Pieces Of Us Page 4

  “So there’s a new woman in town and neither of you thought to give her my number?” Jackson asked as Lucas slid a tray of beers on the table. “At least I know where she lives.” Griff and his two friends were at the local bar for a rare guys’ night out. He watched, amused, as Jackson swallowed a mouthful of cold beer.

  “Don’t harass my tenants.” Lucas shot Jackson a warning glance. “And anyway, I thought you were seeing that programmer from White City.”

  Jackson shrugged. “We ended things last month. So I’m free and single. And we all know that Griff would never date somebody he works with. Not after the Carla fiasco.” He grinned at Griff. “I bet you were delighted to see she’s back.”

  “Over the moon,” Griff said, deadpan.

  “That’ll teach you to date so close to home.”

  “Griff never dates anybody all out,” Lucas pointed out. “He just breaks hearts all around town.”

  “Guys, I’m sitting right here.” Griff took a sip of beer and glanced at Jack. “And leave Autumn alone. She’s too nice for you.”

  Jack’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh yeah. How nice?”

  Lucas leaned back in his chair, glancing with amusement at the two of them. “Ember says she’s pretty. And that she has great shoes, whatever that means.”

  “What kind of shoes?” Jackson leaned in. “I need details here.”

  Lucas’s phone rang and he grimaced as he glanced at the screen. “Gimme a sec. It’s Ember. I gotta take this.”

  Jackson looked at him with amusement. “You only just left her. What the hell could you two have to talk about?”

  Lucas shrugged and took the call. “Hey, baby.” There was a pause. “Are you sure? I’m at the bar.” Another pause. “Okay.” He sighed, glancing at Jackson and Griff. “I need to sing to Arthur.”

  Griff coughed out a laugh.

  “Hey. Any more of that and we’re doing a duet,” Lucas warned him.

  Griff held his hands up. “I did my duties the other night. This one’s all on you.”

  “Well, I’m not doing it with an audience. I’m heading outside.” Lucas sighed and exited through the door, leaving Jackson and Griff.

  It wasn’t often that the three of them got together. With Lucas’s family and Jack’s thriving business, the two of them were hard to pin down. And on the occasional time that they did manage to meet, they were often joined by their friend Breck, as well as Nate and Aiden, partners of Ember’s friends.

  Griff never minded who joined them. But it was nice catching up with his two oldest friends.

  Even if one of them was singing “Baby Shark” in the floodlights outside the bar right now.

  “Seriously, though. This Autumn. She’s single, right?” Jackson asked as the door closed behind Lucas.

  Griff shrugged. “I’ve got no idea. I didn’t ask about her marital status when she was telling me about raising my rent.”

  Jackson laughed. “Did she have a ring on her finger?”

  “What am I? Some kind of stalker?” Griff shook his head. “She’s from New York, she’s pretty, smart, and successful. That’s all I got, except she’s too smart to date a loser like you.” He grinned at Jackson’s outraged expression.

  “Takes one to know one.”

  “Yup.” Griff took another mouthful of beer.

  “So what else do you know?”

  “About Autumn?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Stop asking. I know nothing.” Apart from the fact he couldn’t stop thinking about those heels. Nor about the way his skin heated up when she slid her delicate hand into his.

  Or the way he’d spent last night thinking about her after seeing her on the pier, and how most of those thoughts carried an R rating.

  “Well tomorrow’s the perfect chance to find out,” Jackson told him. “A whole day at sea with the woman who has sexy shoes. I’m almost jealous.”

  Griff sighed loudly. “I told her not to wear the shoes.”

  * * *

  The early morning sun was beating down on the vivid blue ocean as Autumn made her way along Paxton’s Pier toward the large boat moored at the end. Everything she was wearing she’d picked up from Lorne’s Surf Shop yesterday. White tennis shoes and cut-off shorts, along with a tight grey tank beneath a cropped navy hoodie. Nothing she’d ever think of wearing in New York, not even in the blistering heat.

