sparking between them. “Is everything all right with your lunches?”
Chase’s eyes never left Emma’s. “Just great.”
Her mouth felt dry, nodding at her friend before drowning again in his demanding gaze. What does he want me to say? How am I supposed to feel? He was the one who started it, after all, not her. She gave him a simple kiss on the cheek and he turned it into something so searing she felt his kiss imprinted permanently on her lips.
“Okie dokie then. I’ll leave you to eat.” She turned on her heel and went to check another table.
To Emma’s relief, Chase finally turned away. He gestured at the sandwich she’d barely nibbled. “You already said you haven’t eaten today. At least try it.”
She obliged and bit into the caprese wrap, savoring the tang of balsamic vinegar drizzled between the layered slices of mozzarella and fresh tomato. Swallowing hard, she reached for her drink. “After we eat, I’ll show you where the phone store is, down on the other end of Commercial Street. You can shuffle phone data and be ready to ship out with the evening tide.”
“Oh, we’re not going out on the water tonight.” Chase popped another fry in his mouth. “Todd and I scheduled a sit down meeting with the new captain first, to go over the maps for tomorrow’s journey. We need daylight for this expedition.”
Curiosity got the best of her. “So if it’s not fish you’re interested in, what are you going after?”
“Part of the Atlantic garbage gyre.”
“Say what now?”
He grinned. “The gyre is a floating vortex of plastic debris, swirling in an elliptical pattern where the Atlantic currents converge. I’ve been assigned by the U.S. Global Change Research Program to map its current size and location before the upcoming global climate summit in September.”
“Garbage mapping?”
“We shipped out from Woods Hole six weeks ago, and thought we had a good handle on the extent of the gyre. But then we got a report of another siting that didn’t fit with our current coordinates. Either there’s a second flotilla of trash, or the gyre bent in ways we hadn’t anticipated.”
She blinked back at him in confusion. “What does my dad have to do with finding an elusive garbage slick?”
Chase explained that her father submitted a report online, triggering the agency investigation that led to his arrival in Provincetown. She finished her sandwich while he detailed the previous mapping expedition. Her mind stuck on the fact that her father filled out some kind of government form in the first place.
Mom and Dad were always ecologically minded, strong proponents of repurposing and recycling long before it was the norm. Mom even started the petition committee to ban plastic shopping bags within the town limits. They’d encouraged her to take the job with Eco Dawn fresh out of college, working to raise awareness for the upstart company with a fresh vision for garbage recycling in urban areas. But filing government forms online?
Not what she’d expected.
During their heated phone exchange this morning, she’d pictured Dr. Chase Anderson as another uptight, over-privileged businessman looking for a big catch and a photo op to hang on his office wall.
Which was so not Chase. He was nothing like she expected. Then again, she’d only just met him. One sizzling kiss does not a relationship make, she reminded herself.
Emma wondered what a second kiss would taste like, and if it would pack as much heat as the first.
Chase settled the bill with Kallie and they exited the café onto the busy street. Groups of tourists meandered in and out of the various shops and restaurants, yelling to one another and stopping to take selfies with some of the more colorfully dressed visitors. A pedicab sounded its bell to clear a path through the crowd, the drunken passengers singing a pop tune at top volume. People dressed in costumes stood on every street corner handing out flyers for evening shows and
Chase’s eyes never left Emma’s. “Just great.”
Her mouth felt dry, nodding at her friend before drowning again in his demanding gaze. What does he want me to say? How am I supposed to feel? He was the one who started it, after all, not her. She gave him a simple kiss on the cheek and he turned it into something so searing she felt his kiss imprinted permanently on her lips.
“Okie dokie then. I’ll leave you to eat.” She turned on her heel and went to check another table.
To Emma’s relief, Chase finally turned away. He gestured at the sandwich she’d barely nibbled. “You already said you haven’t eaten today. At least try it.”
She obliged and bit into the caprese wrap, savoring the tang of balsamic vinegar drizzled between the layered slices of mozzarella and fresh tomato. Swallowing hard, she reached for her drink. “After we eat, I’ll show you where the phone store is, down on the other end of Commercial Street. You can shuffle phone data and be ready to ship out with the evening tide.”
“Oh, we’re not going out on the water tonight.” Chase popped another fry in his mouth. “Todd and I scheduled a sit down meeting with the new captain first, to go over the maps for tomorrow’s journey. We need daylight for this expedition.”
Curiosity got the best of her. “So if it’s not fish you’re interested in, what are you going after?”
“Part of the Atlantic garbage gyre.”
“Say what now?”
He grinned. “The gyre is a floating vortex of plastic debris, swirling in an elliptical pattern where the Atlantic currents converge. I’ve been assigned by the U.S. Global Change Research Program to map its current size and location before the upcoming global climate summit in September.”
“Garbage mapping?”
“We shipped out from Woods Hole six weeks ago, and thought we had a good handle on the extent of the gyre. But then we got a report of another siting that didn’t fit with our current coordinates. Either there’s a second flotilla of trash, or the gyre bent in ways we hadn’t anticipated.”
She blinked back at him in confusion. “What does my dad have to do with finding an elusive garbage slick?”
Chase explained that her father submitted a report online, triggering the agency investigation that led to his arrival in Provincetown. She finished her sandwich while he detailed the previous mapping expedition. Her mind stuck on the fact that her father filled out some kind of government form in the first place.
Mom and Dad were always ecologically minded, strong proponents of repurposing and recycling long before it was the norm. Mom even started the petition committee to ban plastic shopping bags within the town limits. They’d encouraged her to take the job with Eco Dawn fresh out of college, working to raise awareness for the upstart company with a fresh vision for garbage recycling in urban areas. But filing government forms online?
Not what she’d expected.
During their heated phone exchange this morning, she’d pictured Dr. Chase Anderson as another uptight, over-privileged businessman looking for a big catch and a photo op to hang on his office wall.
Which was so not Chase. He was nothing like she expected. Then again, she’d only just met him. One sizzling kiss does not a relationship make, she reminded herself.
Emma wondered what a second kiss would taste like, and if it would pack as much heat as the first.
Chase settled the bill with Kallie and they exited the café onto the busy street. Groups of tourists meandered in and out of the various shops and restaurants, yelling to one another and stopping to take selfies with some of the more colorfully dressed visitors. A pedicab sounded its bell to clear a path through the crowd, the drunken passengers singing a pop tune at top volume. People dressed in costumes stood on every street corner handing out flyers for evening shows and
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