Page 26 of Cocky August Rake

“Worse than we first thought.” Sam’s expression grew more serious. “The seas opened several seams along the starboard bow. They have hauled her out. A section of planking must come off, the seams recaulked, and the copper replaced before she goes back in the water.”

Reginald leaned back in his chair.

“How long?”

“A month, if the dockyard keeps its word. Perhaps longer.”

Reginald exhaled slowly. It was about what he’d expected and the reason why he’d agreed to wait to make his decision about The Domus. But that did not make the delay any easier to bear.

“What of the crew?”

“Restless.”

Reginald leaned back in his chair. “How restless?”

“You know how they are when there’s no work to be done.” Dyer grimaced.

Reginald gave him a look.

“A few have been looking about. Other captains are hiring,” Sam said more seriously.

“Fools.” They’d take a cut in pay and worse.

Sam held up both hands. “No hard feelings, Reg. They’re simply sailors. They need a deck beneath them and a destination ahead.”

Reginald sighed, because in truth, the restlessness wasn’t unreasonable. He stared down at the open account books.

An entire month.

He had thought the process would be simple. Close The Domus. Settle the revenue. Return to the life he understood.

Now he had a house full of women watching him and a first mate warning him that his crew might scatter, all while his ship languished in dry dock.

“Invite them here.”

The voice came from the open doorway.

Both men turned.

Rose Darling stood there with her hands folded before her, her chin lifted. Entirely composed.

Reginald just stared, shaking his head.

Having his crew come to The Domus was an absurd suggestion, one he ought to have shut down at once.

Instead, he found himself back in that garden.

His mouth against her neck. Her lush hips beneath his hands. The calm way she had handled him afterward, as though he had not made a complete fool of himself.

When she led him into the garden, he followed.

And after, she had not recoiled or made him feel ashamed.

She had been kind.

Almost unbearably so.

Reginald had spent most of his life at sea. Every port had its houses, and his men visited them often enough.