didn’t mean you,” Doyle assured her quickly. He directed an aggravated glance at the faerie as he realized his mistake. Of course Violet had assumed he was talking to her.
Violet shot him a disbelieving look. “Who did you mean, then?” she demanded, her voice still husky. “I’m fairly sure you weren’t calling your friend here ‘little sister’. He looks manly enough to me.”
Doyle was forced to tamp down an unreasonable surge of jealousy toward Manny. “I didn’t…I’m sorry, okay? Let’s just get you back on board,” he said with an irritable sigh.
“Captain Doyle’s just a little hot with me for no keeping a closer eye on things,” Manny said in a smooth tone. “He only wants to keep you safe, lindita.” He gave Violet a reassuring smile, but a question flickered in his dark eyes as they traveled to Doyle’s.
Doyle shook his head in silent apology and concentrated on guiding Violet to the ladder. He ignored the faerie now flitting back and forth in front of them. Apparently she found the situation humorous, her attempts to stifle her laughter with her small hands failing miserably. The dust from her wings changed from purple to green, and it drifted into his face as the wind changed direction, tickling his nose.
He sent her an irate glare. Most types of faerie dust made humans sneeze, and right on cue, Violet and Manny erupted in unison.
“Bless you,” Doyle said, unable to keep the sourness from his tone.
The faerie shot upward with a muffled chortle.
“Just a little salt water in the nose, eh, lindita?” Manny chuckled.
Violet tilted a smile in Manny’s direction and Doyle fumed.
They reached the ladder and Manny managed to ascend it first, helping Violet up and leading her to a bench. Doyle scrambled after them and hurried to Violet’s other side.
“Thank you, Manny. Can you get everyone back aboard while I tend to Miss Hendrickson?”
Manny gave him another questioning look, but rose and did as he asked.
Doyle placed a hand on Violet’s shoulder. Though he felt her stiffen, he couldn’t seem to make himself stop touching her. Her skin was warm and satiny beneath his palm. His gaze dropped to the rounded tops of her breasts where they peeked from the scooped neckline of her bathing suit. They rose and fell gently with her breath, the sight making his throat go dry.
He jerked his eyes back to her face and found her studying him with a puzzled frown. He swallowed. “I’m sorry.” His voice sounded rough and he swallowed again. “I was just checking to make sure you had no visible signs of injury.”
One delicate sable brow lifted. “Whatever it was hit me in the head.” Violet reached up to gingerly explore her scalp.
“Of course.” Doyle nodded quickly, his fingers brushing hers as he began his own examination.
Violet winced and sucked in a breath as he found a tender spot.
“Sorry,” he said again, lightening his touch. “The skin doesn’t seem to be broken, but you do have quite a bump. Does it hurt anywhere else?”
He gave the faerie, still hovering above them, a meaningful glance. She pulled a small cloth pouch from inside her dress and darted down to sprinkle silvery healing dust over the area he was probing with his fingers.
Violet shook her head. “No. I think I’m alright. It’s already starting to feel better.”
Doyle smiled and Violet’s rosy lips quivered upward in response. She smelled of the ocean and sun-ripened fruit. Her hair was drying into shining ripples of silk beneath his hand, and he longed to run his fingers through its length. She was so close, her eyes like wide pools of liquid amethyst. A man could lose himself in their crystalline depths. If he just leaned in a few inches, he would be able to taste her…
An annoying chorus of giggles broke the spell. Doyle shook his head to clear it and reluctantly pulled his hand back from Violet.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Violet wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. First the handsome captain had blamed her for almost drowning. Then he’d insisted on taking care of her himself and sent the other, friendlier man away. She could have sworn she’d caught him ogling her cleavage, but he’d insisted he was only looking for injuries. Her head had been throbbing. But when he’d touched her, his fingers had literally soothed away the pain, as if by magic.
To make things even more confusing, just now there had been a moment when she was sure he was about to kiss her. A shiver went through her, her lips still tingling at the enticing thought. His sea-green eyes had held such heat as they stared into hers. But he’d pulled away when his two girlfriends showed up.
“Are you okay?” gasped the woman in the red bikini. Her voice dripped with concern, but her eyes roamed the captain’s muscular chest as she spoke. It was the clingy blonde he’d had on his arm earlier.
“What happened?” her friend asked in an anxious tone, steadily grinding a piece of chewing gum between her teeth.
Captain Doyle straightened and crossed his arms over the width of his chest, as if to distance himself from Violet. She felt a bright flash of annoyance at him, mingled with a touch of disgust for herself. She reached down to pull a towel from her backpack, using it as an excuse to scoot away from the fickle captain.
“Something big knocked into me from behind. It was probably a shark,” she replied briskly, enjoying the discomfort that flitted across both women’s faces as their eyes traveled from her to the water in which they’d just been swimming. “I felt it dragging me down before I passed out.”
“Did it bite you?” asked the one with the gum, grinding it harder as she stared at Violet in horrified fascination.
“I...” Violet looked down to make sure she wasn’t bleeding. It suddenly occurred to her that the only way a shark could have pulled her down was with its teeth. But all she found were a few light abrasions where her skin had rubbed against rock. Although relieved not to find any more serious injury, she discovered, with a surge of disappointment, that her favorite silver anklet had fallen off.
She looked up to find the woman still looking at her expectantly. “No, I wasn’t bitten,” she said, feeling foolish. She must have imagined being dragged down.
“Thank Gawd!” the woman exclaimed, appearing not to spot the inconsistency in Violet’s shark story.
Violet glanced at Captain Doyle, sure he’d catch it right away. But he was staring off into space, not even listening to her. Apparently she no longer merited his attention. Miffed and a little hurt, she stood up and wrapped her towel tighter around her midsection. “Excuse me. I need to use the restroom.”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
“It wasn’t a shark,” the faerie piped up as soon as the word left Violet’s mouth. “It was a merrow. That’s why I wasn’t able to warn her away in time. Sometimes my signals get crossed when other magical beings are involved.”
Doyle stared at her, frustrated with his inability to reply.
“I
