Page 38 of Under Pressure
“Watch out for Bluebell!” Ryker called out, pointing at Sean’s boat.
The clang of metal tank hitting metal siding, had Knox cursing from on board.
Sean nearly dropped his laptop, scrambling to grab hold of it just before it hit the concrete floor. He clutched it to his bare chest, letting the cool side reassure him he hadn’t broken it, then scanned the room for the woman in question. Blue was here?
Wolfe shot him a knowing glance that made Sean’s hackles rise. Instead of talking, Wolfe paid attention. He read people. And right now, Sean felt more like an open book than ever. He wasn’t clumsy. Not ever.
“You okay?” Wolfe said almost under his breath. Sean appreciated that Wolfe hadn’t called attention to the fact that he’d almost chucked his laptop.
“Tripped,” Sean muttered.
Wolfe gave him a wary look, as he took two diving tanks from Knox with a look of indignation.
Ryker pointed to the side of his boat. “Where I’m from, we take better care of our boats than that.”
“We didn’t touch her.” Knox threw his hands up.
Her. Hisboat. Bluebell. Sean purchased this boat six years ago along with Bob’s Underwater Salvage and without really thinking about it, that’s what he called her.Bluebell. It’d just seemed so natural at the time. Blue always wanted to feel free and being out on that boat was about as freeing as a man could get—aside from actually being in the water. He wished he could go for a swim right now.
Ryker narrowed his eyes at the side of the boat inspecting for damage.
“Hey, Ryker.” Gray wound up some loose cable, securing it. “We were starting to think you’d gone MIA.”
“Too good to hang out with your friends anymore?” Knox prodded as he leaped over the side ofBluebellwith their packs of swim gear.
“Too smart.” Wolfe grinned.
Ryker lifted Grace’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Too in love.”
Grace gave him an adoring look and rolled her eyes. “Sorry, boys. I didn’t mean to over-occupy his time.”
“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Grace.” Knox shot a glare in Sean’s direction. “It’s good to see someone smiling around this place.”
Gray nodded. “Especially after thirty-six hours of grumpy.” He pointed at Sean.
“We didn’t know you had grumpy in you,” Knox admitted.
“Sean? Grumpy?” Grace asked. “Are you sure you’re not confusing him with Gray?” She pointed one manicured finger in his direction.
Gray winked at her. “We’re sure. He was intolerable all night.”
Sean rolled his eyes, and still holding tight to the laptop, headed around the boat. “You mean when I was helping you install siding on your new house?”
“Yep. Then,” Gray said.
“And this morning when we were going over the grid,” Knox pointed to the workbench off to the side of Sean’s office where they’d laid out their map—the one with the grid they’d been slowly going over in their attempt to find theRey Del Mar. “He didn’t even smile once.”
Sean furrowed his brow. That couldn’t be true. His natural resting face was happy. Always. He shook off the thought as he made his way over to the workbench. “I’ll remember you didn’t like my attitude next time you ask for help.”
That shut them up right quick. This time he did grin.
“Aw, he’s smiling,” Grace said. “I knew there had to be some kind of misunderstanding.”
Wolfe leaned against the bench and jutted his chin in Gray’s direction. “We’re just used to Gray being the grumpy one.”
“Thank you,” Gray said, but there wasn’t much snark to it. Graywasthe grumpy one. There was no denying it.
“Why did you call me away from my love nest?” Ryker asked. He tucked Grace into his side and nuzzled her neck, making her giggle.
