Protecting Melissa (Holiday Cove 4)

Somewhere between Chase’s startling wake-up call, running through the city to escape Henry’s mob of hit men, and then the explosion and panic over whether or not Chase was hurt, made the past day feel more like a month.

I was tempted to ask what else could go wrong, but worried that tempting fate wasn’t in my best interest all things considered.

“Everything is okay for now—” at his comments, the boat rolled so hard that my stomach swooped.

See? Tempting fate. Never a good plan.

Chase began again, “There is another storm system on the way.”

“Peaches and cream,” I grit out between clenched teeth. I did my best to keep my more colorful words in check when Jackson was present.

Chase offered a small smile that lifted one corner of his mouth. “We’re hanging tough. Apparently, Matt has budget minded preferences when it comes to interior design, but this thing’s solid.” He swept his eyes around the cabin to emphasize his point about the furnishings. They weren’t tacky or even outdated, but gave a very bare-bones, basic feel to the room. “It could be a lot worse. There hasn’t been that much water up on deck.”

My stomach unclenched and I nodded along at his report. “That’s a relief. I just wish we weren’t so far from shore.” I left my reasoning unspoken. In case things went south—further south—we’d have a better chance of making it to land in an inflatable life raft if we weren’t a day’s sail away from shore.

Chase nodded. He’d already had the same thoughts. “We’ll be okay. Can I get you anything before I head back up?”

I glanced over at Jackson, who was thankfully engrossed in his movie, and shook my head. “I think we’re okay. But thank you.”

Chase smiled. “What did I tell you about thanking me all the time?”

I laughed softly at his correction. It was nice to have a moment of normality in between all of the drama. “What would you rather have me say? No, and get out of here you good for nothing rascal?”

Chase dropped his head back and laughed. Beside me, Jackson threw off his headphones, suddenly very concerned that he was missing out on something fun. He laughed along with Chase as though he were in on the joke from the beginning. “Hey, Jackson, I think you need to teach your mom some of your pirating vocabulary.”

Jackson smiled up at Chase, his gaze full on hero worship. “Ahoy me hearties!” he bellowed.

“Yer ma just called me a rascal. What say ye?” Chase asked, cocking his head and holding up a curled finger, doing a rather charming Captain Hook impression.

Jackson clapped a palm over his face. “Oh, Mom.”

I laughed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I needed to brush up my pirate talk. What should I have said?”

Jackson jumped up, bouncing on his knees against the mattress. “Scoundrels and scallywags! That’s how pirates talk!”

“Argh! The captain has spoken!” Chase replied, jeering and trying to keep in character through a bubble of laughter that looked just about to break loose.

Jackson clapped and burst into a laugh, “Yo ho, yo ho, the pirate’s life for me!”

Chase sang along and I waved my fingers like I was conducting their off-key rendition of the classic pirating song. We all dissolved into laughter together and enjoyed the levity of the moment.

Right up until a swell sent Chase stumbling to grab a hold of the nearest wall.

23

Chase

I jumped at the touch of a warm hand on my shoulder and turned to find Melissa watching me. “Shit,” I rubbed my hands over my face. “How long was I out?”

She smiled softly. “Not long. You were talking to yourself when I first got up here. So, unless you were talking in your sleep, you just nodded off for a minute.”

I groaned. Melissa chuckled. “Chase don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve been up all night, two nights in a row actually. You need some rest.”

“I’ll rest when we’re safe.” I lifted my eyes to hers. “When you’re safe.”

She rounded the chair and I sucked in a quick breath at the sight of her legs peeking out from under the long t-shirt she wore to bed the night before. The memories from our night together in Cabo flared in my belly and I fought back the urge to adjust myself. She took a seat beside me in the co-captain’s chair and tucked her legs off to one side.

“I think we’re safe now,” she said, looking out the windshield. The sky was clear—all traces of the storm were erased from the sky. The black, menacing clouds were gone, leaving nothing but bright blue skies.

I glanced over at Melissa. “I was just asleep for a minute, huh?”

She ducked her chin and smiled to herself.

“Cause last thing I remember is a shitload of rain and the sky looked more like a mud puddle.”