Deadly Engagement. Elle James

an insurance adjuster.

      His lips twitched, and his eyes twinkled. “Now, if I was actually a spy or special agent, would I tell you I was?”

      Emma’s breath caught. The impact of his sexy smile hit her like a hammer to the chest. “Of course not.”

      “And if I did...” His eyes narrowed dangerously.

      Molly laughed and finished. “You’d have to kill her?”

      Her heartbeat racing as if she’d been running, Emma hated admitting the man affected her far more than he should have.

      Then Creed laughed, breaking the tension in the room. “Nothing quite so dramatic. Suffice it to say, I’m one of the good guys, working to keep insurance rates down by finding, reporting and sometimes recovering lost, stolen or damaged property.”

      Emma’s eyes narrowed, her focus sharpening on the man. His words rolled off his tongue effortlessly. Maybe a bit too easily. As if practiced.

      “You must have been to some exotic places. Sounds interesting.” Molly lifted the ladle, dipped it into the chowder and scooped some of the creamy liquid into a bowl, handing it across to Creed first.

      “The job sounds too good to be true,” Emma commented, accepting the next bowl. “How does one luck into such a position?”

      Twirling his spoon in his fingers, Creed’s smile slipped. “By getting fired from my previous job for ratting out a bad egg.”

      “That doesn’t sound good. Why would you get fired for doing the right thing?”

      “The bad egg was my boss.”

      “Oh.” Molly’s wide gaze dipped to her chowder.

      “I take it he wasn’t happy about being outed.” Emma sipped chowder from her spoon, the rich flavor barely registering. Her attention had been riveted to the man she’d been trying to ignore since he walked on board the dive boat earlier that day.

      “No. His supervisor chose to believe him over me.”

      The rest of the meal passed in silence.

      Emma finished her chowder and immediately stood. “I hate to eat and run, but I need to get back to town.”

      Creed stood, dropping his napkin on the table.

      Molly pouted. “You can’t stay and chat?”

      “No, I need to get some things done before tomorrow.” She really needed to get away from the man who was already occupying too much of her time and space. She reached for her bowl.

      Molly raised her hand. “Oh, honey, don’t worry about cleaning up. It’ll give me something to do.”

      “Thanks for lunch. As usual, it was great.” Emma hugged Molly and shot a look at Creed. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. If the weather holds out, I’m leaving the dock at eight. Don’t be late.”

      “Yes, ma’am.” He popped a sharp salute.

      Emma frowned. The man had all the bearing of one who’d seen military service. What had he left out of his hard-luck story?

      No. She reminded herself that she wasn’t interested.

      “Bye, Molly.” She nodded toward Creed. “Mr. Thomas.” Then she left the dining room, striding across the living area to the door. She made it all the way down the front porch before she heard a voice behind her.

      “Ms. Jenkins.”

      Her feet came to a halt, and she braced herself before she looked up into the dark brown eyes of Creed Thomas. “Yes, Mr. Thomas.”

      “Please, call me Creed.” He smiled, letting the screen door close behind him.

      “Creed.” She tipped her head, staring up the steps at him, trying to ignore the way her heart fluttered. “What is it you want?”

      “Since I’ll be your diving partner again tomorrow, could you tell me what it is you’re looking for? What is this Anna Maria Officer McGregor mentioned?”

      She hesitated. It wasn’t as if the Anna Maria was a huge secret. Anyone who’d grown up in Cape Churn knew the story of how it had disappeared off the coast of Oregon in the late seventeen hundreds. Some thought it was a legend with no substance. “It’s a Spanish galleon that sank over two hundred years ago. I’m getting close to finding it and only have three days left to do it.”

      “Why only three days?”

      Since her fiancé had died in a car accident while absconding with the funds destined to build the children’s wing onto the small Cape Churn Memorial hospital, Emma had fought to find a way to recoup the loss. As a nurse, she didn’t make the kind of money needed to pay back that large a sum. Not anytime soon. She’d hoped to convince the board of directors not to cancel the wing the community needed so badly until she could come up with a way to repay the amount. Her last hope was the project she’d been working on almost since she’d been old enough to fit into a pair of fins.

      So far, she hadn’t found any physical evidence that the Anna Maria had gone down off Cape Churn. But Emma hadn’t given up hope, nor would she as long as she could dive and explore the ocean floor. But the next three days were her last hope of finding it in time to change the hospital board of directors’ minds, thus redeeming herself for introducing Randy to them.

      Emma stared out at the ocean, visible between the branches of red alder trees.

      “I’m sorry.” Creed descended to the same level as Emma and took her arms in his grasp. “I didn’t know that would be a hard question.”

      Her gaze dropped to where his hands rested on her arms. God, she liked how strong they were and how warm and safe they made her feel.

      She stiffened, hating that she could so easily have leaned against him and forgotten the burden she bore from her past mistakes. Emma stepped out of his arms. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll tell you about the Anna Maria when you tell me the truth about why you are really here?”

      His hands dropped to his sides. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You know I came looking for a boat that went down. We found it.”

      “And you’re sticking to your story about being an insurance adjuster?”

      For a long moment Creed stared down at her. She could almost see the lie poised on his tongue, as his lips pressed into a tight line. “That’s my story.”

      It didn’t explain the vibe she was getting. The man seemed too disciplined, too sure of himself to be just an adjuster. “And the job you were fired from?”

      He glanced away, a dark shadow clouding his gaze. “I was a navy SEAL.”

      Her head shook side to side. “No wonder you knew so much about diving.” She laughed, a short, sharp burst that lacked any humor. “I feel like you’re playing me for a fool.”

      “Never.” He gripped her arms again.

      She shook her head. “Oh please, don’t spread the lies thicker.”

      “No really. I think you’re a great diver, smart and too pretty for your own good.”

      Butterflies fluttered in her belly at his words. He thought she was pretty. “If we’re going to be dive buddies, don’t lie to me.”

      He grinned. “Does that mean you’re going to let me dive with you again?”

      “You’re a SEAL. You don’t need me to dive.”

      “I need Dave’s boat.”

      “Why?” She stared up into his eyes. “You found your boat.”

      “I need to see if it or anything in it is salvageable.”

      She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why should I help you?”

      “Because