Going Overboard by Vicki Lewis Thompson Read Free Book Online Page B

chairs arranged in a semicircle around a bed of embers where they were cooking the steaks. The chairs faced the sunset, which was just starting to pink up. They hadn’t noticed him yet. Bowie still had on his trunks, but he’d added an unbuttoned shirt. Nicole got up to take a picture of him, sitting in his chair, his beer can raised in a toast. Probably because she was self-conscious about her protruding belly, she’d put a filmy cover-up over her bathing suit. Bowie and Nicole looked relaxed and happy, and his heart swelled with love for them.
    A more potent emotion hit him as he studied Andi in her red suit and sarong-type skirt. She crossed her legs and the flowered skirt fell away, revealing her smooth thighs. Chance swallowed. Well, it wasn’t going to get any easier, so he might as well go down. He took off his deck shoes, opened the metal gate at the prow of the boat and leaped the short distance to the sand.
    “Ahoy and avast, matey!” Bowie called, raising his can of beer again. “The grog isn’t half-bad in these climes.”
    “The company’s not so bad, either,” Nicole said.
    “The fishing sucks,” Andi said, “but the grog and the company make up for it.”
    “I figured the fishing wasn’t working out when I smelled steak,” Chance said, walking through the sand to the available chair, which was right next to Andi’s.
    Bowie pulled a beer out of a cooler and tossed it to him. “Andi picked out the brewskies, and let me tell you, the woman knows her beer.”
    “A highly sought-after talent,” Andi said.
    Chance popped the top and took a drink. “Good stuff.” He glanced at Andi, then looked closer. She’d swept herhair up on top of her head, and dangling from both ears were what looked like fishing lures. “Are those hooks in your ears on purpose, or are you the victim of Bowie’s lousy casting skills?”
    “Hey,” Bowie said. “Just because I happened to hook a woman’s cheek once, which really wasn’t—”
    “Ew, Bowie!” Nicole made a face. “How awful! You could have blinded her!”
    “It wasn’t her face,” Chance said. “And she was wearing a string bikini at the time.”
    “Oh,” Nicole said. “Still, that makes me wince, Bowie. I hope now you’re more careful when you cast.”
    “That’s just it. I wasn’t casting. We were out on a charter fishing boat, and everybody else was in shorts and shirts except this Bo Derek clone. I think she was after bigger fish than the ones in the water, if you get my drift. I was bringing in my line, and here she comes, wiggling along listening to Bolero on her headset, I suppose. I got a little discombobulated, and next thing I know, my hook’s in her butt.”
    “Oh.” Nicole glanced at him. “That does sound kind of stupid on her part. Who was this bimbo?”
    “Chance’s date.”
    “Ooo-wee!” Andi threw back her head and laughed. “He got you back, Chance.” Then she flashed him a look that heated his blood. “Better not mess with the Bowieman.”
    “Good advice.” Chance took a long swallow of his beer, which quenched at least one thirst he was feeling. He remembered that woman he’d asked out on the fishing trip. He hadn’t known her very well. Matter of fact, that was the problem with most of the women he’d dated recently. To get to know someone, you needed to spend time with them, and he hadn’t had that kind of time.
    “To answer your question about the decorations in my earlobes, they’re earrings Bowie made. Take a look.” She leaned toward him, bringing her coconut-oil scent close enough to make him dizzy.
    He wanted to nibble on her ear instead of examining her earring. “That’s not an actual lure, is it?” Even as he said it, he realized it was a lure of a different kind, dancing feathers and beads capable of hooking him, but good.
    “Nah, it’s not the real thing,” Bowie said. “I just put together stuff I thought looked pretty. Nicole wasn’t wild about them. But Andi loves ‘em, so I