  She hadn’t bothered to straighten her long, dark hair, either, figuring it would get blown into a frizzy mess anyway. Instead, she’d pulled it into a messy bun, with tendrils trailing down her slender neck.

  Her dad would have a fit if he saw her like this. Lydia, on the other hand, would be jumping for joy.

  There was already activity at the boat when she reached the metal gangplank that led from the pier to the boat deck. A young guy was carrying boxes of supplies onboard, and a teenage girl was scrubbing the wooden planks of the deck with a thick brush. Griff was nowhere to be seen. Autumn rolled her shoulders back and pinned a smile on her face before she stepped onto the mesh of the gangplank, trying not to feel completely out of place.

  It was just for one day. To learn more about the whale watching business. Maybe she’d even be able to help.

  “You okay there?” the guy asked as she stepped onto the deck. He was walking out of what looked like a cabin on the far end, his head tipped to the side as he took her in. “You’re a little early for the excursion. We don’t set off for a while yet.”

  “I’m looking for Griff,” she told him. “I’m Autumn Paxton, I’m helping out today.”

  The guy nodded his head. “Oh sure. He’s in the wheelhouse.”

  The last time she’d stepped foot on a boat was for her friend’s wedding reception in Manhattan. That had been more of a cruiser, complete with waiters in white jackets and glasses of champagne as soon as she was onboard.

  She hadn’t been wearing cut-offs and tennis shoes then, either. But she still had no idea where the wheelhouse was.

  “Can you point me in the right direction?” she asked him, looking around the boat. It was bigger than it looked from afar.

  “Up the ladder on the starboard side,” he told her, pointing at a wooden ladder that ran up the side of the cabin. “Hey, Griff,” he called out. “There’s somebody here to see you.”

  Griff climbed down the ladder and Autumn swallowed hard. There was something so easy about him. It was like watching an animal in its natural habitat. There was no guile or false machismo. But you only had to look at him to know who was in charge.

  And yeah, that thought sent a shiver down her spine.

  His long, thick legs were clad in denim, right to the ankles, unlike her own cut-offs. A black t-shirt stretched across his muscled torso, with Angel Sands Whale Watching printed on the back. And a pair of sunglasses were casually atop his head. But it was the way he was smiling at her that made Autumn’s breath catch.

  It felt like she was staring straight into the sun.

  “Hey. I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he called out, pulling his shades over his eyes.

  She pushed down the stupid attraction that rose up every time she saw him. “I said I would. And look,” she said, lifting a foot, “flat shoes.”

  “And very short shorts,” he pointed out with a grin.

  “I figured it might get warm.” Was it wrong that she liked the way he was looking at her legs?

  “Welcome onboard,” he said when he was only a few feet away from her. “I see you’ve met Brett. And that’s Ellie up there,” he said, pointing to the girl on the deck. “Mike’s my second in command, and should be here any minute. And along with you, that’s the crew.”

  “Are they all full time?”

  “Nope. Only me and Mike are permanent. The rest of the staff are seasonal. Students from the oceanography course at the local college. They’re full of enthusiasm and knowledge about the whales and dolphins.”

  She suspected Griff knew more about the marine life than anybody in an academic course. “Do
you take excursions out year round?” she asked him, after she’d shaken Brett and Ellie’s hands.

  “You’re full of questions, aren’t you?” The warmth of his smile echoed in his voice.

  “Sorry. I’ve never been on a boat like this before. It’s all new to me.”

  “I’ve got a few more things to get ready before the passengers arrive. Let’s work and talk at the same time.” He inclined his head. “It’ll be crazy for an hour or so once we set off, and then things will calm down again. On the way back, Ellie or Brett will give a talk about the marine life we’ve spotted, and knowing them they’ll lecture the passengers about reducing plastic waste and environmental harm, too.”

  * * *

  By the time they were out in the open waters, Autumn felt like she was aching all over. Griff hadn’t gone easy on her, and she appreciated that. He’d made her feel part of the team, not somebody just along for the ride.

