Chapter 9
RAFE
A dive always left me in a great mood.
George had given me a scare earlier, but I’d managed to free his leg, so all’s well that ends well. Truthfully, I was thankful I’d reacted as calmly as I did. Something like that had never happened on a dive before. I was proud of both of us for staying cool.
Once I was reassured that George was okay, I swam over to the bridge deck aft and climbed the ladder. Grabbing a towel on the rack, I wiped my face and hands. I started to remove my tanks, but the drying salt water made everything sticky. And one of the straps was twisted.
“Need a hand?” Charlie asked as he bounded down the stairs.
“Please and thanks,” I replied as he helped me slide the equipment off my back.
“Good dive?”
“The best.” I smiled and turned to face him. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to try it? I promise I’ll be gentle your first time,” I quipped.
“Maybe I don’t like gentle,” Charlie replied tartly, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ooh, what do you like?”
“A hot surfer dude with blond hair and an all over tan,” Charlie laughed and waggled his eyebrows.
“I could always die my hair. I’ve already got the tan part down,” I quipped.
“Get out of that wetsuit and let’s see.”
I laughed and started to unzip my suit when another voice interrupted us.
“There’s a ton of equipment that needs to be cleaned, Charlie. Less flirting, more working,” George’s voice boomed out behind me.
Just when I started to like the man, he had to go and be an arse again. George turned away, slipped off his tanks and began to unzip his wetsuit.
“Easy, Terminator,” I snapped. “He was doing his job.”
George turned and faced me. “By asking you to undress so he could see your tan? I don’t think that type of conversation is appropriate for a first officer in my crew.”
I saw Charlie drop off my tanks and surreptitiously walk up the stairs. Smart man. Get out of the line of fire.
“We were joking for Christ’s sake! I don’t think of Charlie that way. Or he of me. What the hell, George?”
George’s face turned ruddy, and his eyes shot lasers at me.
“And I don’t think it’s appropriate for a guest to interrupt my deck crew when they’re supposed to be working.”
“He was helping me with my tanks. That’s part of his job, is it not? We were just having some fun, teasing each other. Do you know what fun means? Most people like it.”
“Is everyone just a bloody game to you?” he lashed out.
What the fuck?
“Stop it, George. I mean it. Your reaction is just plain ridiculous. I don’t treat people as games,” I bit out and poked a finger at his chest. “Where is this anger coming from? What the fuck did I do to deserve your contempt?”
George’s glared vanished and in its place, a look of contrition.
“I can’t believe I talked to you like that. I need to go.” He turned on his heel.
“Running away instead of dealing with the problem? If so, you’re not the man my brother claims.”
George jolted. Even though his reaction satisfied my anger, another part of me was ashamed.
Then I remembered the dive and his panic when his foot got stuck.
Is that why he was lashing out? Was he in some kind of shock?
Or was it something else? George’s comment about me treating people like a game felt personal.
But it had nothing to do with me. It was a knee jerk reaction.
I was pretty sure someone had hurt him, and I was a handy outlet for his anger.
It didn’t matter.
He walked away and I was left standing there like a fool, wondering what the hell had happened just now.
I was shaking and unsettled. Instead of rinsing my suit as I should, I left it in a heap on the deck.
This trip was turning into a nightmare. And for the first time ever, I wanted to go home.
GEORGE
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I muttered to myself as I headed into my cabin.
It was those stupid texts from Aldo. They’d unsettled me and brought back bad memories. And when I heard Rafe and Charlie flirting, I lashed out.
My ex had poisoned my life and it was still affecting me to this day. It wasn’t just that he’d dumped me. I got over the heartbreak of a relationship that was never meant to be.
It was the lying. Or rather, lying in plain sight.
I’d always thought of Aldo’s flirting with other men as harmless. Until the day he told me it was over. He finally confessed that he’d cheated on me the whole time we were together. Said I never satisfied him. I replayed our relationship and realized that I was a first-rate fool.
And continued to be, given my recent behavior.
Rafe was completely right. Neither he nor Charlie deserved my wrath. I had to find a way to turn this ship around to avoid total disaster.
If Rafe was on the phone right now with Rowan, I wouldn’t blame him. I’d acted like a total arsehole. I’d never spoken to anyone that way in my life.
I would apologize and let the man be.
But the stubborn part of me knew that an apology was not enough. And Rafe would be right. And I didn’t get to where I was today by letting my fear take hold. But I needed to do something to make it up to him.
A peace offering of sorts. But what?
First things first.
I showered and changed, then entered my office. I tapped on the intercom. “Charlie, can you please meet me in the wheelhouse?”
“Copy,” Charlie answered. “On my way.”
I glanced at the radar and the weather charts until I heard a knock at my door.
“Enter!” I yelled out.
Charlie stood in the doorway and I waved him over.
“Have a seat, Charlie,” I encouraged and he sat down opposite me.
“I’m sorry that I snapped at you earlier. I know how hard you work. I spoke entirely without cause.”
“No worries, we all have bad days,” Charlie smiled. “But if you don’t mind me saying—as a person and a first officer—you need to ease up on Rafe. He likes to have fun and joke around. And I appreciate the fact that he’s friendly with the crew. It makes our job a lot more enjoyable.”
“You’re right. And I know that.”
Charlie leaned forward. “It’s probably not my place to say this either, but I hope you can set aside your differences with him. He’s a great guy and so are you. It’d be a shame to let a misunderstanding spiral into a big drama.”
“Too late,” I quipped and rubbed a hand over my beard.
Charlie chuckled. “It’s never too late. We’re going to be together on this ship for weeks, so it’s the perfect opportunity. Maybe once you get to know him better, all this sniping will be a thing of the past.”
“I’m going to do my best to rectify the situation.”
Charlie looked at me expectantly. “How do you plan to do that?”
“Well, I don’t know yet. I’ll need to apologize first. But I don’t think that’s enough in this case.”
“I have a suggestion,” Charlie smiled and the glint in his eye made me pause.
“Really?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Unequivocally.”
“Okay. So here’s what I think you should do…”
After a brief and earnest discussion with Charlie, I set my plan in motion.
Would it be enough to settle the animosity that had plagued my relationship with Rafe from the start?
There was only one way to find out.