Page 63 of Standing Still

I’d done a lot since finally getting our name on the ownership of the company, growing the commercial fishing side of the business, getting us bigger and better contracts, further afield.

Elle came along and got actively involved when she heard we were losing charter bookings. Not just us, but the other local businesses. And she didn’t like it. She hated Daley Radcliffe from Day Away with as much passion as I did. When he met her, he’d treated her like a second-class citizen, looking down his nose at her, making fun of her ideas because she is a woman.

Big mistake. She made it her life’s mission to rid Mystic of Day Away. I had no clue how she intended on doing it, but having a girlfriend with connections turned out to be one of the best things that happened to George’s.

First, she invited Kevin, Jenna, and Izzy from her literary agency to come visit town. That got them interested in fishing and they’d gone out on the boat with Rex one afternoon. He said they all had a ball, doing more drinking and laughing than actual catching anything, but told them they were welcome back any time.

The next time, Jenna showed up with the lead singer of BreakNeck. We’d all been sworn to secrecy and, despite the air of excitement, it turned out Adam was a pretty down-to-earth guy. He was a little uptight about making sure Jenna was safe and had security with him, but even that guy was cool.

From there, it’s snowballed. Adam brought the rest of the band out a few times and they all became proficient at fishing, enjoying the time to just relax in each other’s company. When Daley caught wind of the celebrities in our midst, he tried to lure them to his bigger boat.

The drummer of the band knocked the wind right out of his sails, especially after agreeing to have a tour of their boat. He all but said it sucked the life out of the pastime and he’d sooner hang out on the smaller, more authentic boats.

All it took after that were a few social media posts from him, talking about how amazing this fishing town is, together with the people who treat them like family, and taught him how to fish.

Things blew up from there. We didn’t have the equipment or time to manage all the bookings coming in, so Elle took it uponherself to speak with the other businesses along the river about pooling our funds and creating one big charter company that everyone had shares in.

She funded a sizeable chunk of it, using Acer’s money, so her dad’s legacy remained on the water. She became CEO, but we all share the business and the profits. Every single person agreed because it meant seeing the back of Day Away. We bought three boats, one small and one medium for bigger groups, between us. We employ more people from town to run the charters and Daley fucked all the way off with his tail between his legs.

“Sure, I’ve held the bigger boat. It’ll fit you all on and we can get some food and drinks sorted, no problem.” She wiggled her toes as I ran my hand over them. “I draw the line at strippers.”

“The fuck?” I mouth at her, but she shakes her head with a smile.

“Yeah, I know, but if Jordan has anything to do with it,” she laughs at whatever Jenna says. They make a few more arrangements and she hangs up, dropping the phone onto the coffee table and taking a big mouthful of wine.

“Strippers?”

“Adam is having a small family-only party. It will just be the band, their dads, and brothers. They want a full day of fishing. Adam asked if you wouldn’t mind skippering for it.”

“Am I able to?” she will already know the answer to that. She wouldn’t ask if I was busy.

“Yep, plus it makes it easier as there are no NDAs required. Should be fun.”

I nod. “About those strippers.”

She looks at me, and it’s enough to make me hold up my hands in surrender. Not that I meant it. Strippers and fishing boats did not mix. Especially in March in Connecticut.

“Big day tomorrow,” I say. “I’m gonna go to bed.”

“It’s like nine thirty,” Elle points out.

“Yeah, well, I’m not planning ongoing alone.” She has already put her wine glass down, so it’s not at risk of going all over the floor when I jump up, grab her around the waist and throw her over my shoulder, causing her to squeal. She’s stopped protesting, though. She likes it when I go all caveman on her. And given the day we’ve had, she deserves a little worshipping.

I wake her the next morning wearing nothing but a smile and holding a cupcake with a candle in it.

“Happy birthday, babe,” I grin.

Elle eyes my nakedness, then sees I’m holding the cake. She laughs and welcomes me when I kiss her, then feed her some frosting from the cake and that starts a whole other kind of celebrating that has us writhing and panting together.

We shower and change, have a quick breakfast, then I slip on Jedi’s leash and take him for a quick walk while Elle has her morning phone call with Kevin. They’re gearing up for a book release in the next month, so are spending a lot of time going through everything associated with it. Even though it’s her birthday, she tells me deadlines can’t be ignored.

I run some errands and make sure everything is set up for after. When I get back, Elle is at the dining table with crap spread out all over the place. Her hair is up in a messy bun with a pen sticking out of it and she’s wearing glasses. I don’t usually need to wear mine, but do on occasion if I get a headache, but she’s been wearing hers more often. They make her look sexier in my book.

“Hey, what are you doing? We have plans.”

“We do?” she looks up, the tip of another pen in her mouth.

I’m distracted by how sexy she looks, but shake it off. “Yes, come on, you can get back to this later. We’re out on the boat at four for your party, and I want to take you out first.”

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