My heart hammered at the dark turn of his tone. “What is it?”
“You need to get below and be with Jackson.”
I leaned over his shoulder, lightly placing a hand on his upper back, and glanced at the monitor. “What’s happening? Chase, please, tell me.”
He craned around to look at me, our faces inches apart. I reared back, startled at the way his face went tight. Almost pained. “They upgraded the storm.”
“What does that mean?”
Chase glanced away and then back at me, as though deciding whether or not to tell me. “Melissa, it’s a hurricane warning.”
Chase’s words ripped through me. The terror went deeper and reached farther inside of me than anything had so far. This wasn’t another person who was trying to get to me. This was a force of nature and there was nowhere to go.
Nowhere to hide.
21
Chase
“What are we going to do?” Melissa’s eyes were wide, panic poured out from them.
“You’re going to go down below,” I replied, not bothering to hide the terseness from my voice. I didn’t want to leave any room for her to argue.
“Chase, let me help you!”
“No! Melissa, that’s out of the question.”
She folded her arms and blocked the doorway. “You really expect me to go downstairs and pretend like everything is fine? What am I supposed to do? Do you think I should paint my nails or bake a cake or something?”
My jaw flexed, tensing at her sarcastic retort. The fire in her eyes was blazing. She was daring me to cross her. “I expect you to follow my orders.”
Her eyes narrowed to dark slits. “Fuck off, Chase. I’m done being ordered around by some man on a power trip!”
I took a step toward her and leaned in, leaving less than an inch between our faces. “I’m not on a power trip. I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“Then let me help!” she bit out.
“Out of the question.” I took a step back and turned away. I raked my hands over my hair, trying to give my heart long enough to slow my pulse before I launched into a full on tirade. Why didn’t she trust me? After everything? Was this about last night?
“Chase, please,” she said, cutting into my thoughts. “I need to be able to do something to help. Can’t you understand that?”
I turned back to face her again and crossed my arms. “I understand, but that isn’t enough to change my mind, Melissa. It’s going to be dangerous up here. Once the wind kicks up, we’re going to have soaker waves, and those mother fuckers are strong enough to rip you right off the deck. I can’t—I won’t let that happen. You need to stay down below where the waves can’t get to you.”
She broke away her ferocious glare and stared out the window at the ever darkening sky. “Can’t you bungee me in? Like that contraption you put on Jackson the other day while you were teaching him how to fish.”
My anger began to melt and I took a small step back toward her. “Melissa, if there was a way, that’d be safe, I’d be all over it. But there’s not. I understand I’m asking a lot. I’m asking you to put your trust in me, for the dozenth time. Do you think you can do that? Can you trust me that I know best on this? You need to be with Jackson anyway.”
She captured my eyes again and held my stare. After a long moment she gave a small nod. “Okay.”
I grasped Melissa by the wrist. “I’m never going to tell you what to do or go on a power trip just for the hell of it. I respect you too much to ever do that to you. But, in the same turn, you have to learn to respect my instructions. Especially in cases like this. I’ve spent the majority of my life in the water or out on boats. I know what’s coming our way and it’s going to be nasty. I don’t mean to scare you, but you’re not prepared to handle this storm.”
“Chase, I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “You don’t have to apologize. But please know that I have you and Jackson’s best interest and safety at heart. That’s my number one concern right now, okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded again and moved half a step closer.
A howl of wind slammed into the side of the boat and my stomach clenched. It was starting. As much as I wanted to grab her and never let go, I couldn’t. I needed to get her to safety. “I need to know that you and Jackson are safe. You need to go down to your room and hold him and make sure he’s calm.”
“But what about you?” A hitch in her voice sent my heart plummeting to my stomach. “Chase, we can’t do any of this without you. Back at the harbor when I thought you were…gone. I didn’t know what to do. I froze! Jackson needs you. I need you. We can’t lose you.”