Sailing at Sunset - Cindi Madsen Page 0,27
cocoa.”
“Oh, it’s okay.” Danae had never been great at accepting help. She was far more comfortable giving it. But the stern mom-type glare Vanessa gave her and Josh was enough to make Danae follow instructions. She sat at the rectangular wooden table, which had a piecework compass symbol in the center, and then scooted across the royal blue bench cushions so Josh could have a seat, too. When she failed to suppress another shiver, he reached across and tucked the blanket more firmly around her.
In order to fully warm up, she should probably get out of her wet clothes. But as the blanket and being next to Josh did their job of returning heat to her body, her motivation to move became nonexistent.
“So, where’d you learn those mad sailing skills?” Josh asked.
The sentimental emotions that had been her constant companions since climbing aboard the ship the first time crested once again. It was a bit like the tide, showing up in a huge surge, only to recede and return in intervals. “My dad. From the time I was a little girl, he used to take me out on the boat with him. Every so often my younger sister and brother would tag along, but they took a lot of looking after and weren’t great at following instructions, so he and I both preferred it when my mom sent us on alone. He taught me everything I know about sailing and the sea.”
Vanessa placed two mugs of steaming hot cocoa in front of them, and Danae decided she lived here now. After all, what more could a person ask for than sipping chocolatey goodness next to a guy who could turn her insides melty with nothing more than a smile?
Only then did she consider that her entire team was in the kitchen area, and she was getting way too cuddly with Josh. Another sip and she began to scoot away from him. “I’m, uh, going to go change my clothes. Then we should probably use this time stuck inside to get our work done.”
Chapter Seven
“I miss my fiancé,” Paige said, sweeping her red locks over one shoulder while she drummed her fingers on the kitchen table they’d crowded around to avoid the rain. “It feels like we’ve been apart for a week already.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes. “It feels like you’ve been talking about how much you miss him for a week already.”
Danae pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a second so she could intercede in a calm, kind manner. “We all miss things, whether it’s people or pets or our own beds. But we have to remember what a great opportunity we have to check out beautiful locations while doing our work.”
“I’ve already been to most of the places we’re going, though,” Paige said with a sigh, and Vanessa opened her mouth.
Working to cut off a bickering match before it grew out of control, Danae spoke over whatever retort Vanessa had on the tip of her tongue. “Not only do publicity and social media go hand in hand, I need both of your incredible brains right now in order to make this new campaign as successful as possible.” She flipped the pages in her binder to find the other teamwork quote—the Michael Jordan one had been aimed mostly at Mark anyway. “‘Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.’ Let’s be that team.”
There. Powerful. Motivational. Everyone’s important.
It desperately needed to work, because being cooped up inside seemed to make everyone shorter-tempered. Thanks to how tightly packed they were around the table, Danae had accidentally elbowed Vanessa and Franco, who were on either side of her, several times.
Vanessa twisted her wrist and studied the large bejeweled watch that hung from her golden charm bracelet. “By my calculations, we should be reaching Block Island soon. If we work really hard for the next fifteen minutes, we could get a rough draft of our publicity and social media strategy hammered out before we dock.”
“I love that idea,” Danae said, and she was about to suggest they go outside to do so since the windows overhead were brightening up.
But Vanessa wasn’t done. “I’ve never been to most of the places we’ll be stopping at, and personally, I’m grateful to Mr. Barton for providing us the opportunity to check them out in style.”
Oh, boy. The passive aggressive was strong with this one.
“It’s okay to miss my fiancé. When people don’t understand that, it makes it hard