If she’d ever thought her dad was a stubborn man, it was only because she hadn’t known Adam existed. They’d talked over the entire black bag/Neil situation until she literally had nothing more to say on the topic. Adam grumbled something and told her he’d look into things and get back to her. That suggestion rang like music to her ears. At this point, he cared a heck of a lot more than she did. She wanted to forget about the pre-marina and houseboat rehabbing chapter of her life.
And at the moment, her focus was on relaxing for a few moments with Hannah, who’d stopped in for the evening.
Adam caught Liv’s eye, winked, and sat down at the ivory keys in the corner. He plays the piano? He swiped his hands through his hair and managed to be sexier than he ever had before.
Adam’s deep voice sang a soulful rendition of Jack and Diane. She found herself bobbing along, lip-syncing to the catchy tune. She closed her eyes momentarily, listening to his baritone resonate. It was magical. She loved a soothing, deep voice, and Adam had one in spades. He seemed to know his place in life. She was jealous of people who knew what they wanted to do in, and get out of, life. Some days she would be sure and the next she was lost again. The marina was finally different. Here and with her houseboat, she felt at home, at peace. Silver Lining was living up to its name in more ways than one. The decision to drop anchor here was, hands down, the best of her life.
“Great voice,” Hannah said.
“Yeah.” Adam continued to entertain their early evening crowd, taking requests and never faltering on a song. Where’d he learn to play so well? There were a lot of things she didn’t know about him, but somewhere during these past two weeks her opinion of him had changed. Maybe not the core of it, but the edges were certainly starting to soften. They truly had just gotten off to a bad start.
Her dad didn’t hire dimwits. If Adam was on team Wingfield, she really had to rethink her approach.
She could freely admit, if only to herself, Adam was a damn sexy man. His dark tan only accentuated his lush, spiky brown hair, and his daring, brown eyes and thick lashes made her a little gooey inside. If she really let her guard down, Adam would be bad news. Or should that be good news? Maybe I should give him a chance like Vam asked. That was a simple thought, even a fun notion, but the nuts and bolts came down to Adam and his profession. Was that the lifestyle she wanted for herself? She’d known how hard it was on her mom, and on her.
“And this one is just because.” He struck familiar notes on the piano. “Raise a glass if you love the Irish!”
Irish? Her head shot up. She loved this song! Did he know it was one of my favorites? Surely not. How would he? She mouthed the words, bobbing her head and tapping to the fast-paced tune about drowning on dry land. How apropos. Gaelic Storm topped her list of favorite Irish bands.
All of sudden she heard Adam call out, “You know this one?” over the jovial crowd. “Come here!”
She gritted her teeth and smiled. She sang, but for fun and not in front of large crowds.
“Come on. I’m not singing the next verse without you.” He played the melody and didn’t start the next verse. “Clap for Liv, folks. She needs a little encouragement.” Glasses of beer sloshed above heads as hoots and hollers prodded her.
Liv gave him a searing eye. She did love this tune. And, with the bar being so loud, the crowd wouldn’t be able to hear if she sang out of key. She rolled her eyes and walked briskly around the bar and to the piano where Adam sat pounding away on the ivories. She sidled up next to him on the bench seat. Her arm grazed him and her nerves kicked up a notch.
She started singing the hard Irish song on cue, melodically bumping into Adam as he sang along to the chorus a couple of more times.
This was what she’d been missing in life. Laughter and the freedom to unwind, to go with the dose of responsibility it took to run her—er, their marina. The sun was shining and the water sparkled turquoise. This day had shaped up to be terrific, much better than the start.
“Well done.” Adam nodded. “I’m impressed you knew that tune.”
She raised her eyebrows and gave him a devilish grin. “There’s always more than meets the eye. Didn’t we talk about you not underestimating me?”
“Touché.” His perfect grin took up a third of his face. “What else do you have up your sleeve?”
Their eyes locked and she couldn’t look away. Not even if she wanted to. He searched her and she saw something she hadn’t seen before. Interest? Flirting? His stare shifted and a twinkle of passion shone through. She had no words. Is this a good or bad thing? Her mind spun too quickly to decide and she took a quick breath.
At that moment, timing surely calculated on Hannah’s part, her friend yelled out, “Sing Cups, Liv!”
She jerked her head to the right to give Hannah a curt head shake. Singing with the crowd had been a blast. Signing by herself in front of them wasn’t on her list of things to do—ever. “Sing Cups!” Hannah excitedly persisted and winked.
“Cups?” Adam asked.
Oh, she knows how evil she’s being. Liv wagged her head no but felt a nudge from her other side.
“Oh come on.” Adam’s eyes sparkled and were accompanied by a smile.
Liv could do the song with her eyes closed, but her normal audience consisted of only two: Hannah and Sadie. She didn’t have a bad voice—well, horrible voice—but she’d never tested it in public either.
Then something moved deep in her soul and she felt like showing off a bit. I’m gonna blow their socks off.
“All right. All right.” She waved to the crowd, and Hannah in particular, to settle down.
“What shall I play?” Adam asked, a little hoarse.
