Saving Simon (Tarnished Saints Series Book 5) (22 page)

“So how does it feel to lose, being an experienced sailor and all?” asked a reporter, shoving a microphone in Simon’s face.

“Get out of here,” she heard him grind out, and when she turned she saw him pushing the reporter away.

“So, Simon, that secret weapon of yours didn’t work so well after all,” said Zeb coming up to him next.

“What was it that made you lose anyway?” asked the reporter, this time directing his man with the camera to film Simon.

“It wasn’t my fault we lost,” said Simon, and Piper just braced herself waiting for him to say in front of everyone that it was all her fault.

“So was it the girl’s fault?” the reporter asked next, and Piper could see Simon clenching his jaw and making fists again, and this time a vein throbbed at the side of his neck. His eyes met with hers and she raised her chin, challenging him to call her out in front of everyone.

“Tell them,” she said, thinking for a moment that he really would. Instead, he just looked to the ground and mumbled his answer.

“No, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was the weather.”

She knew right then and there that she couldn’t stay mad at him. He’d just lost the race along with his pride in front of everyone and to gain it back all he had to do was tell them the truth, but he didn’t.

“Uncle Zeb, can I play with the whistle now?” asked little Eli, pulling on Zeb’s shirt.

“Simon?” said Zeb, holding out his hand. “Hand it over.”

“Zeb, you’re not really going to take away his prized possession, are you?” asked Cat from his side.

“Well, it was a contest fair and square. I would have given him my Rolex if he’d won.”

“Honey, you have half a dozen Rolex’s,” Cat reminded him. “Just let him keep the whistle.”

“You’re right. I don’t really want it anyway,” said Zeb with a flick of his wrist. “Eli, I’ll buy you a Boatswain’s Whistle online if you want one. They probably come a dime a dozen anyway.”

“Zeb, stop it,” said Cat. “You’re not usually like this, what’s the matter with you?”

Zeb let out a breath and then extended his hand to Simon. “Simon, I was just having a little fun and didn’t mean to upset you. Are we good?”

Simon’s jaw twitched and he didn’t take Zeb’s hand nor answer him. Instead, he held out his palm to Piper.

“Piper, give me the whistle,” he said, and Piper knew something was really wrong now because she hadn’t heard him call her anything but Pippa since she’d arrived in Sweet Water.

“No, Simon. This means a lot to you, and you heard Zeb say he no longer wants it anyway.” Her hand went to cover the whistle protectively and she was hesitant to hand it over.

“I’m a man of my word and if I made a bet with my brother than I intend to pay up. I don’t need a pity party, now give me the damned whistle.”

He had a very angry look in his eyes and Piper didn’t want to make him any madder. Especially since it was really her fault he lost the race in the first place.

“All right,” she said, taking off his Skipper’s cap and tucking it under her arm and then slipping the chain over her neck and handing the whistle to him. He quickly reached out and took his brother’s hand and slapped it into his palm.

“Don’t ever say I don’t pay my debts,” he said in a low voice.

Zeb looked at him for a moment and Piper thought he might actually give the whistle back, but instead he handed it to Eli. “There you go, have fun,” he told the boy. Eli blew it like crazy and all the kids rushed forward trying to get it. Angel and Candace directed them all back inside the marina and out of the drizzling rain.

“Want to race again tomorrow?” asked Zeb with a grin. “Maybe we can bet your boat next. I wouldn’t mind having a new sailboat to add to my collection of what you call my toys.”

Simon turned away without saying anything, and then to everyone’s surprise, he quickly turned around and his fist shot out as he punched Zeb in the eye.

“Damn, not another black eye,” she heard Zeb say as Cat rushed to his side.

“That’s a wrap,” she heard one of the TV crew say. “If we hurry we might be able to get this on tonight’s local news. We can send it to the larger stations as well. Maybe we can even put it online and get it to go viral. Let’s go.”

“Oh, no,” said Piper out loud, realizing not only Simon’s loss of the race but now him punching his brother was going to be shown on television and maybe even over the Internet.

“I’m so sorry, Cat and Zeb,” she said to them quickly, then took off at a run after Simon who was storming down the pier and getting into her car. He started it up and she was lucky to get inside before he squealed the tires and pulled away.

“Simon, I’m sorry about making you lose the race,” she told him, but he wasn’t talking. “That was admirable of you for not saying that I was the reason you lost.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, staring straight out the window as he drove much too fast toward her cabin.

“If I had known that was going to happen, I would have stayed put.”

“What the hell did you think would happen when you stood up in a boat when someone else was already moving about? I told you to watch the jibe, so why didn’t you duck?”

“I thought ‘coming about’ meant to duck. When you started talking about a jibe, I had no idea what you meant.”

“Well, now you do. From now on, when you’re on a ship and the captain says to stay put, you don’t move. Got it?”

“I don’t know why you’re so mad, Simon.”

“I lost a sailing race to a lawyer, I lost my Bosun’s Whistle to a bunch of kids who’ll probably wreck it or lose it by tomorrow, and I’m about to be shown on National TV as an experienced sailor who doesn’t know how to sail. So what do you think I’m mad about?”

“Since you’re so upset, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but the TV reporters filmed you punching your brother as well.”

“Are you serious?” he asked, looking over to her for the first time since they’d gotten into the car.

“Yes, I saw them and heard them say it was going on tonight’s news.”

“Nooooo!” he ground out and then reached forward and smashed his fist atop the dashboard.

She jumped back and scooted away from him, and he let out a sigh and just shook his head as they pulled up to her cabin. “Sorry, Pippa. I didn’t mean to do that. I just can’t control myself sometimes.”

