He looked away, uncomfortable with that gaze. “It’s just what I do.”
“Do you get paid for doing this?”
He laughed, because that sounded more like the advertising princess. “Untraining dolphins is not on the list of professions a woman looks for in a future husband. In other words,” he said before she could get too huffy, “no, I don’t get paid. Someone usually contacts me about a dolphin in trouble, and I ask them to get someone to sponsor me to come out and investigate. I get proof and go to the authorities for permission to free the dolphin. People send in donations, and when I’m home, I work odd jobs to get by.”
Liberty swam by, brushing against his legs. Contact, trust. It was a start. He put his hand into the water, but Liberty hesitated, keeping his distance.
“So you travel all over doing this?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“Why?”
He stood, less comfortable with her questions than with her gaze. “Like I said, it’s what I do.”
She stood too, planting her hands on her hips. “You should hire an agency to get the word out about your organization and bring in financial support.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, right. I can’t afford any kind of agency, and I don’t want what I do played out to tug at the heartstrings of America. I do the occasional radio or television appearance because it’s good for publicity, and that’s it.”
“Fine, whatever,” she said in clipped tones.
She’d changed into clothing more befitting to the atmosphere, but he wasn’t about to comment on that or her nice legs in those blue shorts. Or the way the red hibiscus flowers on her shirt molded to her full breasts in the breeze. He didn’t want the advertising princess to get the wrong idea. She was definitely not his speed. He was in the no-wake zone, she was freeway.
“So, Miz Lucy, what are you going to do with this place anyway?”
She looked around, as if the answer might be found somewhere nearby. Bailey waved, his smile overly bright.
“Do you really care, now that you have your dolphin?”
He shrugged. “I’m wondering more for all of the other marine animals. If you sell it to someone like your father, what will happen to everything in here?”
She looked at him, her brows furrowed. “You don’t think my father mistreated Liberty because he was…wicked, do you?”
“No,” he said with some amount of certainty. She obviously wanted to believe her father wasn’t such a bad guy; he could grant her that. “He was looking at the bottom line. And he probably just didn’t know any better. Mostly, people think animals are put here for our amusement or use. He was one of those people.” He turned back to the pool, more comfortable with working with the dolphin than talking to Lucy. “Well, Miz Lucy, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.” He tipped his head at her and slid into the water.
He waited a few minutes before looking back to see her walking to the long building that housed the aquariums. She didn’t know her father, wasn’t aware that he even owned this place if he remembered correctly. But she’d done all right anyway, at least by the world’s standards. And she definitely belonged in that world. He’d be glad when she returned to it. She was fast becoming a temptation he didn’t need.
4
LUCY WONDERED if Chris had been born a creep or had become one somewhere along the way. What had happened to create his disdain of people? What she really wanted to know was why she even bothered to wonder. She wandered into the cavernous aquarium building.
He could scoff all he wanted, but having a great job, being her own boss, owning a nice apartment and being able to buy virtually whatever she wanted constituted a great life, one that most people wanted. And a guy who had nothing was making her feel defensive about it, calling it, what? The Great Green Lie. Jerk. Her life was perfect. Okay, maybe she could use a man in it. Probably she should just get a dog.
Bailey was nearby, explaining the mating habits of the octopus to some tourists. He was a nice guy, but she couldn’t keep the place open for him and Bill, could she? No, but she could give them good severance packages, references, that kind of thing.
Bailey demonstrated with his fingers as he spoke. “Dey wrap their tenta-clees around each other like dis, and become one big ball of legs. Den dey roll around on the ocean floor, sometimes for days at a time.” She shot him a questioning look, and he added, “Okay, maybe not days, but certainly hours.”
Oh, brother. She was no expert on the mating habits of the octopus, barely even knew the mating habits of humans anymore. But something about Bailey’s story, like his family, didn’t sound quite right.
She walked past the tanks, entranced by all the creatures that normally lived in the ocean beyond: brightly colored fish, crabs, even a jewfish. What were their lives like in the wild? She thought of Chris’s question about what she would do with the park. At the moment, she felt responsible for the lives of the lobsters, eels, all of them. Some did the same thing Liberty did, circling endlessly in their small, boring worlds. All for the amusement of tourists.
She sighed, overwhelmed by what was right. Still, she couldn’t imagine spending her life trying to save any one of these species. That was for someone who had different values, different standards to live by. Like Chris.
“Well, Miss Lucy, did you convince him to let da dolphin fish stay?” Bailey asked, coming up beside her.
“I want the dolphin to go free, Bailey. It’s only right.”
“Kiss mi neck, I t’ink you are sweet on the guy!”
She whirled around, mouth open. “Bailey! Why in the world would you think I was sweet on that…creep?”
“The way you look at him all the time, and the way you took his side.”
“I didn’t take his side, I took the dolphin’s side.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“And speaking of creeps,” she said, “I have to call my ex and see how everything’s going.”
She walked toward the office. Sweet on him! Of all the crazy, harebrained ideas. She was as sweet on Chris as she was on the pukey green moray eel in one of the tanks. Chris and the eel had about the same amount of charm, to be sure.
First, she touched base with her secretary, then she was transferred to Tom.
“Hey, how come you’re not checking your e-mail?” he said.
“I’m just fine, and yourself?”
“What, I’m supposed to deal with pleasantries when you’ve been totally out of reach for the past week?”
“It’s only been a day and a half, and dispensing with the pleasantries was the reason our marriage disintegrated, so keep that in mind when you’re out with that little honey I saw you with last weekend.”
He chuckled, and she could well imagine that cocky grin of his. “Aw, you’re just jealous.”
All she could do was laugh. “Would I be giving you advice if I were jealous?”
“Well, I suppose not. But you didn’t have to laugh.”
“Sorry, couldn’t help it.”
“Anyway, why haven’t you checked your e-mail?”
“Because I didn’t bring my laptop with me. I told you this was also a vacation.”
“That’s what I say when I leave town, too, but I’m still right there in the groove, Luce.”