First Kiss before Frost

Chapter 4

Four

She blew on the tea to cool it down, and caught Tristan taking a quick look at her mouth. Her lower belly tightened. Oh dear, she knew that feeling. Early warning sign of attraction.

Ignoring it, because it didn’t suit the needs of her current situation—which were to get very far away from Alaska as quickly as possible—she lifted the mug.

“Cheers,” she said. “Here’s to a full recovery for Fidget.”

He leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “Fidget will be fine. He’s tough. And he doesn’t have a strange man with a flashlight searching for him at three in the morning.”

“Surely it must be almost four by now.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Then he gestured with his chin at her plate of food. “Maybe some fish will get you talking. Go ahead, try that salmon. I caught it yesterday.”

“Well then, I don’t want its suffering to be in vain.” She dug her fork into the succulent tender fish.

“Fish don’t suffer in the way we think of it. They don’t have nervous systems. Anyway, this salmon was at the end of its life.”

“How would you know that?”

“Because that’s their lifecycle. They come back to the place where they were spawned to release their eggs and reproduce. After that, they die. So eat up.”

“That’s either romantic or bleak, I can’t decide which.” Laughing, she picked up the fork and took a bite of the salmon. It slid down her throat like butter. Her eyes closed as she savored the delicate flavor. She barely had to chew, that was how tender it was. It was the best thing she’d ever tasted. And she’d been halfway around the world.

“How about neither? You’re putting human qualities onto a damn fish. That’s anthropomorphizing. That’s one thing you learn being a fisherman. Fish are fish. Mermaids, on the other hand, well, they can be a handful.”

Her head shot up. She searched his face for signs of teasing, but saw none. Utterly deadpan. Or utterly serious? Had she landed herself into the lair of a crazy man who believed in mermaids?

Or…were mermaids…real? Ever since the cruise ship had entered Alaskan waters, she’d sensed a kind of magic in the air. The silent, stately mountains, the secret gullies with their endless waterfalls. Talk about deep dark secrets.

Finally, a smile broke across his face, as if he couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“You.” She tossed a piece of potato at him, but he snagged it before it hit him. “Well done, you had me going.”

“Which direction? Were you starting to believe in mermaids or ready to call the psych ward?”

“Bit of both, actually. But I’ve always wanted to believe that mermaids existed.”

“Then you should come out to sea with me sometime. I’ve seen things on the open ocean that I can’t completely explain. You stare at the waves enough, keep night watch enough, you start to believe that anything’s possible.”

His deep voice wove a spell around her. For a flash of a moment, she wished she could go to sea with him and witness these magical things he spoke of.

But she could quickly erase that possibility from her mind. She needed to get some distance from this place as soon as possible. If only she were a mermaid, and could simply dive into the harbor and swim until she reached safety.

“Well, maybe someday I’ll come back to Lust Harbor and you can show me what you mean.”

The expression on his face made her draw back. What had she said wrong?

“What did you say?”

“I said maybe I’ll come back someday. I’m going to need to be moving along soon, as I’m sure you can understand. The bloke with the flashlight and all. But maybe in the future—”

“No, I mean what did you call this place?”

“Nothing.” She frowned at him, mystified. “I called it by its name. Lust Harbor.”

After another stunned moment, he threw his head back in a long, raucous laugh. “Let me get this straight. You got off your cruise ship to hide out in a town you think is called Lust Harbor? What were you on, the Love Boat?”

She blinked at him, not understanding the problem.

“It’s Lost Harbor, lady. Lost, as in you’ve lost your keys, or you’ve lost your mind.”

Really? She hadn’t paid much attention to the itinerary after everything that had happened onboard. She’d been entirely focused on getting off that ship. And actually, she wouldn’t be surprised if it had been misspelled in the information the cruise director had sent her.

“Apologies. I’m sorry to offend you. Lost Harbor. But ultimately it doesn’t much matter. I still need to leave as soon as I can arrange it. I don’t suppose you’re taking this boat anywhere anytime soon?”

“Nope. I’m staying in port for now. Got other fish to fry, so to speak.”

Haha. Funny play on words. But it didn’t help her situation at all. She put down her fork, having lost her appetite as reality came flooding back. All she had with her was credit cards and some tip money she’d accumulated on the ship. She’d stuffed her backpack with a few changes of clothing, her phone, her laptop, and that was it. She knew no one in Lust—oops, Lost—Harbor, except Tristan the fisherman. And she had a criminal after her. And someone depending on her.

Honestly, diving overboard might be her best option right about now.

“Which other fish?” she asked in a last-ditch effort.

“Excuse me?”

“You said you had other fish to fry. Which other fish? Maybe I could make it worth your while to change your plans.”

He shrugged and picked up his own mug, from which drifted the fragrant scent of chamomile. “I don’t see how.”

“Bribery? I can pay you rather well.” Rather was a vague word, fortunately.

“It’s not about money. I had a good season, after a rocky start. Now I’ve got something else I’m doing.”

She stared at him in frustration. What could he be doing that compared to running for your life? Then again, he didn’t know that was what she was doing. She wasn’t even sure of that. Maybe that criminal would carry on with his cruise after he came up empty in his search of the harbor.

But she couldn’t count on that, now, could she?

“If I fill you in on my situation, will you consider helping me?”

“I’m sorry, Lulu. I’m a helpful guy, in general. I don’t mind helping you. But I need to be here in Lost Harbor right now.”

A woman’s voice calling from the deck made her jump about a foot into the air. “Hello in there. Anyone home? Burning the midnight oil while you face the inevitability of your defeat?”

In the next moment, a sprite of a woman danced through the hatchway. Her black hair was twisted into a ponytail and she wore a sparkly dress and mud boots.

She stopped in surprise when she saw Lulu. “Oh. Sorry to interrupt.” She shot a glance at Tristan that Lulu couldn’t read. Were they lovers? Friends? Rivals? Some weird combination of all of the above?

Tristan met Lulu’s gaze, clearly sending her some kind of message. A “play along” sort of message, as best she could determine.

“Trixie, meet Lulu. Lulu is…uh, my new campaign manager. Lulu, this is Trixie Tran. Trixie is one of my competitors in the mayor’s race. She thinks she has it all wrapped up, but she doesn’t know I have a secret weapon.” He repeated the “play along” look.

Mayor’s race? Campaign manager? How the heck was she supposed to play along with that?

But he’d been kind to her, and she didn’t want to muck things up for him in case Trixie was a romantic interest as well as a campaign rival.

“That’s right. Tristan for Mayor! Rah rah. Nothing but the best for Lust Harbor!”