Page 40 of Too Far To Sea
“Goodnight!” Gracie waved and blew kisses at the screen, ending the evening call. McKay slid his phone into his pocket and leaned against the railing. Needing a moment to transition back to work brain.
He’d kept the call short since he was still on duty. Six and a half days and he’d be home. Perhaps then he could help remove the tired look from his sister’s face. He sighed and turned, intent on checking the aft bar before heading to the office.
Professional.
Focused.
His resolve wavered the moment he registered Dana walking toward him. Before his mind could catch up, a smile had already formed on his lips. “Good evening, Miss Knight.”
She stopped a few feet from him, hugging her cardigan to her. “Still on duty, I see?”
The simple gesture sent an unexpected spark of awareness through him. McKay locked his professional demeanor firmly in place.
“Until midnight.”
“Long day?”
“Odd day. I had shore leave yesterday that played a brutal game of musical schedules.” If only he could tell her more. However, Alvaro commanded him not to recruit Dana. Any details he could share would be a dangerous step in that direction. She was too smart not to put it together.
“Coming up in the elevator, I heard that they kicked a woman off the ship today.”
“Kicked off isn’t the term we use, but yes, a passenger had to be removed from the cruise today.”
“The woman in front of me when we returned to the ship?”
He waited for a moment to answer because he didn’t want to be too obvious about how aware he’d been of her presence earlier. “That’s right, you were there. She ruined my opportunity to say hello.”
“I assume you can’t tell me any details.” She leaned back against the railing and looked up at him.
“Since you were there, I can tell you that she received multiple warnings and is fortunate to be disembarked in a city with an airport.” He paused, not sure what to say next. “There is so much more to that story I can’t tell.”
Dana studied his face. “Don’t worry, I won’t pester you for details.”
McKay laughed. “How about word to the wise, demanding to see the captain rarely works out well.”
“She didn’t!”
“I couldn’t say.”
Dana laughed. “I’ll assume she did. That strategy never works on internet videos.”
“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it work out for anyone.”
Dana picked at the sleeve of her sweater. “If you are still working, I should probably move along.”
“It was nice talking to you. See you later?”
“Maybe. Tomorrow we are staying the night in Dublin since the on board is so early and Cheyanne’s bridesmaids have convinced her that she needs to do a pub crawl.”
“You don’t sound overly excited.”
“I don’t drink. I’m mostly going to make sure Cheyanne doesn’t get talked into something she’ll regret later.”
“You’re the designated driver?”
“One way to put it. Better than a babysitter.”
McKay’s phone vibrated. He looked down to see a message from Alvaro. “I need to go. Have a good evening.”
