Romance on the Edge 01 - Hooked

asked.
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Kendrick isn’t going to take that well,” Judd said.
    Sure enough, words were being slung, and then a pop can went flying toward Sonya. Sonya actually threw her head back and laughed as it missed, spraying soda against the pilot house. Garrett swiveled his binoculars back to Kendrick.
    The face of the Albatross ’ captain was red as a heart attack. “Let’s hurry this tug boat along, Skip.” Before another weapon, more deadly, was produced. They’d already unarmed and cited another boat and the fishing period wasn’t even half over for the day.
    “The woman sure isn’t out to make friends,” Skip commented, clicking his tongue.
    “Doesn’t look that way.” She was going to make his job a hell of a lot harder this summer.
    “What’s Kendrick doing?” Judd asked.
    Garrett lowered his binoculars. “I think he just ordered his crewman to cut her line.” The Calypso was too far away to intervene. By the time they reached the feuding vessels, threats were being swapped and Sonya’s net was about to be cut. Funny how the knife disappeared and the crewman dropped her cork line when he saw the troopers.
    “What do you want to do, Garrett?” Judd asked, lowering his binoculars. “He hasn’t broken any laws…yet.”
    “Let’s board him anyway and see what we can find.” It would dispel the situation between Sonya and Kendrick, and remind Kendrick that the law was watching.
    Didn’t Sonya know better than to cross men like him? Garrett caught her colorful threat of making Kendrick fish bait on the wind. Guess not.
    Skip announced their intent over the loud speaker, and with the way Kendrick went off with his foul language, they weren’t welcomed. Meanwhile, Sonya smiled ear to ear, and waved to the captain of the Albatross as her crew began pulling in their full net.

    Before disembarking the Albatross , Garrett wrote Kendrick up for three safety violations. The fisherman was not happy, but he’d wisely taken the tickets, stone-faced and menacing. The man was imposing with his three-foot breadth of shoulders, lumberjack arms, and keg of a belly. He reminded Garrett of Brutus in the cartoon Popeye , though a lot smarter and more dangerous.
    Sonya had better watch who she pissed off. Some tussles weren’t worth the trouble.
    Garrett reboarded the Calypso . “Where’s the Double Dippin’ ?”
    “Are we policing her or protecting her?” Judd asked with a cocked brow.
    “Both. She needs a friendly warning.”
    “Another?” Skip asked. “We babysitting the woman and no one told me?”
    “Just do it.”
    “Would you look at the new guy, throwing his weight around?” Skip said to Judd.
    “Just because he’s a decorated SEAL, the man thinks he’s hot stuff,” Judd returned.
    “Stow it, boys. And I am hot stuff.” His comment was followed by snorts of laughter.

    “Ahoy, Captain,” Peter said in a sing-song voice. “The Calypso’s back.”
    They’d finished hauling in their net and had moved closer to the beach to lay out the next one. Nice thing about the flat bottom boat was that they could position themselves in the shallows, as long as they were careful and didn’t beach themselves when the tide turned.
    Corking off the Albatross had been a smart, if somewhat risky move. The net they’d pulled in was stocked with fish. Looking at all the silver flashing on deck, made up for the gamble.
    The Calypso drew as close as she dared in the shallow water. Garrett stood at the bow, his brows lowered, his face a chiseled mask of intent. “You got a death wish?” he hollered.
    “No more than anyone else out here,” Sonya yelled back.
    Deep lines bracketed his mouth. “Chuck Kendrick isn’t someone you want to be messing with, Sonya.”
    “You know what, Garrett. I’m not someone to mess with. Why don’t you spread that around instead of telling me how to fish these waters?”
    His eyes narrowed, and he anchored his hands on his hips. His stance reflected more than ever his position of power. He looked manly and macho, and frustrated as hell. It started private places of hers thawing, and she didn’t want to thaw for him.
    “I feel sparks in the air,” Gramps commented, his voice easily reaching Sonya. Gramps turned to Wes and Peter. “You feel sparks?”
    “Yep,” Wes responded with an easy going grin.
    Peter glanced around the deck. “Something on fire?”
    “Your sister’s about to go up in flames,” Wes said, tongue in cheek.
    “You ladies