I’d seen Pirates of the Caribbean.
The pirate flourished a hand dripping lace and seawater. “I am the master of these seas. And father of the witch you seduced.”
Would it help my cause or ruin it to admit that Jane had initiated the kiss? “I didn’t mean any disrespect. I like your daughter…sir.” I thought it best to tack that on.
“Do you really think that excuses your behavior?” The man snorted. “You put your depraved paws on my daughter. Don’t deny it. The ocean sees all.” Theodore ogled me.
I could only shrug. “If it sees all, then you know she kissed me first.” I put it out there, and as expected, it didn’t work in my favor.
Lightning crackled in the pirate’s gaze, and the ship rocked ominously. “Infidel! I’ll gut you and feed you to the fish.”
I believed him. He seemed very capable of slicing me to pieces with the saber hanging by his side. How confident did you have to be to show up in a lion shifter’s room, hands empty? I should tread carefully, especially since Jane probably wouldn’t appreciate me hurting her dad, even if her father tried to carve me up first. “We should discuss this like gentlemen.”
Theodore recoiled. “You would insult me and call me weak?”
“I didn’t mean that as an insult.” Since when was gentlemen a bad word? I tried to recover as the pirate advanced on me, his tall leather boots squelching on the floor.
“I will start with your arm so that I might beat you with it.” The threat only missed a piratey, “Arrrr!” at the end.
I scrambled for a way to get out of this that didn’t involve bodily harm to either of us. “Jane will be mad if you hurt me.” At least I hoped she would be.
“She’ll get over it. It’s for her own good,” the drowned pirate huffed.
“Keeping her single?” I dared to query.
Theodore paused. “You’re not meant to be with her.”
“What makes you so sure of that?”
The expression on Theodore’s face turned sly. “Because you don’t have the locket.”
“Maybe she doesn’t need the locket to find the right man.”
“You can’t fight the magic, boy.” Said with a smug sneer. “The necklace will lead Jane to her true mate.”
It better not, because then I’d have to gut the fellow.
Huh? What?
Distracted by myself, I missed Theodore Davey’s next words.
“…do you understand?”
I blinked. “I’m assuming you made some kind of threat regarding staying away from your daughter. And I’m afraid I can’t promise that.” Something existed between Jane and me. A possibility that deserved further exploration.
The cruise ship rocked hard, teetering enough that my bare toes sank into the carpet to hold me from sliding. Hard to look tough when you were trying not to stumble.
Jane’s dad grinned, an expression wide and full of teeth—too many of them, and some pointed. I heard the theme song from a certain shark movie playing loudly in my head. The wet, dripping beard and sagging hat did not detract from the evilness of his countenance at all. “You don’t want to mess with me while on the ocean, boy. I’ve sunk bigger ships than this.”
“Seems kind of drastic. Why not let Jane decide what she wants?” Could be she’d choose me.
She better. Rawr.
The reaction of my inner feline distracted.
Her daddy snorted. “We tried letting Jane figure things out. But she’s challenging. Which is why I agreed to her grandmother’s foolish plan with the locket. A locket not in your possession.”
“So what? Apparently, I don’t need it because I’ve already got Jane. And I don’t find her challenging at all.” Which sounded bad out loud, but mostly meant that whatever traits her father worried about were a part of her. People weren’t perfect. Their very foibles made them unique. Like me and my need to lick the bowl when I had ice cream. Forgetting and leaving the toilet seat upright. Oh, and I liked to mow the lawn naked.
“You obviously haven’t spent time with her,” Theodore muttered.
“If you’re implying I haven’t seen her in a mood, then let me reassure you. She didn’t like me one bit when she met me.”
“Yet you tricked her into changing her mind.”
“No trick. We like each other.”
The pirate stared at me. “You seriously can’t be that dense. It doesn’t matter if you think you do. Save yourself the effort. You don’t have the locket, which means you’re not the guy she’s going to end up with.”
“You can’t be sure of that.”
“Can’t I?” The pirate arched a brow. “My mother-in-law