Seventeen Days Read online

  Not giving her a chance to reply, I all but slam the door in her face.

  Rolling the window down, she scolds me before taking off, “That wasn’t very nice, young lady. I may have had more to say. I’ll hold dinner for you. Do try to have a nice day. You should try smiling. It may make you a few friends.”

  Hmm. Maybe I should try to have a relationship with her. Since I decided to let Harrison in, I guess I could let her in a bit as well. It’s not like I’d give her too much false hope if she knows up front my plans for not keeping in contact once I go home.

  Harrison knows and still kissed me. Opened up to me a bit as well. It did feel good to tell him what I did, and last night was the first night I can recall where I didn’t wake up in a sweat.

  Sienna may have stolen my childhood, but she won’t steal my future.

  I’ll learn to stand on my own.

  Harrison thinks I’ve been blinded to the world around me, but he couldn’t be more wrong. I’ve seen how awful people can be. I’ve met the monsters in the worst nightmares. My mother is one of them. She’s the most awful, vile person. She’s always tried to mold me into the perfect version of her she could. She sees her flaws in me and tries to perfect them. Instead of loving me.

  Hair not the right shade of red? Dye it.

  Lips not full enough? Inject them.

  Waist not a perfect size two? She’d insist on me going on a liquid diet for a week. If she knew I was now in a size eight, I think she’d have a stroke. Luckily, she stopped tracking my weight around a year ago.

  I will not let her win.

  I will learn to be strong.

  Walking into the office, I notice a man with graying hair out near the smaller one of Harrison's boats. It better not be a customer; I’m not fully prepared to deal with any yet. Please let him be one of the employees. Although, they’re not supposed to be here till closer to nine, and it’s barely eight.

  The smell of coffee surrounds me once I enter the office. I’m surprised to see a note left sitting near the coffee pot.

  “So you don’t make yourself a pot of sludge. - H”

  Laughing, I grab a mug and pour myself a cup. I’ll have to remember to thank him for the coffee later.

  As I’m taking my first blissful sip, the man I noticed outside enters the office. He grabs a mug and makes himself at home at the chair in front of the desk.

  “You Morgan?” he asks.

  “Yes, sir, I am. And you are?” Since he grabbed a cup of coffee and seems to be comfy here, I assume he isn't a customer, therefore I see no need to be sweet. Straightforward should work.

  “The name’s Steve. The ugly guy out near the dock now is Gentry. He’s my son. Together, we run the smaller of the boats out on fishing tours.” Offering his hand, I reach out to gingerly shake it.

  “Pleasure to meet you, young lady.”

  Hmm. Since he was nice, I guess I should be nice back. After all, I did tell Harrison I’m not actually a bitch. And I meant it. Mostly.

  “Harrison informed me yesterday when he ‘showed me the ropes’, so to speak. He spoke highly of you.” That’s not exactly true, but he doesn’t need to know how I didn’t know his name until he told me. We never got around to him telling me who worked here and who didn’t. He barely told me how to answer the phone, how to schedule tours, the costs, and what type of fish is in season. “I’ll only be here for a couple of weeks, as I plan on going back to New York as soon as possible. Is there anything I can help with this morning? Ya know, before you go out?”

  Please say no.

  “No, ma’am, we’re all set. We’re waiting on the customers to get here. I’ll go grab Gentry and have him come in to meet ya. He’s filling up the coolers with ice for their catch. If you need any help, keep me posted.” He stands to leave and tips his hat. “Oh, before I leave, if anyone calls and requests a tour with ‘Salty’, that’d be me.”

  Honestly? That’s his nickname? Wonder if Harrison gave it to him, since he’s fond of giving people nicknames and all.

  “Salty? Do I want to know what it stands for? Like for instance, do you taste like salt?” Honestly can’t figure out how he’d come to be known by such a nickname. Salty Steve — thinking it like that makes me giggle, making sure to quickly stifle it down and hoping he didn’t see, but really … Salty?

  His face has turned beet red, but then a loud guffaw escapes. He’s laughing awfully hard and can barely catch his breath. In turn, it only causes him to fall back into his chair. Unable to help it, I find myself laughing along with him. I don’t remember the last time I laughed this hard. His expression, red face, and reaction make me want to laugh all morning.

  “Do I taste Salty? That’s a good one, girl.” In-between laughs, he manages to tell me how Salty is mostly a sea term used for someone who’s “grumpy”. Good to know. Although, he doesn’t strike me as the grumpy type.

  He’s still laughing when a man with hair almost as dark as Harrison’s walks in the back door, “Hey, ol’ man, you about ready in here? The customers are starting to pull in, and we have a couple of greenbacks in this tour who are going to need all the instru—” it’s then he notices me “—ctions,” he finishes while stumbling over his words.

  There’s no way this is Gentry, I mean, I know it is, but I don’t want it to be. A little warning about his drop-dead gorgeous good looks would have been nice. And I thought Harrison was sexy. His voice alone I'm sure has dropped panties all over this state. Add in the fact about dark hair being my downfall, and oh my. If he has light eyes, I’m a goner for sure. I may have a thing for Harrison’s dark hair, gray eyes, and cowboy hat, but this guy screams trouble, and he’s exactly the type I’d typically find myself tangled up with. Besides, did I agree to seeing Harrison? Nope, I may have agreed to work for him and let him in casually. Right? Riiiight. This dude is flashing me a megawatt smile, and it’s like a beacon telling me he’s game for a fling if I’m willing.

  He should be wearing a neon sign flashing “Bad Boy”.

  Salty manages to stop his laughing long enough to stand back, up. “Son, this is Morgan. Morgan, this is Gentry, my son.” When he mentioned the ugly guy outside, I honestly thought he meant Gentry was ugly. Shit, he’s as far from ugly as can be. Good thing they can’t read my thoughts.

  “Um. Hey, nice to meet you. I’m taking over while Dave is out for a couple of weeks. His mom is sick, or something,” I mumble. Yup, I literally flat out mumbled. Attractive, Morgan.

  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 righ
t 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.

  “So crystal it’s almost clear. Is she yours then? Given by the way you reacted to her, I’d say that’s a yes.” Fuck yes, she is.

  Grabbing the hose to wash down the cleaning tables, I nod. It’s the only answer he’s getting out of me. For his sake, I hope I can work off my pissy mood before I grab Morgan and hit the road. If he says one more thing about her looks, I’ll probably end up punching him.

  “Cool. Consider the subject dropped. Does that mean I can call up Jess now? Or are you keeping her to yourself too?” As long as you leave my girl alone.