was in reality a mind so closed that it hadn’t even contemplated the possibility of her being the boss.
On a sudden surge of anger, Dyan went into her cabin, picked up the parcels of new clothes that she’d bought, and threw them, with as much force as she could find, against the far wall. The boxes burst open, the flowing silk of dresses and underwear, the bright cottons of swimsuits and shirts spilling over the floor and furniture. Feeling a little better, but not much, Dyan went up on deck.
Oliver joined her much sooner than she expected him to. She was standing in the bow of the boat, looking out at the velvety blackness of the night, pinpricked by stars and lights from the distant islands. The wind caught her hair, tendrils of it hiding her face, for which she was glad. Oliver came up to her but she didn’t look round.
‘That didn’t take long,’ she commented wryly. ‘I take it we’re turning back?’
Leaning an arm on the rail, Oliver said, ‘I didn’t make the call.’
Dyan stiffened her shoulders. ‘You had already decided, then,’ she said flatly.
‘Yes—but to go on, not to turn back.’
That brought her swiftly round to face him, an impatient hand going up to push her hair aside. ‘You mean you’re willing to trust me—and without consulting Barney?’ Her voice was full of surprise, and there was a flare of hope in her eyes.
Oliver nodded, and suddenly grinned, the unexpected smile so transforming his face that he seemed like an entirely different man. ‘I thought we’d leave him waiting by the phone, wondering what the hell’s happening.’
‘Thanks,’ Dyan said in husky gratitude. ‘It usually takes Barney about an hour of persuasion before a new customer will give me a try,’ she confided, on a sudden wave of happiness.
Oliver spread his hands. ‘I recognise a fait accompli when I see it. I don’t like the way it was done,’ he paused, his eyes resting on her, ‘but I’m willing to give you a try—Logan.’
Dyan laughed, said goodnight, and went down to her cabin to pick up all the new clothes and carefully hang them in the wardrobe.
THERE was no set time for breakfast on board the ship. Those of the crew who weren’t on watch went to the galley when they felt like it, or when they were no longer able to resist the savoury smells of frying bacon and hash browns. Dyan usually contented herself with fresh orange juice and toast, so often had her breakfast in her cabin, brought to her by Joe. But on their first morning at sea she went down to join the others. Today she was wearing what she described as her working clothes; a pair of shorts and a loose, short-sleeved shirt, and a pair of yellow canvas espadrilles on her feet, but today the clothes were new. Her hair she had woven from the top of her head into one thick plait that she’d fastened with a yellow bow, although ordinarily she would have used just an elastic band. And ordinarily her face would have been clean of make-up, because there was no way she wanted to be seen by the men as a sex object, but today she’d looked at her bare face in the mirror and impulsively added enough make-up to enhance her appearance.
It was still early and most of the crew were in the galley, but Oliver wasn’t there. He came in about ten minutes later, looking as if he hadn’t slept very well. All the other men, without exception, were wearing shorts, but he had on a pair of lightweight trousers, although he had put on a short-sleeved shirt. Dyan was sitting at a table with Russ, and after helping himself from the buffet Oliver came over to join them.
‘Good morning.’
Russ gave him a nod, but Dyan smiled at him and said, ‘You look as if you’re suffering from jet lag or something.’
‘Probably,’ he agreed. ‘My body clock hasn’t caught up yet.’ He looked at her. ‘I didn’t give you the coordinates you wanted last night.’
‘That’s OK. There’s plenty of time. We have to go to Antigua first to pick up some more members of the crew. That’s where we’re heading now. So you can count this part of the trip as a pleasure cruise,’ she said lightly.
‘I’ve never been the kind of person who goes on a leisurely cruise,’ Oliver remarked. ‘Not enough to do.’
‘Why not go up and have a look round the bridge? I’m sure Russ will be pleased to show you round.’
‘We already did that last night,’ Russ remarked. ‘After you’d gone down to your cabin.’
Dyan glanced at Oliver, guessing immediately that he’d gone to talk to Russ about her; to find out if she really was respected by the crew, if she really did know her job as she’d claimed. His face was impassive, but the fact that he showed no emotion told its own story.
‘I hope you were reassured?’ she said lightly.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Reassured?’
‘If I were in your position I’d do some checking, too.’
‘I told him I’d as soon sail under your command as any other expedition leader in the company,’ Russ said brusquely.
She smiled her thanks at him and stood up. ‘If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.’
Russ only nodded, but Oliver stood up politely. Dyan glanced at him as she went by, but his eyes were on her legs, which didn’t altogether displease her.
Dyan went to the ops room to carry out the daily checks, mark up the logs. Her first concern was to see what other craft were in the area, to make sure that they weren’t being followed. But they were still too near the islands and there were too many blips on the screen to be certain one way or the other. It wouldn’t be until they’d left Antigua behind and were out of the main traffic lanes that they could check for sure.
A beeper sounded and Dyan went into the office to answer the phone. Without waiting for the caller to speak, she said, ‘Hi, Barney. Have you got any nails left?’
‘No nails, no fingers,’ he replied cheerfully. ‘What happened; didn’t Balfour show?’
‘There are some people, Barney, who believe in the equality of the sexes.’
‘Yeah—mostly women. You talk him into it yourself?’
‘Something like that.’
‘Define “something”.’
‘We were already at sea before he realised,’ Dyan admitted.
Barney gave a shout of laughter. ‘Nice one, Logan. But if you have any trouble, put him on to me.’
‘I don’t somehow think that will be necessary.’
‘Is that so? Balfour’s fallen for that luscious body of yours, has he?’
Glancing through the glass partition, Dyan saw that Oliver had come into the ops room in search of her, and was profoundly grateful that the partition was soundproof. ‘He appreciates my mind,’ she said primly.
That
