Straight away Dylan was on his feet, steadying her. “Careful. Are you okay?”
“Must be a bit wobbly. I don’t usually drink,” she said, rubbing her shin. “Damn chair.” For a moment she allowed him to hold her and leaned in to his warmth. Oh, nice. Safe. Just the right height for her to rest her forehead on his chest. Just the right breadth to protect her from the wind. His hands fit almost all the way around her waist, and they were stupidly hot. Or was that her skin?
He was the one to pull away, and when he did she missed his touch immediately. “You really should sit down, especially if you’ve been drinking,” he said.
“Okay. I guess I’m not used to walking the decks after dark.”
“Maybe you should do it more often. Moonlight suits you.”
“Does that line work on other women?” Michaela asked, then immediately wanted to slap her forehead at her own stupidity. Most likely, there were no other women.
Dylan only laughed. She accepted his hand and limped to a deck chair, careful to choose one at a bit of distance from his. His energy was potent, and even in the semidarkness the angular planes of his face made her want to stroke his cheek. God, how embarrassing, being attracted to a man who had literally no interest in her.
Michaela lay back in the deck chair, trying to copy his relaxed posture, and took a deep breath to stop her head spinning. Maybe talking to him was a good idea. She had to do something to get the captain out of her thoughts, or she’d be even snappier with everyone than she’d been this last week. Dylan was new, and she’d already bitten off his head a couple of times on his first day. “Sorry for being so short with you earlier. You’re right, the captain got to me.”
“I’m not surprised. What an ass.”
Michaela stifled a giggle. “You really shouldn’t talk like that. It’ll get you fired.”
“You’re not going to fire me, are you?”
“Not right now.”
He was good. She was already smiling.
She liked the way his hands were still. He didn’t fidget. He was calm, considered, a grown up, and he was giving her his full attention. Michaela realized no one on the boat except Felicity had given her that common courtesy without being under orders.
“Okay then.” He paused, and she looked fixedly at the moon so he wouldn’t catch her gazing at his profile. “We could have one of those special relationships. Think of me as your doctor. You know, patient confidentiality and all that. Get it off your chest.”
Michaela almost snorted. “You’re not a doctor.”
“True. I could be your lawyer, then.”
“You’re not a lawyer, either.”
“How do you know? I could have studied law but done something else with my life.”
“Did you?”
Dylan seemed to catch himself. “No. I’m a dancer.”
“So there’s every chance you’ll go gossiping everything I say to everyone.”
That got him. His tone seemed stiffer when he replied. “I’m not a teenage girl. But you’re right, you have no reason to trust me. Except of course that you’re my boss and could fire me just because I looked at you funny.”
“I wouldn’t do that.” Even in the moonlight she could see he was smiling again. His eyes crinkled when he grinned. Nice.
“Good.” He paused. “So where were you before you got started in this business?”
“I was in the music industry.”
“Perfect. Step up and sideways, but not too far out of the box.”
“Thanks.” He got it, straight away. Michaela was impressed.
They chatted for a while, and Michaela was surprised at how easy she felt in his company. Like him, she was actually lounging in a lounge chair, relishing the evening air, simply gazing at the moon. When was the last time she’d done any of that? Dylan put her at ease like no one she’d met in…too long. Without meaning to, she told him about her career, moving on from the music business, landing her first job on a cruise ship, swiftly moving up the ranks until her boss had become ill and she had won the cruise director position after only four years at sea. He nodded and made all the right noises, dropping in brief anecdotes about himself every now and then. Her shoulders relaxed, and she closed her eyes a moment. It was good to be outside, to let her hair down.
“So what’s next?” he asked.
“I want it all,” she said with unusual candidness. “The career, money, family, everything. But for now it’s all about my career. I’m going to be off this boat and managing an international team in a year’s time, no matter what the captain thinks.”
“Good for you.” He paused. “So what did you do to the captain?”
Her eyes snapped open. The moon’s reflection quivered on the water. It was a beautiful sight. A beautiful night. What the hell.
“I haven’t told anyone this. You have to swear it’s between us.”
“On my honor.”
“I slept with him.”
“I can see why he’s so riled,” he said dryly.
Michaela laughed. “Then I ended it.”
“Ah.”
“He was the one who was married, but apparently I should have known that and just made sure I was discreet. Now he never misses a chance to rub my face in it, even though he lied through the whole thing and then denied he ever led me on.”
“So today’s warning to leave it alone with the crew…”
“If someone had given me that warning, it might have been easier for me.”
Michaela shuddered at how close she’d come to gushing about Captain Atkinson at the interview for her current position. How was she supposed to have known he was married and that his wife worked for Adventurer Cruises head office? Every time she saw his face now, she remembered the look he’d given her in the interview—the silent, deadly I-never-said-I-loved-you look. Just in time she’d gotten it, seeing the wedding band that had miraculously reappeared on his finger. Just in time, she’d seen the way he curled his body around the recruitment woman as he pulled out her chair and heard the way she called him “darling”…
“And now he’s enjoying lording the affair over you every chance he gets?” Dylan’s low tone invited her to go on.
“It’s a constant battle. Whenever I bring up issues that female passengers might have or if I request anything he decides is only necessary because someone made the mistake of putting a woman in this job, he rolls his eyes. It took me three months to get my request for a uniform that included a skirt past him and in to head office.”