Page 26 of Cruel Tides

Damn, now that I was looking, his bathroom really was eerily immaculate—complete with a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste sitting perfectly perpendicular to the edge of the vanity. Even the towel hanging over the shower curtain had its corners aligned, like he’d deliberately taken time making it square after he’d hung it. “Huh.Can’t relate,” I muttered. He would hate seeing the inside of my closet.

Wandering back out of the bathroom, I took a seat on the edge of Barren’s bed and waited. And waited. Then the blank TV started calling to me, and while I was looking around for its remote, I noticed the phone sitting on the bedside table.

… How hadn’t I realized there were phones in these rooms?

I could have been checking in with Dad and Gram this entire time, instead of waiting around all sulky because a merman I barely knew hadn’t ravaged me the moment he’d had me alone and naked in a room with a bed. Though Barrenhadwanted me—well, his body had, at least. The front of his sweatpants had made that beautifully, pointedly clear. I bit my lip at the memory.

Mmm… Gray sweatpants.I hadn’t imagined someone as put-together as Barren would wear them, but I certainly wasn’t complaining.

My stomach heated, and I pressed my legs together to stifle it before I got carried away.Simmer down, pervert.

I needed to get that image out of my head before I made my call. So, I slapped my burning cheeks, then reached for the phone.

Just as I picked it up, two knocks rapped against the door, quick and confident.

Somehow, just by the sound of it, I knew it wasn’t Barren. Putting the phone down, I tip-toed to the door, holding on to the front of the towel to make sure it wouldn’t fall. “Hello?”

I peeked through the peephole and saw the distorted figure of a woman waving a hand in front of her face, her lips tight as she called back, “Hurry and open the door, darling.”

My hand hesitated on the doorknob. Barren had told me not to let anybody in. But when I didn’t immediately let her in, she added, “I’ve brought your clothes.”

My face heated. Barren had gone to see a woman about getting me new clothes? Nope, even though I had no right, something in me didn’t like that one bit. As soon as I turned the knob, the door swung open, and the woman strolled right inside, dragging a sleek, black suitcase behind her. My eyes followed her in, amazed at how every inch of her oozed a confidence I could only dream of. She swung the luggage right on top of Barren’s perfectly made bed like it was her own.

Who was this woman?

The emerald polish on her fingernails shined as she went for the zipper, and it hit me. The harpoons. The bag of pearls. She had sat in her Mustang in front of the hotel to deliver them.

“Claira.”

I jumped at the deep note of Barren’s voice. He was standing in the hallway, far enough away that it was clear he wasn’t trying to follow her in.

My eyes slid down his body, which was a mistake. He was still shirtless, still in those damned sweatpants. Had a store really let him in? A shoulder brace hardly counted as clothing. And more importantly, had he asked this woman to go with him for help? I couldn’t keep the tint of envy from shrilling my voice as I asked, “I see you’re back from shopping. Who’s your friend?”

Damn. That had come out at least a hundred times more accusatory than I’d meant it to, and Barren’s dark eyebrows drew together like it had shocked him, too.

His lips parted. “Clai?—”

“We’re not friends,” the woman sang out behind me, cutting Barren off. She waved a hand over her shoulder and tapped a heel over the carpet like she was already bored with the whole situation. “Now close the door, darling, so we can get to work. And then I can leave with a nice chunk taken off of my debt, okay?”

Well, that was blunt and to the point. I was about to close the door when Barren’s voice stopped me. “My Queen employs her.”

“Oh?” I looked over at her again, taking in her otherworldly features. She was a mermaid, of course, but she worked for Barren’s queen, not Barren. “Right. That makes sense.” I’d never heard him mention his queen. For Barren and the Indian Ocean’s sake, I hoped she was nothing like King Eamon.

Barren scratched at his neck, looking extremely uncomfortable.

“Okay, bye-bye now,” the woman trilled, edging next to me and forcing the door shut in Barren’s face. Then she turned her attention to me. “You can trust me, darling.” Grabbing me by the shoulders, she urged me over to the bed, where she’d already lain out an assortment of pants and sweaters.

“I’m Rocci. I didn’t know your size, so I just pulled together what I could find.” She took a step back, humming and focusing on my chest like some sort of psycho. Instinct had my arms moving up to the top of my towel, but she swatted them back down to take in all my angles.

I definitely hadn’t signed up for this. “Um—” I started, but my voice died away when she pulled out a couple of bras that could easily fit my entire head in just one of their cups.

“Well, these certainly won’t work.” Her tongue clicked as she tossed them aside, making room to dig through the rest. “Curveddidn’t exactly give me much to go by.” Why was she talking so loudly? It was like she was trying to make sure everyone on the entire floor heard every word she said.

As she worked to untangle a wad of G-string panties, I noticed a beige bra that looked close to my size and went for it. “What do you mean by curved?” I asked, dropping the towel to put the bra on.

The woman threw her dark hair around as she chuckled. “They asked for your size when they took the order, and can you believe that oaf said you weresmall and curved?” She backtracked to the door as she spoke, taking another look out of the peephole like she was making sure there wasn’t someone listening on the other side.

My belly swooped as I thumbed through panties, looking for something that was held together by more than just lace and strings. “Barren said that?” Sure, next to him, everyone probably seemed small, but it was nice to hear. Then her words sank in, and I shot her a look, frowning. “He’s not an oaf.”

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