Catch of a Lifetime (17 page)

   "So, about last night." Logan kept his eyes straight ahead.

   She knew because she kept stealing little glances out the corner of her eyes. "Yes?"

   His grip on her hand tightened. "I promised you I wouldn't come on to you, yet today I did it again."

And how was she supposed to respond to that?

"But you didn't back away."

   Oh. That's where he was going with this. "Um, yes… I mean, no."

   Hades, she didn't know what she meant.

   Logan stopped then. He turned to face her, his eyes searching hers. "Why didn't you, Angel?"

   Angel's heart thudded. "I…"

   A breeze swept around them, tossing her hair all around. Over her shoulders and wrapping it around her neck. Wrapping it around his. She reached for the bunch of hair that rested on him, but Logan beat her to it. He gathered the strands and swept them across his lips.

   "Your hair is…" Logan's whisper melted into the sound of the waves. "It's beautiful."

   And she melted into the sound of his voice.

   Another wave slid onto the beach while the moment became supercharged.

   Angel looked away first. There was something so honest in his gaze and, well, the guilt of not telling him the truth got to her.

   But he'd never be able to fathom the idea of a Mer. No Human could. Mers had been relegated to myth status in their world, and that's where both races were comfortable with them being right now. She wasn't here to upset that balance. Just nudge it a little.

   Still, she didn't like not being able to be herself with him. Her true self.

   She gathered her hair, twisting it at the nape of her neck and knotting it over on itself, finding any place to look but at him. "Um, thanks."

   Then he held out his hand and cleared his throat. "So… should we continue?"

   Continue
what?

   She took his hand, knowing it wasn't the safest move on her part. Knowing she was going to have to answer his question—especially to herself.

   But she knew the answer. She was attracted to him. She knew what it was like to kiss him. What he felt like pressed against her. The way his hair felt. The catch in his breath when she flexed her fingers against the back of his neck…

   Oh yeah, they should continue. Because she wasn't going on a walk to learn anything scientific about Logan.

   She was going on this walk to learn all about Logan for purely personal reasons.

   The differences between them be damned.

"Son of a Moray!" Harry thrashed his tail. She was walking on the beach with the Human. Walking! And the sun was down! How in Hades was she doing this? By rights, the Mer ought to be running for the ocean, diving beneath the waves in a desperate attempt to get her tail back, but no. This Tritone was waltzing noncha lantly along the beach as if she didn't have a care in the world.

   And A.C., damn him, was reminding Harry, port and starboard, that this was supposed to be a quick job. As if Harry needed the reminder.

   He didn't know what she thought she was doing, but he knew he wasn't going to let her get away with it. She was the first royal he'd been able to get close to in recent months, and he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip through his gills.

   He turned to Lou. "Keep an eye on them, but don't touch her. I want to check out a few things. I'll be back in the morning."

   Somehow, some way, she'd slip up. And then he, and the guys, would pounce.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S ON LAND? STILL?" ROD SWAM from one side of the High Councilman's office to the other in what was sure to be record-breaking time, scat tering the shoal of synchronized damselfish he'd hired for his wife's surprise party who were rehearsing in the corner.

   Mariana backed out of her brother's way, bumping up against the sideboard that held busts of all the previ ous High Councilmen and almost knocking the newest addition off. She hadn't wanted to be the bearer of bad tidings for just this reason. She'd known Rod wouldn't react well.

   Angel was so going to pay for this.

   Mariana righted their father's likeness. "Yes, Rod. But she was in the water last night, so it's no big deal. She'll be back in before her time runs out."

   Rod turned around, creating a strong enough whirl pool that the blennies snoozing in an alcove were sent twirling onto the coral beds on the ledge below. That had to hurt. "How do you know this, Mariana, when none of my informants knew where she was?"

   She swished her hands to create a current to help the dazed fish back into their home. "It wasn't that hard to figure out, Rod. She'd taken her sea-pak and her notes."

   "That was two days ago."

   Mariana gulped. Oh, Hades. The crappie was going to hit the net now, for sure. Angel owed her. Big time.

   "I spoke to her."

   Rod spun around, this time disturbing the school of young sea horses who were trying to learn English. Probably not the best day for them to be here.

   "You spoke to her? And you didn't think to bring her home?"

   Mariana planted her hands on her hips, careful not to grip too hard. Scattering scales were a dead giveaway of tension, and she didn't want her brother to know how worried she was about this entire situation. For Angel's sake, Rod's, and her own. There was still the matter of her current project that she didn't want to come out.

   "You know as well as I do, Rod, that you can't make Angel do anything she doesn't want to do. Especially when it comes to Humans. What is it about those beings that's so entrancing?"

   Rod stopped swimming, and a strange look crossed his face. "You wouldn't understand."

   Damn straight she wouldn't. And she never wanted to find out. But whatever the draw was, it got Rod to slow his whirlpool-inducing tail whips down to a soft flutter. The group of starfish holding onto the wall for dear life took a collective inhalation of relief.

   "We need to get her back here."

   "Good luck with that."

   "I'm serious, Mariana. I don't have time for this. I should have left yesterday. We have to find some way to get her back. Soon."

   "I'm serious, too, Rod. She's got it in her head that by doing this, she's going to find some magic formula to sell Humans on your idea of a Mer-Human Coalition for the betterment of the planet. You and I both know that's a long shot for some far-flung date in the future, but Angel's convinced she can initiate a change now by starting off with the children."

   Rod pinched the bridge of his nose. "Gods save me from independent thinkers."

   Mariana snorted. This from the guy who'd basically told the gods to shove it if they were going to take his throne away for marrying a Mer-Human Hybrid.

