Chapter 8
“WELCOME TO THE FAMILY.”
Chevelle
That was a mistake. I should have put on a robe or something.
Or maybe I should’ve waited to have a shower until after Cam showed up.
But I needed to burn off some anxious energy, so I decided to work out and I hated the thought of him showing up and finding me gross and sweat soaked.
Still, it shouldn’t matter—he’s Fisher’s best friend and not at all right for me.
I’m playing games with Cam that will only end in disaster.
Now, as I throw on a pair of leggings and a T-shirt and wrap my hair in a towel, I mentally steel myself before I head downstairs.
He’s putting out food and water for Gunner. As soon as I land on the bottom step of the stairs, Gunner barrels toward me, his tail wagging nonstop.
“Hey, boy,” I say. “Behaving yourself?”
“If you mean has he gotten anyone else knocked up, no. But we were banned from the dog park for humping too many poodles. He’s got something for the poodles.” Cam leans his big shoulder along the doorframe of the kitchen.
“Just like his dad. Did you train him when he was younger?” I walk past him into the kitchen to grab a water bottle.
Cam doesn’t move. “There’s nothing wrong with a healthy sexual appetite.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Excuse me.”
He holds up his hands and moves out of my way. I go to the fridge and grab a water.
“Let’s make some ground rules, Casanova.” I sit on a chair at the kitchen table.
“By all means, put more restrictions on me.” He joins me at the table but flips the chair around so he’s straddling it. Why is that so sexy to me? It’s stupid and childish when he could just sit like a normal person.
“First of all, no girls.”
He raises his eyebrows. “So, no boys for you?”
Crap, I hadn’t really thought about that. I can’t forbid him to have girls here and bring guys back here myself. “I don’t want to find your girls half-naked in the kitchen.”
“Are you suggesting we go this entire time without sex?”
“We’ll just go to the other person’s house.”
He nods. “Fine.”
“Really?”
“What?”
“I thought you’d be more difficult.” I cross my legs and his gaze dips, tracking the movement.
“It’s your house.” He shrugs. “I’ll pay rent, obviously.”
I walk over to grab the spare key from the counter where I left it. “Here’s your key. And we only owe my parents rent. It’s minimal, and they’re so thankful for you sticking up for me that they probably won’t even charge you.”
“I’ll make sure they take my money.”
I sit back down and lean back in the chair while he pulls out his keys and puts the house key on the chain. “So, what are you gonna do now? For money?”
He shrugs but sets his gaze on me. Something about the way he’s looking at me… uneasiness coats my insides. I’m definitely missing something.
“What?” I ask.
“My dad came to me about two weeks ago, wanting to start a new business venture. He wanted me to head the operation. I told him to hold off because I didn’t wanna do it.
But now if I ever want my position at the marina back and to be considered for taking over for him when he retires, I have no choice but to do what he wants. ”
“Which is?” I screw the cap back on my water then tuck my hands under my thighs, worried about what he’s going to say.
“A fishing tourist boat.”
I open my mouth to protest, but he holds up his hand.
“I’m gonna make it different than yours, cater to a different clientele. He wants more of a luxury experience for people who aren’t serious about fishing. It shouldn’t affect you.”
I stand, unable to sit any longer. “Seriously? Rowdy’s gone for sure then.”
“The way I see it, all three of us will offer something different.”
I lean against the counter, gripping the edge on either side of my body. “Cam, I’ve worked for years to grow my clientele and be a trusted fisherwoman who can handle the tours.”
“That’s why I was putting my dad off, but there’s nothing I can do, Chevelle. As of right now, I’m cut off.”
I want to be furious with him, but he’s in this position because of me. “Why did you do it?” I almost whisper.
He looks at the table. I don’t have to explain what I’m talking about. “I told you. You’re like a sister to me.”
He doesn’t look at me when he says it. I’m pretty sure we both know he’s lying. At least, a big part of me is hopeful he is.
“Well, I never said thank you, so thank you.” I walk out of the kitchen.
“No more rules?” he calls.
I’m at the bottom of the stairs when I stop to say, “I guess we’ll figure it out as it comes. I have to go dry my hair, then I need to go check on my boat and prepare for tomorrow. Take whichever bedroom you want.”
I head upstairs with the ominous feeling that living with Cam is either going to be a dream or a complete nightmare.
Later that day, I’m at the marina, cleaning my boat, when a brand-new expensive fishing boat is towed into the harbor.
It takes one of the prime slips that only yachts are allowed to go in.
It’s definitely for more expensive charters—I can’t imagine what it cost. The Bakers will probably have servers on the boat.
My stomach sinks as I realize there’s no way Rowdy or I can compete.
“Who’s that?” Speaking of which, Rowdy just returned from a charter. I recognize the two guys walking up the dock as guys who’ve been coming to him every year around this time.
“You didn’t hear it from me, but the Bakers are expanding their business interests.”
He frowns. “Fishin’ excursions?”
“Bingo.”
We watch as they get the new boat into the slip. Working the delivery are a group of guys we all call the Baker Muscle—the same four guys who do all the heavy lifting. Neither Mr. Baker nor Cam is even here to see it being delivered.
“More competition. Great,” Rowdy says. “I barely made rent last month and somehow my bill hasn’t come for this month. Did you get yours?”
My forehead wrinkles. “Yeah, last week. That’s weird that you didn’t.”
