Dive Into You Page 9

Doug picked up the ID, studied it, then glanced at Tim before meeting Emily’s gaze. He was no doubt thinking the same thing she was. The darn thing looked completely real. All the way down to the watermark. If she hadn’t known who these kids were and how old they were, she would have felt she was a worse judge of age than she’d thought.

  “Jennie just came along so I wouldn’t look too awkward walking in by myself.” He rubbed his palms along his pant legs and let his hands come to rest at his knees.

  Emily turned to the pretty blonde. “What do you have to say, Jennie?”

  “I’m sorry, Miss Everrett. Really I am. I was…” She glanced up at Tim. “I just thought I could help. I mean, after all he did for my project, it made sense I should help him with his.”

  “This is a school project?” Doug asked before Emily could.

  “No, sir,” Tim replied. “It’s a private experiment.”

  Doug picked up the card again. Studying it closely for a second time. “Mind if I keep this?”

  Tim shook his head. And with no need for him to ask, Jennie handed her over as well.

  Jennie went back to worrying her bottom lip, and Emily wondered now if she shouldn’t have taught kindergarten instead of high school.

  “But you won’t tell the principal or anyone? I mean, so this doesn’t hurt Tim’s chances at a scholarship?”

  Oh, hell. Emily hadn’t thought that far ahead. She was more concerned with what other trouble these kids could get themselves into than if this incident would wind up in their permanent school records. She examined Tim’s face. There was no fear, more like resignation. To her it looked as though he’d already given up on something. And she didn’t like it. At all. What she didn’t want was for Tim to get into serious trouble that couldn’t be erased with a slap on the hand or an afternoon’s detention. “Do I have your word, Tim, that there will be no more illegal activities? Experiments or otherwise?”

  Both teens sat straighter in their seats.

  “Yes, ma’am. I promise.”

  “All right then. Are both of you free in the afternoons?”

  Jennie nodded hesitantly, but Tim answered, “Except for Saturday and Sunday evenings when I work doing deliveries for Luigi’s of Verona.”

  “Not a problem for what I have in mind. I’ll need the two of you to get permission from your parents to participate in a special after-school program. Tomorrow you’ll report to me when play practice is over. From now on you’re going to be too busy to get into any more trouble.”

  “Thank you!” the two echoed, pushed to their feet and, smiling like the children they were, hurried out the door and across the street to Tim’s car.

  Emily didn’t take her eyes off them until she was sure they didn’t try getting back inside the bar.

  “I kept these. Remember?” Doug held up the phony IDs.

  “Right.”

  “What do you have in mind?” he asked.

  “I don’t know yet. But I’m thinking working with three navy divers might be a good place to start.”

  * * *

  “Maybe you should think this through some more.” Doug had no idea what Emily was thinking. Neither kid was her responsibility. Sticking her neck out like this was a good way to get her head cut off. And his gut said, if he was one of the three navy divers she had in mind—not a good plan.

  “Jennie is right. If I report them to the principal, it will go on their records and affect Tim’s scholarship opportunities.”

  “Where’s he trying to get in?”

  “The usual, Stanford, Caltech, MIT. All the places a kid with lots of brains and no money needs a scholarship to go to.”

  “What’s his story?” The fake IDs were really good. Too good to be chalked up to a new graphics program and good printer.

  “Only child. Don’t know what happened to his mother. I think his dad’s a security guard. Works the graveyard shift. Tim doesn’t talk much about him.”

  “And you want him to what? Work on a dive boat?”

  “Not exactly. I was thinking maybe do something at the shop. Count all the inventory or clean the warehouse. I don’t know. Aren’t you guys good at making people do ridiculous things to build character?”

  He almost laughed. He’d gone through plenty of character building in his early days of training but not even he would dare tell his drill instructor that they were ridiculous tasks. “So you’re thinking some kind of low-key boot camp?”

