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Chapter Twenty Five
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A DASH OF TEMPTATION Chapter Twenty Six
“I’m not naturally sneaky,” she said after making a show of climbing the short stair-case. He glanced over his shoulder as she joined him. “I’ll try not to scare you again.” “You can scare me all you want if you bring coffee.” He accepted the offered mug with a quick smile. “Thanks.” “Everything okay?” The view from the window was nothing more than a collection of boats and cruisers—a view she’d seen hundreds of times over the years. The view behind her—the view waiting for them—now that was another story. “Electricity seems to be working. I’m going to try not to push the engine too hard on our first trip out. The ride to Palm Bay should be a good test.” “Like I said, I’m just along for the ride.” said Bonnie. “You are the boss” “Oh, you’re more than that.” He took a long drink of coffee. “You’re crew now.” “In that case, Captain, your wish is my command. If I don’t know how to do something, I’ll let you know or figure it out myself.” “Fair enough. You know how to unmoor us?”
A DASH OF TEMPTATION Chapter Twenty Seven
“So, Palm Bay, here we come—” She told him. “Yeah. You'll like it. You know, they also have a pretty good farmer’s market on the weekends.” “How often have you been there?” “Too often to count.” “Where does your High Tide Harbor fall in? Seems to me it’s a tourist spot, isn’t it?” “Touché,” he said. “High Tide Harbor’s special. It nearly went under a few years ago. Tons of foreclosures due to financial malfeasance on the part of the main bank in town. Took a lot of people coming together and fighting to save it.” “Sounds like an interesting place.” Not that much different than most cities and towns she supposed. “It looked lovely when I saw it on a TV special. The one they aired about a celebrity chef and his wedding.” She could remember the images clearly; the coastal town with expansive beaches, high cliff sides and cypress trees outlining the rocky shores. There was a historic inn painted a bright summer yellow with white shutters and trim, perched at the highest point overl
A DASH OF TEMPTATION Chapter Twenty Eight
“I told you, I’m not expecting anything.” She backed away to let him out. “But whatever happens, you aren’t alone. I'm here”David had purposely kept close to land, so as not to be considered offshore; some risks, even alone, he wasn’t about to take. He did a quick evaluation of the intake valves, the bilge pump and, specifically, the head gaskets. If they blew one of those they’d be dead in the water.Despite the years Blue Blood had spent unoccupied and moored, she was in pretty good shape. Until he got her into dry dock and really dug into the engine, however, he couldn’t risk burning her out completely.“Well?” Bonnie asked when he slammed the engine hatch shut. “What’s the verdict?”“All the things I really worry about seem okay. Let’s start her back up.” He walked around Bonnie and climbed back into the pilot cabin.“We’ve only been out on the water a short time. How far have we gone?” She took a tentative seat on the bench beside him.“About thirty miles. Hopefully we’ll catch
A DASH OF TEMPTATION Chapter Twenty Nine
“I’m sorry, but it’s company policy.” The friendly middle-aged man behind the counter at the cell-phone store blinked at her. He reminded her a little of a frog with over-round eyes and an equally round face. The fact that his shirt was the color of algae probably didn’t help. His name badge read Steve. She didn’t like Steve at the moment. “But I told you, I’ve lost my ID.” Not exactly true, but close enough. “There must be an exception to the rule,” David said, resting a hand on her arm. “People lose their wallets and phones all the time. You don’t refuse to replace them all, so what’s the catch?” “No catch.” Steve pointed to the sign over the back counter. “It’s our policy.” “Hold on,” Bonnnie said. “If I requested a new phone online they wouldn’t need my ID to mail it to me, would they?” Steve blinked again as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him. “I suppose they wouldn’t.” “So we can just approach it that way,” David clarified. “Can’t do it.” Steve pointed behind him again
A DASH OF TEMPTATION Chapter Thirty
She found herself speculating how Prince Marcus might have reacted had he gone through the same past couple of hours with her. Surely it would have been much different. It was more confirmation that she’d made the right choice by not marrying him. She went to her bank’s website and attempted to log into her account. Denied. She tried again, more carefully this time. Denied. “What the…?” She typed slowly, repeating the letters to herself as she… Denied. “What’s wrong?” David leaned over. “It’s not letting me in. And now I’ve tried too many times from an unrecognized computer.” She sagged back in her chair. “I’m locked out.” Which meant trying to get on from an app on David’s phone wasn’t going to work, either. “Okay. So you can finally stop worrying about this paying-me issue and we can move on? The only reason I wanted you to do this was because of the phone anyways.” “Back to square one.” Darn it! Roadblocks everywhere she turned. “I guess I’ll just have to wait until we get to
A DASH OF TEMPTATION Chapter Thirty One
“She just wants attention,” Bonnie said quietly. “My goodness, you are beautiful. Look at those feathers. You’re like a flying rain-bow.” “Senor Dave’s regular! Squawk.” Bonnie giggled and now David felt his cheeks heat. “That’s just obnoxious. Go away, bird.” “Stop it,” Bonnie ordered, stretching up higher and managing to stroke a finger down Duchess’s chest. “You aren’t a duchess, are you? You’re a queen.” “Queen Duchess! Pretty bird Queen. Four, three, two, one, pulse, pulse, pulse.” “Great. A workout with our lunch.” David offered Flora a mouthed apology when she returned with their drinks and the guacamole. Flora merely shook her head and laughed, her knee-length blue skirt bustling around her legs as she disappeared back into the cantina. “You going to wash your hands after that?” David asked when Bonnie took her seat again. “I guess I should.” Bonnie winced. “Be back in a second.” She darted off to the bathroom. “Duchess Queen! Squawk!” A flap of wings and a burst o
A DASH OF TEMPTATION Chapter Thirty Two
“I can understand why you miss her so much.” David said. He understood her better now. He understood why she wanted to leave… figure out herself. There was something freeing about impulse, something life-affirming. “She’d have liked you,” Bonnie confirmed. “You’re very roll-with-the punches, much like she was. And your taste in boats?” She gave him a thumbs-up. “Glad to have been of assistance. So what was the plan for after the wedding? I mean… if you had gone through with it” “To live happily-ever-after.” She toasted him with her bottle, but he didn’t miss the sarcastic smirk. “Take over his late mother’s role on various charity boards. Throw parties for his clients and business associates.” “Sounds…fun?” “It might have been, although I doubt it. But as my father reminded me, it wasn’t like I had a career or anything to worry about. Marcus was a safe bet. Or at least I thought he was. I didn't want to agree at first but my father kinda talked me into it… and I know that I shoul
A DASH OF TEMPTATION Chapter Thirty Three
She took a deep breath and tilted her head to stare up at the cloudless sky. “How much we give up of ourselves trying to impress or please someone whose opinion, it turns out, doesn’t really matter.” David didn’t think he’d ever heard a sadder statement in his life. “Go back to when you started college. If you’d had a choice, any choice. What would you have done?” “I’d probably still do the business angle, but with a side of something more creative like event planning or maybe interior design. Not that high-end, don’t-touch-it-or-even-breathe-on-it decor, but real-life design that works with people’s lives. Our home, mine and Grams, was always that. A home. I never worried about spilling something or getting the floors dirty. Sounds pretty silly, huh?” “No.” He shook his head, mildly impressed. “It doesn’t sound silly at all.” Flora reappeared with their bill and took away their plates. A few minutes later they were off to find Bonnie some new clothes at the only discount store i
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