She shook her head, smirking. “I don’t need you. I have the map. Worth way more than a boat.”
His napkin crumpled in his fisted hand. “Yeah, but can you pull it off without me?”
“Well, I’m not going to sit here and argue about this. We’re going to get the boat. Together.”
James raised an eyebrow and threw his napkin on the table. “This food wasn’t half-bad. Good idea to eat here,” he said, his mouth curling to a smile. He obviously needed to bring more smooth-talking to charm his way into having her trust him. “Look, sweetness. You’ve done an excellent job of finding the map and you’re going to be the perfect navigator once we’re on the island. But let me go by myself to get the boat. We’re going to need a big one because Strife is surrounded by coral reefs. A rowboat won’t cut it. Don’
