David stayed where he was and avoided Mavis’s probing gaze as Mandy and Bonnie went below deck. He didn’t have time for the regret surging through him. He’d known from the moment he’d made love to her that he needed to find a way to get her off his boat, especially after that awkward conversation they had. Leave it to Mavis to unintentionally give him the out he needed.
“Hold up there, Dave.” Mavis stooped down and grabbed his arm before he could resume his repairs. “What’s going on, David?”
“I need to work on my boat,” David explained, but there was no point in trying to hide anything from Mavis. Sometimes she knew him almost better than he knew himself.
“Please. You’ll have this thing up and running in a few hours. You’re trying to get rid of her. Why? You two are not getting along?” She narrowed her eyes. “Or maybe you’re getting along too well.”
He and Mavis had one rule between them. They didn’t lie to each other. That meant, at this moment, it was better to stay silent. Better, but not easier. Whatever feelings he had for Bonnie couldn’t go any further than this boat. Because beyond this boat was a reality they both needed to deal with. But not answering only gave Mavis the answer she’d clearly been expecting. She sank back on her heels and let go of his arm.
“Oh, man.” She looked toward the open hatch, then back at him. “Oh, man. You finally did it, didn’t you? She’s it, isn’t she?” She let out a whoop of laughter.
“Keep your voice down,” he snapped.
The teasing light vanished from Mavis’s look. “Oh, Dave. I don’t mean to make fun. It’s just so…unexpected. Or maybe not, considering you dated Audrey for a while last year. She wasn’t your usual type, either.”
“My usual type?” David echoed. “I don’t have a type.”
“Oh, please. Of course, you do.” She gave him her men-are-so-dumb-sometimes look. “You like women who are settled, low-mainte-nance and content. I’ve only spent a few minutes around her, but I can honestly say I don’t see Bonnie as any of those things.”
“She’s also a princess,” David reminded her. “And she is a client too, and she ran out on her wedding, remember?”
“Hard not to.” Mavis shrugged. “Doesn’t mean anything. She didn’t exactly drag her fiance along like an anchor. What was his name again?”
“Marcus… he’s a prince too, you know. And she didn’t exactly dump him. More like she…abandoned him.” And that, he had to admit, was one of the things that continued to gnaw at him. She hadn’t told Marcus that she didn’t want to marry him. She hadn’t told Marcus anything, nor did she seem particularly inclined to at any time in the near future. “Whatever might be going on with the two of us-”
“So there is something going on?” Mavis pressed.
David glared at her. “Whatever is going on with the two of us, there’s no moving forward until she makes an effort to clean up her past. She needs to deal with what she left behind if there’s to be anything going forward.”
“You are such a romantic.” Mavis wiped away an imaginary tear.
“Knock it off, Mavis.”
“Oh, please,” she snapped back. “You need to get over yourself. Maybe if she knew you were waiting for her on the other end of whatever she has going on it would make it easier for her.”
“I don’t want to continue this conversation.” David said. He didn’t want to open up to anyone about this, and as for Bonnie, he wasn’t about to be anyone’s escape plan. “She needs to figure out exactly what she wants. Not for anyone else. Not for me.”
Mavis opened her mouth as if about to say something more, then closed it again.
“All right. I won’t disagree with you there.” She pushed to her feet. “Oh, one thing.” She snapped her fingers before he started to resume his repairs. “Have you told her how you feel about her?”
He pretended not to hear her.
“David-”
“Stop.” He lost his grip on the wrench. “Please, Mavis, just stop.” He glanced up and found her watching him with surprisingly concerned eyes.
“Not until you tell me why. You and I both know that what you just told me is not the only reason why you are pushing her away”
“Because.” He shook his head. “Because women like Bonnie don’t stay. She might be adrift now, but she won’t be in a few days when she gets her life figured out. She has an inheritance too, you know… from her grandmother. Once that money hits her bank account, she’ll be off on new adventures, just like she was with her grandmother. She wouldn’t be happy with me, Bonnie. Not long-term. And when people aren’t happy, they die. Maybe not for a while, but inside, a little every day.”
“A bit melodramatic.”
“I know what I’m talking about, Mavis. And then there’s my job… it barely lets me have a relationship with anyone… I won’t even be around to do the things that a woman like Bonnie would want… and let’s not forget that it’s fucking dangerous too.” He looked back at the engine. “I’m not the man for her… or the kind of guy she wants anything to do with. She’s out of my league and we just got carried away because we were alone together for so long…Whatever we feel isn’t real. I won’t do that to Bonnie. She needs to discover things for herself, on her own. I can’t have anything to do with whatever choices she makes from here.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. Why do you have to be so negative?” Mavis’s voice sharpened. It always did on the few occasions they discussed important stuff like this. “I never once saw any woman look at you the way Bonnie looks at you.” There wasn’t anger in her voice, just disappointment. And it was aimed at him.
“I don’t think it’s Bonnie feeling trapped that has you worried, David. You are. You’re scared of finally having everything you’ve always wanted. Maybe you should take some time and think about that instead.”
————
“Do you have everythIng?” David asked as he wiped his hands on a rag and followed Mavis, Mandy and Bonnie over to where Mavis had tied Phoenix to the side of Blue Blood. Mandy helped Bonnie with her luggage and Bonnie had a handbag in her hand.