Two if by Sea (5 page)

T
he security video
rewound and Tony watched it again. “How long has this been going on?”

“I’m not sure, sir. I’d have to go back through the tapes to confirm. Since the beginning of this cruise, without a doubt.”

Tony glanced over at the head of security. They’d hired Jenkins based on Trent’s recommendation. At first, Tony had balked at the idea. Didn’t they have security covered?

But when he explained the issues Ian’s shipping business had been having with bootleggers and modern-day pirates, Tony caved. They didn’t need those kinds of problems on a cruise line.

So far, Jenkins had been living up to his reputation. He was good with the security staff, and excellent at predicting problems before they started. He’d even done some extra training on diffusing rowdy crowds without force.

This problem was new. Sure, they’d had usual drunk jerks pushing too hard. Guys getting too grabby at mixers and bars. That’s why they had a huge security staff and enough drunk tanks to fill half a floor. But a thief? Never.

Tony hit the play button and watched a fourth time.

The man wore a hoodie pulled low to cover his face, but the gait struck Tony as familiar. He had his suspicions. There weren’t many people who knew their way around the stock rooms. It had to be a bartender or a manager. Someone who worked the places liquor was served.

What the guy planned on doing with cartons of the stuff, Tony hadn’t a clue. They were hundreds of miles from any port. It’s not like the guy could load it onto a row boat and paddle into the sunset. The weight would sink the boat by morning.

Despite the stupidity, there he was on screen, carting off cases of vodka and rum and tucking them into an unused utility closet. It didn’t make sense.

He turned to Jenkins. “Have someone go through all the tapes for the past year. I want to identify this man. I want times dates for all of his thefts. Any accomplices.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Jenkins?”

“Yes?”

“I want him caught.”

“Yes, sir.” The head of security strode out of the room and Tony turned back to the screen. He typed in a few codes and shots of the hallways and spa appeared. He scrolled back in time until he found her.

Daphne.

She’d left the spa agitated, her fingers drumming on her arms as she waited for the elevator. Tony frowned. The spa was meant to loosen her up. Make her want to stay.

If she hated it, what chance did they have of her showing up for dinner?

He cursed to himself. Women didn’t do this to Anthony Gareaux. Was it the fire-colored hair or the rosy lips and cheeks? The just-enough curves or her ‘back-off, buddy’ attitude?

No
. It was the whole package. The way she sized him up the minute they shook hands. How she slipped on a perfect smile that hid everything behind a mask. He wanted to tear that mask away and see the real Daphne Meadows. The woman underneath all those proper clothes and direct words.

The one who had shivered when he touched her. She wanted him, she just needed to admit it.

Escorting her off the ship in the morning wouldn’t do. He wanted her naked and moaning in his bed that very night.

Tony fast forwarded the video until he hit real time.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
The seconds sped by and he chewed on his cheek. He checked his watch and smoothed his hair. She should have left ages ago to make it to dinner on time.

As he reached out to shut the live feed off, her door opened. Tony’s world lurched like the ship had run aground. Long black dress. Hair piled up on top of her head. Diamonds glittering between her breasts.

Daphne was one gorgeous woman and he needed to haul ass to the restaurant. He had a dinner date.

“You don’t think she’ll stand us up, do you?” Damon dragged his glass of scotch around on the lacquered table and watched the entrance to the restaurant.

“Relax. She’ll be here any minute now.” Tony leaned back in the booth like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Even after all these years, Damon had never understood the man’s confidence. No matter what was going on, Tony always acted as if he’d planned the whole thing. “Don’t you care whether she shows up?”

“Of course I care. I told you, she’s coming.”

“Fine.” Damon finished his drink in a single gulp. Alcohol would take the edge off. He motioned for the waitress to bring him another when a blonde with fake boobs and too much lip filler bounced up to the table.

Great
. Just what they needed.

“Hi!” She flashed them a mini wave and smashed her breasts together with her arms. “Are you guys here alone?”

Damon snorted. He knew what she was after. “Let me guess, you want to know who we are.”

Her blue eyes went wide and her plumped lips turned into a duck bill. Was that supposed to be sexy?

