Book Boyfriends Wanted 3: His Curvy Treat

Elise

I zipped up my jacket and tied my hair back into a ponytail. It was going to be cold on the water for my first tour, but it would be worth it to be outside in the fresh air with the wind and water whipping around me.

Tourist season wouldn’t be in full swing for a few more weeks, but Walter liked to start early so we had a few runs in before things got too busy. Especially for the newbies. It was good for them to be a part of the smaller groups before we were facing groups that just about filled the boats.

The employee lot was quiet when I got there. The other tour companies weren’t running boats for another week, which made it nice for us. I locked my hatchback and threw my backpack over my shoulder, shivering at the chill in the air.

“Hey, I’m Cami,” a woman said, walking over to me. I recognized her from the training as one of the new hires for the summer. “You’re Elise, right?”

I nodded. “I am. We’re working together today. Are you ready?”

She nodded, her grin wide. She had that fresh, new look of someone who’d never done this before. She definitely had energy, which would be a good thing when we were on our fourth trip of the day and still had two more to go. Her dark hair was tied back into a thick ponytail. She was smart and not wearing any makeup and had a pair of leggings on under her Tours from the Cove sweatshirt and jacket.

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this. I grew up a little north of here and worked my way through college. I still am not totally settled on what I want to do with my life, so I figured working here for a summer would be fun. Maybe longer if I like it.”

I smiled. I always wondered if it was a slight when newbies talked to me about working there a few years until they decided what to do with their lives, or if they were just oblivious. Cami had an oblivious vibe to her.

And besides, it didn’t matter what they thought. I loved my job. I had fun every day and I was free. No one got to tell me what I should do with myself.

“It’s a great job. As long as you don’t mind sun and wind and talking,” I told her.

Cami chuckled. “I can handle all those. How long have you been doing this?”

“Six years,” I told her, bracing for the flinch and the attempt to disguise her shock. I’d made a career out of a job most people tried for a summer or two. It didn’t always matter that their opinion wasn’t important. People looked down on others all the time.

“Seriously? That’s awesome. That really gives me hope that this is going to be a great place to work.”

“It is,” I told her honestly. Well, she sure surprised the hell out of me.

“So cool. Now I really can’t wait to get started.”

I smiled and held the door for her. “Then let’s go.”

We had a short meeting with Walter, then divided into our crews for the day. Cami stuck by my side as we headed out to our boat.

“Wow. This is gorgeous. How many people are on this one?”

“It can hold one-fifty, but we’re not going to have that many today. We’ll be lucky if the boats are a third full.”

Cami nodded. She was looking a little green, but her color came back slightly. “That’s good. I wasn’t prepared for that many people.”

“Do you get anxious talking in front of a large group?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “Not usually. I was a theater major, but that was playing a part. I had a role. This is me.”

I shrugged and shook my head. “It doesn’t have to be. You can make up the persona you want to be when you’re up there.”

“How? My name is right here on my shirt.”

I laughed. “True, but you don’t have to be you, Cami. There are other women named Cami in the world. Maybe you’re Cami who’s visiting the area for the summer and looking to marry a rich, older man. Or maybe you’re Cami who’s shy and quiet and wants to keep to herself. Or maybe you’re Cami who’s loud and fun and always a party. You can be anyone you want to be because the chances of you seeing most of the people on the boat again are slim to none.”

She grinned and tilted her head. “I never thought of that. Wow. I love the idea. Do you do that?”

I smiled. “I’ll never tell.”

She laughed, not pressing for more information. Usually people took the statement as a joke. The truth was a little too close to home to tell them. Even Ava didn’t know all of the real me. She knew the version I shared at work.

My friends knew more than anyone else. They knew I’d been in a bad relationship that stopped me from wanting another one ever again. They knew I wasn’t okay, and likely never would be. And they knew I wanted all of them to be happy more than anything else in the world. Some of them knew most of the story, but there were things I never told anyone. Things I couldn’t bring myself to admit.

“What other tips do you have for me?” Cami asked, bringing me back to our conversation.

I recommended she get to know the crew on all the boats because we were moved around a lot, and I was honest about Walter asking me to evaluate the newbies to find a third to work regularly with Ava and me.

“I would love that, but I know if you don’t recommend me, there will be a good reason. Can I ask you something?”

I nodded and focused on her.

“If there’s something I do that you think I could improve, will you tell me?”

I nodded again. “I would anyway. This is a great job, but ultimately, we’re here for work. If there’s something you or anyone else is doing that impacts our ability to earn money, I am not afraid to share that. I have a few rules personally, and fair or not, I hold everyone to those rules.”

“What are they?”

