Page 13 of The Scent of Salt & Sand

“Another cousin?” he asked as she approached.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” She leaned into the railing, comforted by the mist of seawater dusting her face. “I’m not good at this dating thing. I’m especially not good at it when my cousins are lurking around ready to pounce on you if I mess up.”

Dean shook his head. “Hey, you’re not messing up, and I don’t care how many gorgeous cousins you have lurking around here. It’s you I’m interested in.” He waited a beat and then added, “How many gorgeous cousins do you have, anyway?”

“More than I wish I had.” She thought back to the crowded pool in Tartarus that felt so safe, but that was now so far away. “You’ll see when we get to Alcatraz.”

“Oh, I get it! This is a family business.” Dean scooted closer and rested his forearms on the white railing. Melody yearned to be that relaxed. She took her hands out of her pockets and mirrored his posture.

“Yes, exactly,” she said, watching their reflections quiver in the waves.

“I’m in the family business too,” he said.

She cocked her head to the side, looking over at him. “The police are your family? You mean literally?”

“Yeah.” The lightness fell from his voice. “My dad wore the SFPD uniform for upwards of twenty years, working out of North Station. That’s my station now, too.”

“That must feel good—working with your father,” Melody mused.

“He, uh, he’s not with us anymore.” His silver-flecked temples pulsed. “But it does feel good to work out of his old station.”

Melody didn’t know what to say, so she stayed silent.

He pulled his palm over his stubbly chin and swallowed hard. “So, your family owns Siren Tours?”

She nodded. “We all take turns working here.”

“You must have a big family,” Dean said, the pep returning to his tone.

“You have no idea, though most of us are still back home.”

“Back home? Where’s that?”

“Tar—” She snapped her mouth shut and stiffened. She’d gotten too comfortable. “Greece,” she corrected.

“Greece? That’s awesome. Where in Greece?”

“Just a small village by a little cove.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I’m sure you’ve never heard of it.”

“Well, I’ve never been to Greece, but I do have the Internet, and I’ll bet it’s heard of your little cove. Don’t tell anyone, but I am something of a Google Master.” He smirked.

Melody forced out a dry chuckle. “Is it okay if we don’t talk about my family? Or at least my family back in, uh, Greece. Leaving was hard, and sometimes I miss home so much I feel like I’m going to suffocate, but sometimes I think I’ll suffocate if I have to go back.”

She picked nervously at her fingernails, and Dean covered her hand gently with his. “Hey, no worries. I get it. Talking about my family can be tough for me, too.” He squeezed her hand, and she welcomed the warmth it provided. “And now we have two things in common.”

“Two?” A sudden gust blew her hair in front of her face, and she pulled her hands from Dean’s to rearrange the tangled tresses.

“Yep, we’re both in our family’s business, and we can both swim.”

“Swim?” Her eyebrows arched. “Is that what you were doing? I thought you might have been on the verge of needing to be saved.”

“Hey, I can swim fine.” His chest puffed a little as he smoothed out the front of his shirt. “I just don’t like the water.”

“Don’t like the water?” She couldn’t contain her burst of giggles.

“It’s not funny,” Dean grumbled, a dimple forming at the corner of his mouth as his lips quirked up. “But look at it! It’s dangerous out there. And cold. And wet. Really wet.”

“Of course it’s wet. It’s the ocean. It’s supposed to be wet!” Her cheeks ached with glee. She hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time. “And it’s only dangerous if you don’t understand it.” Her gesture took in the tumultuous water of the bay around them. “It’s like music.”