“Gosh, it must be you.” She leaned on the table, her cleavage shoved in their faces like a pair of inflatable buoys. If the ship sank, she wouldn’t drown. “You’re the owners aren’t you?”

Tony spread out in the booth and hooked his arm behind the seat. “We are.”

“Oooh!” The duck bill intensified. “It’s an honor to meet you. All the girls on the ship are talking about you.” She bit her lower lip and Damon wondered if it would spring a leak. “Is it true what they say?”

Tony graced her with a smile. “What would that be, exactly?”

“You know, about the women.” She motioned with her hand, but Tony only shook his head. The bastard. He’d decided to toy with her.

“I shouldn’t say anything.”

“Don’t be a tease. Ask what you want to know.”

She grew bolder. “That you pick a lucky woman to spend the week with you every cruise.”

Damon wished he had the heart to let her down easy. “You shouldn’t trust the gossip you hear around the ship.”

Her face fell. “So it’s not true?”

Tony straightened up and adjusted his shirt sleeves. “Not this time, honey.” He waved to the waitress and she hustled over. “Can you make sure this lovely lady has all the drinks she and her friends would like? You can set them up in the VIP section in the other room.”

The blonde practically squealed. “VIP service? For me? Wait ’til I tell the girls!”

The waitress hustled away to make the arrangements and Tony nodded at her retreating back. “I’d follow her, sweetheart. You wouldn’t want to get lost on the way.”

“Right!” She bounced up and down and beamed at them before scampering off.

“VIP service? For her?”

Tony shrugged. “Now she’s in another room and out of our hair.”

“We’re getting too old for this.” Damon ran his hand across his cheek and frowned.

“Don’t tell me we’re too old for her.” Tony motioned toward the front entrance and Damon froze. Daphne stood at the door to the restaurant, her red hair pulled up into a mass of sculpted curls, the dress they’d picked out slid over her body like water.

His lungs burned and he choked on a cough. Damon had forgotten to breathe. “She’s stunning.”

“That she is.”

Daphne fidgeted with her clutch and glanced from the hall to the restaurant and back again. Damon smiled. “She’s nervous.”

“I like it. It means she’s not used to this kind of thing.”

“What if she bolts?”

Tony shrugged. “Then we find someone else. But I don’t think she will.”

Damon didn’t know what it was about the woman that captured him. But if she left the ship, he’d be spending the rest of the week alone.

The hostess appeared and as she pointed, Daphne’s head swiveled in their direction.
Is that a blush?
Damon licked his lower lip. It had been ages since they’d had a challenge. He sat up straight as she walked through the restaurant.

Heads turned, voices whispered, and Damon slid out of the booth to stand. “Ms. Meadows, so glad you could join us.” The dress was even more spectacular in person. The diamond brooch holding the fabric of the dress together nestled between her breasts and cleavage peeked out every time she moved.
Mmm
.

He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “You’re stunning. No one can keep their eyes off you.”

She chewed on her lip and nodded. “Thanks for the dress. And the massage, and the nails, and—”

Tony waved her off. “It’s nothing.” He stood and leaned into her side, brushing his lips across her other cheek. “Come, sit down.”

She slid into the booth and the men took up position on either side.
Perfect
. The waitress appeared, took their drink orders, and Daphne clasped her hands in front of her.

“Don’t be nervous. We’re here to have a good time.”

She half-smiled. “I’m not well-versed in the good time bit.”

“What is it you do?”

“PR.” She exhaled. “Damage control, really. I help celebrities and politicians cover up their problems before they ruin their careers.”

Damon blinked. No wonder she hated being stuck on a singles cruise. “How did you get into that line of work?”

That blush again, “You can’t possibly be interested in learning about me.”

Tony put a hand on his chest. “That hurts.”

Damon shot him a glance. “What he means, is that of course we’re interested. We wouldn’t have asked you to dinner if we didn’t want to get to know you.”

Daphne spread her hands on the table top. The pads of her fingers pressed into the lacquer. “Let’s get one thing straight, okay? I don’t do flings. I’ve heard all about your reputation and I’m telling you right now, I’m not interested.”