I grinned. “First, no picking up passengers. This is not your dating app. Second, no language that would be inappropriate around guests of all ages. And third, don’t air your dirty laundry at work, with guests or coworkers. If you’re friends with someone here, that’s okay, but go somewhere else to talk about personal things. Guests overhear a lot, and they don’t want to be dragged into your drama.”

Cami nodded. “Those sound like good rules. I can live with them.”

“Good, because you’re going to have to. Are you ready?”

She nodded again and followed me to the helm. Ned was inside running through his pre-checks. We waited patiently until he finished his step and turned to us.

Ned’s dark brown eyes lit up when he saw me. He set the clipboard down and scooped me up.

“Damn, is it good to see you, Elise. How was winter?”

“Good,” I said, hugging Ned back. We’d worked together since I started there. He was like a father to me, always watching out for me and making sure I was okay. He requested me to work with him when I was first starting out, and we’d stayed close. “We have a newbie with us today. This is Cami. Cami, this is Ned. He’s the best captain we have, so treat him well.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Cami said with a wide grin.

“You, too, Ms. Cami. Is this your first season with us?”

Cami nodded. “It is. I always wanted to do this, and I’m finally taking the plunge.”

Ned shook his head. “No plunges on my boats. I aim to keep us above water.”

Cami chuckled when Ned winked at her. “I like that plan.”

“Can we help?” I asked Ned.

He shook his head again. “Nah, I got this. I took her out yesterday to make sure things were in tip-top shape. I’m just going through to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I haven’t been behind the bar, though.”

I nodded and squeezed his arm. “We’ll take care of that. Give a shout if you need us.”

“Will do. Good to see you, and nice meeting you, Cami.”

“You, too,” she said with a smile.

We turned back toward the rear of the boat. The snack bar was always well-stocked, but being the first run, it was possible some of the items had changed or weren’t in yet. Cami and I went through the list and moved things to where we wanted them behind the bar. By the time we were done, the office was calling about our list.

“Hey, Elise,” Wendy said through the earpiece. “We have forty-seven checked in. Another six bought tickets, but I haven’t heard from them yet. We’re ready to start loading when you are.”

I glanced at Cami. She raised her brows in question, and I said, “Go ask Ned if he’s good to go, please.”

Cami nodded and rushed toward the front where Ned was still looking around.

“We’re checking with Ned, but in the back, we’re good.”

“Copy,” Wendy said. She knew it would only take a few seconds to ask Ned and was waiting for the reply.

“He’s good,” Cami called out, bursting out of the helm and racing back to me.

“Calm down,” I told her. “Relax and breathe. We have plenty of time and a long day. Don’t wear yourself out before our first trip starts.”

Cami nodded and sank onto one of the benches. I called back to Wendy and told her we were all good, and she said passengers would be heading our way.

“Time to greet our guests,” I told Cami.

She followed me to the port side where guests would board. I stood on the dock, and Cami stood on the edge of the boat. We watched as our first guests of the day, and year, walked the dock toward us.

“Welcome,” I said with a wide grin. “Thanks for joining us today.”

“Thank you,” many of them replied as they hurried past me to board.

Cami repeated the same short speech to everyone, letting them know there was seating on top or underneath and they could pick their spot and would be allowed to move during the cruise.

Guests filtered in until the dock was empty. I breathed a short sigh of relief that I didn’t know anyone on the boat. Speaking in front of acquaintances was always more difficult than speaking in front of strangers.

“The line is gone and only a few more are to come,” I told Cami, “so why don’t you go stand behind the bar in case anyone wants anything before we go.”

She nodded and pasted on a grin before walking away.

I tilted my head back and let the sunshine warm my face. By the end of summer, I’d be sick of it, but for now, I was loving the warmth on my cool skin. I wore jeans and my Tours from the Cove shirt, but I covered it with a sweatshirt and windbreaker with the Tours from the Cove logo on it. We were required to wear branded clothes so guests knew we were the crew.

“Am I too late?” a voice asked, startling me. His footsteps were quiet on the old, wooden dock and I didn’t hear him coming. He was close, and I nearly jumped, which would have sent me into the icy cold water.

Then I opened my eyes and wished I had jumped. Because that would have gotten me out of the tour.

“Um, no,” I said, forcing my heart to slow and my face to turn up into a smile. “We still have a few passengers to board. There’s seating on top or below deck. We have a snack bar below, also.”

“Thanks. I, um…sorry, I didn’t know you would be here. Hudson, the bartender at O’Kelley’s, mentioned you worked for this company, so I signed up for a tour since I figured if you worked here it was good, but I didn’t realize…I’m Colin. We talked the other night. At O’Kelley’s. And I own Jones Family Maple Farm. We met at the grand opening. Melody introduced us.”