  Twenty minutes into the cruise, someone shouted that they’d spotted a pod of short beaked dolphins. According to Ellie, they were common around the coast. Listening to her explaining the different types of dolphins to a group of passengers was fascinating. Autumn had no idea that at least five different types of them swam around these shores alone.

  “Do you like working here?” she asked Ellie.

  “I love it. No two days are the same.” Ellie grinned. “Most of my friends are working their way through college in shops or restaurants, but I get to see dolphins and whales and a hundred different types of birds.

  “How long have you worked here?”

  “This is my second year. I’ll be graduating in the fall, then onto study my masters in Baltimore. I’m going to miss this place.” She wrinkled her nose. “Some of the freshmen are already begging me to introduce them to Griff so they can take my spot.”

  “Is he a good boss?” Autumn asked.

  “He’s great,” Ellie said, smiling. “I mean, he’s a good guy and all, but what impresses me the most is how much he knows about the marine life out here. I swear he knows more about some of the whales than my professors. I guess he’s been studying some of them for years.”

  “Like Ahab and Moby Dick?” Autumn asked.

  Ellie burst out laughing. “Not quite. For a start, Griff isn’t a sociopath, and he never wants to harm any animals. In fact, I’d say some of the whales really love him. When they see the boat they’ll start performing like they know he’s watching. A bit like they’re flirting with him or something.”

  “Is it wrong that I want to see that?” Autumn grinned.

  “There’s nothing wrong with that at all.”

  5

  Griff was intensely aware of Autumn’s proximity as he restarted the engines and sailed further out into the ocean. After she’d spent some time with Brett and Ellie, and they’d spotted some razorbacks, he’d suggested she join him in the cramped wheelhouse, while they went searching for an elusive blue whale.

  For the most part, she was silent, staring out of the windshield in front of them as he steered toward the place he’d last seen the baleen.

  The wheelhouse was built for use, not comfort. He was used to sharing it with Mike, or being on his own. Having Autumn Paxton with her tiny cut off shorts and long, lean legs next to him felt different. As though the room had shrunk.

  “It’s hot in here,” she said, pulling her cropped hoodie over her head. From the corner of his eye he could see her tank rise up, revealing her taut, pale abdomen.

  Eyes straight ahead, skipper.

  “This room’s a sun trap,” he told her. “It’s all the glass. It’s like a hothouse.”

  “But you’re still wearing jeans.”

  “I save shorts for warmer months. Otherwise I’ve got nowhere to go.”

  She laughed. “The same way I won’t wear a coat in New York until the temperature dips below forty degrees.”

  “Do you have family in New York?” he asked her, keeping his hands steady on the wheel.

  “My dad lives there. And my sister has an apartment there, but she’s often traveling.”

  “What does your dad do?”

  “He’s a real estate lawyer. He works in Manhattan,” she told him.

  “Sounds lucrative.” He raised an eyebrow.

  “It is. He was disappointed I didn’t follow in his footsteps and study law.”

  There was a wry smile on her face. Strange how different she looked today. At the pier meeting she was all business, with a designer suit and immaculate heels. But now she was wilder, her curvy body on display in those shorts and top, and he really liked what it did for her.

  Yeah, well you can like all you want. Just don’t touch, my friend.

  “You don’t seem to be doing too badly as a real estate investor.”

  “I’ll let you know after a few months of owning this place.” She tied her hoodie around her waist and fixed the tendrils of hair that had fallen from her ponytail. Griff slowed the boat as they approached the spot he was looking for. From below he could hear Brett telling the passengers to look out for more whales – blue ones this time.

  “Do you plan on staying here permanently?” he asked her.

  “In Angel Sands?” She tipped her head to the side. “I’m not sure. I have a few decisions to make, and I’m hoping being here can give me some clarity.”

