“She had it coming!” Blake held his hands out in front of him and laughed. He splashed water at me and I returned the favor. Mitch and Stormy joined in, but Jallia swam away, not in the mood for playing. His smile was infectious as he played with the dolphins, not minding when they dunked him or pushed him around. I found myself watching more than playing because I liked seeing him look so happy.
“You had it coming first. Calling Flukes a hellhole.” I laughed at his fake hurt look.
“I apologized! And it’s not like I didn’t notice that I was getting all the crap jobs last week.” He pretended to hold his heart. “I’ve paid my dues. What else can you want from me?”
“Fine. We’re even.” I rolled my eyes and shifted a little farther away from him. There was something compelling about him, something that made me want to be closer. He was dangerous.
“Looks like you lost something.” He tapped his head and I frowned.
“Ugh. My hat.” I looked around and saw it floating toward the sandy bottom. I took a deep breath that I didn’t need and dove after it. When I came back up, Blake was looking at me with wide eyes. “What? It’s my favorite.”
“How deep is this part of the cove?” He looked down and frowned. “What? Eighteen, twenty feet?”
“Something like that.” This part of the cove was twenty-eight feet. Mentally, I berated myself for being so stupid. I should have sent Mitch or Stormy after my hat, but I didn’t want teeth marks on it.
“Heh.” Blake looked at me, his eyebrows drawn together.
I hauled myself onto the platform and felt his eyes following me, making my heart jump in my chest. He pulled himself out of the enclosure and peeled his shirt off. The boy was gorgeous and he knew it. The exact kind of guy I should avoid at all costs. He twisted the shirt in his hands, wringing as much water out as he could.
“What next?” Blake slung the wet shirt over his shoulder.
The water droplets that ran down his chest drew my attention like a moth to flame. My fingers itched to touch him. I scrambled to my feet and backed away from him slowly while squeezing the edge of my shirt. Needing a distraction, I picked up the bucket and turned toward the ladder.
“The others should be here soon. I need to go help Dad with the assignments and then we can come up with a plan for the crews.” I didn’t look back at him after climbing the three short rungs, trying to shake the weird spell he seemed to have on me.
He stayed right behind me as I dropped off the bucket at the fish shack and headed for the toolshed. My heart was starting to pick up pace. No matter how much distance I tried to put between us, he seemed just as determined to stay close. When Dad and Violet came into view, I was so relieved I almost skipped down the last of the path. She turned to look at me and her eyebrows shot up to her hairline.
“Did you fall in the pen?” Violet’s eyes trailed over Blake and back to me. A slow smile spread over her face and her eyes gleamed. I knew that look. I was in trouble now. She had been picking on me for giving Blake a hard time all week, and this just fit right into the scenario she would have imagined.
“Blake dragged me into the water.” I pulled at my shirt again and realized you could see my bathing suit through the wet material.
“She pushed me in first.” Blake held up his hands and looked from Violet to my dad with innocent eyes. I snorted. I should have held him under, not just gotten him wet.
“Payback, huh? That’s my girl.” Dad held his hand out for a high five and I reluctantly returned it. “How was Jallia?”
“Good. It shouldn’t be long now.” I looked anywhere but at Violet or Blake, worried they’d see through my nonchalance.
“Excellent. I wonder if we’ll have the new babe for the shoreside rep.” Dad looked at me expectantly for answers.
“I’m not sure.” Shrugging, I walked into the toolshed and pulled my shirt off, not wanting to give anyone a show. I snatched a towel off one of the hooks and dried off as best I could before grabbing one of the spare employee shirts.
“Got an extra towel?” Blake ducked his head in and my heart skipped. I wore bathing suits all year, usually with nothing else on, but for some reason, I felt too exposed under his eyes. I yanked the towel off the hook next to me and threw it to him without turning around. I needed to get out of here. Hastily, I slipped into the big T-shirt and took my towel to hang on the railing outside. I stared out at the water past the cove entrance and tried to calm my racing heart. Why was Blake Weathering making me so nervous? I didn’t have time for boys that made me nervous. Especially when I was supposed to work with them to get Flukes a big contract.
“So, did you make any progress?” Dad’s voice was hopeful and I looked up from my thoughts.
