Cadence

Ten

Ten

For the better part of three days Cadence and Curtis made avoiding one another an art form. It was late afternoon on the third day when Curtis spied her scrubbing an aft portion of the deck. He’d been telling himself he needed time to think, but for all his thinking he’d reached noconclusions and had little more to show for the effort than a miserable headache. Much as he wanted to avoid the confrontation and pretend nothing had ever happened, he’d never once taken the coward’s route and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now. He decided to have it out with her sooner as opposed to later.

He took a healthy gulp of sea air and strode across the deck.

She stood as he approached, as though sensing his presence, or perhaps she recognized his footsteps. His heart hammered in sudden apprehension, like a green boy trying to impress the prettiest girl in town. He had no idea what to say to her, where to begin. She held her back to him for so long he wasn’t entirely prepared when she turned those huge limpid eyes to him.

His beating heart quite nearly stopped. Her eyes were his downfall. They always had been, and for what felt like an eternity, he could not think, or breathe, or even move. If this was suffocating the sensation was anything but unpleasant, and for a single magical moment all else ceased to exist.

Could she feel it?

Obviously not.

Cadence stood rigid, shooting daggers up into Curtis’s eyes. She fingered the heavy holystone she’d been cleaning with as though she’d like nothing more than to send it sailing into his head. He took an involuntary step back. The stone clattered to the deck.

“I thought you might want to crack my skull with that.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Don’t tempt me.” She bent to retrieve her cleaning supplies, completely ignoring him.

He reached for her, his hand gently brushing her elbow.

She jerked away from his touch, whirling to face him, eyes sizzling with anger. “What do you want?” she snapped.

“We need to talk about the other night,” he said, resisting the urge to bolt.

Cadence closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath. She was beautiful with the blue sea glittering in the background even in her cabin boy costume. Opening her eyes, she sighed in defeat. “Very well, but I will not go to your cabin. If you wish to speak with me it will be here on the deck.”

“Fair enough.” Curtis clasped his hands behind his back and together they moved slowly along the deck keeping a safe distance from the other crewman.

He cleared his throat, flashing a crooked smile. “You can give me another black eye if you wish.” Humor never failed him. He’d say something funny, she’d giggle, and…

Cadence scowled, a flicker of hurt darting across her face. “Don’t try to be witty, Curtis. Your charming smiles aren’t going to fixthis.”