Sailing at Sunset - Cindi Madsen Page 0,63
a sparkly ballerina, and she barely refrained from doing a spin.
Vaguely she’d realized previously that they were an attractive group of people, inside and out, but tonight, they shone. Even Josh wore a black button-down shirt and a leather jacket, giving him a refined yet rugged edge that suited him. He’d mentioned he did have a tie if he had to wear one, and she’d responded that he looked nice enough without the tie. And he certainly did. She couldn’t stop staring.
Once they were settled at their table, their drinks placed in front of them, it was time to choose entrees. Since the other side of the table knew what they wanted, Danae told them to go ahead, leaving her and Josh up last.
“Um…” Danae studied the two entrees she’d narrowed her options to. “I keep going back and forth between lobster or the filet mignon. Which do you recommend?”
“I was eyeing those as well,” Josh said. “It’s hard to beat a good steak, but the same could be said about lobster.”
“Ah, you want the romantic meal.” The waiter scribbled on his notepad, and Danae froze in place. She hadn’t accidentally flirted with Josh, had she? She was struggling to draw lines. Even earlier, when he’d offered her a fist bump, she couldn’t decide if it was the kind of move she should avoid. Then she’d felt like a jerk for rejecting it, and that was the perfect example of why she favored knowing what was going to happen in advance.
Danae skirted her fingers along the edge of the linen tablecloth at her thighs. “Oh, we’re all on a work trip.”
The waiter nodded. “Okay. I can put in an order for both of you to get that meal, but see this here?” He pointed at the last entree on the menu. “The romantic meal for two is less expensive, and you still get to try both.”
“On two plates?” Danae asked, and the waiter scrunched his forehead.
“Yeah. Unless you want our chef to cram it on one.”
Danae shook her head. “No. Two plates is good.” Great. She could feel herself heating up, and her face was undoubtedly as pink as her dress.
In order to preserve what was left of her confidence, she changed the subject. “Okay, so let’s talk guest list.” She tapped her pen against her notebook, only halfway glancing at Josh. “Who do you want at your boat’s christening party? Besides all of us, of course.”
Once she’d explained the ceremony and how it ensured good fortune to the owner and crew, everyone helped convince Josh to perform one. So naturally they were coming, too.
Appetizers that included oysters, wild rice and smoked ricotta, and beef carpaccio—she wouldn’t be touching that last one—arrived. They paused the conversation while two members of the waitstaff placed the plates on the table.
“You really don’t need to go to all that trouble,” Josh said.
“You probably don’t know this about me, but I actually enjoy planning things.”
A crooked smile slanted his lips. “Wow, I never would’ve guessed.”
“Every improviser needs a planner. Someone to consider all the scenarios and be prepared, granting the impulsive person the freedom to change without ending up in trouble.”
“I’ve survived so far.”
“You’re tempting the gods every day that ship’s in the water without being properly christened. Someone back me up on this.” Danae glanced around the table. Most everyone was nibbling on appetizers and sipping celebratory cocktails.
“I might not know much about the ceremony,” Paige said. “But thanks to reading the Odyssey, I assure you that angering Poseidon is a bad idea. He didn’t let that guy go home for so, so many years.”
Danae placed her hand next to Josh’s plate, drawing his attention away from his food. “Please let me do this for you. I won’t be able to sleep worrying about you out there tempting fate.”
Josh’s features softened, and when his eyes met hers, everything inside of her went gooey and warm. “You worry about me?”
“You are our captain. We should look at the calendar and choose a date.” Danae flipped through her planner. “How’s two weeks from tomorrow? Do you have any unprotected journeys scheduled before then?” The question hung in the air, time stuttering to a halt as she realized that setting up this event would mean seeing Josh even after this trip came to a close.
“Two weeks from tomorrow works for me.”
Danae’s stomach completed a full somersault. Before she could warn her brain not to get carried away, she was envisioning him standing on the deck of