Liv didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, she spied the perfect cup on the bar to use. She stood and reached for a twenty-ounce plastic cup off the bar. She waggled her eyebrows as she stood to the side of the piano. By him.
She took a deep breath, allowing his scent to calm her, and started the clap-and-tapping routine. Tap the cup on the table once. Clap twice. Flip the cup over, hitting it on the bottom and top. She had her rhythm down. She repeated the string of actions before adding the lyrics.
She continued the a cappella cup routine and nervously glanced at the crowd, landing on Adam. Adam’s expression was priceless. Almost irreverent. She nearly lost her train of thought. She just needed to get through one more verse. She found another face to focus on.
She ended the short song and set the cup in front of her, feeling the heat in her cheeks. She bit her bottom lip and flitted her eyes over the room and then to the floor. The previously silent crowd roared in claps, hoots, and hollers.
• • •
Adam walked out on the patio to make a call. That was sexy as hell. The memory of Liv’s performance was seared into his brain forever; her cute jean shorts that ran higher on her thigh than normal, her yellow and orange tank top hugging her curves, and her peachy full lips. He glanced over his shoulder as he brought the phone to his ear and watched Liv serve drinks. Trouble.
“Wingfield Intelligence Group. How may I assist you?”
“Hey, Madison. It’s Adam. Is the commander in?”
A late hour loomed, but Adam had promised he’d check in to let his boss know when to expect him back. The answer would be short: whenever you need me.
“No. He’s gone for the day. I can leave a message.”
“Nah. I’ll try him back in the morning.”
Adam pocketed his phone and walked back into the marina, where caught a familiar face. “Commander. I was just trying to reach you.”
“Adam.” The commander stuck out his hand.
“Are you checking up on me?” he razzed his mentor.
“No. I’m here to meet my daughter.” The commander surveyed the bar.
“Good choice.” Adam stuck his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts.
“When will you be coming back?” The older man’s faint blue eyes settled on Adam.
“Do you have an op?”
“Possibly. Working on it.” His attention diverted to a woman walking straight at them. “Livvy!” The commander smiled wider than Adam had ever seen and stretched out his arms.
Livvy? Adam’s body numbed and his lungs constricted as he followed his boss’s gaze. No!
“Daddy.” Liv hugged him and they turned to Adam.
Mouth open, he had no words to say—out loud. He had a bazillion choice words zinging around in his mind, though. They were all four-lettered.
“I see you’ve met my business partner.” She motioned to him with the biggest shit-eating grin he’d ever seen on anyone in his life. Then she winked.
“Adam is your new business partner?” The commander’s brows wrinkled in dismay.
Oh shit. This could be bad for his career, his livelihood, and his life. He’d heard stories of people crossing the commander and didn’t doubt a single one. While he respected and loved working for the guy, the commander’s take-no-prisoners mentality surely extended to every area of his life. Adam swallowed and opened his mouth to make his case to stay alive when Liv spoke.
“I know I haven’t told you much. Small world, huh?” Liv said to her dad.
“It is. Did you know he works for me?” The confident tone reemerged.
Adam felt like he was in a debriefing of a mission that didn’t quite hit the mark. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into my bar.
“Not until recently. You see his face?” She pointed and air-circled his face, snuggling up to her dad. “He just found out.”
Adam hated surprises and he hated professional surprises on a whole other level. He did his best to compose himself and muster a lighthearted chuckle.
“Shocked, actually.” He put one hand through his hair.
Liv must’ve known who he was this entire time. She’d played him for a fool. This whole time she’d held the ace.
The commander laughed and patted Adam’s back. “I trust you two have been getting along. If memory serves, you had a rough go at first?”
“I might’ve mentioned the first late-night encounter.” She bit into her lower lip. “But we squared things away quickly. I was just getting used to having him around. Were you two talking about a mission? Perhaps a long one?”
Oh sure, put a notion in the old man’s head. Joke was on her. He’d love a long mission, far away from Liv and her intoxicating smell and full lips and father whom he worked for. Cripes. He needed to put miles in between him and home.
Wait, did he consider this home? His situation slapped him in the face. He owned a houseboat now, a permanent living space. And he co-owned a business. A lucrative business—with his boss’s daughter. Adam had never owned anything. He didn’t want to be tied down. He liked being on his own and able to leave at the drop of a hat. What was he doing tying himself to something so stable? And having his two business worlds intertwined now added another path of destruction he could very well go down.
• • •
“What. The shit. Willamina? You could’ve told me Liv is the fucking commander’s fucking daughter.” Adam’s annoyance bubbled.
Willamina grunted before she laughed on the other end of the receiver. “Surprise. Surprise.”
“You know I hate surprises.”
“I do. What did it harm? The other stuff was true and this way you didn’t suck up because of who her daddy is. Besides, she goes by her mother’s maiden name for a reason … ever think of that?”
“Do you know her?” He let the logic of the situation, for once, roll off him. I cannot believe this.
“No.”
“Terrific,” he grumbled. He needed a run.
“Don’t take your anger out on me.”
Adam blew out a long sigh and rubbed the back of his head.
“Next time, Willamina, give me all the information.”
He disconnected. The women in his life were making him crazy.