Born Ready (16 page)

“Doubtful.”

“You don’t own a patent on liking fish.”

“How do you know? I might. I am Jack Birchard’s daughter.”

“Oh, I knew this was going to happen eventually.” He winked. “Playing the celebrity card.”

“Like you don’t play the Coast Guard card when it’s handy,” she quipped.

“Scott! Jackie!” Megan spotted them and broke away from the pack of people she’d been talking to and came over to greet them. She took them around the room, introducing them. “Here you are, big brother, living life one wave at a time.”

It was a Coast Guard expression their father used to say when life was going well. The civilian equivalent was along the lines of “enjoy the moment.”

“And this wave is fine,” he replied smoothly.

“He’s incorrigible,” Megan said to Jackie. “You have to know that.” She switched her gaze back to Scott. “Surely, she knows that.”

“I know that.” Jackie nodded.

“And yet you like him anyway. There’s hope for you yet, big brother.”

“Shoo, go, preside over your event.” He tickled Megan in the ribs. She laughed and darted away.

Scott knew most of the people at the party. Jackie, in spite of her proclamation of not being a people person, handled the crowd with aplomb. She shook hands and listened while others made small talk and she wasn’t too obvious when she kept sliding wistful glances at fish tanks. He knew that’s where her head was. Swimming around in the water.

He smiled.

People kept asking him about the shark attack. He told them how the boy was doing, deflecting attention off his own wound. They called him a hero. He refused the title. He was Coast Guard. Saving lives was his job. Dave, his brother-in-law-to-be, teased him about fainting. He’d expected some razzing and he took it like a man. He’d rather be razzed than dubbed a hero.

His leg ached where the shark’s teeth had branded him, but he ignored it. He was Coast Guard. He could deal with a little pain. Especially when he had Jackie to look at, and that took his mind off the minor discomfort.

They ate appetizers on tiny plates—mini spinach quiches, bacon-wrapped shrimp, guacamole on blue corn tortilla chips. And then out came the champagne. Whitley Montgomery, Megan’s boss and the head of the aquarium, toasted Megan and Dave and gave a brief speech. The crowd applauded and cheered.

Then Whitley paused. “I’ve just learned we have a special guest here tonight, as well. I want you all to give a warm welcome to the renowned Jack Birchard’s daughter, Jackie.”

Jackie’s face flushed and she ducked her head.

“We’re so happy to have you in Key West.” He raised his glass and proposed a toast to Jackie.

A forced smile crossed her face and she shifted her weight from foot to foot. Scott could see she was uncomfortable with the attention.

“I’ve met your father,” Whitley said. “He’s an amazing man.”

“Yes.” Jackie’s face tightened. “He is.”

Scott knew a bit about what it was like living in the shadow of a legend. You always felt like you could never really measure up no matter how hard you tried. That you had somehow let the world down by not being as accomplished as your parent. But Jackie had to deal with that feeling on a whole different level.

His father had been killed in the line of duty and as a result, Scott felt like he had to keep his father’s memory alive by the way he behaved. Honor his father. But Jackie’s dad was world famous. Here in Key West, Scott lived in his father’s shadow, but in D.C., he was his own man. Jackie could never escape the reach of her father’s legend. Sympathy took hold of him and all he wanted to do was help her escape scrutiny for an evening.

Whitley had cornered Jackie and was heartily extolling her father’s virtues.

Scott moved toward her. “Whitley, can I steal Jackie away from you for a minute?”

“Oh, sure, sure. I didn’t mean to hog her. She’s just so fascinating to talk to.” Whitley gazed at Jackie with puppy-dog admiration. “I hope you’ll consider speaking at one of our lecture series.”

“I’ll give it some thought. It’s been nice speaking with you, Mr. Montgomery.”

“Better yet, ask your father. We’d love to have
him
do the lecture series.”

Jackie had an undiplomatic,
dream on, buster,
expression on her face. “I’ll let him know.”

Scott took her elbow and guided her away. “You’re doing well. Don’t pop him one in the mouth.”

“I wasn’t going to.” She chuckled. “But it did cross my mind.”

“Consider yourself rescued. Let’s get out of here.”

“Thank you,” she breathed. “I never know how to get away in these situations. I usually end up saying I have to go to the bathroom and then I head for the nearest exit.”

“I’ve got your back, mermaid. This time I’m leading you out the nearest exit.” He guided her down a long, darkened hallway.

“Where are we going?” She hung on to his arm.

Just that simple taking of his arm had Scott’s temperature boiling. “Behind the scenes.”

“Oh?” She sounded intrigued.

He paused in front of a door that had a combination lock on it. He punched in the numbers.

“How do you know the combination?”

“I’ve been here with Megan.”

“She told you the combination?”

“I’m observant.” The door clicked as the tumblers fell into place. Grinning, he pushed it open.

“Hey, if this Coast Guard thing doesn’t pan out, you have a promising career in breaking and entering.”

They were in a cement tunnel that led to the inner workings of the aquarium.

