Twenty minutes into the cruise, someone shouted that they’d spotted a pod of short beaked dolphins. According to Ellie, they were common around the coast. Listening to her explaining the different types of dolphins to a group of passengers was fascinating. Autumn had no idea that at least five different types of them swam around these shores alone.
“Do you like working here?” she asked Ellie.
“I love it. No two days are the same.” Ellie grinned. “Most of my friends are working their way through college in shops or restaurants, but I get to see dolphins and whales and a hundred different types of birds.
“How long have you worked here?”
“This is my second year. I’ll be graduating in the fall, then onto study my masters in Baltimore. I’m going to miss this place.” She wrinkled her nose. “Some of the freshmen are already begging me to introduce them to Griff so they can take my spot.”
“Is he a good boss?” Autumn asked.
“He’s great,” Ellie said, smiling. “I mean, he’s a good guy and all, but what impresses me the most is how much he knows about the marine life out here. I swear he knows more about some of the whales than my professors. I guess he’s been studying some of them for years.”
“Like Ahab and Moby Dick?” Autumn asked.
Ellie burst out laughing. “Not quite. For a start, Griff isn’t a sociopath, and he never wants to harm any animals. In fact, I’d say some of the whales really love him. When they see the boat they’ll start performing like they know he’s watching. A bit like they’re flirting with him or something.”
“Is it wrong that I want to see that?” Autumn grinned.
“There’s nothing wrong with that at all.”
5
Griff was intensely aware of Autumn’s proximity as he restarted the engines and sailed further out into the ocean. After she’d spent some time with Brett and Ellie, and they’d spotted some razorbacks, he’d suggested she join him in the cramped wheelhouse, while they went searching for an elusive blue whale.
For the most part, she was silent, staring out of the windshield in front of them as he steered toward the place he’d last seen the baleen.
The wheelhouse was built for use, not comfort. He was used to sharing it with Mike, or being on his own. Having Autumn Paxton with her tiny cut off shorts and long, lean legs next to him felt different. As though the room had shrunk.
“It’s hot in here,” she said, pulling her cropped hoodie over her head. From the corner of his eye he could see her tank rise up, revealing her taut, pale abdomen.
Eyes straight ahead, skipper.
“This room’s a sun trap,” he told her. “It’s all the glass. It’s like a hothouse.”
“But you’re still wearing jeans.”
“I save shorts for warmer months. Otherwise I’ve got nowhere to go.”
She laughed. “The same way I won’t wear a coat in New York until the temperature dips below forty degrees.”
“Do you have family in New York?” he asked her, keeping his hands steady on the wheel.
“My dad lives there. And my sister has an apartment there, but she’s often traveling.”
“What does your dad do?”
“He’s a real estate lawyer. He works in Manhattan,” she told him.
“Sounds lucrative.” He raised an eyebrow.
“It is. He was disappointed I didn’t follow in his footsteps and study law.”
There was a wry smile on her face. Strange how different she looked today. At the pier meeting she was all business, with a designer suit and immaculate heels. But now she was wilder, her curvy body on display in those shorts and top, and he really liked what it did for her.
Yeah, well you can like all you want. Just don’t touch, my friend.
“You don’t seem to be doing too badly as a real estate investor.”