Breathless Encounter. Cindy Dees

brief and to the point.

      “They went down at sea. No one knows how.”

      “Where?”

      “Not far from here, in fact. A couple hundred kilometers south of our current position.” She’d finally worked up the nerve to sail through the area a few days ago. It had been eerie, knowing she was following the last known coordinates her parents had reported before they disappeared.

      For all she knew, she’d sailed right over their watery graves. She hoped she had, at any rate. She’d waited nearly a decade to say a proper goodbye to them. Although, she wasn’t at all sure that downing most of a bottle of cheap wine and going on a drunk crying jag had been much of a farewell. Yet another screwup in her life to live with.

      She noticed that Aiden was staring at her. “What?”

      “No wonder you freaked out at nearly drowning. It had to bring back thoughts of how your parents must have died. I’m sorry.”

      Thank God she hadn’t thought about it when she’d been fighting for her own life against the sea. It would have done her in. Even now, thinking that was how her parents had spent their final moments was enough to choke her up. She laid down her fork with excessive care and stared unseeing at the china pattern wavering beyond her tears.

      Hands reached down for her. Pulled her to her feet. A warm chest materialized against her cheek and awkward arms surrounded her.

      A chagrined voice murmured in her hair, “I’ve gone and done it again, haven’t I? I’ve upset you.” A sigh. “I’m sorry.”

      Why so many tears came, she had no idea. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t shed plenty over the years for her parents. They’d died ten years ago, for crying out loud. And yet, the wound felt as raw and unbearable as ever. Maybe it was being out here so close to where they’d died that brought out the old feelings of loss and abandonment.

      She cried hard enough on Aiden’s chest that her borrowed mascara had no doubt ruined his shirt. She must look as bedraggled as a wet dog. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I never cry this much.”

      “You had a pretty bad scare.”

      “But I’m not normally a wimp.”

      “I already gathered that. Any woman who’d come out here alone and take on big international fishing companies has too much courage for her own good.”

      She swiped at her face. “I must look like a bad clown.”

      He handed her a discreetly monogrammed handkerchief. “I think I like you better without makeup.”

      She smiled gratefully. “You’re a gentleman for saying so, but it’s not necessary with me.”

      “Why not? Don’t you deserve to be treated with respect? Like a lady?”

      That made her laugh. “A lady? Me?” She was a hippie environmentalist wannabe following somewhat pathetically and entirely unsuccessfully in her family’s footsteps.

      He looked her up and down in a way that stole her breath away. “Yes, you, a lady.”

      “Brain’s a little waterlogged from all that swimming, huh?”

      One corner of his mouth twitched up wryly. “I’ve been told that before.”

      “By whom?”

      “Gemma says so frequently.”

      “Why is she out here helping you guys nab pirates? She doesn’t strike me as the type.”

      “She’s a scientist,” Aiden answered cryptically.

      She got the distinct feeling he didn’t want to say any more on the subject. “What’s she studying?” Sunny persisted.

      “Aquatic stuff.”

      Wow. That was descriptive. Was there some big secret around the doctor’s research? Maybe he was worried she’d film Gemma’s work or something. She was trying to figure out a delicate way to ask him if that was his concern when a male voice intruded sharply over a loudspeaker.

      “Incoming pirate vessel. All hands on deck. Prepare for combat.”