“I know. It’s almost as if someone paid my bill, but unless I got some fairy godmother I don’t know about, that’s impossible. They’ll probably double bill me next month, really put me out of business.”
Rowdy used to be the only one doing fishing charters.
I felt bad when I started Reelaxing Fishing Tours, but we cater to different clientele.
He has a long list of customers and takes out groups no bigger than four.
My boat is bigger and I can go up to ten, so I usually handle the bigger parties.
I suppose Rowdy is the small, I’m the medium, and now Cam will be the large.
“What do you know about it?” He nods toward the new boat.
“Cam’s heading it up.”
He stares at me for a beat. “I heard somethin’ about a scuffle on Porter’s boat last night…”
I nod. It doesn’t matter. By tomorrow, everyone will know that Cameron Baker beat up a guy because of me, but I’m not going to be the one who spreads that news. Besides, the bruise on my face is clearly visible, even with the foundation I put on before I came down here.
“I always found it so interestin’,” Rowdy says, both of us watching our competition being placed in the prime spot in the marina.
“What?”
“How the apple fell so far from the tree.”
I laugh because that is so Rowdy, saying something odd that needs explanation. “What do you mean?”
“Cam isn’t anythin’ like his family. He’s always down here, talkin’ to us, not up there lookin’ down on us.” He nods toward the building. “He looks out for us and…” He looks me up and down. “Protects us.”
I scratch my neck and turn away from his piercing eyes. So, he knows. Great.
Rowdy is right though. Mr. Baker never walks the docks. The Baker Muscle does all his work for him, whereas Cam is down here with us in the trenches. Hearing the stories, making sure everyone makes it back to port, lending a hand when someone needs it.
As they finish with the boat, Vinny, another captain, walks down the pier and stops to see what we’re looking at.
“Heard a rumor about the Bakers starting a new venture.” He looks at me. “You good, Chevelle?”
I nod. “Fine.”
“Glad to hear it.” He admires the new boat that will be a permanent fixture here. It’s definitely the odd boat out and looks as though it belongs down in California somewhere, not Alaska. “Man, I just got in off the water. Have either of you seen that Five Seas boat?”
“One with the purple stripe?” Rowdy asks. “It’s a beaut.”
I frown. “I haven’t seen it. I’ve never heard of that boat company.”
“I heard it’s new, out of Winterberry Falls or something. You’ll know it when you see it. They are some gorgeous boats,” Vinny says.
“Fishing charters?” I ask Vinny.
He shakes his head. “No, they’re like classic wooden boats.”
“I’ll have to keep my eye out.”
“Like I said, you’ll know it when you see them.” He chuckles.
My eyes catch a familiar figure walking down from the entrance of the marina, a four-legged companion following.
Cam glances in our direction and lowers his head, walking to the new boat.
He shakes hands with all four of the Baker Muscle, and they hand him a pouch full of stuff.
He climbs aboard his new boat with Gunner hopping on right next to him.
That dog has been around boats his entire life.
“Lucky bastard,” Vinny mumbles. “Anyway, see you guys later.” He heads into the warehouse.
“Me too. Gotta hose down, fuel up, and get ready for an early mornin’ excursion.” Rowdy steps away but turns back, looking at the sky. “Get home ‘fore it’s dark, okay?”
I chuckle because it’s Alaska in the summer. It won’t be dark for a long time yet. “Okay, dad.” I salute him and he gives a stern expression. “I will, Rowdy. Promise.”
He nods. “Good.”
Sometimes I think everyone still watches out for me because in their eyes, I’m the little girl who lost her mother.
Cam walks out from the wheelhouse and sits on one of the luxury chairs in the back, staring out at the bay. I try not to watch him as I finish my work, but I can’t take my eyes off of him. Gunner sits next to him, and Cam pets his head, not taking his eyes off the horizon.
I wonder what it must be like to have everything handed to you your entire life only for it to be stripped away so fast. I always envied him for having money and going on trips, but I sense that maybe his life isn’t as easy as I always thought.
I grab two beers from my fridge and walk down the pier to his boat. “May I come aboard?”
He blinks out of his thoughts, and a smile that weakens my knees shines on his face. “Always.”
I try not to read into that and step aboard. Gunner rushes to me, wanting to kiss my face as I hold out a beer to Cam.
“Welcome to the family.” I sit in the chair next to his.
He accepts the beer and cracks it open. “Thanks. Although I thought I was already part of the family.”
We clink bottles. “Now you’re one of us. Instead of a stuffy, uptight executive.”
He chuckles and tips back his bottle. “Guess I need a new wardrobe.”
“Yeah, not a lot of captains in suits and polo shirts.”
He continues to watch the last of the fishing boats returning to the marina. A woman rushes down the pier toward a boat that I know was out for gold crab. Cam smiles as she waves to a man who barely steps off the boat before she attaches herself to him.
“I can’t imagine what that’s like,” Cam says.
“To be gone that long so often? I don’t know how they do it.”
He looks at me, expression serious. “No, I mean, I can’t imagine having someone miss you that much.”
It’s the first time I’ve seen Cam so vulnerable, and I understand what he’s saying.
Gunner comes and lies between us. We watch a few more women walk down the docks, some with kids in tow. Each family reunion makes me wonder what it would be like to have someone permanent in my life.
“But you forget the long nights of wondering if they’re alive… the fear of losing your loved one always in the back of your head and the knowledge of how common it is. Is all that fear worth the love?” I ask.
He looks at me and I swear he frowns. There I go disappointing someone else again.