spent so much time together on the water but it took a couple of hours over drinks to really feel as if she knew them.

  By the time the DJ started to play music around ten, she knew Tyler was married and smiled at more photos of his little family.

  Alan announced to the table that he’d proposed to his long-time girlfriend and the men loudly congratulated him.

  Joey was in a serious relationship with a woman whose family hated him. “Her family is really religious and I’m…not.”

  Dakota asked, “Do you love her?” He nodded. “Then worry about the two of you. The rest will either fall together or it won’t. You can’t change people’s minds with words or intentions.” She shrugged. “Actions matter.”

  “That’s a great way to look at it.”

  Lance confessed he was done with relationships for a while. “I attract the clingy ones. With my job, I travel a lot and I can’t answer ten calls an hour about what I’m doing and if there are women around.”

  “I always wonder if women like that are the ones cheating.”

  The man who looked about her age sat forward. “She was cheating. How did you know?”

  “Transference. Men tend to overcomplicate how women are and we’re just like you. People should improve your life not make it shit.” She sipped her water. “If someone hurts you like that, you carry it for years. You don’t have to though. How old are you?”

  “Twenty-four.”

  “Are you in a hurry or something? The statistics are pretty bad for peop
le who get married in their teens or twenties. Let some time pass and see what the world has to offer. You have to know everything about yourself before you drag another human into the mix.”

  “That’s some damn good advice. Thanks, Dakota.”

  “Sure thing. I live to demystify the female psyche but I’m sure there are lots of women who do it better. I don’t always get along with other women honestly.” Turning to Shawn, she asked, “And you, sir?”

  He met her eyes directly. “I hit for the other team, so I don’t have any chick drama.”

  Dakota’s mouth dropped open. Then she murmured, “I fucking knew it.”

  “I get all levels of shock and confusion.”

  After a candid perusal of his body from head to toe, she gave him a cheerful grin. “Oh, you misunderstand my reaction. My brother’s going to kick the shit out of himself when I tell him. I love watching him freak out.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Crossing her arms and leaning closer to the big man, she whispered, “What do you think I mean?”

  The silence drew out as the others observed their interaction. Then Shawn’s eyes widened. “Chaz is gay?”

  “Bingo.”

  “No fucking way.”

  “I mean, I’m not here to judge the way anyone fucks but yeah, he’s strictly dickly.” Gunner placed a shot in front of her and she maintained eye contact with Shawn as she drank it.

  “I’ve spent time with all of you for months.” Shawn looked at Gunner over her head. “What the fuck…how did I miss it?”

  She winked. “I have no idea since you could probably sketch every detail of his body from memory.”

  “Jesus…”

  “I don’t blame you. I know he’s gorgeous. Most people never suspect. He’s attracted to alpha males, men similar to him. They’re difficult to read and there’s more risk if you’re wrong.”

  Shawn frowned. “Sounds like there’s been problems.”

  It was impossible to hide her anger at the memory. “There was a bad experience. Once we had Bubba, we left our branches of the service. He insisted but being a Marine was important to him. It was hard for him to give it up.”