Sailing at Sunset - Cindi Madsen Page 0,47

to many a fight. It started off with Olivia telling him what he’d done wrong, and escalated to a screaming match.

He reluctantly straightened and turned to Danae, who stood about a yard away, arms crossed.

Yep. It was about to go down.

“You undermined me in front of my team,” she said.

“I was only trying to help. I like you and your team and want you all to succeed. And you did say you were open to advice.”

“To feedback. From my team.”

That stung, a sharp prick to his heart. It was more than his ego. Even though they hadn’t known each other long, surely she didn’t think he’d been trying to sabotage her presentation.

Danae ran her fingers through her hair, switching the bulk of it from one side to the other. “Do you understand how hard it is to be firm enough that I don’t get plowed over, but encouraging enough that all the departments will contribute ideas and get onboard? It’s a tricky balance—one I’m struggling to hit, by the way. If our sailboat captain starts questioning me, it’ll only be a matter of time before my entire team does the same. I can’t lead if they don’t have faith in me.”

“Look, I get it, but I think you’re reading way too much into it,” Josh said, unable to resist the urge to defend himself. “You’re overanalyzing it, same way you do with your tight schedules, goals, and your never-ending to-do list.”

“Overanalyzing? Seriously?” Danae reached down and grabbed the end of the rope that kept snagging, as if she were on autopilot. “I can’t believe you’d say that when you know what’s at stake for me.” Her chin quivered and hurt flickered through her eyes. “I confided in you about how important it was that I prove myself to my boss in order to hold on to my new position. Something not even my team knows, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Disappointment and frustration joined together and streaked through his veins, weighing down his limbs and his lungs. The charismatic, upbeat woman he’d spent yesterday with was gone. He’d thought he’d broken through to her, but she had reset overnight. She would undoubtedly do it again tomorrow, emerging from her cabin that much more determined to eliminate all risk, as if that were possible.

He’d tried it before. Lived that life. It only ended in stress and high blood pressure. He straightened and opened his mouth to tell her as much, but she wasn’t done with her rant.

“The more in control I am, the more confident I come across, the more my team will follow my lead. That’s why I like schedules and detailed objectives, and there’s nothing wrong with accomplishing goals. In fact, not writing them down and working toward them would make them wishes. I have to work to make things happen—it’s how I’ve gotten to where I am today.” She crossed her arms, adopting the same pose she’d originally come to him with, and shook her head. “Next time I’m leading my team, do me a favor and butt. Out.”

“No problem. I’ll be keeping my thoughts to myself from now on, letting you attempt to schedule every second of everything until you drive yourself insane.”

“Good.” Danae whipped around, one stride into a dramatic exit.

“Great,” he said, because he never did know when to keep his mouth shut.

She spun back around, jaw clenched. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes, and then he felt two feet tall.

“Danae—”

“Save it. I’ll be going into town for dinner. Everyone’s doing their own thing, so enjoy your unscheduled free time. I’ll see you in the morning at nine sharp, when our rental bikes get delivered. As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t know the trail. Although I’m sure I could figure it out if needed.”

With that, she continued her retreat, leaving him standing there, completely flustered.

Bright side? It confirmed he’d made the right decision to pull back with Danae. His ex-wife had been all about a five-year plan, too, one that included a big house and a baby. And look how that had turned out. Grand plans like that only led to disappointment, and a big no thank you on his end.

Unfortunately, it didn’t feel very bright, or make the churning in his gut go away.

One thing was for sure: his life had been a lot simpler before Danae Danvers came into it.

Chapter Twelve

At least the bike rental company Danae had booked knew how to be on time. This morning