Read Online Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound by authors_sort - Free Book Online
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business. Stay under the blanket and out of sight. The thing is, this is going to take a little time.”
He tried not to look alarmed. He was already swimming in and out of reality. He wanted to be hidden away, to be out of the open, where he had a better chance of regrouping and surviving. “Why so long?”
“They’ll hoist the nets off my boat, weigh them and put them in totes for the forklift to take them to the truck. It takes time, but most of the boats didn’t go out so it doesn’t look like there’s a wait at all. I’ll have to clean my boat as well. I can’t take the chance of spines from the sea urchins on deck. I can bleach my gear at home.”
It made sense, but all he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep. He needed somewhere safe. He forced a nod.
“Are you absolutely certain you’ll be fine? I can take you to a hospital...”
“No.” He said it firmly. “I’d be dead inside an hom.”
“So you’re certain someone’s looking for you?”
They’d tried to kill him, hadn’t they? Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had to drag him half-dead out of the sea. He shrugged and concentrated on 49
getting into the truck without his head falling off or falling in a heap at her feet.
She helped him inside and handed him the blanket. He caught her hand, his thumb tracing circular patterns in the middle of her palm. “Tell me your name.”
“Rikki. Rikki Sitmore.” She flashed a small grin. “I have a last name.”
He had the impulse to smile. There was something irresistible about her. He wanted to tell her he had multiple last names, but he refrained.
“I’ll try to hurry, but it will take time.”
“You said that.”
Rikki made a face at him, rolled her eyes and slammed the door closed.
There were reasons why she didn’t go near people—they were all crazy.
She’d pulled him out of the sea, and if she’d been thinking at all, she would have left him there. Now he was her responsibility. Shoving her sunglasses firmly onto her face to cover her usually direct stare, she climbed back aboard her boat. For some reason she could look straight at Lev, and strangely, the way she looked at him hadn’t bothered him as it would most people.
Shrugging, she pushed off with her boat and swung around the other boats tied up to the dock to bring hers under the platform. The hoist was already in position and Ralph lowered the hooks for her to attach her nets to the scale.
“You came in early,” he called to her. “I just got here.”
She shrugged.
“No one else went out today,” Ralph said, scribbling on paper and attaching the name of her boat to the white totes he filled with her urchins.
Rikki was relieved at that. She liked the other divers, and the thought of that monstrous wave running them over was frightening.
“Saw you had company. Something wrong?”
She stiffened but forced a casual shrug. “No,” she muttered after a long awkward silence. The men were used to her sullen answers and rarely tried engaging with her.
She turned quickly away, leaving him to deal with the bins himself.
Normally she helped, but she didn’t want to chance him asking her any more questions. She drove her boat back to her berth and scrubbed it down meticulously as she always did, losing herself in the task while the water lapped at the Sea Gypsy , rocking her gently. She focused completely, not allowing anything into her mind but the sheer feeling of her boat, the sky and gulls surrounded by water. She loved the way the droplets of water glistened on the deck like diamonds, prisms of glittering colors, each unique 50
and beautiful. Sometimes she got caught up in looking at them for long periods of time. She had to force her mind to stay focused on finishing as quickly as possible, and it took discipline not to disappear into the routine and flow as she usually did.
Each net was put away carefully, her hoses rolled in the way she had to roll them, a loose, precise circle that appealed to
He tried not to look alarmed. He was already swimming in and out of reality. He wanted to be hidden away, to be out of the open, where he had a better chance of regrouping and surviving. “Why so long?”
“They’ll hoist the nets off my boat, weigh them and put them in totes for the forklift to take them to the truck. It takes time, but most of the boats didn’t go out so it doesn’t look like there’s a wait at all. I’ll have to clean my boat as well. I can’t take the chance of spines from the sea urchins on deck. I can bleach my gear at home.”
It made sense, but all he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep. He needed somewhere safe. He forced a nod.
“Are you absolutely certain you’ll be fine? I can take you to a hospital...”
“No.” He said it firmly. “I’d be dead inside an hom.”
“So you’re certain someone’s looking for you?”
They’d tried to kill him, hadn’t they? Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had to drag him half-dead out of the sea. He shrugged and concentrated on 49
getting into the truck without his head falling off or falling in a heap at her feet.
She helped him inside and handed him the blanket. He caught her hand, his thumb tracing circular patterns in the middle of her palm. “Tell me your name.”
“Rikki. Rikki Sitmore.” She flashed a small grin. “I have a last name.”
He had the impulse to smile. There was something irresistible about her. He wanted to tell her he had multiple last names, but he refrained.
“I’ll try to hurry, but it will take time.”
“You said that.”
Rikki made a face at him, rolled her eyes and slammed the door closed.
There were reasons why she didn’t go near people—they were all crazy.
She’d pulled him out of the sea, and if she’d been thinking at all, she would have left him there. Now he was her responsibility. Shoving her sunglasses firmly onto her face to cover her usually direct stare, she climbed back aboard her boat. For some reason she could look straight at Lev, and strangely, the way she looked at him hadn’t bothered him as it would most people.
Shrugging, she pushed off with her boat and swung around the other boats tied up to the dock to bring hers under the platform. The hoist was already in position and Ralph lowered the hooks for her to attach her nets to the scale.
“You came in early,” he called to her. “I just got here.”
She shrugged.
“No one else went out today,” Ralph said, scribbling on paper and attaching the name of her boat to the white totes he filled with her urchins.
Rikki was relieved at that. She liked the other divers, and the thought of that monstrous wave running them over was frightening.
“Saw you had company. Something wrong?”
She stiffened but forced a casual shrug. “No,” she muttered after a long awkward silence. The men were used to her sullen answers and rarely tried engaging with her.
She turned quickly away, leaving him to deal with the bins himself.
Normally she helped, but she didn’t want to chance him asking her any more questions. She drove her boat back to her berth and scrubbed it down meticulously as she always did, losing herself in the task while the water lapped at the Sea Gypsy , rocking her gently. She focused completely, not allowing anything into her mind but the sheer feeling of her boat, the sky and gulls surrounded by water. She loved the way the droplets of water glistened on the deck like diamonds, prisms of glittering colors, each unique 50
and beautiful. Sometimes she got caught up in looking at them for long periods of time. She had to force her mind to stay focused on finishing as quickly as possible, and it took discipline not to disappear into the routine and flow as she usually did.
Each net was put away carefully, her hoses rolled in the way she had to roll them, a loose, precise circle that appealed to
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