The Girl on the Yacht Read Online Free Page B

the water. What had she said? Blue Water Marina?

Chapter 6
     
     
Blue Water Marina, Newport Beach
     
    An hour before sunset, Marin heard the seductive sounds of the marina boater’s life. They lured her away from her writing on her laptop, and over to the upper deck railing of her boat. Below, a dozen people had assembled in pod semicircles of folding chairs on the five-foot wide floating concrete path behind Laura and Dan’s boat. John stood over the barbecue with a margarita in one hand and a basting brush in the other. Marin smiled.
    “Are you ever coming down?” John called up to her.
    She descended the steps two at a time, landed hard on the back deck, and vaulted over the short transom wall on to the dock leg.
    John set his glass down and dropped the brush into a bowl of sauce. He made his way over to her. In his khaki shorts, navy blue Tommy Bahama shirt, and ball cap with a “Master Diver” emblem, he was scrumptious. His alluring blue eyes sensually drew her into his outstretched arms.
    “May I have this dance?”
    The soothing sounds of Bob Marley & The Wailers filled the dock from the exterior speakers on John’s boat. The suggestive song, “Jammin, ” seemed to be calling out to all within earshot insisting on the change of pace that dock life promised—the idyllic anthem for an evening on the water. She threw her arms over his shoulders. If Marley’s “One Love” comes up next, everything would be perfect. There were great memories in that song. “Is this how summer begins on E-dock?”
    “It’s the weekend tradition. Dock parties always start with a dance and end with––”
    “A kiss?” she inserted.
    John grinned. “I was going to say it ends with a hangover, but hey––kiss––that works, too.” He held her away at arm’s length—examining her from boat shoes, to white shorts, to blue silk blouse.
    She felt as if they had never been apart. “So, are we good?” she asked.
    “Yeah.” He caressed her a little more softly and spun her in their slow dance. “I’m sorry I never called you.”
    “Me, too.” Marin caught a glimpse of his sister sitting alone near a table filled with appetizers. “I’m going to say hello to Beth.” She rolled out of his tender hands. Dan Douglas cut her direct path off with a rolling cart stacked with the weekend’s groceries and boating supplies.
    John raced to the barbecue, picked up his tongs, and flipped chicken breasts.
    “Need some help?” Marin asked Dan.
    “Yeah, thanks.”
    She looked back at John and gave him the—come over and give us a hand—nod.
    Instead, John held up his two hands––one grasping his drink and the other holding the tongs.
    “I’m a little busy, here.” He grinned at her, winked at Dan. “Besides, you’re the one who volunteered.” He pointed the stainless steel tongs at her and gestured a shooing motion that she should get with it.
    “Now I remember, you were always looking for a way out of hard labor.” Marin picked up a heavy bag.
    Dan shook his head and laughed. “You two are meant for each other.”
    “She started it.”
    “He started it,” Marin answered and then turned toward Beth. “I’ll be right back after I help put things away on his boat.”
    “It’s okay. I’m leaving soon to go back to John’s condo,” Beth said.
    “It will only take me a minute. Hang around. I want to catch up.”
    “I’ve got this,” Dan offered.
    Marin followed him inside to the galley. She set the bag on the counter and began stowing the groceries in the full-sized refrigerator. “Dan, where can I get a drink around here?”
    He gave off a short snort of a laugh.
    “What?”
    “Well, last year, we had a contest to find out who made the best margarita on the dock. There were a lot of entries.” He slowly shook his head. “After a long night of taste testing––a lot of taste testing––we decided to make the winning recipe this year’s E-dock margarita.”
    “What’d the winner