Chapter 10
“I thought we were going to ride in the same boat,” McKenna said, looking with dismay at two kayaks positioned side by side.
“Kayaks. Nobody calls them boats,” Dante said as he started to push McKenna’s rig into the water.
“Well, whatever they’re called, I don’t want to be in one by myself.” She crossed her arms over her chest and pushed her bottom lip out, looking like a petulant child.
“Why not?” Dante straightened, giving her his full attention.
“Because it’s my first time, and what if I can’t paddle right or the current sweeps me away? I’m not really the athletic type. I know that’s probably a shock to you, considering how fit I am, but I get my exercise on a treadmill. Not in a canoe.”
“Kayak,” Dante corrected again. “You’ll learn faster if you go by yourself.”
“No way. I’m paying for this lesson. We either go in the same boat or we don’t go at all. And no one gets paid. Understood?”
Dante pressed his lips together and then nodded once. “You’re the customer,” he said as he picked up one of the kayaks and hauled it back to the storage rack. After he’d secured them both, he called her over and said, “You’re going to have to help me carry the two-person rig down to the water.”
“Carry it? You can’t be serious. Isn’t there someone else here who handles that?” She scanned the area, frowning.
“This isn’t the country club, McKenna. If you want to learn, you’re going to have to get your hands dirty.
Your choice. We can forget it now, or you can help me carry the kayak down to the water.
It’s just too long for me to handle by myself.
” He crossed his fingers, praying that she decided to abandon the entire idea.
Unfortunately for him, she walked over and said, “Okay. You’ve got a point. If I’m going to learn, I might as well do it right.”
He swallowed a groan and pulled the kayak almost all the way out of the rack. “All I need you to do is keep that end from dragging on the ground. I can manage most of the weight, we just don’t want to scrape it on the rocks. Got it?”
“Got it.” She grabbed the end of the kayak and promptly dropped it. “Oops.”
“Are you sure you can do this?” Dante asked, his patience wearing thin.
“I can. I promise.” This time when she picked up the end, she managed to keep her grip, and within a few minutes they had the kayak positioned in the water.
“Okay, good,” Dante said. “Now I’m going to push it into the water and hold it at the shoreline so that you can get in. Once you’re in position, I’ll take the back seat and we’ll get moving.”
“All right.” McKenna did as he said, but when the kayak rocked slightly, she let out a bloodcurdling scream and crouched down so that she didn’t topple out of the kayak. “You didn’t warn me it was unstable!”
“That’s what happens when boats are floating on water,” he said dryly.
“Kayak,” she shot back, giving him an irritated glare.
Dante nearly laughed, though he was hardly amused.
More like incredulous. Why this woman decided she wanted to go kayaking was beyond him, but he had a job to do, so he kept his mouth shut.
And once she was seated, he pushed the kayak farther into the water and hopped in.
The kayak bobbled back and forth slightly, and McKenna let out a loud cry as she grabbed the edges to steady herself.
“It’s pretty rare for the kayak to tip over,” Dante said. “You don’t need to worry. The water isn’t choppy today. Besides, we’re staying in a protected area.”
“I’m not worried,” she said.
If you say so, Dante thought. Before they started paddling, he spent some time giving her the basic rules.
“Always, always wear your life jacket is the number one rule. Don’t try to stand up or lean over toward the water.
That’s a great way to flip the kayak. And when paddling, use your core, not your arms. You’ll thank yourself later.
” He handed her an oar, demonstrated how to paddle, and then encouraged her to give it a try.
“Great job,” he said. “You’re a natural.”
She glanced back at him and beamed. “Can we go farther out?” She pointed toward the middle of the bay. “It looks so peaceful.”
“Not today,” Dante said. “We want to make sure you’re good and comfortable on the water before we do something like that.”
“I’m comfortable,” she said. “You just told me that I’m a natural.”
He held in a sigh. The water was like glass with no waves or wind. Of course she was feeling confident. Anyone would excel in those conditions. “Let’s take it slow, shall we?”
“If you say so,” she said, sounding put out.
Dante paddled from the back and rolled his eyes when he realized that McKenna was just sitting back, enjoying the ride.
But he didn’t say anything. He just wanted to get the lesson over so that he could head back to Prim’s.
He had big plans of getting her into a hot bath and then spending the rest of the evening exploring every inch of her.
He stared off into the distance, remembering the night they’d shared together.
Her smooth, creamy skin. The way she’d whimpered under his touch. The taste of—
“What the hell is that!” McKenna cried and used her oar to smack at the water just as a baby orca breached the water right next to the kayak.
“McKenna, no!” Dante cried. “Stop!”
“It’s going to eat us!” She swatted again at the creature, slapping it right on its nose. The orca let out a cry and then rammed right into the kayak, tipping it over.
McKenna screamed at the top of her lungs before she made a gurgling sound as the water crashed over her head.
Dante was right behind her but popped up immediately to find her splashing at the water, terrified sounds coming from her throat as she thrashed, convinced that the orca was going to eat her.
“McKenna!” Dante ordered. “Stop. You’re making things worse.”
“I’m going to die! That beast is going to eat me for dinner! It can’t end like this. I still need to win my Oscar!”
“The orca isn’t going to eat you. That species survives on salmon.