  Emily’s face brightened. “Exactly. Pay for their crimes already committed and teach them to make better choices.”

  “Were you never a teenager?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Wrong choices are part of growing up. Fake IDs are a fact of life for most young adults under the age of twenty-one.”

  “They’re still in high school.”

  “Normal kids test limits. I’ll agree duct taping the school door lock to get into the lab and use the computers is a bit more than the average high school student stunt. But it’s not that much worse than stealing another school’s mascot or painting the founder’s statue. And it’s a hell of a lot better than jacking cars or ripping off beer from the corner liquor store.”

  Emily’s eyes narrowed, and he realized he may have said too much. Nice families like the Everretts didn’t have juvenile delinquents in their midst.

  “I’m going to head to my mother’s and catch Billy.” She kept her eyes on his. “See what he thinks. Want to tag along?”

  Doug saw a glint of hope in her eyes that could only spell trouble, and yet a big part of him wanted to tag along for a lot more than just a visit to her mother’s. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “You said so before, and I still don’t get why. My brother doesn’t dictate my life.”

  “Emily, I’m not the stay-around kind of guy. I’m only going to be here until the urge to move on strikes. And then I could wind up anywhere.”

  “And that’s a problem why?” She stuck out a determined chin the same way she had when she’d sailed across the bar earlier tonight. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I only want to use you for sex?”

  That moment had been poor timing to take a drink. Most of the Coke he’d sipped spewed clear across the table, and the rest got sucked into his lungs. “No.” He coughed. “Can’t say that it did.”

  “Well, maybe I do. And that is none of my big brother’s business.”

  Doug didn’t buy it. But he also could tell she wasn’t going to give up on the idea. Taking in a clean breath, he considered his options. Maybe he should just move on sooner than later. Or maybe he could learn to think of Emily as just another one of the guys. Another buddy. A good friend.

  Resolute, her lips clamped tight, and her arms crossed, pushing her already well-endowed assets higher up for public viewing, there was no way he would ever look at her and see just another one of the guys. But, for what he owed his friend, he was damn well going to try. “Okay, truce.”

  “Truce? Were we fighting?”

  “No. Maybe moratorium would be a better word. Only friendship is on the table. No more talk of using me for sex.”

  Emily hesitated as though pondering the details of an international treaty. “Sounds fair enough.” Her cheeks twitched with laughter, and he couldn’t help but smile back, until she added, “For now.”

  Doug would swear in court he could see the wheel’s turning behind those pretty brown eyes. What scheme did she have up her sleeve?

  Chapter Twelve

  Enough was enough. Three days had gone by, and Emily had yet to run into Doug at the dive shop. Once she’d gotten her brother to stop blustering like the north wind, he’d agreed to find something for the kids to do. She’d stopped by every afternoon to check up on their progress and not once had she bumped into her sexy sailor. Over dinner with the girls she’d managed to get Lexie talking about the shop and schedules, and had learned that Doug would be running a children’s birthday party at the dive pool this afternoon. According to the clo
ck on the wall he’d be finished up in a few minutes. There was no way he could hide from her. If he’d been hiding.

  “How’s it going?” Emily dropped her purse on the floor by the register where her brother and Lexie were huddled over piles of papers.

  “Very well.” Lexie set a stack of receipts to one side. “Everyone agrees.”

  Billy turned away from the work and pushed off the stool. “They’re good kids. From what you said, I expected a couple of delinquents. Not even close. Do you know he’s a whiz with computers?”

  “I told you that.”

  “You said they broke into the computer lab. You did not mention the kid could most likely easily build his own lab.”

  Emily held back a chuckle. “What did he do?”

  “He spent an hour on the computers the other day. I could tell he was a bit frustrated with how slow the system was running. Then he came in to my office and asked if he could do some upgrades. We went to the electronics store, and, by the end of day, every computer we’ve got worked twice as fast as the day we bought them.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.”

  “That’s just the beginning. We ordered new software.”

