Seventeen Days (8 page)

Before I can even reach out my hand for him to shake, he’s grabbing it and pulling it to his mouth. Opening my palm, he
kisses
it. Dude frickin’ legit kissed my palm. Not my hand. It’s all I can do once he drops it not to fan myself. I think I can officially say I swooned. If he aims his swoon inducing voice directly at me one more time, I swear, panties will drop. 

“Let’s
go
,” Salty yells from near the door.
When did he move?
 

Gentry winks at me and makes his way back outside. Suddenly, I need a cold shower. 

Working here may not be such a great idea after all. 

Quitting time cannot get here fast enough. It’s nearly three in the afternoon, and I’ve managed to mess up every single booking that has come in, either by email or phone call. You name it, I’ve fucked it up. Case in point, this call I’m taking right this second. They’re attempting to prepay by credit card, and I can’t seem to get anything in this office to cooperate with me. 

“I’m sorry, but could you hold for another minute or two? I can’t seem to get the machine to work. It’s my first day, and I swear it hates me.” 

“Not a problem, but if you like, we can bring cash and pay when we come in.” 

“Oh, no, it’s not an issue, I promise. One moment and I should have it all set up and ready.”
At least, I fucking hope so.
 

Harrison should be coming in shortly if his tour is on time getting back; maybe he can show me how to work everything again. It seems the time we spent out on the water yesterday would’ve been better spent showing me how to work everything better, a few minutes wasn’t enough. It’s not hard work and shouldn’t have taken me long to learn it but frickin’ computers hate me. 

“You’re in luck, I’ve gotten it to work. You wanted to pay for all five on one card, correct?” I ask.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind. It’ll be easier that way. It’s nine-hundred and fifty dollars each, right? Or is it the cost when it’s a full six-person charter? If so, we don’t mind having to split the cost for a sixth non-existent person tagging along.” Wow, they must have major cash to drop this kind of money on a frickin’ fishing tour. 

Speaking of cash, Harrison must be making bank. He’s probably loaded himself. 

“Oh, we don’t charge more if it’s not a full six-person charter. It’s a flat rate cost per person. We don’t take out a tour of less than four people, if it is, we combine customers.” 

“Sounds perfect. Once you run the card, could you please give me the approval number?” he asks.

“Of course, not a problem. It’ll be a total of four-thousand seven-hundred and fifty dollars, no taxes.”
For one flipping tour.
That’s a lot of damn fish. Makes me wish I was working on commission. I’d be able to get back home in no time. Forget two weeks, I’d be there tomorrow. 

“I have an approval code for you now, if you’re ready,” 

While I’m finishing up with the customer, I glance up and see the yacht pulling up to the dock. Deciding to go out and greet them, I make my way out the back door. This is the first break I’ve allowed myself to take today. The sunshine feels great on my skin. A girl could get used to working on the beach. Have I mentioned the fact, I love the windows in the office? The whole back wall is full of floor to ceiling windows, and the view is spectacular. Add in the man pulling into the dock, and I could stare at that image forever. Which scares the shit out of me. 

Harrison notices me and waves. Not bothering to help anchor the boat to the dock, he jumps out and walks toward me. No,
stalks
toward me is more appropriate for what he’s doing. I hope it’s not all customers he’s left aboard. Before seeing him, I didn’t know how much I was looking forward to seeing his crooked smile. 

Grabbing me around the waist, he pulls me in for hug. I’m not ashamed to say I took in a deep breath to smell him. He smells of the sea, sweat, and … spearmint? A bit salty, sweet, and
all
man. 

“Did you just smell me?” 

You bet your fine ass, I did.
 

Pushing back out of his arms a tiny bit, I gaze up into his intense gray gaze. “Yes, I did, and I’m not even sorry. You smell amazing.” Taking in another deep breath, I sigh in content. Praying the whole time he didn’t hear me. 

“I’m all dirty and in desperate need of a shower. No doubt, I smell like fish. You must be hungry to think I smell amazing.” Reaching down, he grabs my hand and pulls me inside. He’s acting all possessive, it’s oddly attractive. But I’m confused: Is he my boss? My temporary fling? Both? 

“No, you don’t smell like fish.”
You smell like my own personal heaven.
“And you didn’t seem concerned about a shower when you hugged me a moment ago. Trust me, you don’t smell bad. You smell like salt, the sea, minty, and slightly sweaty. Like I said,
amazing
.” Hold up, am I’m flirting?
Stop flirting, Morgan.
 

Turning my face away so he can’t see me blush, I walk over to the desk and have a seat. 

Changing the subject, I decide to inform him about the new bookings. “I booked you a few more tours for next week and the one after. Even booked one for in November.” 

“Sounds great. Did you run into any issues? Did you meet all the guys, besides Thad? Sorry, by the way, about forgetting to tell you their names yesterday, it slipped my mind. And I forgot to warn you about Gentry. Stay away from him, babe. He may be my best friend but he’s not a person
you
should trust. Besides, I’m claiming all your free time as mine. Unless you see a problem with that?” 