Snap out of it.” He tried to swim the short distance to her, but she was still thrashing around, and he was afraid she’d knock him out.
Instead, he swam to the kayak, got it turned back over, and then twisted to see McKenna bobbing behind him as she stared into the water, presumably looking for the orca that likely was already long gone.
“We need to get back in the kayak. Can you do that?”
“I… d-don’t… know,” she stuttered.
“You can do it,” he stressed. “As long as you’re calm and follow my instructions. Got it?”
“I’ll try.”
That was something. “Okay, come over here and grab right there. One hand on this side of your seat, the other one on the opposite side. Basically, what you’re going to do is drag yourself up and balance across the kayak in a T-shape.
Once your torso is across the seat, you can twist and climb into your chair. Got it?”
“No,” she said.
Dante let out a breath and said, “All right. Just watch me first.”
“You can’t leave me here in the water alone!”
“What else do you expect me to do if I can’t show you how to get back on the kayak? Lift you myself?”
“Yes!” McKenna placed her hands where he’d instructed and then let out a cry as she tried to slither her way back onto the kayak.
It was obvious she didn’t really have enough upper arm strength to haul herself up at the angle she’d chosen, but instead of trying to correct her, he just moved so that he could lift her legs and give her a boost.
“Stop touching my ass!” McKenna demanded.
“I’m not,” he said with a grunt as he shoved her onto her chair. “It’s probably just an octopus catching a ride.”
“What?!” She flailed again, nearly sliding off the kayak, but Dante steadied her.
“It was a joke. Relax, McKenna. I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said, exasperated.
“That. Was. Not. Funny!” she shouted, grabbing her oar and slapping it down on the water. The kayak darted away from him toward the middle of the bay, putting a good distance between them.
Dante didn’t even bother to admonish her for the tantrum that caused the kayak to drift so far away.
He just started swimming toward her. But after a few strokes, it became clear that the kayak was still moving.
McKenna was trying to paddle, but she was moving her oar in the wrong direction, sending the vessel farther and farther away.
“McKenna! Stop!” he cried.
“I don’t know what’s happening!” she called back.
“You’re paddling the wrong direction!”
“I know!” She tried to reverse herself, but all it did was make the kayak go in a circle.
Dante eyed the distance between him and the shore verses him and McKenna.
There was no question that the shore was closer.
Instead of freezing to death in the bay, he decided it was best to go back to shore, get another kayak, and head back out.
Maybe even tow her back. He turned and started swimming for the shore.
“Dante!” he heard her cry off in the distance.
He didn’t look back as he quickened his pace.
He wasn’t surprised to find out that the distance to the shore was a little longer than he anticipated, and by the time he managed to trudge out of the water, his limbs were heavy with fatigue.
If he’d tried to swim to McKenna, he’d likely have been too exhausted to even get back in the kayak.
There was no doubt in his mind that he’d made the right call.
He turned to eye the bay, looking for McKenna. She’d drifted even farther, and all he could make out was the bright yellow of the kayak and the figure of a person still sitting in the seat. That was all he needed to know as he walked the shoreline back to where they stored the kayaks.
The sun baked his skin, and he welcomed the warmth after being stuck in the water.
If it hadn’t been the middle of summer, he’d have been frozen to the core.
Frustrated by the turn of events, he yanked a single-rider kayak out of the storage rack and trudged back down to the water.
Just as he was putting the rig in the water, he heard the sound of a motor and looked up to see a small Coast Guard boat heading straight toward McKenna and her kayak.
She appeared to be waving at them with both arms, signaling distress.
He waited for a few minutes and was not surprised when they hauled her and the kayak into their boat.
Once she was safely on board, he replaced the kayak in the rack and walked over to the nearby docks, waiting for her to be dropped off.
It wasn’t long before the Coast Guard vessel inched up next to the dock.
McKenna stood and screamed, “How dare you leave me out there! I could have died!”
“Ma’am, please control yourself,” one of the seamen said. He turned to Dante. “Do you know this woman?”
“Yes, sir,” he reluctantly admitted. “I was giving her a kayak lesson when we toppled over into the water. I was able to successfully get McKenna back into the kayak, but we quickly became separated, and the kayak was too far out for me to swim to her. So I exited the bay and went to get another kayak so I could paddle out to her, but then you folks came along to help, so I waited here.”
“You. Left. Me.” McKenna sneered at him, her eyes shooting daggers.
“He did exactly what he should have done, ma’am,” the seaman said. “You should be thanking him.”
“Fat chance,” she said and then wobbled as she jumped out of the boat onto the dock.
Dante grabbed her, preventing her from falling into the water again.
She bristled then pulled away and stalked off.
“Tough client,” the boat pilot said.
“You’re telling me,” Dante agreed. “Thank you all for your service. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. That’s what we’re here for.” They helped Dante get the two-person kayak back into the rack and then took off.
Dante, still soaking wet, headed for his Toyota, not at all surprised to find that McKenna was long gone.
Good. It wasn’t the day he’d hoped for, but maybe that had put the final nail in the coffin on her relentless flirting.
He snorted to himself. That was one way to fend off unwanted advances. A little dramatic maybe, but certainly effective.
Smiling to himself, he put his vehicle in gear and took off for Prim’s house.