Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

INSISTENT “MROWING” and scratching at the door crept into Jack’s dream. He was searching for something, but he couldn’t move. A noise was coming from somewhere nearby, and he felt Max pressed up against him. Even though he couldn’t see her, he could feel her presence. There was more scratching, followed by something rattling, and he found himself in a dim corridor. The floor moved and he was wet. He could hear the wind blowing, then he was floating.
    Before he could fully understand what was happening to him, another loud “Mrowh,” followed by a louder rattling sound brought him out of his dream and into his bed. “Cat!” Forcing his eyes open, he turned his head and saw Max next to him still sleeping peacefully. Not yet fully awake his body felt heavy, paralyzed. He didn’t― couldn’t―move as pieces of the intense dream floated in and out of his head. As he became more fully awake, his conscious mind tried to remember what his subconscious had just experienced. But the more he tried to bring it into focus, the foggier it became until he was fully awake and only aware that he had just had one hell of a dream.
    “Mrowh.” The doorknob rattled again. He slid out from under the covers as quietly as possible, trying to not wake Max. When he opened the door, Cat rushed past him and jumped onto the bed. Purring loudly, she began pacing up, over, and around Max.
    “Cat. Get off me,” Max moaned.
    Cat ignored her.
    “Jack. Get her off me,” Max said in that smoky, sleep-filled voice that he found so sexy.
    Jack grinned and turned. “Cat, come on. Let’s leave Max alone.” And with that he picked her up. Scratching her ears, he left the room and closed the door quietly, leaving Max curled up in the bed.
    As soon as the door clicked shut, Cat began to squirm. She twisted out of his arms and thumped onto the floor. Jack watched her run off while he headed for the kitchen and a dose of caffeine. Instant coffee, water, one minute twenty-five in the microwave, powdered creamer, sugar, and Jack was a happy man.
    Coffee in hand he walked to the front window and stood looking out over the harbor. He could tell that the day was going to be perfect for sailing.
    As he turned away from the window, he saw Cat up on a table rubbing against the lamp that resided there. “Cat, get down from there.” She stopped and turned to him with a look that said, “What?”
    “What is with you? You never used to do this.”
    Cat continued to stare at him until he moved toward her. Then she jumped down, glared up at him, and spoke, “Mwrowh.”
    “Don’t you sass me.”
    “Mwrowh.” Satisfied that she had gotten in the last word, she walked off just as Max came out of the bedroom.
    “Who were you talking to?”
    “Cat. She has been acting really strange and she was up on the table rubbing on that lamp again. She’s never done that before.”
    “Hmph. Any coffee made?”
    “Not yet. I was about to put some on for you.” Max couldn’t understand Jack’s preference for instant. She had to have brewed, and if vanilla bean was an option, then she was even happier.
    “You’re working today, aren’t you?”
    “Day shift. I should be finished by five. Why?”
    “I’m thinking of asking Tom to go for a sail.”
    “Lucky you,” she said with a touch of sarcasm.
    He ignored the jab.

CHAPTER 23
    THERE WAS A SLIGHT swell rolling into the harbor as they motored out past the breakwaters. The bow lifted, then dipped as Irrepressible began to move to the rhythm of the sea. They were heading straight into the breeze so no course change was required as Jack went forward to hoist the main, leaving Tom at the helm. As soon as the main was up and secure, Tom bore off to starboard, the sail filled, and he throttled back the engine into neutral, leaving it running at a low idle. The noise and vibration of running under power ceased and her motion changed as she heeled slightly and shouldered her way into the sea. Jack returned to the cockpit, released the furling line on the jib, and as he pulled on its sheet, the jib unfurled and filled. He trimmed the sail, the angle of heel increased slightly, and Irrepressible accelerated. Tom killed the engine and the silence was joyous as the boat, free of man’s interventions, moved in harmony with the wind and the sea.
    That moment of transition was magical and both men were grinning like two boys experiencing some forbidden pleasure for the first time. Neither spoke. The