Still not sure she could, or even should, she nodded grimly, then turned to leave. Before she could make a clean exit, he gently pulled her to a stop. She expected him to say something. Instead he merely stared at her with a breathtaking expression that was part incredulous and part devouring. No man had ever looked at her like that.
Face it, at six feet tall, she dwarfed most men, and though she wasn't hideous, she wasn't skinny or beautiful. She was just average and men who looked like Arik weren't interested in women who looked like her.
Except in their dreams...
Could this whole day be nothing more than a delusion? Was she dreaming even now?
Arik wanted to tell her that he was here for her and her alone. He wanted her to know what he'd gone through to get here, but from what he knew of humans, she wouldn't react well to that knowledge.
Especially not about the part where he'd bartered her soul for it.
But from the moment he'd touched her, words escaped him. He wanted to taste her, to hold her.
She cocked a brow in expectation.
I want you with me, Megeara. Those words were on the tip of his tongue. They burned there, needing to be spoken. But to say them would cost him the very thing he was trying so hard to get.
"I need to contact my brother."
"Fine," she said softly. "You can see him once we dock."
"But I don't know where he is or how to find him. I'll need your help."
Her eyes turned suspicious once again.
"Please, Megeara."
"Geary," she said from between clenched teeth.
"Please, Geary. I have to find him."
She folded her arms over her chest. "What's his name?"
"Solin Catranides."
Her entire demeanor was one of doubt. "This better not be a trick, do you understand?"
"It's not a trick."
Still her eyes accused him. "Fine. You stay here and I'll let you know when we're back at the marina."
"I shall wait most anxiously."
She just bet he would. Giving him a warning glare, Geary backed out of the door and shut it tight. It was only then that she could breathe again.
Just what was she supposed to do now? Was there any validity to his claims? Or was he completely full of crap?
Unsure of what to believe, she headed topside where Brian and Teddy were chatting.
"Are you all right?" Brian asked as she joined them.
"I guess... oh hell, I don't know. Our newest passenger claims he can get us our permits."
Teddy laughed in disbelief. "What? Is he Zeus? Does he know the gods personally? 'Cause no offense, I think that's what it's going to take to get us any kind of permit."
Brian nodded. "I have to side with Teddy. It's beginning to look hopeless. I'm afraid I'm going to have pull my funding."
Geary was sick to her stomach at the news. Even though she was the co-owner of her father's salvage company, her money was so tied up that she couldn't touch the kind of cash she needed to fund these summer trips.
"C'mon, Brian-"
"I'm sorry, Geary. It's too costly and now we have no permits."
They'd never had permits. At least not legal ones.
"Can you give it a day? Arik swears his brother is good for it."
Teddy snorted in contempt. "Who is his brother? King Constantine?"
"Some guy named Solin Catranides."
Brian's jaw went slack.
A twinge of hope went through her. "You know him?"
"The multi-billionaire playboy? Uh, yeah, I know of him. But I've never been able to get close enough to meet him. He's always surrounded by a harem of women trying to become his next pampered mistress."
Geary frowned. That didn't sound like a guy who would have a brother floating in the Aegean.
Then again...
"Do you know where we can find him?"
"I can make a few calls and see if my people can locate his people."
That worked for her. "Please do so. I want to know if Arik is lying."
Teddy scratched his cheek. "You know, it could be a different Solin Catranides."
She shook her head at Teddy. How many men could there possibly be with a name like that?
"Hey, you never know," he said defensively.
"Yeah, but what are the odds?"
Teddy laughed. "About as good as fishing a half-naked guy of the sea." He looked at Brian. "You've got to wonder about a guy like that. He wasn't drunk. What? Did he decide to take a swim twenty miles from shore? With no boat?"
"Oh, shut up, Teddy," Geary said playfully.
Brian left them to make his call on the satellite phone with Teddy following one step behind. But as she listened to Teddy's questions, she realized he wasn't being his usual puckish self. For once the man was making sense.
Why was Arik out here alone? How had he come to be in the sea when it was obvious the man couldn't swim?
"Are you okay?"
She turned to find Tory behind her. "I don't know. I'm wondering if maybe we should have left our mysterious swimmer in the water."
Tory frowned. "How not like you. Why would you say that?"
"There's something weird about him, don't you think?"
"You mean aside from the fact he was almost naked in the water?"
"Well, there is that."
Tory shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not the one who was really talking to him. What about him bothers you so?"
Geary smiled at her. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired."
"People only say that when they're not really willing to deal with the issue at hand. It's like when you ask a guy what he's thinking and he says 'nothing' but in reality you know he's checking out another woman and he doesn't want you to give him grief over it."
Geary gaped at her unexpected analogy.
"It's Thia's theory."
Geary shook her head. "I think you need to stay away from her before she corrupts you."
"Nah, it's too much fun. She has the most misguided views on everything. But I think what I just said is one of the few lucid thoughts she's ever managed."
Geary had to agree with that, too. "All right, Doogie Howser, go back to the books."
"You know, that's what you always say to me when I've hit too close to home with an observation."
She was right, but Geary wasn't about to let her know that. "Take your little scrawny self off and bug someone else before I make you a human sacrifice, Tor. I'm trying to think, okay?"
" 'Kay. I'll be below deck irritating Scott next if you need me."
Laughing, Geary watched her cousin walk off. God, how she loved that little girl. There was something very infectious about her.
Tory passed Brian in the doorway. By the look on his face, Geary could tell he had bad news.
She met him halfway across the deck. "What's up?"
"Apparently Solin is an only child. He has no brothers, sisters. Hell, not even a guinea pig."
Anger and victory whipped through her. "I knew it! I knew he was lying." Geary took Brian's arm and hauled him back the way he'd come.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to confront our guest with this and you're my witness."