Page 11 of Joel
It’s a myth.
“I’m not just looking for it, Joel.” She holds out her hand, uncurling her tightly tucked fingers. In her palm sits a worn gold coin with markings I’ve never seen before. But it looks old, and dare I say,real.
“I found it.”
“You’re kidding.”
She shakes her head. “To be honest, I almost wish I was.”
It’s the heaviness in her tone that trips me up. She doesn’t sound excited. She sounds…weighed down.
“Kylie, what’s going on?”
“If I tell you, will you promise not to arrest me?”
“Arrest you? I’m not?—”
“What I’m doing is…illegal.” She clears the bed, setting everything but the bikini on the desk. When she bends over, I get a glimpse of her bare ass. Is she…naked under that shirt?Focus, Joel.
She turns to me, those amber eyes filled with pleading. It occurs to me that she could probably get anything she wanted from me if she just pinned me in place with those beautiful orbs. Her hard nipples poke through the cotton fabric, confirming her nakedness beneath her shirt. Yeah, she could warp me around her little finger with very little effort.
“If you’re willing to listen, I’m willing to tell you.Everything.”
About to take a seat on the edge of the bed, I realize my swim trunks are still damp. “I don’t want to get your bed wet.”Just you, sweetheart.
“I’d offer to take them off, but we should probably clear the air first,” she says, her words a gentle tease despite the tension that’s clearly hanging between us. “Let me get you a towel.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Why am I getting you a towel? Or why am I not ridding you of your shorts altogether?”
I let out a laugh. I can’t help it. Fuck, I love her sense of humor.
“Why are you telling me any of this?” I ask.
“Because I’m tired, Joel. So fucking tired.” I sit down on the towel she spreads on the edge of the bed, and she sits down beside me, her thigh brushing mine. Skin on skin.
My dick starts to harden, and it takes every ounce of willpower I have to focus on anything but the electric current the contact is creating between us so I don’t go full mast beside her.
“I’m listening.”
“Ten years ago, my mom married Todd Mercer, and my life hasn’t been the same since.”
I stay quiet as Kylie tells me everything about her treasure hunting life, borrowing money from her stepfather for college so she could pursue a marine biology degree, and the way the asshole has a stranglehold on her now because of that loan. She tells me how he used to be a great guy, but how greed and getting mixed up with the wrong people has changed him. Her mom divorced him, but Kylie is stuck until her debt is paid in full. It’s caused a complete strain on her relationship with her mom, and they haven’t talked in years.
“This is the last treasure hunt I owe him, and I’m free.”
“He sent you to Alaska, by yourself, to dive for a treasure no one has ever confirmed even exists?” To this day, no one has verified The Esmerelda ever actually sank this close to North Haven. Most believe the wreckage is lost somewhere, a hundred miles or more from shore. It’s been dismissed as legend. And somehow, this curvy beauty dove into frigid water—by herself—and retrieved proof that everything we thought we knew was wrong.
“I usually have a partner, but?—”
“You could havedied, Kylie.”
The rage inside me is sudden and intense. I don’t know who this asshole stepfather is, but he better fucking pray I never meet him. Who the hell sends a young woman out on the Bering Seaby herself? And the fact that he rented a skiff from Gus Thortononly angers me further. He’s the cheapest one to rent from at the marina in North Haven, but it’s because his boats are barely to code. I make a mental note to make a call about a surprise inspection.
“I didn’t die,” she says, her smile sweet. “You saved me.”
I know she means to lighten the mood, but I’m too wound up. “The Bering Sea is not for the faint of heart. Seasoned fishermen get lost at sea. I know you’re a badass, but it’s fucking dangerous.” I reach my hand to her thigh and squeeze. “And make no mistake. I may have given you a lift back to shore, but you saved yourself. You’re the strongest, bravest woman I’ve ever met Kylie Robinson.”
