Page 8 of Austen

“Hey, cuz,” Doyle said and greeted Ranger with a shake-slash-man-hug.“How’s the baby?”

“Good.Although not a baby anymore.Walking.Terrorizing his mother.The other day he found a jar of peanut butter, took the top off, and managed to lather his hair with it.”

“Nice,” Doyle said.“So, trouble, just like his old man.”

“Oh no, I wasn’t trouble.That was my brother, Colt.”He winked, then pointed to the plane.“That for me?”

“Yep.Thanks again, Ranger.”Declan held out his hand.“Safe travels.”

Ranger clamped him on the back and threw his duffel bag over his shoulder and headed out to the plane.

“You’re not going with him?”This from Tia as Diego put her bag in the back of the Jeep.

“No, the Jamesons aren’t big fans of flying, so I’m taking theInvictusto pick them up in Key West.”He pointed to the yacht.A hundred twenty feet, all white, three decks, five staterooms, and a crew of seven.

“Oh, my dad would be jealous,” Tia said, turning toward it, lowering her sunglasses.“He has a sailboat, but he’s definitely thought of adding a yacht to his fleet.”

“That’s a beautiful yacht, Dec,” Doyle said.

“Thanks.”And he suddenly felt like a sixth grader showing off his new bike to his friends, hoping that...

Well, hoping he might impress the girl, Austen Kingston, once he found her.

Wow.He wasthatguy.The nerd who wanted the prettiest girl he’d ever seen to notice him.

Please let him not be reading the sparks between them wrong.He’d made his big mistake last time by hiring her.He could hardly have asked her out while she worked for him without it getting weird.

Although, showing up in Key West in his hundred-and-twenty-foot yacht, asking if she’d like to have dinner with him might be equally weird.

Hopefully, impressively weird.

Oh brother.

“Key West, huh?”Doyle grinned.

“C’mon, Doyle,” Tia said, taking his hand, smiling.“Give the man some breathing room.He’s just a guy, standing on a yacht, asking a girl to like him.”

Declan’s mouth opened.

“Good luck, boss,” Tia said and pulled a smirking Doyle away.

They got in the Jeep, and Diego pulled out.

Declan turned, his hands in his pockets.Watched Ranger climb aboard.Then the pilot waved, and a few moments later, the plane pulled away from the dock, motored out into the harbor, then kicked up water and took to the air.

Right.Well then, everything seemed buttoned up.

This could work.It could really work.

He took a breath and headed toward the yacht.

Here went nothing.

TWO

Two glorious dayson the ocean, the sun spilling across the waves, turning the depths transparent and crystalline, the sun hot on her skin, miles away from her argument with Stein just two days ago, yet...

His words still sat inside Austen like a hot burr as she stood at the helm of her trawler-slash-floating-home, cutting through the waves to her dive location.

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