Page 26 of Deadly Waves

9

Nine

Grady was annoyedas he approached the women. Some guy with dark hair and one of those smiles you only see on toothpaste commercials stood next to them, chatting away aimlessly as if the deck was a singles bar and the women were open for offers. Whatever he said had Sophie and Ally laughing. Grady found it agitating.

“What’s up?” Ally asked when she caught sight of her brothers. “Did you find anything?”

“It looks like an accident right now,” James replied. “We have no concrete evidence to point the other way.”

“I told you,” Peterson said, his smile smug when it landed on Sophie. “What do you have to say to that?”

“I think you’re pretty full of yourself for a guy who doesn’t do security work,” Sophie shot back, turning her attention to Grady. “Do you have more work to do?”

“I don’t know yet,” Grady replied. “Finn and Jake are doing the first walkthrough and they’re moving faster than we expected. We might knockoff early and look at the initial data before approaching it from a different direction tomorrow.”

“That gets my vote,” Ally said, reclining in her chair. “I miss my cuddle bug.”

“Oh, I think we should get Jake a shirt that says that,” Grady teased. “He can wear it when Mandy paints her next portrait of Whipped Jake.”

Ally scowled. “I’m going to unleash my wrath on you when you least expect it.”

“I’m terrified.”

James glanced at Mandy’s empty lounger for a moment, reminding himself that she was an adult and could take care of herself, before focusing on the stranger. “I’m James Hardy.”

“I know.” The man didn’t extend his hand, instead offering James a smarmy smile. “I’ve heard all about you. I saw you in the infirmary this morning but didn’t introduce myself.”

James had no idea what that meant. “Who are you?”

“This is Jon Peterson,” Sophie announced. It was as if she sensed the tension rolling off James. “He’s head of customer relations.”

“I think that means he fetches drinks and plays volleyball,” Grady said.

“I figured that out myself.” James licked his lips. “Are you here entertaining everyone?”

“Oh, well, that is part of my job,” Peterson said. “Whenever I see beautiful women, though, I can’t stop myself from wanting to spend time with them. When you put four of them together, it’s like winning the lottery.”

“Yes, we feel very lucky to have won the lottery,” Grady said, his forehead creasing. He hated the way Jon’s eyes kept drifting to Sophie. He might’ve been entertaining everyone, but he was obviously interested in his reporter above all else. “I know I feel that way every night when Sophie and I go to bed together. We live in the same house, you know, share the same bed.”

Sophie’s mouth dropped open as James pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Grady!” Sophie was scandalized by his overt proprietary conduct. “What are you doing?”

“Smooth,” James said, shaking his head. “And people say I’m the idiot when it comes to women.”

“You are an idiot when it comes to women,” Grady shot back, although he had the grace to look embarrassed. “I didn’t mean anything by that, Mr. Peterson. I just … the sun must be getting to me.”

“No offense taken,” Peterson said, offering a warm smile to the women before taking a step back. “I have to get going anyway. I have a lot of customers to attend to.”

“Thank you for the fun stories,” Ally said, remembering her manners. “We appreciate the drinks, too.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Sophie waited for Peterson to be out of earshot before unloading on Grady. “What was that?”

Grady held up his hands, helpless. “I … .”

“Don’t bother explaining,” Sophie said, grabbing her towel and slipping past him. “I’m not in the mood to listen and I can’t even look at your right now.”