Page 52 of Deep Tide

“He pretends to be chill about everything, but really he’s a workaholic, too.”

He nodded. “You’re lucky.”

“I’d have to agree. But why do you say that?”

“You have family around.”

And Sean didn’t. He lived several thousand miles away from his family.

“So, what do you do for fun when you’re not working?” he asked.

“Me?”

He smiled. “Yeah, you. Do you ever get a day off?”

“I try to take Mondays.” Which only worked out about half the time. “And occasionally, I’ll get Siena to cover for a weekend if I need to leave town. But, you know, it’s hard to get away. That’s one of the things about running a small business.”

He looked interested. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah, actually. Even with the crazy hours, I like it a lot.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know. The autonomy. The creativity. Being my own boss.”

“That cuts both ways, though, doesn’t it?” he asked. “It’s a lot of responsibility.”

“I don’t mind.” She leaned closer. “Honestly, I’m not great at having a boss.”

“You don’t like people telling you what to do.”

“Basically.”

He smiled, and she felt warmth blooming deep inside her. His eyes creased at the corners, and it suddenly hit her that he was older than she was—Joel’s age. He had life experience and maturity, and she found that appealing.

“How do you like your job?” she asked.

He arched his eyebrows, looking surprised she would ask. “It’s good.”

“Hmm. Very descriptive.”

“It’s challenging. I like that. And there’s a lot of variation, so I don’t get bored.”

Challenging had to be an understatement. She’d been doing a little poking around, and she’d learned that just getting into the FBI Academy to begin with was an impressive accomplishment. And then the program was a rigorous combination of academic and physical requirements. Plus, there were the mental demands of a career in law enforcement—which she’d seen firsthand through her brothers.

But despite all that, she got the feeling Sean excelled at his job. He seemed very capable.

“What’s that look?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“What?”

She shrugged. “It’s just an interesting career path, that’s all. I’m glad you like it. It took me years to figure out what I wanted to do.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I bounced around awhile before landing at culinary school. I think my parents thought I was crazy, but it turned out to be a fit.”

---