I nodded and prayed my smile stayed in place. I knew exactly who he was. That was why I wished I was anywhere but there. Because he was the kind of man I needed to stay away from. The kind who could disarm me with a look, who could make me want him with a smile, and who scared the shit out of me because the same was true about my ex.

“Oh, um, yeah, I remember you. Nice to see you again.” Thankfully, more people walked up behind him. “You should find a seat. We’ll be taking off soon.”

Colin nodded and walked onto the boat as though he didn’t realize anything odd was happening. That was good, but it put me even more on edge. Andy used to do the same thing. He was oblivious to how I was feeling. Now I knew it wasn’t oblivion, it was a lack of caring, but at the time, that was how it felt.

Another reason to stay away from Colin Jones.

I smiled and welcomed the new passengers, ticking them off on the counter in my hand. I radioed up to Wendy and confirmed the number with her. She said we were all set to go. I relayed the message to Ned, then checked in with Cami. She was good behind the snack bar and wanted to watch me work for a few days before she tried to lead a tour. I didn’t tell her that was policy anyway, but I’d fill her in another time. She seemed like she could be a good fit, and I wanted to help her.

I grabbed the headset and secured it around my neck. I positioned the mic and tried to glance around without it being too obvious what I was doing. When I didn’t see Colin downstairs, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, praying I just missed him even though I knew I hadn’t.

I forced myself to smile as I walked up the stairs. It was worse than I thought. Not only was he upstairs, he was in the front row, which meant there was no way to convince myself he wasn’t watching my every move and hanging on my every word.

Time to bring out Confident Elise.

“Good morning, everyone!” I said brightly as I walked past the rows of benches to the front of the boat. “It’s a beautiful day for our first tour of the season. I’m Elise, and I’ll be your cruise director today. Go easy on me because I’ve never been here before. We’re going to see Niagara Falls, right?”

The murmured concerns were what I was hoping for.

I chuckled and shook my head. “Just kidding. This is my sixth year as a guide for Tours from the Cove. I grew up in this area and have lived here my whole life except the few years I was in college. How many of you are here on your first trip to the Thousand Islands?”

A few hands went up.

“Good. Welcome to the most beautiful place on Earth.”

There were a few snickers and a few nods.

“The Thousand Islands is a truly stunning vacation spot that attracts visitors from all over. To be counted as one of the Thousand Islands, an island must have at least one square foot above sea level year round and support a living tree. All of the islands are either in Canada or the United States. None are split between the two countries. Does anyone know how many islands make up the Thousand Islands?”

A few people raised their hands.

“One thousand?”

I shook my head. “More than that.”

“Two thousand?”

“Less.”

“One thousand five hundred.”

I grinned. “More.”

“One thousand seven hundred fifty?”

I laughed with the rest of the passengers. “I’m sensing a trend here. And more.”

“Eighteen hundred.”

“More.”

“Nineteen hundred.”

“Less.

“Eighteen fifty.”

“More.”

“Eighteen seventy-five.”

“Less.”

“Eighteen sixty?”

“Getting close, but more.” I held up two fingers close together.

Together, the passengers counted up until they said eighteen sixty-four.

“Finally!” I called. “Correct! There are one-thousand-eight-hundred-sixty-four islands. And now that we’ve all learned about that, we’re out in the water where we can start to see some of them.” I pointed toward the Canadian side of the river. “To my right, is Canada. As you all know, to the left is the United States. The St. Lawrence River splits the two countries. Many of the islands are private islands owned by one person or family. If you’re in the market for a home, the island coming up on our left is currently for sale. The home sits on a private island in the US. It’s a nice home at twenty-four hundred square feet. The sellers have included the boats and all the furniture in the home with the very reasonable list price of two-point-three million.”

The chuckles and gasps mixed together.

I grinned. “If that’s a little on the low side for you, I’ll show you another one that’s three times the size and only double the price. While we’re out here house hunting, make sure you leave your phone number with me if you have any sons. I’m looking for a house, too.”

That got a lot of laughs. I carefully avoided looking at Colin. We weren’t dating. We weren’t anything. And I was playing my part. But having him sitting there was the reason I didn’t like having acquaintances on the boat. It unnerved me.

I glanced around, checking to see where we were, and pointed out some of the landmarks. Just Room Enough Island, the smallest inhabited island in the United States, was big enough for a home and a small dry area next to it. Tourists loved seeing the island with its house that almost appeared to float at times.

We kept going down the river, looking at other notable homes. I shared the rich history of the area and the pirates who once lived there. It was only when I started telling the story of George Boldt and his wife, Louise, that I looked at Colin.

Then I couldn’t look away.