she asked, turning away from him.
He was silent for a moment. Watching, of course, and probably plotting some terribly efficient course of action. Whatever Cal thought he saw, however, remained a mystery to her.
“I think business has been down on the island overall,” he said finally, unfortunately coming to precisely the right conclusion, like he always did. That was one of the most annoying things about Cal. He usually was right.
He shifted until he was blocking her path to the dock, unless she crawled over him, which she hadn’t done since she was seven. Or maybe nine. Their competitive moments blurred together. What she did know was that she had no plans for full-body contact with him today.
Today.
Whoa. Wrong idea. More clothes would have been good or perhaps a suit of armor. She’d never had the urge to think about Cal naked before. Cal’s family owned half the island, and he was the prodigal son who’d come home six months ago after a glorious stint in the military. He’d fought the battles and had the medals and the scars to prove it. She didn’t doubt his heroism, but his timing was rotten. She’d come back to Discovery Island two years ago herself to do some starting over and having Cal around now wouldn’t make her job any easier. Somehow, she rubbed him the wrong way and he returned the favor. The last thing she needed was his brooding self backseat driving or paying any attention at all to her plans for the dive shop.
And he would.
She just knew it.
He’d never, ever cut her any slack, not since the time they’d met when she was six years old and she’d first come to the island with her family for summer vacations in the cheerfully ramshackle, ocean-side cottage that had belonged to her grandmother. The cottage’s three bedrooms barely afforded enough room for Piper’s parents, her three brothers and herself, but the cozy camping had been part of the appeal. She’d loved those summers. Now the cottage was hers, which was a good thing given how little money she made as a dive instructor. Once she owned Dream Big and Dive outright, however, things would change. She’d be able to expand and to implement some of the ideas she had. All she had to do was win the Fiesta contract so she could convince the bank to loan her the money to buy out her partner.
Cal had driven her six-year-old self crazy. Twenty years later, he’d just gotten better at doing it. Of course, she also knew how to return that favor.
It was strange, though, how much he looked like her definition of a hero. He was a big man, pushing more than six feet. Dark stubble shadowed his jaw like he’d had better things to do than shave and didn’t mind living rough. Cal owned the space around him and not merely because he was tall, his wide-legged stance ensuring he easily rode the gentle swell and slap of the marina water against the boat’s hull. He was the kind of man who controlled any situation.
She stared at him and he watched her right back. She had the sudden feeling he knew exactly what she was going to do, before she did it. When she stepped away from him, however, his hand slid off her neck and he let her go.
“How are my business plans any of your business?” she replied. Not the politest of questions, but they had a history. He nodded, like she’d just confirmed something he already knew, and she couldn’t help but notice he didn’t smile. The fine lines around his eyes didn’t come from laughter, she realized, but from hours at sea. This man was 100 percent warrior.
And hot enough that she wanted to take him down to the deck herself...
He leaned back against the edge of her dive boat. “Because I’m bidding, too.” His dark brown eyes were unnervingly gorgeous. God had definitely not been playing fair the day Cal had been gifted with that feature.
“Tell me you’re joking.” She kept her voice steady, when she wanted to scream. Unfortunately, she wasn’t surprised. Of course Cal would go after the contract she had her eye on.
“Afraid not.” He said the two words calmly, as if he hadn’t just dropped the mother of all bombshells on her. She needed the contract. Had to have it or give up her dream of buying out Del, her partner, because every bank she’d approached so far for the loan had made increased cash flow a condition of borrowing the money.
“Why?” she demanded.
“Because I run a dive center.” He made it sound so logical.
“You run a command center,” she countered, going on the offensive. “You handle all the search-and-rescue ops for the sector. Why do you want to run dive trips for a cruise ship?”
“Look around you,” he said drily. “And then tell me how busy you think I am.”
“We’ve had one tropical storm this summer.” Which probably only underscored his point. One was singular and nowhere near enough to base a business on. She understood—she just didn’t like it.
“I want to bring in more former SEALs to lead dive trips, and it was still a free country, last time I checked. In order to hire more divers, I need to increase our revenue. When I win the Fiesta contract, I do exactly that.”
He said it as if the contract was a sure thing.
Maybe it was. He was a veteran and a highly experienced diver. He’d trained U.S. Navy SEALs, the same guys who ensured they did still live in the free country Cal had so mockingly mentioned, and there was no way the executives evaluating the proposals wouldn’t weigh his military service into the equation. Plus, his plan of hiring former veterans was unspeakably nice. Until he’d thrown his name into the ring, she’d seriously had her competition beaten. She narrowed her eyes. Fortunately, she still had a card of her own to play.
“You’re not the only one who needs to increase revenue.”
“So, business is down for you.”
It was, and at the worst possible time, too. She needed a beefed-up balance sheet to get her business loan.
She gave him an assessing look. “For you, me and everyone else.”
He shrugged. “I heard several other dive shops had submitted a proposal to Fiesta.”
“The cruise line has plenty of choices.” Unfortunately. No, she’d think positive. She was good at what she did and she’d win this one.
The other option wasn’t acceptable.
“That contract is mine,” she said. She’d visualized nailing each and every dive before she’d climbed the tower in a competition, and she’d do exactly the same here. Cal might be a decorated veteran and combat swimmer, but she was a U.S. national platform-diving champion and a heartbreak story. She didn’t like playing the celebrity card, but she’d do whatever it took to win. After her accident, she’d spent two years in the media spotlight, and her name on a dive roster would make people look twice.
He shook his head, shoving off the railing. “Again, it’s a free country. You can think what you like.”
His tone, however, made it perfectly clear he, at least, didn’t think she stood a chance.
“You bet.”
Dream Big and Dive was her dream and she wasn’t letting go. She might not have the cash to purchase Del’s interest in the business
