Once topside, Creed dropped his gear to the deck and pulled his hood off, shaking water from his hair, sucking in a deep, shaky breath.
Emma faced him, mouth pinched tight, gray eyes flashing. “Damn, that was close.” She planted her fists on her hips, her lips pressing into a thin line. “What part of ‘I’m in charge’ didn’t you get?”
He backed a step, holding his hands up. “I wasn’t certain we’d be able to find our way back to the wreck. This guy’s family would probably want to know he didn’t make it and want something left to bury.”
She stared at him a long time with a narrowed gaze and finally huffed. “Fair enough. But that was way too close for my comfort level. Nothing like trailing bait for a shark behind you. Don’t ever do that again.” She shivered as she yanked her wet suit off her shoulders and tugged the sleeves off her damp arms, muttering, “Which shouldn’t be a problem, since you obviously found your boat and won’t be going down with me again.” Emma jerked the remainder of her suit down over her legs, only for them to get stuck around her dive boots. She grumbled a few choice expletives and pulled at the zippers on her boots.
Creed helped Dave tug the body to the side and slip a tarp over him to keep the gulls from sniffing him out. He shot a glance toward the cabin where Emma was pulling off her boots. “Is she always wound so tight?”
“Nah, she’s usually happy and gets along with everyone.” Dave chuckled. “Kinda nice to see her blow a fuse. But don’t worry about her. The lady’s fire blazes hot, but she burns out pretty quickly.”
“Nice to know I rub her the wrong way.” He didn’t know why, but it gave him a kick that he got under the pretty diver’s wet suit. Not that he wanted to get into her wet suit, but it had been a while since he’d been even moderately interested in a woman. They all seemed to be the same, going for the ring and commitment, something he couldn’t do. Not in his line of work.
Falling for someone would make him vulnerable and make the woman a target. Not to mention, it wouldn’t be fair to the woman left behind each time he was deployed to a new assignment.
His gaze slipped to Emma as she pulled the wet suit off her ankles and bent to pick it up from the floor. She had a great body, all lean muscle and nice curves where they counted.
Dave straightened beside him. “She dives every one of her days off, in case you’re interested.”
“Not really,” Creed lied. “Are you available for another dive tomorrow?”
“I can be, but if you’re not interested in diving with her...” Dave nodded toward Emma. “I can’t help you. She’s got me booked all week.”
Not exactly what he had planned. “I’ll check around for another boat.”
“Not many dive boats around willing to get close to the point. Most recreational divers just dive close to the shoreline.” Dave unhooked Emma’s regulator off the cylinder and stowed the cylinder in a rack. “Come to think of it, the only other dive boat is being serviced right now, getting ready for the full-on summer season. You could see if one of the fishing boats would be willing to take you, but it’s the beginning of tourist season and most of them are busy taking fishermen out who want to get a jump on the families. They’d want an entire group, and since there’s only you...” Dave shrugged. “You might be stuck with me and Emma.”
Creed nodded. “Sounds that way. Not that it’s a problem. Will she be going out near the same place?”
“I’d assume so. You guys weren’t down long enough to suit her.” Dave climbed the ladder to the helm. “Hang on, we’re headed in.”
“Dave, could you radio ahead?” Emma came out of the cabin, pulling the sundress down over her bikini, the fabric clinging to her wet skin and swimsuit. “Notify the police we’ll be bringing in a body.”
Creed’s gaze skimmed her lithe, graceful figure, the gentle curve of her waist and the swell of her breasts where the dress fit tightest.
His groin tightened, and he had to turn away to avoid embarrassing the dive master as he stripped out of his wet suit.
“Don’t get your bikini in a wad, Emma,” Dave called out. “I’ve got ya covered. I’ll have them meet us with transportation for our additional passenger.”
“You do that. I’d rather have left him down there and let someone else bring him up.” Emma rolled her eyes at Creed. “But someone had other plans.”
His wet suit off and shoved into the waterproof duffel, Creed faced Emma. “Sorry, didn’t know it would upset you. Are you sure you could have found your way back to the wreck?”
“Absolutely. I know these waters. Besides, I have the GPS coordinate of the place we went down.”
Creed shrugged. “My mistake.”
Emma sighed and padded to the railing in flip-flops. “No. I just wasn’t expecting a body to float out in my face. I guess I lost it.” She shivered. “Thanks for forcing me to focus. If you hadn’t intervened, at the rate I was breathing, I’d have run out of air in no time.”
Creed patted her shoulder. “You’re a good diver. You’d have kicked it soon enough.”
She nodded, casting a sideways glance at him. “Yeah, but sooner was better. Thanks.” Then she smiled, and her entire face lit. The sun chose that time to skitter from beneath a puff of clouds and shine down on her smooth, soft skin, igniting the highlights in her drying sandy-blond hair. The soft yellow, floral sundress made her look all feminine and girlie.
It made him want to reach out and pull her into his arms, to crush her to his naked chest and feel her gentle curves against him. Whoa.
“Uh, excuse me, I need to stow my gear.” Creed dropped his hand and backed away, grabbing his duffel. He shoved it under a bench to keep it from getting wetter. Then he disconnected his regulator from the air tank, setting the cylinder in the rack beside Emma’s. With nothing left to do but wait, he walked around to the front of the boat to watch as Dave deftly guided the craft into the dock, effectively avoiding further contact with his dive buddy.
As soon as he could, he needed to touch base with his boss, Royce Fontaine, at the Stealth Operations Specialists headquarters in D.C. Royce had promised he’d send backup as soon as Creed found anything of significance on the case that had started out as a rumor. All the SOS agents were tied up. Steel was wrapping up an operation in St. Thomas. She could arrive in Cape Churn within the next twenty-four hours. But that might not be soon enough.
Macias could beat her there with his contingent of hired thugs and stir up a whole lot of trouble for the tiny vacation community.
The dive boat bumped against the dock, shaking Creed out of his musings.
In the parking lot, lights flashed on top of a Cape Churn police vehicle. Gabe McGregor climbed out and strode across the dock to meet them.
Turning into the parking area surrounding the dock, an ambulance, lights off, bumped across potholes and came to a stop beside the police car. The driver and his partner climbed out. Together, they pulled a gurney from the rear of the wagon and rolled it across the pavement toward the marina.
When Dave brought the dive boat to rest against the dock, Creed jumped out and secured a rope to the bow, then climbed back aboard. Emma tied off at the stern.
Emma hefted her equipment bag from the floor of the cabin, slipped her feet into sandals and stepped over the side onto the dock.
Grabbing his duffel bag, Creed stepped out behind her.
“You guys are back sooner than I expected.” Gabe met Emma halfway across the dock. “Dave tells me you found something out there.” He tipped his hat as Creed neared him. “Was it what you were looking for?”
Creed dropped his duffel on the dock. “Found my yacht