  He opened his mouth to ask what kind of decisions, then closed it again. It was none of his damn business. One of the passengers shouted when they spotted a blow hole, and Brett radioed up to the wheelhouse, asking Griff to cut the engines for a moment.

  “That’s a blue whale up ahead,” he said softly to Autumn. “You might want to go down and look.”

  “Are you coming?”

  “No, I’ll stay here and watch.”

  “Then I’ll stay here, too.”

  It was stupid how much those few words warmed him.

  “Oh my god, is that it?” Autumn said, leaning forward until her nose was practically touching the glass in front of them. “Is that the blue whale blowing water up?”

  He bit down a grin at her enthusiasm. His hands tingled with the need to touch her. “Yeah. You see how straight and high the water is going?” he said, pointing. “And if you look on its back, you can see a really small dorsal fin. That and the color of the skin makes it different to the fin whale we saw earlier.”

  She looked over her shoulder at him, her lips parted. “You know a lot about them, don’t you.”

  He shrugged. “It’s my job.”

  “It’s huge,” she whispered as the whale dove below the surface, its tail flipping into the air before disappearing. She lifted her hand to her hair, and he automatically glanced at her ring finger. It was empty. He filed that away with other things he wouldn’t be telling Jackson.

  “Do you get many returning passengers?” she asked him.

  “Some come out a few times while they’re on vacation. Others return year after year. But most of our passengers are a one time shot. People who get tired of sitting on the beach all day, or hiking in the hills.”

  “How about off season? What’s your income stream then?”

  His lips twitched. They were back to the questions. “We do executive charters, school trips, that kind of thing. And we try to maximize the in-season income to ride out the downtime. Expenses drop in off season, too. The students are seasonal workers, and Mike takes on other jobs. Plus I only use fuel when I take out the boat.”

  “But the pier rental has to be paid.”

  “Yep.”

  “So if it went up things would get tight in the winter?” she asked, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

  “Yeah, but everything’s tight in the winter. We’ve always survived.”

  “Have you thought about diversifying?” she asked him. “You could run evening cruises. Offer dinner and dancing or something?”

  “Have you seen the galley?” he asked her. “It fits one person in at a squeeze. You couldn’t cater for people on there.”


  “You could get Delmonico’s to cater.”

  “And have them accuse me of stealing their customers?” Carla would be on him like a screaming banshee. He shuddered at the thought. “I’m thinking that might not work.”

  “When was the last time you raised your prices?” she asked, changing tack.

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Are you worried about me being able to pay the rent? Because it gets paid on time every month.”

  She blinked. “I’m sorry. I just…” She took a deep breath. “I know I’m an outsider and I’m a woman, which is a double cross in the box. But I understand business and I want this to work for us all.” She shook her head. “I came on too strong.”

  He immediately felt like an ass. “No, you didn’t. I reacted badly. I’m sorry.”

  She nodded, but he could already sense the change in her. Like she’d pulled the shutters down. Her previous ease was replaced by tension that held her back ramrod straight.

  “Maybe I’ll go and listen to Brett after all,” she said softly, giving him a brief smile. “It’s not every day you get to learn about blue whales while one’s darting around in front of you.”

  “Sure.” He nodded. “Brett’s a mine of information. Go and listen while you can.”

  * * *

  Twilight had painted the sky and clouds in orange and peach hues, contrasting with the dark blue of the ocean. Autumn climbed off the gangway that led to the pier, and thanked the crew for their welcoming support.

  “Anytime,” Brett told her, as Ellie leaned in to give her a hug.

  “And we’ll see you around, right?” Ellie asked. “Since you work here and all.”

  “Almost certainly.” Autumn smiled.

  Mike nodded at her and slung his bag over his shoulder. “Have a good evening.”

  “You too.”

  Behind her, Griff was closing up the boat and locking the gangplank. “You heading home?” he asked her as the other three left.

  “Yeah. There’s a shower and a glass of wine with my name on them.”

  “I’ll walk you up there. My truck’s parked at the coffee shop.”