Her Passionate Protector. Laurey Bright
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on holiday in the Bay of Islands when he was twelve and I was fifteen, and he was mad keen to learn, but my parents would only let him if I agreed to keep an eye on him.” Their last holiday with both parents—perhaps that was why she remembered it so vividly, every moment seemingly clear in her mind.
“You didn’t want to dive?” Brodie queried, disconcertingly closer to her than she’d expected as she turned to him.
“I wasn’t against the idea, just not crazy for it the way he was.” She’d been more interested in collecting shells and occasional bits of flotsam, wondering if some of the pieces of wood she picked up that had obviously been shaped by tools had come from shipwrecks or drifted from the shores of other lands. And how long they’d been floating on the wide Pacific.
There had been no hint that dreamy, untroubled summer of the cataclysm that was about to descend on their lives. Yet only a few weeks after their return, her father had announced that he was leaving to live with another woman who was expecting his child. Her mother too had seemed stunned, apparently having had no more clue than Sienna or her brother about their father’s secret life.
“If you’re planning to dive on this expedition,” Brodie said, “you’ll need a certificate of fitness.”
A little nettled—as if that were any of his business—she said, “I sent Granger a letter from my own GP, but he told me Rogan wants me to see a dive doctor here. I’ll do it tomorrow,” she assured the other man. It seemed Rogan preferred all the crew members to go to a doctor he knew and trusted. “I won’t need to buy an air tank, will I? Granger said they’d be supplied.”
“Yep—on the salvage barge there’ll be air and gases for scuba, as well as a surface-supply system for the helmet divers on the bottom and a decompression chamber.”
It sounded like a well-equipped expedition. Obviously some thought had gone into preparations to ensure efficiency and safety.
Not much later Sienna got up to leave, pleading tiredness.
Brodie said, “I’ll walk you back to the hotel.”
“I’m sure it’s perfectly safe.”
He said flatly, “Rogue’s dad got jumped not far from here.”
Surely that was different—she’d gathered that Barney Broderick had been carrying some clue to the treasure ship he’d found, so it had been no random mugging. But obviously Brodie wasn’t going to be put off by her protest, and Rogan and even Camille were looking approving. It seemed politic to give in rather than start a pointless argument.
Brodie leaped onto the wharf, now slightly above the deck level, and extended a hand that she couldn’t refuse without an obvious snub.
His fingers were warm and hard, closing firmly about hers before he hauled her effortlessly onto the old, cracked boards, steadying her with a hand on her arm.
“Thank you,” she said politely.
“It’s a pleasure.”
Sienna thought she detected ironic amusement in his voice, but it was dark now and she couldn’t see his expression. She began to walk and Brodie fell in beside her, hands thrust into the pockets of his jeans, his ambling stride tempered to her pace. Yet he seemed oddly alert, peering down a darkened alleyway as they passed and occasionally glancing behind them.
“Are you looking for someone?” she asked.
His gaze returned to her. “No.”
Moments later he said, “You don’t think it’s a bit odd that your lab was burgled and then your car?”
Jolted, she stared at him. “Theft isn’t that uncommon, especially from unattended cars left on the road, according to the police. And it was miles away from the burglary.”
“Hmm.” They walked around a curve and into an area that was better lit, where cafés were still open, a few hardy souls sitting outside although it was autumn. Brodie appeared to relax a bit. “Why did you take the job after all?” he asked.
“Well, because I…” She floundered, not about to tell him the real reason. “Because it sounds interesting. And as you said,” she added, “if I want to be sure the site is properly surveyed and not damaged, the best way is to be on the spot myself.”
“Rogan won’t go roaring in like a bull in a china shop. And with you and Camille both on board I’m sure you’ll make your views clear.”
Sienna muttered, “Camille seems to have sold out.”
“How do you mean? She’s the one who insisted on asking you to join the team.”
“I’m not insulting her,” Sienna assured him. “I just mean that…well, marriage has changed her.”
“It’s made her happier,” Brodie said bluntly. “Is that a crime?”
“Of course not. I’m happy for her. I suppose it’s inevitable.”
“What is?”
Sienna struggled to explain. “Her first loyalty now is to her husband. Before…well, it was different.” Both she and Camille had nursed their own reasons for being wary of the male worldview. Now Camille was happy and loved, and Sienna felt an irrational desolation. She hadn’t lost her friend, but things would never be quite the same.
“You think she’s gone over to the enemy?” Brodie asked.
“I’m not anti-man.” She knew all men weren’t like her father. Her own fatal weakness prevented her from establishing a relationship with one of them.
“You relieve my mind,” Brodie said. “Rogue’s changed too. I guess marriage does that to people. Alters their perception of life or something.” Thoughtfully he added, “I never thought he was the marrying kind of guy.”
“What kind of guy would that be?” she asked, and he laughed, not bothering to reply.
Not Brodie’s kind, she presumed. Camille had mentioned that Brodie owned his own house in Mokohina as well as the local dive shop and dive school. She’d gathered that Rogan’s friend had settled down, but he didn’t look at all the settled-down type to her. “Have you ever been married?” she asked. There had been no sign of a wife at the wedding.
He laughed again. “Do I look like it? No.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“What—that no woman would have me?”
“I’m sure plenty of women would have you,” she replied, “and probably regret it later.” As her mother must now. Her father too had been a man who naturally attracted female interest. Even as a teenager she’d known that other women envied her mother. Quite possibly the woman he lived with now hadn’t been the first to deflect his attention away from his wife. Perhaps the others had the good luck—or forethought—not to get pregnant.
Brodie grinned down at her, not noticeably insulted. “You could be right. I’m probably not great husband material. Have you ever been married?”
“No.” How had they gotten into this conversation? It was becoming too personal. Reaching the grass verge opposite the hotel, Sienna said hastily, “Thank you for seeing me back.”
She swung away, stepping onto the road as headlights suddenly swept over her, an engine roared and the car she hadn’t seen or heard leaped out of the darkness.
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