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between his feet when he sat. He watched her face as she sipped, and she closed her eyes to avoid his gaze as the deep fruity flavor burst on her tongue.
    “You like it?”
    “Mm. Very smooth.”
    “My family’s shiraz. My very favorite.”
    She opened her eyes and looked at him. The dark lounge made this feel too intimate. If she knew what was good for her, she’d get up and leave. “Is there anything your family doesn’t have their fingers in?”
    He grinned as if he had a dirty joke on the tip of his tongue, but instead of sharing, he settled in the low-backed chair and sipped. “This is my sister’s baby, the winery. My brother runs the ships.”
    “And you snowboard.”
    He tipped his wine glass toward her. “Hey, I’ve made some money off that, the endorsements and the equipment companies who sponsored me. If I’d competed another year, I’d have had even more.”
    She lifted her glass to her lips, watching him. “But you didn’t want to.”
    “Nope.”
    “What about working with your sister in the winery?”
    “It’s in one place. Not sure I could do that. Stay in one place, I mean.”
    “That’s a pretty bold statement, don’t you think?” Especially for a man trying to get into a woman’s good graces.
    He shrugged. “I’ve got itchy feet, which is why my brother Harris thought this might be the place for me.”
    “So what did you do today while I was slaving away making your kitchen one of the best in the fleet?”
    He rolled his eyes. “Watched a lot of waves. Talked to the little girl, Trinity, in the presence of her family. Tried to avoid your father.”
    She swirled the wine in her glass, smiling despite herself. “Why?”
    “Hard to spend time with a man when all you can think about is making love to his daughter.”
    A flash of warmth shot through her at his words, but she shifted her knees away. She took a drink as flashes of memories from the other night filled her mind. She toed off her shoes and pushed them under her chair, determined he would not see her squirm. “Did the passengers have any idea about the pirate alert?”
    He sat back, taking her cue. “If they did, they didn’t say anything. They’re all excited because they want to ride the zodiac around the icebergs. Not for a couple of days, though, Josh said.”
    “We won’t see icebergs for a few miles,” she confirmed. “But they might get the zodiac out tomorrow if we stay on schedule. Did you see any whales today?”
    “I didn’t. They may have.”
    “The first few days aren’t too exciting, which is why we have the scientists on board giving lectures and showing videos.”
    He rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it’s very interesting and all, but I don’t sit still very well. If I hadn’t thought you’d bite my head off, I would’ve come back in to the kitchen.”
    “Why would you think I’d bite your head off?”
    He gave her a look.
    “You’re my boss,” she reminded him.
    “Because that’s stopped you from tearing into me before.”
    “I haven’t—”
    Another look.
    She set her glass on the table between them and folded her hands in front of her contritely. “Okay, I haven’t been very nice. I’m sorry.”
    “I get it.” He added a bit more wine. “Putting distance. And I haven’t made it easy.”
    “It’s okay.” She saluted him with her glass. “You’re not so bad.”
    “I appreciate that.” He grinned and settled back. “So your dad’s here, and you’ve told me about your grandmother. What about your mother?”
    Brylie curled her toes in her thick socks, focusing on the waves illuminated by the ship’s running lights. “She left when I was young. Had her own thing to do, didn’t want to sit around waiting for my dad.”
    “She left you behind?”
    She winced at his incredulous tone. The last things she wanted was for him to feel sorry for her. She’d spent plenty of time doing that for herself before she’d shaken herself out of it and moved forward. “Yeah, but