really matter. As I said earlier, it’s not my main cause of concern.’
He looked at her thoughtfully for a long moment. ‘As a matter of fact I agree with you,’ he said finally. ‘To the extent that the outward manifestations of one’s femininity, or masculinity for that matter, may not always be a true guide.’
‘Oh, I’m so relieved to hear you say so!’ Sidonie smiled at him widely and then was struck by an awful thought which caused her to start to colour and add disjointedly, ‘Not...I mean...not in any personal sense, of course! Just that it reflects that you could be a thinking, fairly intelligent sort of person... Oh, dear,’ she wound down unhappily, ‘perhaps I should say no more.’
‘Perhaps,’ he agreed but with a wicked little glint of amusement dancing in his eyes. ‘But until you make up your mind on my intelligence or otherwise, may I make a practical suggestion this time? Why don’t you unpack, have a shower and change? You don’t need to be careful of water while we’re in the marina; I’ll fill up again before we go—and I’ll start dinner. The sun has slipped past the yard arm, in case you hadn’t noticed.’
* * *
Half an hour later Sidonie emerged from the forward cabin a bit hesitantly. The shower had been wonderful, the cabin, although small, had ample space for her possessions and she’d changed into a pair of white shorts and one of the T-shirts she’d bought. She’d also washed her hair and plaited it. The aromas coming from the galley were delicious, but despite all this she couldn’t help but be struck by the thought that she’d committed herself to sharing a very confined space with a total stranger and she didn’t even know for how long.
So she was quiet as they ate grilled lamb chops, a potato casserole topped with cheese and tomato, and fresh green beans, followed by a fresh fruit salad and cream. She also declined any more wine and was just gearing herself up to ask some pertinent questions when Mike Brennan pushed away his dessert plate and said idly, ‘I’d guess you’d like to know my plans.’
‘Oh. Yes,’ she replied gratefully.
‘Know anything about the Whitsunday area?’
‘No,’ she confessed. ‘Not a lot. I boned up on cattle and cattle stations et cetera—I’m actually a walking mine of information on different breeds...Simmental, Poll Herefords, Charolais as well as artificial insemination and the like, which was a bit of a waste of time as it’s turned out although they say knowledge can never be useless—but I wasn’t expecting to be out on the water.’
‘Well, come and have a look at the map,’ he said, again looking wickedly amused, and a moment later was showing her the main islands in the area. ‘Hayman, Hook, Whitsunday, Haslewood, Hamilton all have protected anchorages, so what I plan is a leisurely cruise around them for a couple of weeks and then I’ll be taking her down to Tin Can Bay, which is to be her home base.’ His finger moved a long way down the map and Sidonie’s eyes widened.
His own eyes narrowed faintly as he watched her and he said after a moment, ‘That will be something for us to make a mutual decision about—whether you come that far or I drop you back here.’
‘I see.’ She thought for a bit and looked around. ‘It looks brand-new, this boat.’
‘It is. There are only about twenty hours on the log, which is why I decided to take on crew. There are inevitably teething problems on new boats and it’s handy to have someone else on board.’
‘I would have thought you needed a man.’
‘As a matter of fact I’ve had some excellent crew, sailing-wise, who were girls, although none with your mechanical experience. And even if they can’t sail it’s a great help to have someone to cook when things are going wrong.’
‘I see,’ Sidonie said again, mentally digesting this and wondering what else those girls had been good at.
‘What you’re wondering now, my friend Sidonie,’ he said with a tinge of irony, ‘doesn’t sit that well with the sentiments you expressed earlier.’
Sidonie raised her expressive grey eyes to his and there was a certain cool hauteur in them. ‘No? Which sentiments were those?’
‘That women can be good at all sorts of things, as you yourself are, and men should be able to accept that and see beyond the frills and furbelows. At least I think that’s what you were trying to say.’
‘Ah,’ she murmured, not lowering her gaze by a fraction, ‘I was. I was not, however, to be seen kissing you in public this morning or, more to the point, being kissed by you after crewing on your boat.’
A look of exasperation tempered by some devilish humour came to his expression. ‘All the same I didn’t sleep with them; they were only on board for the trip down from Townsville where I...where the boat was bought, and because they were sweet, nice kids who’d enjoyed every minute of their adventure, and because I know one of their brothers rather well, I kissed them goodbye. Furthermore, in case you weren’t aware of it, it was not the kind of kissing lovers indulge in; people are very informal in this part of the world and among the boating fraternity, Miss Hill; and if those kind of quite innocent things are going to shock you all the time, we may have to rethink our...association.’
‘It’s up to you,’ Sidonie said levelly. ‘I just like to get things quite clear in my mind,’ she added.
He stared at her then shook his head wryly. ‘I’ve got the feeling whatever I say will be taken down and used in evidence against me but for what it’s worth here goes—I did have a friend, the brother I mentioned a moment ago, lined up for these sea trials but he broke a leg a couple of days ago. That’s how I came to be reduced to seeking strange crew, little to know how strange they were going to be,’ he said with a lethal kind of gentleness. ‘However, I have, over the years of cruising in yachts, used women crew—even strange women crew at times, which I would have thought merely demonstrated that I’m not a male chauvinist. Only to discover—’ his lips twisted ‘—that it has caused you to feel sure it’s a deep, devious ploy to lure them into my bed.’
Sidonie raised an eyebrow. ‘Can you tell me it’s never happened?’
‘Yes, I can,’ he replied equably but with less latent humour. ‘In fact I can go further and say quite catagorically that I have never asked any woman to step on board any boat with an ulterior motive in mind. You’re quite safe, Sidonie, but of course I can only say it; whether you believe me or not is up to you.’
Sidonie pursed her lips then said at length, ‘All right, I’ll accept that with the proviso that you also promise no ulterior motives develop later on—’ He swore beneath his breath, but she continued doggedly, ‘And I refuse to be embarrassed about any of this despite your efforts to make me feel so.’
Mike Brennan stared at her for a full minute, looking every bit as hawkish as he was capable of, but Sidonie’s gaze didn’t falter. Finally a reluctant and dry little smile twisted his lips as he said, ‘Why do I have the impression that if anyone’s biting off more than they can chew it’s me?’
For the first time a spark of humour lit Sidonie’s eyes although she replied gravely, ‘I have no idea.’
‘I wonder.’ He paused, seemed about to say more then changed the subject. ‘I’ll give you a guided tour of the galley, the freezers, fridges, et cetera, and how they operate. I think that might be enough for tonight. Would one day on, one day
