Priceless Treasure(37)

“I’d like that,” she heard herself saying.

Uh-oh.

And then Darren was moving closer to her and she knew he was about to kiss her. She wanted to back away, but that was stupid. There was nothing wrong with a kiss at the end of a nice date. This wasn’t the 1950s.

And then the choice was taken from her. Darren’s arms wound around her and his lips were on hers.

It was a pleasant kiss, not too aggressive, not too soft. Just … pleasant.

“Thank you again,” he said before taking a step back.

“Thank you, Darren. I had a lovely time.” And with that she walked onto her boat.

She knew that she felt no spark when she didn’t even sneak a peek of him walking away. Darn it! Well, she was going to go out on another date with the man. Maybe the attraction would grow. Love at first sight was a myth.

Before she could get to her room, she heard her name spoken again. And this time the sound sent a shiver down her spine.

“Savvy, I need to speak with you.”

The instant tingling that rose up in her stomach when Ashton’s voice reached her ears filled her with fury. Maybe she was more like her mother than she’d ever wanted to be. Because she had to be crazy to feel anything toward this man, a man who was completely wrong for her.

She stepped reluctantly away from her room and went back out to the docks, where Ashton was waiting, a scowl on his face. Big surprise.

“What do you need, Ashton?” She stayed as far away from him as she could. He looked to be in a worse mood than usual.

“This is a secure dock, Savannah, and I don’t appreciate seeing you bring anyone you please down on it.”

It took a moment for Ashton’s words to process, but when they did, she glared at him. All the employees brought people down onto the docks. She’d never heard of this rule before.

“I don’t bring many people down here, Ashton. I’ve brought my sister and —”

Before she could finish, he cut her off. “And some strange man who could be scoping the place out.”

“I did not. He was my date and he was walking me back to my place,” she said through clenched teeth.

“I thought you didn’t have time to date,” he said, taking a menacing step toward her.

“My dating life is none of your damn business, Ashton. I’m not on the clock right now.” She turned to leave.

“I’m not done speaking with you yet,” he said.

Savvy whirled around and tapped her foot. When he didn’t say anything right away, she let out a frustrated sigh.

“What do you want to say that doesn’t have to do with my personal life, Ashton? I’d like to get to bed.”

His eyes sparked at her mention of bed, and Savvy wanted to kick herself, and him too. But she just waited.#p#分页标题#e#

“One of the boats is leaving in one week for an Alaskan cruise. You need to train with Shirley to be ready for it. Starting Monday.”

His mention of a cruise took her bad mood and tossed it in the gutters. And she gave him a genuine smile, the first that he’d brought to her lips in a long time.

“That’s wonderful news. Thank you!”

“The ship will be gone for ten days. Are you sure you can handle being away for so long?” he said with a tinge of venom.

“Trust me, I could be away a month without a single problem if I were lucky enough to be on the ocean all that time,” she replied. She decided not to respond to Ashton’s bad temper.

“Fine. Be ready.”

And he began to walk away. Savvy sighed and headed back to her boat. But she suddenly felt Ashton’s hand on her arm and then she was being whirled around. She was exhaling frantically, too stunned to speak when he tugged her against him.

“This is a goodnight kiss,” he said.

His lips connected with hers before she had even a tiny moment to try to protest. And while she could still think, her last thought was that he was right. This did count as a real goodnight kiss.

His mouth was masterful and commanding as he held her tightly pressed against his body. His lips eased hers open, and she didn’t have a thought of fighting him. Her heart thundered as he controlled the kiss as if he’d been doing it forever.

The kiss could have lasted seconds or hours. But when he finally released her, she stood there in front of him wobbling on legs now made of jelly.

“That’s better,” he said. Then he walked away.

Savvy didn’t move for several moments, too shocked to take a single step. Finally, she got her limbs to obey her and made her way onto her boat. She sat on her bed in a whirl of confusion.

She should have been outraged at what he’d done just then. But her excitement drowned that out. She was about to spend time on the ocean. Sure, it wasn’t diving for treasures, but that would come soon, too. The point was that she was going out to sea.