Hold the train. Did he say
all
my free time? Clearly, I must’ve misheard him.  

“Gee, why don’t you pound on your chest and say ‘She. Mine.’ since you’re going all caveman and shit. In case you’ve failed to notice, I’m my own person. Who I choose to spend my time with is
my
decision and mine alone. You’d count yourself lucky to spend that much time with me.” When I agreed to getting to know him, I didn’t agree to his claiming me. Yeah, he kissed me. Doesn't make me his property. “Besides, I’m planning on leaving in two weeks. What can we possibly accomplish by then?” 

It doesn’t matter how much I want to get to know him. The reality is I’m leaving. His place in my life isn’t guaranteed past the next few days. He’s temporary at best. Fleeting.

“Helluva lot can be ‘accomplished’ in two weeks, Red. A. Lot. We’ve known each other for what, three days now? And we’ve already learned more than most people learn in a couple of months. All this and I haven’t taken you out for a proper date yet. You, young lady, better guard that heart of yours, I’m bringing my A game for the next fourteen days. You’ll fall in love with me before then. The way I see it, it gives you a total of seventeen days to love me, and trust me when I say, you won’t need them.” 

Maybe I’ve already started.

Turning away again, I stare out at the docks. “Shouldn’t you be helping your customers out there?”
I’ll take “Subject Change for 200, Alex.”

“Thad has it covered. They’re cleaning their catch and they’ll be off. Afterwards, I’ll help Thad clean up the boat. You never answered me on if you had any issues around here. Would you like more coffee? I feel like making some but don’t want to make a whole pot if you’re not going to have any.” 

I’m a slightly flabbergasted by all his confidence in getting my love, who does he think he is? One thing, he sure knows how to deflect and change the subject.
Something we both have in common.
“No more coffee for me. By the way, thanks for making me a pot this morning. And I wouldn't say I had any issues with the customers exactly, only issues with me and the equipment. Oh, and not knowing who the guys were or what they looked like before they came in was a bit strange. Would’ve been nice to have known that.”
Like maybe telling me you have a fucking model working for you.
 

“And I already apologized for not telling you. With everything yesterday, it slipped my mind,” he replies. He’s running his hand through his hair again. Dammit, he’s sexy. “Would you like to grab dinner on the way home tonight? I have something I’d like to give you.”
I bet you do, Captain.

“Only if I can call Aunt Savannah and let her know. She plans on holding dinner for me tonight. We need to go over my pay as well, maybe we could do that now? Or would you like to discuss it over dinner too?”  

The smell of coffee makes my stomach grumble. Could have been the mention of food, too. Skipping breakfast and only having coffee all day probably wasn’t my brightest moment. Eight mugs of it to be exact. They don't say coffee is the elixir of the gods for nothing, but one can only run on it for so long.

“Go ahead and call Savannah. After these guys leave and we clean up, I’ll turn on the answering machine and we can take off early. We can discuss your pay over dinner.” 

“Okay.” 

Before we can discuss things further, the phone rings, effectively cutting off anything else we may have to say. It can wait until dinner. 

I’m praying I can keep my heart guarded for the next fourteen days.  

Why in the hell did I ask her to dinner? Yeah, I may want to get to know her, but I don’t need to feed her for that. But the plane ticket I bought her last night is burning a hole in my pocket. Well, it would be if it were literally there. Only the email confirming it is. And for some strange reason, I don’t want to give it to her here, that’s my whole reasoning behind dinner. 

I keep telling myself I can keep business and pleasure separate when it comes to her, but that’s a fucking lie. Seeing her walk out to greet us as we pulled into port had me thinking all sorts of crazy things. Like having Thad see me claim her. So I did—I jumped off the boat and walked right over and hugged her. The whole time I held her, I didn’t utter a single word.
She had to go ahead and sniff me.

It turned me the fuck on when she did. I’m extremely fucked when it comes to her. Can already see myself becoming attached to her.
Way too fucking attached
. This feeling has got to be worth exploring. The hurt we’re bound to feel in the end will be worth it. Worth knowing her. Worth everything. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. 

I still haven’t brought up what I’m paying her because I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to pay her. I keep wondering if I should pay her hourly or a set amount for each week. Setting an amount would probably be easier. Since she’s not permanent, and I didn’t make her fill out any employment forms, I can pay her under the table. If I do, she doesn’t have to pay taxes and has more money to use when she goes back north. 

As the customers are packing up their car, I make my way out to help Thad clean up the mess and get the boat as ready as we can before tomorrow’s run. 

“I take from your reaction the stacked redhead is the mysterious Morgan?” he asks.

“Remember what I said this morning, Thad? It still applies, even more now. Don’t you fucking forget she’s ‘hands off’ and no foul-mouthed shit around her. That clear?” Anger fills my voice; he knows I mean it. He pissed me the fuck off. Calling her ‘stacked’ … she’s more than a body. That comment is one I would’ve expected from Gentry, not Thad.