“We’re on the inside looking out.” Glee edged Jackie’s voice. “The guests are out there, we’re in here and they can’t see us.”

“Viewing the world from the fishes’ point of view.”

“Something I’ve spent my life trying to do,” she said.

“You like it better on this side of the glass, don’t you?”

She nodded, peered at the parrot fish swimming past them in dizzy circles. “This
is
fun. Thank you.”

“You’re easy to please.” He tucked her closer to his side and experienced a heady sense of promise when she didn’t pull away.

They wandered by a tank filled with small, colorful fish. Near the bottom, amidst sand, colored gravel and sea grass, a pair of sea horses was engaged in a courtship ritual. They swam side by side, tails entwined. The sea horse equivalent of holding hands. Slowly, in unison, they moved in a languid waltz.

“It’s called the predawn dance,” Jackie murmured.

“I know.” He leaned in closer, caught a sweet whiff of her lime-scented hair. “My sister works here.”

“Sorry.” She smiled. “When I’m with laymen I assume they don’t know anything about marine biology.”

“I know much more than you think I do,” he remarked. “Sea horses are monogamous,” Scott added, not knowing why the hell he said that.

“Actually,” Jackie corrected, “that’s a common myth. While many sea horses form bonding pairs that last a season, it’s not an until-death-do-us-part union. And many species readily switch partners whenever the opportunity arises.
H. abdominalis
and
H. breviceps
have even been observed breeding in groups.”

“Orgy-loving sea horses? Who knew?”

“Me, for one.” Jackie laughed. The sound, in the confines of the back room, seemed to project into the future, beckoning tomorrow.

“You don’t have a romantic bone in your body, do you?” he joked.

“Male sea horses gestate the babies. That’s pretty romantic in my book.”

“Why do the males gestate the babies? In the grand scheme of things, that’s pretty unique.”

“Are you sure you want to know? It blows the romantic notion.”

“In the interest of keeping our relationship strictly biological, sure. We don’t need no stinkin’ romance.”

She rewarded him with a wide grin. “Well, Bateman’s principle suggests—”

“What? Bateman? Who’s that?”

“In biology, Bateman’s principle is a theory that suggests females expend more energy in the production of offspring than males and therefore, females are a limiting resource.”

“In other words, eggs are more valuable than sperm.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Exactly. So in regard to sea horses, if Bateman’s theory holds true, then the fact that the male gestates the offspring suggests that generating the eggs drains more from the female than gestating the eggs does for the male. A recent study determined that the energy burden on the female was exactly double that of what the male expended in gestation.”

Scott shook his head. “Boy, you sure know how to shatter a good romantic story.”

“Science is science. It’s about facts. Not fairy tales.” She wandered away from him, her gaze going to the tank filled with sharks.

The bite marks underneath the Ace bandage on Scott’s leg throbbed, but he followed her anyway.

Jackie watched the sharks for a while, and then hugged herself. “I love it in here. Thank you for rescuing me.”

“Thank
you,
” he emphasized.

“What for?”

“If you hadn’t agreed to come to the party, Megan would have found someone to fob off on me. Now that she’s found Dave she hates that’s I’m single and she loves playing matchmaker. Just FYI.”

Jackie smiled. “You’re welcome, and thanks for the heads-up.”

Her smile beguiled him and Scott couldn’t resist moving even closer. He reached out, took her firm little chin between his fingers. He tipped her face up. She peered at him as if she held the secrets to the underwater universe. Hell, she probably did.

Her smile widened.

God, she looked so beautiful when she smiled.

Scott dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers, and felt her smile spread from ear to ear. Her wicked little tongue flicked out and traced over his lips in a glorious vibration that drove straight down to his burgeoning erection.

“Jackie,” he murmured and pulled her to his chest.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

He pressed his face against her hair, smelled the lovely scent of her. She smelled like home. Key West. Gardenia, lime and sea. “Jackie.”

Her nipples beaded hard against his chest.

“You’re not wearing a bra,” he said huskily, his body going hard instantly.

“I’m not wearing any underwear, either,” she whispered.

Instantly, his balls drew up hard and tight against his body. “Hot damn, woman, what are you trying to do to me?”

“Same thing you’re doing to me, sailor.”

“I want you.”

“I know.” A lusty light shone in her eyes.

Fish tanks surrounded him. Dolphins and sharks. Sea urchins and sea horses. Starfish and clown fish. Music filtered in through the sound system. “Oceans” by The Format. This felt so right. Perfect.

Her hand went to his belt buckle.

He reached for the top button at her cleavage.

“Protection?” she murmured.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”

“Where?”

“Hip pocket of my pants.”

“You were ready.”

“Mermaid, I was born ready.”

“Lucky me.”

“No more talking. Let’s just let nature take its course.”

“Okay.” Her hands reached to the hem of her dress and she stripped it over her head. Then, just like that, she stood totally naked in front of him.

Scott just thought he’d been hard before. Seeing her lithe form backlit by the aquarium lights yanked the air right from his lungs. “Jackie.”