Read Online Sea Panther (Crimson Storm) by Dawn Marie Hamilton - Free Book Online Page B

her stay?
    She threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and raced into
the galley. No one loitered there. There wasn’t even a lingering aroma of bacon
remaining from breakfast. No one lounged in the salon either. She climbed the
companionway stairs and found Timothy sitting in the sun-warmed cockpit,
reading. “Hey, where is everyone?”
    He glanced up from a Popular Mechanics magazine.
“Running errands.”
    “I overslept. Why didn’t anyone wake me?” Kimberly swept
un-brushed hair out of her face and attempted a smile.
    “The captain gave orders not to disturb you. I think he
turned off your alarm clock too.”
    “Why?” Her tense, bare toes gripped the deck.
    “Maybe because you were attacked last night.”
    She touched the bruised cheek. “Oh. You heard about that.”
    “Yeah.” Timothy made one of those annoying faces men give
woman who they think are acting dumb. The knot in her stomach tightened.
    “Does the captain plan to fire me?”
    “Nah. He gave strict orders not to let you go ashore alone
from now on. One of us is always to be with you.”
    Robert’s concern thrilled her, but then…
    “That’s not fair. What right does he have to limit my
activities?” For some foolish reason the domineering attitude pissed her off.
    “Chill out. Two seconds ago, you were worried about being
fired. Geez. The captain isn’t restricting your behavior. All he said was one
of us has to accompany you when you’re away from Sea Panther . He’s your
employer, and while you crew his yacht, he’s responsible for you.”
    Employee . After all, that was all she was to him. “I
don’t want to be babysat.”
    Her belligerent attitude was wrong, but she couldn’t help
it. Her emotions were on a roller coaster ride.
    Timothy put an arm to his forehead and leaned back in mock
horror. “What? Don’t you like hanging with the twins and me?”
    Kimberly released a heavy sigh. Now she’d need to stroke
Tim’s hurt pride. “It’s not that. I like you guys. It’s just…I don’t need to be
escorted everywhere I go.” She reconsidered when she thought of the attack the
previous night. “Well, maybe after dark.” She would concede to that security
measure.
    “The captain said whenever you leave the boat. Don’t even
think of going ashore without one of us to carry your gear.”
    “Okay.” She restrained the smirk pulling at her lips. “If
you’ll be my pack mules, I’ll take one of you along. As a matter of fact, I
need to go to a laundromat.”
    “Ouch.” Timothy rolled his eyes. “That hurts.”
    Kimberly laughed. “Could go by myself.”
    “Nah. I’ll go with you as soon as one of the others gets
their ass back here.”
    The twins showed up a half hour later, and Timothy escorted
Kimberly into town. They returned to the yacht after doing the laundry well
after dark. Davey stood night watch. The rest of the crew had gone ashore.
Timothy helped carry the bags of clean clothes below and then went back to the
cockpit to hang with his buddy.
    She sorted the laundry and placed each crewmember’s on their
bunk. Except for Robert’s, his cabin being off-limits to crew. Why? She had to
wonder. Curiosity always got the best of her. She carried his laundry to the
door of his cabin and tapped lightly, though Davey had said the captain had
gone ashore with Colin and John.
    Of course, no one answered.
    She tested the knob. Robert hadn’t locked the door. Should
she? She scraped her teeth back and forth across her lower lip. Sure,
why not? In how much more trouble could she get? Besides, she wasn’t
planning to disturb anything, simply place the clean clothes on his bunk.
    Maybe seeing his things would provide insight into the man.
Kimberly opened the cabin door and peered in. The lavish cabin caught her by
surprise, and she gawked. Dark green velvet covered the bunk. She shifted
Robert’s laundry to one arm and entered. Her fingers itched to touch the plush
pillows made from luxuriant fabrics sitting atop