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“I’m interested. Humor me.”
“Well, once I realized they were taking luggage to a parked car and not onto a luggage cart for the ship, it made me ask questions. They had the wrong answers.”
“So rather than inform security to deal with this iffy situation, you decided to deal with it yourself, is that it? What do you do for a living, Rylee Jones?”
Now she was in trouble. Why the hell hadn’t she left the earlier mess alone? How was she going to get out of this and have Jake believe the fake identity they’d given her to use? “I’m a lowly administrative assistant for a large financial company. Because of a recent takeover, I’ve been putting in a lot of late nights and long days before leaving the company. When I found I had some free time, I decided to visit my sister, Mari, in Miami.”
“And yet you’re here on a cruise.”
“Yes, she’s a worrier and knowing my recent schedule, she decided I needed a longer time to relax, so she gave me this cruise for my birthday.”
“Nice. Thoughtful. Would she have approved of you putting yourself in danger over a couple of suitcases?”
Looking at the hands she had clasped in her lap, the knuckles gripped and whitened from her efforts to stop from punching the prick in the face for putting her on the spot this way, she counted a couple of deep breaths and relaxed. Then playing it cool, she grinned and shook her head. “Guess I’m just naturally inquisitive and can’t help sticking my nose in other people’s business. It really was no big deal.”
“I think you’re downplaying the incident. I happened to be in the purser’s office earlier when one of the ship’s crew came to report the incident. It sounded a lot less trivial than what you’re making it seem. From his description, I understood you’d apprehended one of the not-so-young teens and detained him before – as you say – he escaped.”
Rylee laughed, amusement ringing false. “I don’t know why everyone is making such a big deal out of what happened. Look, when I was younger, I had reason to wish I knew some defensive moves, so when I became of age, I made sure I was trained. See, no biggie! I held his thumb in a way that he either stayed still or have it broken.”
“Now I’m even more intrigued. One day I want to hear the story about those younger years.”
“I don’t talk about myself. Let’s stick to the subject.”
“Okay, let’s. I need to ask why you let him go?”
“Who says I let him go?”
“The crewman who watched it from the upper deck.”
“Okay, fine. He was young, maybe seventeen, and he was scared. Sometimes, people need a second chance. No biggie. He promised he’d get a job instead of ripping off other people to pay his bills.”
“And you believed him?”
“I believed his friend wouldn’t survive without him, and that would be enough of a reason for him to straighten out. Once a thief gets caught and realizes that it can happen, there’s a probability they won’t take any more chances. It was a crap shoot. I bet on the kid.”
She watched Jake’s expression turn from interested to supportive and knew in her heart, he would probably have done the same thing. Another strand of steel around her protected heart let go and a soft mushy feeling flooded. He really did have a wonderful smile. His short dark hair was thick and controlled except for the one wave that wouldn’t be tamed. And the evening shadow of his beard covered a chin that defied weakness.
Once she realized she was smiling at him like a freaky, love-sick girl with hearts in her eyes, she cooled her demeanor and became involved in the menu.
That’s when she realized it was upside down.