  “So?” She leaned back against the counter.

  Sorting through another stack of receipts, Lexie chuckled. “Wait till you hear this.”

  Billy pointed a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the warehouse where the teens had been working. “He’s reprogrammed the programs.”

  “What?” Emily knew he was good at computers, but reprogramming the programs?

  Billy shook his head. “I have no idea what he did, but, I’m telling you, impressing Lexie isn’t easy. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on the government’s watch list for Future Hackers of America.”

  Pushing away from the counter, Emily straightened her shoulders. “Is there such a thing?”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “Is there?”

  “Is there what?” Lexie looked up from the calculator tape she’d just run.

  “A Future Hackers of America?” Emily supplied.

  Her friend made a tsking sound and rolled her eyes at Billy. “Don’t know about that, but this kid is amazing.”

  “Which is why I didn’t want to risk his chances at a scholarship.” Emily shifted her attention to the back of the shop and the object of her drop-by visit. From where she stood, she could see Doug through the pool door, finishing up with the birthday party. Not a very large group, he seemed to be spending more time with one little boy and yet kept an eye on each child as they climbed out of the water. When Doug hoisted himself out of the pool, the water sluiced off him like a sexy advertisement for beach vacations. The sunlight sparkling against scattered droplets of moisture clinging to his body dragged her thoughts back to the first time she’d seen him at the wedding. Even then, fully clothed, with the sun gleaming from his Ray-Bans, the man was irresistible.

  “You still with us?” Lexie waved her hand in front of Emily’s face.

  “Sorry. Just thinking.”

  “You don’t need to worry about that kid.” Billy scooped up some papers and stuffed them in a file. “He’s going to do just fine.”

  Emily nodded, thankful her brother had thought she was lost in thought over Tim and not lusting after one handsome-as-hell former navy diver. What she needed now was an excuse to get him to her house. And then an idea hit her. The challenge wouldn’t be getting him there but keeping him there.

  * * *

  After two hours of munchkins climbing everywhere, Doug was ready for a stiff drink and a quiet night.

  “Thank you, mister.” Missing his two front teeth, the kid who had clung to him from the start of class grinned up at him like a jack-o’-lantern.

  Doug mussed the boy’s wet hair and grinned back. “You’re welcome.”

  The last of the kiddos grabbed their towels and ran through the shop door. Hurrying behind her charges, the birthday girl’s mother paused at his side. “I can’t tell you how delighted I am with how things turned out. I’ll be honest. I was pretty worried about so many children in a pool and learning about diving. But you were simply wonderful with them. Especially my son. I know he’s much younger than the other children and can be a bit…well, time consuming, but you were just so good with him.”

  “He’s a sweet kid.”

  Mama smiled proudly. “Still, thank you for picking him to show the others what to do. It made him feel important, and I appreciate it.”

  “No problem.” Doug waved to the woman as she ran to catch up to the children now scouring the dive shop, no doubt for some soon-to-be-forgotten treasure to con their parents into buying. The little boy had reminded him of Ted. Doug hadn’t thought of the scared little boy in years.

  Doug had been at his third foster home for almost a year when social services dropped off Ted. The place had been okay, especially as far as foster homes went, but the little boy was scared silent. It was a few weeks before anyone was even sure he could speak. And for some reason he’d chosen Doug to shadow. At first he wanted nothing more than for the kid to leave him alone. But, when he saw a couple of the older boys shoving the sprout out of the way in order to get to the bathroom and tears trickling down his cheeks as he peed his pants right there in the hall, Doug took on the job of big brother. All the kid had needed was a little attention for his smile—and his voice—to come back.

  It had broken Doug’s heart six months later when social services found Ted’s real dad. Doug wasn’t so sure that was a good thing, until he met the wife. She’d approached Ted with a soft hand and an angelic smile. In less than ten minutes the timid little boy was curled up in her lap, and she was telling him stories about their house in the country and the dog and the neighbors and the new bicycle they were going to buy him. The father didn’t say much; he mostly stared, but the watery pools in his eyes told Doug that the kid was going to be okay.

