Priceless Treasure(16)

“Savvy,” he hollered, making her whirl around. She’d obviously thought she was alone, and anyone with any real savvy knew that assumptions brought disaster. Or dis-ASS-ter.

Reluctance seemed to follow every step she took toward him, and that only put him in a worse mood. His mood hadn’t started out too well to begin with. She was about to receive the brunt of it. Or, in other words, she was cruising for a metaphorical bruising.

“You slacked off yesterday. Don’t let it happen again or I’ll be left with no choice but to replace you.”

Her mouth dropped, and she was obviously trying to figure out where this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde attitude was coming from. Why hadn’t he been able to stop himself?

“I don’t understand, Mr. Storm. I did everything you told me to do,” she finally said.

He couldn’t even stop himself now. “You’re moving too slowly, Ms. Mills. Other people shouldn’t have to pick up after you. Do you know what I’m going to say next?”

“I have an idea. ‘Shape up or ship out’?”

“Got it in one.”

“I find that offensive.”

Her irritation, which was now matching his own, didn’t bother him in the slightest. He’d rather have her irritated than hurt. For some reason he couldn’t stand the thought of hurting her, which was ridiculous.

“I find it offensive when people don’t do their job.”

She gasped at him, but he decided he’d caused enough damage for now. With a minor snort, he walked away without giving her another chance to respond. But he’d be damned sure to keep tabs on her work.

Maybe she’d give him a reason to fire her. If only the thought of doing just that didn’t turn his stomach. Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! He kept using that word. But this woman was trouble. He’d known it from the first moment they’d met. And he still knew it.

And yet he didn’t appear to be doing anything at all about it. That made him a fool, and that made him seriously unhappy.

Damn them both.





Chapter Eight


Who was this guy? One moment he was carefree and laughing, joking, making out with her — okay, maybe she shouldn’t think about that last thing. But the next minute he was yelling at her and stern and threatening her job. She couldn’t figure him out.

One thing she knew for sure, though, was that Ashton loathed her now. Savannah felt it in every fiber of her being. Some days he didn’t, but right now, he positively loathed her. She’d been working for him for two weeks and he had her doing every disgusting job known to man — and then some jobs probably unknown to anyone but the grunts of the world. And there were a lot of them.

At least she was finally sleeping well. The water rocked her into a deep sleep each night. Well, if she had to be precise, she meant that she was lulled to sleep on the nights she didn’t have intimate conversations with Ashton when he changed back from the nice Dr. Jekyll into the scary Mr. Hyde.#p#分页标题#e#

And so what if she was doing this sort of menial stuff? She could do any work as long as she got to be on the water. And if the stars all aligned just right, she was going to be out on the ocean on a beautiful cruise going to ports she’d never been to before. That kept her much more perky as she ran the large net through the water, picking up garbage that was floating in.

“Are you enjoying yourself?”

Savannah jumped when she heard the boisterous voice behind her. And she was mortified as she wiped sweat from her brow.

“Hi, Mr. Storm. What are you doing down here?” she asked.

He was with two men who looked so much like him. Interesting.

“Aww, sweetie, why so formal?” Richard said, and he surprised her when he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

“I, uh, I …” She didn’t know how to finish.

“Call me Richard,” he told her. “I insist. And these handsome young men are my brothers, Joseph and George.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” she said, touched by their winning smiles.

“Not as much of a pleasure as it is for us,” said Joseph, who was the next to give her a bear hug. George then stepped in and swept her into his arms too, and Savannah didn’t know what to think. Her ribs might be cracked — a definite possibility. Were they trying to kill her with kindness? She wasn’t all that small, but these men were giants.

“Let’s take a lunch break,” Richard told her. “I’m starving.”

“Oh, I can’t go right now. I have to finish clearing this water.”

“Nonsense,” Joseph said. “Everyone needs a break.”