Tony’s deep laugh boomed from the booth and half the restaurant turned to look. “You really aren’t like any other woman on this ship. Tell me, Daphne, what was it you’d hoped to get out of this trip? Name it and it’s yours.”

Daphne’s brows furrowed. “Nothing. Like I said before, I only came on this cruise to help a friend over a breakup. I’d never do something like this myself.”

“Not the adventurous sort?”

“I don’t like to make a spectacle of myself.”

“Why not?” Tony relaxed back in the booth and put his arms on the back. He took up half the space. “A woman as beautiful as you could have all the men on this ship fall at her feet with a snap of her fingers.”

She scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“He’s not. He’s being honest.” Did she really not see herself that way?

Before Damon could say any more, she grabbed her clutch and scooted toward him. “This is a mistake. I shouldn’t be here. Please let me out.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And if I say no?”

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in outrage. An insult was on the tip of her tongue when the waitress appeared with their drinks. She slid a champagne cocktail across to Daphne and Damon wondered if she’d throw it in one of their faces.

Instead, she sat back in the booth. “This whole thing is so far outside my comfort zone, it’s ridiculous.” She picked up her glass. “I’m a see the show, not be the show, kind of woman.”

Damon chuckled and picked up his glass. “Here’s to changing that for a few days. Stay, enjoy our company, and who knows, maybe you’ll find out you like a little attention now and then.”

Daphne frowned and glanced at Tony.

“My partner is right. Just because it makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t mean it’s bad. We’re here to have a good time. We want you to be a part of it.” He clinked his glass against hers. “Remember what we agreed to this afternoon. You have dinner with us. We talk. If you still want to leave, we’ll make it happen.”

“If I don’t?”

Damon grinned. “Then you’ll have the best vacation of your life.”

Who knew cruise liners were hotbeds for exquisite food and wine? Daphne set down her fork and leaned back in the booth. “That was amazing.”

“Glad you approve.”

She couldn’t get over it. Damon and Tony were nothing like she’d expected. Instead of groping her under the table and dropping hints about their suite upstairs, they were complete gentlemen.

After she’d gotten over the shock of the whole thing, Damon had asked a million questions about her job in PR. Tony had opened up about how they started the cruise line and told some of the craziest stories she’d ever heard.

The image she’d conjured in her head of sex-starved beefcakes couldn’t be further from the truth. She glanced at Damon’s rolled up sleeves and impressive build. Between his dimples that came out every time he smiled, to Tony’s storm cloud eyes that stared right through her, Daphne didn’t know where to look.

The waitress cleared their plates and Daphne checked her watch. “Wow. When did it get so late?”

Tony leaned closer. “Do you have somewhere to be?”

She blushed. “No.” She hadn’t stayed up this late in years, but he didn’t need to know that.

“What would you like to do? We’re on cruise time, so there’s no hurry.”

Daphne paused. Was this the part where they asked her back to their room and she said no?

“We’ve got a casino downstairs. We’ll front you any amount you’d like.”

“Or there’s the boutique the dress came from. You could model all the latest fashions from Paris for us.”

Daphne pursed her lips. She wasn’t some gold digger. “You make it sound like I’m for sale. I don’t need your money.”

Tony slid closer and his heat radiated against her arm. “Everyone has a price.”

Here we go.
That was what she’d been expecting to hear since she’d slid into the booth. “Not me.”

“You can’t be immune to wealth.”

“I’m not. I’m just sick of it.” She crossed her arms in a huff. “Money doesn’t equal affection. I should know, I deal with people rolling in piles of it every day.”

Damon reached out and touched her shoulder. She jumped. “If it’s not money, what is it? Attention? Time? You name it, it’s yours.”

Daphne sat in silence. It didn’t make any sense. One minute they were normal guys, listening to her talk about her job and sharing details of their own. The next they’re throwing things at her like an auctioneer at an estate sale.

“Is this how it usually works? You wave your fancy watches and nice clothes around and ply some woman with top shelf liquor and she falls into your bed?”

Tony smirked. “To be honest? Yes.”