Shipped(38)

Forcing some iron into my spine, I lift my chin. “I’m sorry,” I say before I lose my nerve. “I should have confronted you about the viral video last year instead of jumping to conclusions. And I’m sorry for blowing up at you on the beach earlier. That was uncalled for. Thank you for teaching me how to snorkel, by the way. And thanks for not being a massive dick about the whole puking thing.”

I haven’t received any chiding emails from James yet, so I’m assuming Graeme never told him what happened. And for all his threats to go to human resources, I haven’t heard from them either.

Graeme just stares at me, jaw set. Cocking his head to the side, he taps his fingers against the arm of his chair in a slow, rhythmic pattern.

I shift my weight. “Look, I haven’t treated you very well on this cruise. I’ve been suspicious and salty and you’ve been nothing but nice to me. Again, I’m sorry.”

Just as I turn to walk away, he cups his hand behind his ear. “Can you speak into my good ear, please? Repeat what you just said—the last part.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeat in an exaggerated shout.

His full lips curl into a grin. “Words I never thought I’d hear you say.”

He nods at the chair facing him in silent invitation. Sliding into the empty chair, I accept.

A waiter bustles over to fill my water glass and ask if I’d like the cocktail of the night—a mojito. I would. Graeme orders one as well.

“It’s not like you’re such a fountain of gratitude either,” I say to Graeme once the waiter leaves.

He furrows his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“You never say thank you in emails. That would make your messages three words long instead of one. Practically a novel for you.”

Graeme forks a bite of vegetables into his mouth. “I’m too busy to write long emails,” he says thickly.

“How much longer would it take to write something halfway thoughtful?”

“Too long.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Do you know how many emails I get a day? Hundreds, no joke. From outside groups wanting to collaborate. Notifications from our social media platforms. Marketing managers hounding me to post their content.” He shoots me a meaningful look. “If I answered every email like you do, with full sentences and flowery explanations, I’d never sleep.”

I take a bite of fresh mahimahi to cover my bemusement, and its delicate orange and ginger flavors fill my mouth. I’d never considered there might be a legitimate reason for the curt emails. Is this more proof that I’ve been wrong about Graeme? My insides twist and my foot bounces under the table.

“So what brought you to Seaquest in the first place?” I ask, ignoring a new twinge of guilt.

“I was tired of working in a regular office. And I wanted a job with flexible hours.”

“What were you doing before?”

“I was a marketing manager at Ford.”

My eyebrows fly up. “You were a marketing manager?”

He makes a clicking sound with his tongue as he winks. “On their digital team.”

My stomach clenches. Graeme was a marketing manager, and on a team dedicated solely to digital marketing. He has way more experience than I thought.

“So why take a job in social media? It was a step backward for your career.”

“Not if it got my foot in the door at a great company in a city I want to live in.”

He wants to move to Seattle?

“So working for Seaquest Adventures is your dream job?”

“Digital marketing director at Seaquest is my dream job.”

We’re entering dangerous territory now. My thighs tense against the upholstered chair. “What if it’s my dream job too?” I challenge, curling my hand into a fist under the table.

He cocks his head to the side. “What exactly do you love about digital marketing?”

“I…” I shake my head and sit up straighter. “I’m inspired by working on the forefront of technology. Finding new ways to reach and engage with people. I like working in a growing field, and—”

“You sound like a Google result for ‘What’s great about digital marketing.’?”

“No, I don’t.” Uh, yes, I do. Because I totally googled that exact phrase two weeks ago when I prepared talking points for James.

“But why do you love it? What is it about it that makes you want to wake up and devote your professional energy to it every single day?”

The truth? I have no great love of digital marketing. But securing a director position would be the precise stepping stone I need to reach where I really want to be one day: the executive suites. Plus, I could sure use the salary bump to help pay down my student loans. But Graeme doesn’t need to know that.

“Because I’m good at it, okay? I’m good at crunching numbers, testing new marketing tools, and figuring out how to achieve results. And the higher up the ladder I go, the more opportunities I have to implement my vision. Now, why do you love it so much? You’re not even on social media.”

“Oh, ho, someone’s been doing some light stalking.”

Crap. “Not stalking. Intel. Know your enemy. Sun Tzu’s Art of War and all that.”

“You think I’m your enemy?”