“Not really. You wanted him to get to know more about the area, so I introduced him to Mitch and the others.” The corners of my mouth twitched when I remembered how much Mitch had liked him, then silently berated myself.
Blake walked over and hung his towel next to mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Violet watching us and almost groaned. She had been trying to set me up with guys for years, but I didn’t have time for that stuff. More importantly, I couldn’t risk anyone finding out my secret.
“What did Mitch think?” Violet leaned back on the railing and smiled at me. That smile told me a million things, all of them bad. Bad, bad, bad.
“She was okay.” I shrugged.
“She crawled in my lap like a cat.” Blake laughed. “I didn’t know dolphins were so affectionate. Or that they shed their skin every two hours.” He shot me a smile and I couldn’t help grinning. Violet’s smile grew until you could see her teeth.
“Really? Sounds like you made yourself a new friend.” Violet’s white teeth gleamed against her dark skin. Blake seemed to sense something, because he narrowed his eyes a little and took a step toward my dad.
“Vi, why are you all fancy? The fish don’t care what you’re wearing.” I looked my friend over and noted her makeup and dressy clothes. Her braids hung around her shoulders and flashy sandals peeked out from under her wide-leg slacks.
“I have that scholarship interview today, remember?” My heart clenched at the reminder. My best friend was leaving for Hawaii soon. She’d be oceans away, working on her Marine Biology degree while I did classes online or at the community college.
“Oh, yeah. Good luck.” I tried to smile. It obviously wasn’t a good one.
Violet laughed at my words and hugged me to her.
“Don’t sound so glum. I’ll be back for the holidays and you can visit me in Hawaii. Lots of lovely water there for you to swim in.” Violet squeezed my shoulder. “Besides, you’re already making new friends.”
I tried to not groan and darted my eyes toward Blake. He had certainly caught the undertone in that last sentence, because his mouth was quirked to the side in amusement. I couldn’t help but wonder if he liked the implication or if he thought it would be funny for one more girl to fall under his spell.
The rumble of the bus pulling up in the parking lot drew of our attention away, thankfully. Most of the workers rode the bus just because it was easier than driving themselves out to the sanctuary. As the crew unloaded, Violet shook her head and frowned at me.
“I’ve gotta run, but you take care.” There was an undercurrent to her words that drew my attention. Her eyebrows were pulled together as she watched some of the workers walk in our direction. “Some of these guys are a little rougher than we normally get here.”
“What do you mean?” My eyes followed one of the taller guys; his wide shoulders and long legs set him apart from the group. His eyes were large and blue, which contrasted sharply with his dark skin.
“They aren’t here because they had a run-in with a principal or trashed some public bathrooms.” Violet turned away from the approaching group. “I heard that the tall guy, Devin, assaulted some girl at a bar.”
“Why would they send them here?” Blake’s voice surprised me. I hadn’t realized he had come to stand so close to me.
“I don’t know. They normally send the ones that need a slap on the wrist.” Violet looked over my shoulder toward my father before lowering her voice. My mind immediately wondered how Blake had ended up at Flukes. He didn’t seem homicidal or overly violent. So why had he beat up some guy in the locker rooms? “I heard your dad talking about it to my dad. He said he was going to pull you from the normal stuff to put some distance between you and them.”
The pieces fell together in my head, and I suddenly understood just how sneaky my father really was. He hadn’t just decided that I needed to work with Blake on designing a new logo and directing the crews. He had put me on a task that kept me away from the worst of the miscreants. I looked over at Blake, wondering if he had put it together, and saw that his mouth was pulled to the side in a smirk. Why on Earth had Dad decided that Blake wasn’t dangerous? He had eyes, didn’t he?
“Don’t worry, Vi, I won’t let anything happen to her while you’re gone.” Blake’s voice rumbled out of his chest, giving me goose bumps.
“I’m going to hold you to that, Blake Weathering.” Violet narrowed her eyes at him and put one hand on her hip.
I was in even more trouble than my dad realized.
Chapter Five
- Meena -
After Dad sent the crews to take care of the more remedial tasks, like cutting the grass or replacing the broken paver stones, I took Blake to the toolshed and grabbed some gloves.
