Making Waves by Tawna Fenske Page B

here.
    So maybe she could convince them to keep her. Maybe she could really belong here. Certainly they were nice people. A little strange, but nice. Maybe there was even a new career for her here somewhere. Maybe she could be an investigative journalist. Or a cabana girl. Or a deckhand. Or maybe, if her suspicions were right—
    “Quit spying on me and go back to bed,” Alex said without turning around.
    Juli jumped, stubbing her toe on a stair. With a yelp, she grabbed her foot and pulled it up to eye level for inspection. Ouch . She’d chipped the corner right off her big toenail.
    “I’m not sure whether to be more impressed with your flexibility or your balance, but it’s good to know you have talents,” Alex said. “Since spying clearly isn’t one of them.”
    Juli looked up to see he’d turned in his chair and was studying her with a look of amusement. She felt her face flush, though embarrassment wasn’t the only culprit.
    “Don’t mind me,” she said, lowering her foot to the floor. “I’ll just stand here and bleed to death on your boat.”
    “You’re not bleeding. But if you are, try not to get any on the woodwork. It’s teak.”
    “Aye-aye, captain,” she said, saluting him as she turned. “If I don’t survive the night, it’s been lovely knowing you.”
    “Come back here,” he called, his tone nowhere near as stern as his words. “Want me to make sure it’s not broken?”
    She turned and looked at him, ignoring the shiver of lust that snaked down her spine. “Are we playing doctor now, or do you have actual medical training?”
    “Neither, but I figure if your toe is hanging off your foot by one tendon, Cody’s got some sharp knives in the galley.”
    Juli shrugged and hobbled back toward him. Her toe didn’t hurt anymore, but she liked the idea of Alex’s hands on any part of her body. She sat down on the high-backed stool beside him and lifted her foot into his lap, grateful she’d gotten a nice pedicure before the trip. She watched as he prodded and probed, her blood pressure kicking up a few notches as his fingers moved deftly over her toes and skimmed the ball of her foot.
    “Looks okay to me,” he said.
    She sighed with pleasure. “If I sit here long enough will this turn into a foot massage?”
    “No, because you know where foot massages lead?”
    “Where?”
    He grinned and lifted her foot off his lap, setting it neatly on the rung of the stool. “With both of us naked in the pilothouse.”
    “Oh,” she said, momentarily speechless. “That would be bad.”
    “It would actually be quite good, under normal circumstances.”
    Juli swallowed. “Normal?”
    “Right. But these aren’t normal circumstances. I’ve got work to do, and you’ve got secrets you aren’t sharing.”
    “Don’t be silly. I don’t have secrets. I’m an open book.”
    Alex snorted and shook his head. He said nothing more and turned his attention back to the task of driving the boat.
    Juli nudged his shin with her toes. “You’re one to talk, Mr. Don’t-mind-me-I’m-an-innocent-cartographer.” She delivered another light kick for good measure.
    He leaned down and caught her foot before she could kick him again, drawing it back up into his lap and squeezing her big toe. She wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be punishment or seduction, but it worked for both.
    “So you agree we both have secrets?” he asked.
    “Maybe one or two. Who doesn’t?”
    “My point exactly.”
    She grinned. “Know what we should do?”
    “Yes, but I still don’t have condoms. Pity, that.”
    “Not that ,” she said, rolling her eyes as though it had been the furthest thing from her mind instead of an obsession from the moment she’d met him. “We should play Truth or Dare.”
    “Truth or Dare?”
    “Exactly. It’s the perfect game for two people trying to get to the bottom of each other’s secrets.”
    He stared at her. “Are you certifiably insane or still awaiting diagnosis?”
    “Truth