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display of disgust. “What grosses me out the most is that I slept in that bed upstairs last night. Ugh. If I had a more successful history as an arsonist, I’d consider setting the sheets on fire, but I don’t think that’s my best move.”
    If her intent was to cut the tension in the room and get the men to stop feeling sorry for her, then she was a success. Even Theo felt a twinge of admiration interfering with his disdain for her.
    Will grinned and rested his pry bar on his shoulder. “Good call.”
    She returned his smile with a warm, if grateful, smile of her own. When she shifted her attention back to Theo, she’d already turned off the lightness on her face. “I think it’s time to let these guys work while we get down to business. Since it’s just the two of us working here, it’s even more important that you get me up to speed as quickly as possible. Starting right now. Please.”
    She said it with such conviction, and she’d handled the news of Whitley’s mistress with such poise that he nearly went along with her suggestion. It took reminding himself that she’d refused to sell Cloud Nine to him, despite her lack of business training and fear of water. He had to remind himself that she held the fate of his career and home in her ill-equipped hands.
    Anger coiled inside him once more. She’d put him in exactly the kind of terrible position he’d meticulously structured his life to avoid. Never again, no matter what, was he going to get suckered into playing the part of hero in someone else’s sob story. He concentrated on those details, brushing aside his admiration and sympathy for her.
    â€œLike I said last night, if you want to play like you’re cut out to be a business owner, then go for it. I have a lot of work to do.”
    Will raised his head from where he was scraping the flooring off and frowned at him. Brandon also looked like he was about to pipe up, so Theo spun around and strode outside.
    Too bad for him, Allison followed. “I am your boss. You can’t talk to me that way.”
    All that admiration and pity he’d felt evaporated at the word
boss
and that she was already holding that over his head. “What are you going to do, fire me?”
    That shut her up. Red faced, she stared daggers at him. Her expression reminded him about the night before, the bluster she’d been full of because he’d saved her. It reminded him of the way she’d looked stripped to her underwear, in his home, wrapped in the quilt from his bed. Desire wormed its way into his consciousness. High emotion looked good on her. It added a flush to her skin, a fire to her eyes, and a quivering tension in her body that reminded him of—
    Stop.
    He summoned his anger again. “You can’t throw it in my face that you’re my boss, then expect me to teach you how to be that boss. If you’re not going to sell to me, then you’re on your own. You’re going to sink or you’re going to swim. Either way, I’m not going to save you again.”
    Huffing, she threw up her arms. “Why does every damn thing in my life come back to water?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œNever mind. Look, I don’t want you to save me. I hate that I need you. I don’t want to need anybody anymore. I trusted Lowell and look where it got me. I’m sick and tired of feeling helpless, but just because I’m done with it doesn’t mean I can snap my fingers and suddenly know everything necessary to running this company. If you won’t help me learn, then you’re interfering with my ability to save myself.”
    She had him there. “Fine. You want to learn the ropes? We’ll start with a tour of the rental boats.”
    She rolled her eyes with flippant aplomb. “That’s a cheap shot.”
    Yes and no. “There’s nothing more important to
our
business than the boats”—which