  Turned out the druggy mom had stolen Ted when he wasn’t much more than a toddler, and the father had no idea how to find Ted. What Doug had never gotten was what the hell had taken social services so long to find the guy. After that, Doug spent a good long time pretending his mother was just like Ted’s father, a loving parent who someday would walk through the door, and take Doug and his sister home. But then reality would growl, and he’d have to remember that Ted’s father hadn’t walked out on him, and Doug’s sister was better off without any of them.

  Towel around his neck, Doug shook off the dark cloud and worked his way to the locker room for a shower and change of clothes.

  “Something go wrong?” Billy met him halfway to his destination.

  “No.”

  “I’ve seen that look before. Usually right after something, or someone, blew up.”

  Only his memories. The ones he’d thought he’d wrapped in chains and locked away decades ago. “Not this time. Kids did great. You were right. Not anywhere near as bad as I feared.”

  Billy studied him a minute longer before nodding and giving up the concerned frown. “Good.”

  Doug had only made it another few feet when he spotted Emily. He couldn’t do this. Not now. He wasn’t up to playing casual friend to his buddy’s sister. Not when he wanted her right now more than he wanted anything else. But today’s stroll down memory lane served as a vivid reminder of why Emily Everrett with a Father Knows Best family didn’t need to be mixing around with a mongrel like him.

  “Hey there.” Emily pranced across the room like she wasn’t much older than the other children he’d just spent the last two hours with.

  “Hi” was the only word he could push from his throat.

  “You don’t look too worse for wear.”

  Billy slapped Doug on the shoulder and smiled at his sister. “It would take a lot more than a party of kids to get the best of us.” He looked to Doug, a tinge of concern still on his face. “Right?”

  “Absolutely.” He nodded. “If you two will excuse me, I’d like to get in
to some dry clothes.”

  “Of course, but before you run off…” Emily moved a little closer.

  Just enough for him to get a whiff of her perfume. He didn’t know what brand it was, but the light floral scent was seared in his memory banks along with a host of other little details about Emily Everrett he had no business revisiting.

  “I hear Tim and Jennie are doing a great job. I thought it would be nice to reward them for their hard work. So I’ve invited them for pizza and a movie at my place tonight. I’d like everyone to join us.”

  Lexie shook her head. “I’m out but count me in next time.”

  “Angela and I already have plans too.” Billy slapped Doug on the back. “Guess you’re going to have to represent the shop at this shindig.”

  “Sorry, man, but I don’t think so.” He tied the towel around his hips. “After an afternoon of kids I need my beauty sleep.”

  “Right. Like a birthday party of eleven-year-olds could get the better of you.” Billy settled his hand on Doug’s shoulder. “I’d do it if I could. Someone from the shop should be there. Nick’s working the boat tonight. I’d really appreciate it if you’d stand in for me this time.”

  There was nothing smart about hanging out at Emily’s again. With or without two teenagers to keep him honest. But against his better judgment Doug found himself nodding. “Sure.” How bad could one pizza night be?

  Chapter Thirteen

  “You’ve never seen Renaissance Man?” Emily had expected to stream a new release movie, but she couldn’t miss this opportunity to impart Shakespeare on her students. And what better movie for a military man than one set during army boot camp.

  “Sounds a little boring.” Her back to the room, Jennie scanned Emily’s DVDs.

  “What’s it about?” Tim asked.

  Doug flipped the DVD jacket Emily had handed him. “Danny DeVito.”

  “Who?” Jennie turned to look at them.

  Without raising his head, Doug lifted his eyes to the young lady. “Did you not see Matilda as a child?”

  Jennie paused and looked heavenward as though the answer might be painted on the ceiling. “Don’t think so.”