   And he wondered where Angel got the attitude from.

   "She needs to get her tail back here. Now. We'll work it out when I get back from the Middle East in a calm, rational manner, not like some rebellious teenager." Rod leaned on his massive desk—the work of some Human named Bernini. Did he get the irony, or was it just her?

   "She better not hear you call her that, Rod." Frankly, Mariana wasn't too thrilled with the term, either. "She is an adult, you know."

   "And as an adult she should know better. This exactly proves my point why she's not the Mer for the job."

   "No, this proves that you're hogfish-headed about giving her a chance."

   "What in the gods' names are you talking about, Mariana?" Rod gripped the sand globe on his desk, his eyes narrowing, and maybe… just maybe… he puffed up a little in size. High Councilmen could do that— become whatever size they wanted. Part of the package when one became the Mer ruler.

   It was one big power trip, if you asked her.

   "It's just that you've been interviewing everyone
but
Angel for this position. She's just as qualified, if not more, than many of the people you've interviewed." What was she doing defending Angel? Mariana didn't want her sister out there any more than Rod did, but, really, Angel deserved a chance at the job as much as anyone else, and for Rod to not even talk to her about it amounted to discrimination.

   Rod dropped the sand globe on his desk, the water delivering it to the marble with a soft
plunk
. "Fine. Get her back here, and I'll give her the damned interview."

   "An
un
biased interview."

   "Whose side are you on, Mariana?"

   Mariana swam up almost into his face. He might be the High Councilman, but he was still her brother. And this was their sister he was talking about. "Oh, I'm firmly on Angel's, Rod, make no mistake about that. You can't cut her out of the lineup because she's your sister and you don't want to lose her.

   This time she was
certain
that he grew bigger. "That's not why—"

   "Bullsharkshit." He didn't scare her. She was one of the few who would talk to Rod like this since he inher ited the throne. Reel, of course, was another, but since he wasn't around much anymore, it was up to her to make Rod see reason. Even if she did agree with him on general principle.

   "Of course it's why you're doing it, Rod." She flipped her tail sideways and floated away from him. "Look, we all have to live with Reel's decision to stay with Erica on land and have a mortal life span. You're not the only one it's hard for, you know. But you can't hold Angel—or any of us—too closely or you might end up pushing us away."

   Rod lost the High Councilman demeanor he wore like a badge of honor, returning to normal size and resting his tail against the desk. "I know, Mariana, but…" He cleared his throat. "That doesn't make it any easier to accept Reel's decision. Or Angel's."

   She flipped over and swam back to him. "He's happy with it, and that's what we have to remember. Give Angel a chance to do this in a way you can monitor, Rod. Right now she's off, unsupervised, getting into gods-know-what kind of trouble. Bring her back. Give her an interview, a fair hearing. That's all she wants."

   Rod put his arm around Mariana and pulled her close. "How'd you get to be so smart, sis?"

   She hugged him back. "It swims in the family. That's why we have to believe that Angel knows what she's doing."

ANGEL DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT SHE WAS DOING.

   Well, okay, she knew what she was doing physically, but emotionally? She was so in over her head here… Walking with Logan on a moonlit beach, him looking at her like
that
… she was playing with fire in a way she hadn't imagined.

   The thing was, she didn't care—and how crazy was that?

   They'd covered the basics on the walk: his childhood, his relationship with Michael's mother, his job, his life. She'd shared what she could of hers, glossing over some of the details, but the believability factor of her story proved her point that Mers could pass in the Human world.

   Not that she'd include any of this in her argument to Rod.

   They'd gathered shells on the walk back. She'd found a round piece of abalone that'd make the perfect neck lace for Pearl, and Logan had found a piece of driftwood resembling a dinosaur for Michael. He'd shared the story of how Michael had come into his life and his anger with Christine for keeping his son from him and the hopes and plans he had.

   But even though they'd talked about all of that, they hadn't addressed what was happening between them, or what had happened last night.

   So now they stood at the top of the steps they'd climbed down a while ago, that
something
now so much more than it had been. Something real and potent and pretty darn scary if she was honest with herself.

   She didn't want to know so much about him. All the hardships he'd lived through, being on his own at such a young age, never having the kind of loving family she'd had, the tough, lonely life he'd pulled himself from to become so successful and such a caring father…

   She didn't want to care this much about him. There was so much about Logan Hardington to admire. So much to respect.

   So much to love.

   
No.

   She didn't.

   She couldn't.

   It was too quick.

   Too early.

   Too soon.

   Too wrong.

   
Too right.

   Her knees buckled and she had to brace herself against the railing. Apparently Human legs weren't as sturdy as she'd assumed.

   Or maybe it was just
her
legs that weren't sturdy.

   She was in love with him.

   "Angel?" Worry colored Logan's voice. "Are you all right?"

   She shook her head. Of course she wasn't all right. She'd just had the wind knocked out of her sails by love.

   And got it knocked out all over again when Logan scooped her up in his arms.

   "Logan!" she squeaked again, dropping the seashells. Really—squeaking was not an attractive habit.

   "Are you okay?" His brown eyes on her, she could see a few flecks of gold in them that matched the high lights in his gorgeous hair. She had the strangest urge to run her fingers through it.

   So she did. She didn't think about it; it just sort of happened.

   And so did the sharp breath Logan inhaled the mo ment her fingertips brushed the back of his neck.

   As did the kiss that followed.

   She didn't know who started it—didn't care. His lips were soft at first, for just the tiniest instant before he lifted her higher in his arms and deepened the kiss.