“I figured I’d show you the lay of the land and maybe see if we come up with any ideas.” I tossed Blake some gloves and he quickly tucked them into the pocket on the back of his shorts.
“What are the gloves for?” He leaned a shoulder against the shed door while I dug around in a bucket for a small hatchet. When I pulled it out, I smiled over my shoulder at him before sticking the hatchet through one of the belt loops on my shorts.
“Well, while we’re walking, we can work. There are some downed trees on a couple of the paths from the storm earlier this week.” I pushed past him and waited for him to close the door. We headed down the path toward my beach, stopping to pick up some of the limbs that had been blown back into the walkway. “Dad’s been talking about expanding for years now. We constantly get calls to take in wounded animals, but right now we just don’t have the room. If we get the contract, it would mean we could grow.”
“Out this way?” Blake leaned down and picked up a large branch, moving it farther off the path. I used the hatchet to cut up a large limb and push it out of the way.
“Sort of. We’re keeping this part of the beach private.” I pointed toward where the path forked and dove down to the white sand. “But, we could move the birds and smaller animals up here on top of the hill. And this is the easiest way to reach it right now.”
“Okay. What would it take to expand something like this?” He pushed some branches out of the way for me. This part of the path wasn’t used as often, so the overgrowth was a problem.
“We’d have to start small. Probably a couple of million to get everything going. More if we do what Dad is really wanting to do.” I stepped over a rocky outcropping. “Watch your footing.”
“What is it he wants to do?” The entire way, he kept moving branches and stones out of the path. I couldn’t help but enjoy watching his muscles tighten and shift under his skin. He looked over his shoulder at me, his mouth turned up in that obnoxious grin. Frowning, I looked away and kept walking.
“A school, eventually. Try to educate the public and tourists about how important the oceans are to the world.” We were almost to the top of the hill and the sun was throwing shadows through the trees and foliage.
“Is that what you’re going to go to school for? Come back here and help teach? Or do you plan on leaving and finding your own place?” Blake’s voice was calm, but there was an edge to his words. As if he couldn’t wait to get out of here.
“I’m not going anywhere. This is my home.” I shrugged my shoulders. Most people wouldn’t understand. I loved this place. Loved the animals and the people that worked here. Plus, I couldn’t be far from the ocean, so it wasn’t like I could travel a great deal.
“You aren’t going to college?” His brown eyes raked over my face as if trying to figure out a puzzle. “Don’t you want to get out and see the world?”
“I’ll take online courses.” I frowned. Of course I wanted to see the world. Not that it did me any good to dwell on it. “What about you? You graduated this year. Are you going into the family business?”
“Fuck no. As soon as I get my diploma, I’m outta here.” His voice was full of conviction. Part of me understood the desire to see something new, to experience a different place, but I didn’t understand the underlying sense of hate he felt toward the island.
The foliage had started to thin and the views were taking its place. Turquoise waters spread out before us and you could see all of Flukes. My heart gave a contented thump as I looked at my home. It had taken years, but we had turned the place around. When I was little there had barely been enough money to feed us, much less the animals. As I had gotten older and started to understand my ability to work with the animals, things had gotten a lot easier.
“Great view.” I could feel his eyes on me, but he looked away when I glared. Blake shielded his eyes with his hands, scanning the area. “I can see why you want to keep that little beach to yourselves.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen a lot better, but this is my little piece of paradise.” I knelt down, letting my eyes run over Flukes, our house, and our tiny little beach. “There’s a little cottage down there that Mom and Dad lived in when they first moved here. I’m planning on fixing it up for my own.”
“The cove really makes it special.” His voice was honest, as if he really did think our place was worth something. “The northern part curves just right. I bet you guys don’t have to deal with too much storm damage. Don’t ever let my dad come here. He’d try his best to turn it into some high-end resort.”
“We still have issues, but it’s better than it could be.” I picked at a piece of grass and twisted it between my fingers. My eyes caught on one of the workers throwing shovels of sand at the sea lions. “Oh, hell no.”
Standing up, I tore back down the path, jumping over the rocky patches and heading for the sea-lion pen. Blake stayed right on my heels but didn’t say a word. As soon as I had the guy in my sights, I was ready to strangle him. He was now tossing rocks at the animals and laughing.