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was swinging a rope like a lasso and threatening to hog-tie Bowie, who was pawing the ground and using his forefingers as horns.
    “Don’t underestimate her because she likes to kid around,” Nicole said. “She’d go to the wall for the people she loves.”
    “Like Bowie.”
    “Yeah.” Nicole smiled. “I recognized right away how alike they were. I’m sure that’s what attracted me to him.”
    “I just wish he enjoyed his work at Jefferson more.”
    “Well, maybe if you could—” Nicole cut herself off as Andi and Bowie came back inside, flushed and laughing.
    Chance felt an overwhelming urge to take Andi in his arms and kiss that laughing mouth. What a huge mistake that would be. “All set?” he asked.Bowie snapped him a salute. “All secure and remarkably tight, Captain.”
    “Then get back there and protect my ass, Bowie.”
    “Aye, aye, Captain.”
    Nicole stood. “I’ll go with you and help direct.”
    Bowie leered at her. “Trying to get me alone so you can have your way with me, aren’t you?”
    “Of course.”
    “Hot-diggity.” Bowie guided Nicole down the passageway to the rear of the boat. “We’ll be in the back making out, if you need us, Captain.”
    “Just don’t embarrass the family,” Chance called after them. He wished Andi had volunteered to go with Bowie instead of Nicole. That meant smart-mouthed Andi would be staying up front with him and be a witness to the disaster if he miscalculated and drove this barge into something. From the way she’d reacted to everything so far, he’d probably never live it down, either. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.
    “Don’t worry. You’ll do fine,” Andi said.
    He glanced at her in surprise. Whatever he’d expected. from her while he attempted this feat, it hadn’t been moral support. “Thanks.”
    “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? You could wreck the boat, which is worth about a gabbillion dollars, by backing into someone else’s boat, also worth about a gabbillion dollars, and both boats would sink in the middle of the harbor, making it impossible for anybody else to get in or out, and we’d all have to swim to the dock while crowds of people threw rotten food at us.”
    He chuckled. “Thanks for the encouraging words.”
    “Anytime.” She smiled back.
    He reached for his sunglasses and put them on, feelinga little like Tom Cruise in Top Gun. He could by damn do this.
    Bowie yelled the first command, and he put the boat in reverse. Funny thing, but his palms weren’t sweating anymore.
    S HE’D DONE IT , Andi thought as she sat on a bench seat where she could watch Chance at the wheel of the boat. She’d made him see the funny side of the situation and a little of the tension was gone from his jaw. And there were signs, small but significant, that he was loosening up. He hadn’t acknowledged that Bowie had saved them from pulling off a section of the dock, though.
    Slowly the boat slid out of the mooring slip, and when it had cleared, Chance muscled it around to the left with the help of instructions coming from Bowie in the back.
    “You’re clear. Punch it!” Bowie shouted.
    The engines roared as Chance thrust the boat forward before it could drift toward the dock again. Bowie let out a rebel yell as the houseboat moved smoothly out of the marina.
    “See?” Andi said. “Piece of cake.”
    He glanced at her. “Want to drive it?”
    She was taken aback. “You mean that?”
    “Sure, why not? Getting in and out of the marina has to be the worst of it. Just steer it along the shoreline. It’s probably not much different than driving your van.”
    She stood and walked over to the captain’s chair. As he began to explain the control panel to her, she caught another whiff of his cologne and her stomach did that funny little twisting trick again. Face it, you’re attracted to him. She’d always been a sucker for a man with a nicely sculpted mouth and strong chin. That slight fiveo’clock shadow