Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(75)

He stared for a moment. “I heard you got in a little tussle with Josie last night. I guess I thought they were exaggerating. Jesus, is that her hair? You took her hair?”

“She came after my…Remy and he did not want to talk to her. He was polite. She did not take his ‘no’ for an answer. That is the textbook definition of sexual harassment. I took care of the problem and it wasn’t a tussle. It was a knock-down, drag-out fight and by drag-out, I mean Remy had to drag me out or I would have way more of her nasty hair for my collection.” She rolled out of bed, grasping the pillow. “So you and everyone else in town needs to get something straight. I’m not some sad-sack city slicker you can intimidate. I’m here as long as Remy wants me here, and by the way, I’m the reason he has the wharf in the first place. It was my money that bought it.” Well, her sister-in-law’s, but he didn’t need to know that. “So the next time you want to threaten me or want to make me look like some gold digger, you make a proper appointment.”

She struck him with the pillow, his muscular arms coming out to ward her off.

“Hey, honey, I was only trying to look out for my brother.” He backed out of her room though.

“I am not your honey, you infant.” She was unwilling to allow that to be the end. “And while we’re at it, my relationship with your brother is none of your business. You haven’t shown him a moment’s kindness in three years.” Another vicious swat of the pillow had him almost to the stairs.

“I thought about sending him a card, but I got ADD.” Zep started to back down the stairs with a strangely high scream.

“I don’t care. You will treat your brother right or you’re going to deal with me,” she swore.

“I’m sorry,” Zep said, turning and rushing down the stairs as though Remy could save him. “I just wanted to say hi. Your girl is mean. So mean.”

She stopped, taking in the sight in front of her. It had been dark the night before and she was fairly certain Remy had carried in her passed-out body. She certainly hadn’t seen this.

“You go up to our bedroom again when she’s sleeping and you’ll find out how mean I can be, brother,” Remy was saying but she was too busy studying her new surroundings.

The bar was neat and clean, looking a lot like an Irish pub, but the lovely dark-wood bar and tables and chairs weren’t what caught her attention.

She walked down the stairs, unable to take her eyes off the massive windows that showed her the bay. There was a big patio area where patrons could sit and watch the boats in the distance. Morning made the world gauzy and soft. Beyond the patio there were several piers with boat slips. Most of the large ones were empty, likely the big shrimpers, but the smaller personal boats were still docked in their places. Beyond the pier was endless ocean and gentle waves.

Her breath caught when she saw several fins break the surface. Dolphins. They had dolphins. And gulls flew in the sky.

There was nothing like it in the city, nothing that made her feel both awesomely small and entirely connected to the larger world. That view literally took her breath away.

“Yeah, it’s something, isn’t it?” Remy joined her, standing beside her. “I’m sorry about my brother. I’ve made it plain our room is off limits.”

“It’s okay. I think I made myself plain to him, too. Do you wake up to this every day?”

“I tend to see the sunrise and the sunset right here,” he admitted. “I’ve missed this view but I know another one I’ll miss even more.”

She turned and he was staring down at her. She couldn’t help but ask the question. Zep seemed to have disappeared and they were alone. “You don’t have to keep this up. You have the money and Will doesn’t expect it back. I promise I’m not going to be rebellious or sullen. I’ll follow the protocols. I want to live through this. I won’t make it hard on you.”

His face turned solemn. “I love you and that’s not about money. If you leave me, I’ll be lonely for the rest of my life because I know I’ll never meet another woman like you.”

He knew exactly what to say to get to her. There was only one problem. “I don’t know how to believe you anymore.”

“Well then, you probably shouldn’t have told everyone we’re engaged. You know people take that seriously around here. I might be a ruined man if you leave me at the altar.” When she didn’t laugh, he turned serious. “It’s all right, chèrie. I’ll tell everyone it was only a joke on your part. I’ll have Sera spread the word that we’re nothing more than friends.”

“Can I have some time before you do that?” She was confused and the last thing she wanted was more curiosity about them. “I’m not going to lie to you. I think I was way more invested in our relationship than you were.”

“Until I thought I lost you. Sometimes men are dumb and we get happy and don’t want things to change, but we can grow up mighty fast when we need to. I’m not going to lie to you either. I want to marry you. If I wasn’t such a gentleman, you might have found yourself with a ring on your finger this morning.”

Ah, but the question was why the sudden change of heart? Did he feel guilty about the cash and marrying her would wash some of that blame away? Or had he realized he needed a partner in this business and she might be a good one? The situation was complex and she needed to think. “Can I have some time?”