Page 36 of Too Far To Sea
Ron sat on the arm of her chair, his voice dropped to a husky whisper. “You’d be hot if you weren’t so uptight.”
Uptight? Who used words like that? Dana didn’t bother hiding her eye roll. “If you are trying to flirt, you are failing.”
His hand dropped on her shoulder and drifted downward.
Dana slid her thumb under his hand, lifting it off with a twist.
Ron jumped up, shaking his hand. “You —”
“Is there a problem here?”
Dana hadn’t noticed the security officer behind them, but she recognized the voice instantly.
“That—” Under McKay’s glare, Ron apparently thought better of whatever name he wished to call her. “She broke my hand.”
“Miss?” McKay kept a straight face, but his eyes twinkled under raised brows.
“I removed his hand from my person as I do not consent to his advances. I assure you nothing is broken.” She hadn’t needed to apply that much pressure and she would have felt something break.
McKay turned to Ron. “From what I saw, she was defending herself. I’m sure the CCTV feed will agree with me. If you would like, I can call the ship’s doctor to his office to see you or ask the bartender to give you some ice.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Ron folded his arms, hiding the injured hand.
McKay walked off.
Everyone in their group stared at her. As well as people from neighboring sections. Poor Chey. Her sister didn’t deserve thiskind of attention. Dana stood. “Have fun, guys. I think it is best that I leave.”
“So soon?” asked Cheyanne. “Ron was out of line and he knows it, right?”
“Good riddance,” muttered one of the other grooms-minions.
Dana sent a silent prayer that Ron wasn’t the one she was paired with for the wedding processional.
“I’m a bit tired.” It wasn’t a lie. The couch in her new suite was calling to her and her book. The heroine was about to make her grand gesture by climbing out the window to save the viscount’s reputation. “Have a good night.”
As Dana exited the bar, she felt a presence behind her. She turned. McKay. “Officer Worth, you don’t need to follow me. I want to leave.”
“That was an interesting move you used on that guy.” He fell into step with her.
“Instinct. I should have pushed him away or something else.”
“How do you like your new suite?”
“How do you — Never mind, of course, you know. It’s very nice. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”
“Did you get your sheep back? I found them in my things.”
He evaded. Why would he do that unless he did have something to do with the upgrade? She hadn’t noticed an electrical problem. If ships were like buildings, a grid could include several unaffected rooms. She’d looked at enough floor plans on details to know that. Even so, his evasion was something to note.
“I wondered if the room steward found them. You need to see this.” Dana opened her phone to the photo she’d taken of the dog watching over the sheep.
McKay laughed. “Wow. Looks like I owe someone a tip for that one. I’m glad you got them back.”
“Why didn’t you drop them by?” She knew the answer before she finished the question. What about McKay made her thinking muddled?
“Appearances. If someone saw me going to your suite?—”
“Of course, I understand.”