Well, he was calling her Pippa again, so that was a good sign. Still, she really needed to find out where all this anger was coming from. This wasn’t the Simon she knew. The man she knew was gentle and loving and a savior as well as a protector.

“It’s all right,” she said.

“Goodnight,” he told her, looking out the front window again, and she knew there’d be no kiss tonight. She had her hand on the door handle but stopped and looked back to him.

“Why don’t you come in for a minute?” She didn’t expect him to accept with the mood he was in, but she had to try.

“I don’t think I’d be very good company tonight. Just go on in, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Where are you going? There’s still a crowd of people at the marina and around your boat. They might be there for a few hours yet.”

“Then I’ll drive around until they leave, or I’ll go sleep on a park bench somewhere, I don’t care. Nothing matters anymore. And I’m sorry I ever talked you into coming on the boat when you didn’t want to in the first place.”

“You didn’t make me do it. We had a deal. I would come with if you answered any question I had about you.”

“That’s right, we did.”

“Then I want you to come inside with me, and I want you to answer my question.”

“Can we do this tomorrow?” he asked, looking at her with tired and defeated eyes. She was about to agree, but then she realized she wasn’t helping him any by putting this off.

“No, we can’t. You said you were a man of your word, now you need to keep up your end of the deal.”

“Then go ahead and ask me your question, and then I’ll answer it and leave.”

“All right,” she said with a nod, realizing he’d had a hard day. She wouldn’t force him to come inside if he didn’t want to. “My question is about your whistle.”

“What?” he asked, obviously thinking she was going to ask about his anger issues. “What about it?”

“I want to know why it means so much to you and why you gave it away after Zeb said he didn’t want it.”

“I already told you. I’m a man who does what I promise. Simple as that.”

“Okay, then tell me why it means so much to you.”

“That’s two questions, Pippa, and I’ve already answered one.”

“I don’t remember us putting a limit on the amount of questions I could ask. While we’re at it, why do you get so angry and what is the real reason behind the way you act?”

“I’m very competitive and I don’t like losing,” he told her. “Just cuz I punched Zeb doesn’t mean anything. We all used to fight all the time growing up. He’ll get over it by tomorrow morning, I assure you.”

“Okay. One more question and then I’ll let you go,” she said, and he nodded his head in agreement.

“Why is it you feel you have to protect women?”

“What do you mean?”

“I noticed the way you get very upset when my father is harsh with me. I also noticed the way you wanted to punch that man in the diner the other day when he was treating his wife poorly.”

“I don’t tolerate men mistreating women. I never have and I never will.”

“Did your father treat your mother badly?” she asked on a whim, and was surprised when Simon’s eyes opened wide, then closed to mere slits and he let out another deep sigh.

“Maybe we’d better go inside after all,” he said turning off the motor. “Because answering this question might take all night.”

Simon held the car door for Piper and then unlocked the cabin door and held it open for her to enter.

“You’re such a gentleman,” she said, clicking on the lights. “I’m not used to that.”

“Well, you deserve it. I can’t believe no man has held a door for you before.” He noticed her teeth chattering and since she was still dipping wet from the rain, he knew she needed to get warm and dry quickly. “Go jump in the shower, Pippa, and I’ll start a fire in the fireplace to get the chill out of the air.”

“All right,” she said, disappearing into the bathroom, leaving his wet shirt and skipper’s hat she’d been wearing on the kitchen chair.

Simon found some dry wood stacked in the fireplace and started a fire, warming his hands, realizing he was cold and wet as well. He looked over to the bathroom, wanting to join her in the shower, but knew that would be pushing his luck. After all, they’d only shared a few kisses up until now and Piper hadn’t shown a lot of interest in moving it further.

He collected the wet shirt and hat and laid them over the back of the kitchen chair and put it in front of the fire to dry. Then he flipped off his shoes and socks and spread them out on the hearth as well. His pants were sopping wet and he knew he needed to remove them, but was apprehensive. What would Piper think when she walked out of the bathroom and saw him standing there in his underwear? Probably that he wanted to have sex with her, which was the truth, but he knew the timing was all wrong. Instead, he dug around in the cupboard, finding some coffee grounds and used the pot on the stove to make some coffee.

She appeared in the doorway of the bathroom a few minutes later, dressed in a flowered robe and with her hair wrapped up in a towel.

“I forgot my clothes,” she said, disappearing into the bedroom. Then he heard her muffled voice from inside the room.

“Why don’t you take off those wet pants?”

“What?” He was looking at the fire and his head snapped around quickly as he focused on the bedroom door.

“You must be cold and wet. Go ahead and take a fast shower, it feels great.”

“I would, but I don’t have any dry clothes to put on.”

“Well, you can borrow my robe while your clothes are drying.” The door opened a crack and her hand shot out with the robe in it. “Go ahead, I won’t watch while you undress.”

He slowly walked to the door, taking the robe from her, wanting to push his way into the room, throw her down on the bed, and make sweet passionate love to her.

“Thanks,” he said, looking at the flowered robe and just shaking his head. Like hell if he was going to put this on. Besides, she was so little and petite and with the size of his arms, he’d rip it to shreds trying to cover his body. He tossed it onto the couch and stripped off his wet jeans and underwear and was putting them in front of the fire when she opened the door and walked into the room.

He turned to face her, which exposed him completely. She stopped in her tracks and gasped, letting her eyes scan down his body and settle below his waist.

“I’m sorry,” she said hiding her eyes behind her hand. “I didn’t hear any noise and thought you were already in the shower.”

He felt himself growing quickly from standing there naked and knew the nice warm shower he’d planned on taking was not going to happen now.

“No problem, I’m going.” He headed quickly into the bathroom and turned the shower on cold and stepped inside.