The smile disappeared, vanishing behind the cloud of his usual black scowl. Thick brows pulled together as he moved in an effortless leap from the ship to the dock, leaving him suddenly standing only inches away. “Are you insane? You want me to just drop you in the ocean?” he asked. “Put that away. It’s not happening.”
Beka felt his nearness like an electric humming in her blood, and his anger washed over her in a magenta-hued rush of emotion. She returned his glare, with interest. “It’s not like I took the gold out and flashed it at you,” she muttered. “What the hell are you getting so worked up about?”
“I’m not talking about the gold,” Marcus said through clenched teeth, his tone even and measured, as if he were talking to a not-very-bright child. “I’m talking about the fact that you think I would leave you out alone in the middle of the ocean. Diving by yourself is dangerous.”
Beka rolled her eyes. Of course, she couldn’t tell him why she’d be as safe in the sea as she would be in her own bed, but still, he could have a little faith. And a lot less crappy attitude.
“I dive by myself all the time,” she said, matching his tone. “What’s more, I am an accomplished surfer, and that can be a lot more dangerous. I assure you, I know what I’m doing. I just need to hitch a ride on a boat to do it, that’s all.”
“Not a chance in hell,” Marcus said. “You’re a damned menace. Look at what you did yesterday, getting yourself all tangled in our net trying to save some baby dolphin. You could have been killed!” Suppressed fury made his hands tighten into fists. “I am not going to allow you to go out there and finish the job. Not on my boat. Not on my watch.”
“Fine!” Beka couldn’t believe the nerve of the guy. Who the hell was he to tell her what she could and couldn’t do? “I’ll find another ship to take me out. Or I’ll rent a motorboat and just take myself.” Ass.
“The hell you will,” he said, in slightly lower tones. “You know perfectly well that a motorboat will just drift away while you’re underwater, and no other fisherman is going to leave his territory just to take you diving.”
She opened her mouth to speak, and he added, “Besides which, I plan to have a little word with the other captains. I grew up on this harbor, and I know just about everybody around here. Believe me, by the end of the day, there won’t be one person willing to have you. So you might as well give up this cockamamy idea and go home. There’s no treasure worth risking your life for.”
Beka closed her mouth with a snap. She couldn’t believe she’d actually been attracted to the man. He was a bossy, stubborn jerk. Counting to ten under her breath, she forced herself to speak calmly.
“You must find it hard to work a boat with that handicap,” she said, meeting his steely gaze with one of her own.
“What handicap?” Marcus asked, a puzzled look on his face.
“The stick you’ve got up your butt,” Beka said with a sweet smile. “I imagine it makes bending over kind of difficult.” And she swiveled on her heel and marched off down the dock, refusing to look back. If she never saw Marcus Dermott’s face again, she’d be a happy, happy woman.
*
MARCUS WATCHED THE most infuriating woman on the face of the earth stomp away from him and wished he could call her back. There was no point, of course. Even if she didn’t hate his guts. He chuckled a little at her “stick-up-the-butt” comment. No one could argue with her nerve, at least, even if her common sense was seriously in question.
He couldn’t believe she actually thought he would agree to take her out to the middle of nowhere and just leave her there, much less support her plan to dive without a safety partner. The woman really was crazy. Which was a pity, since he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. Last night, his dreams had been haunted by images of a beautiful, long-legged blond enchantress who had somehow soothed and aroused him at the same time. Too bad that in person, she just made him livid.
He’d thought for a moment, when he fished her out of the sea the other day, that the universe had gifted him with some kind of miracle. Not that he believed in miracles. But still, there she was, dripping with salt water, like Aphrodite risen from the waves. Instead, she was turning out to be more of a curse. He could almost hear the universe laughing at him.