All Ophelia Nichols has ever wanted to do was join the EPA
and help save the environment. But all that changes when
she is assigned to visit an oil rig in Alaska and meets
Leonardo McKenna.

Ophelia Nichols is a fresh hire for the EPA, and she’s ready
to make her mark on the world. She’s idealistic, driven, and
has a suitcase full of her favorite books to keep her company
on her first assignment. Alaska wouldn’t have been her first
choice of a place to go, but she can’t help but be excited by
the adventure she hopes to find there. However, upon
arriving to the barren land of ice at the top of the world, she
realizes her team isn’t exactly full of what she would call
gentlemen, and the guys they warn her about are actually
pretty nice.

Then there’s Leonardo McKenna. Working on an oil rig

has made him tough, and he likes his isolated life
surrounded by his books and his big wolf-dog. He’s got a
love for Shakespeare and the classics, and one look from him
makes Ophelia realize Alaska may not be as cold as she
originally thought. But his life is in Alaska and she works
wherever the EPA sends her. A few days here and there
might be enough for a friendship, but it’ll take more than
letters and a few gifts to have something that lasts.

For Ophelia and Leonardo though, love can exist beyond

the distances, and making it work is just one more challenge.

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents either are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.

Sway With Me

ISBN: 978-1-4874-0029-3

Cover art by Melody Simmons

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Sway With Me

Nichols Sisters Book 1

Caitlin Ricci

Chapter One

phelia watched as the small plane taxied away, the sleek
steel blending perfectly against the cold, gray Alaskan

sky. She shouldered her worn backpack and lifted the
handle on her small suitcase, extending it before dragging it
along the tarmac behind her. She took long steps, her
tailored suit sliding over her skin as she rushed to keep up
with her boss. She had met the man only moments before,
when her plane landed. She felt exhausted and had more jet
lag than she knew what to do with, but the air smelled clean.
Being back on land and not in stuffy airports full of crying
children and the sound of crinkling bags of chips had her
head reeling from more than just the bitter, windy cold.

“So, you’re Ophelia,” the man said as she finally caught

up to him.

“Yes,” she said, panting lightly. She really had been

forced to walk quickly to match his pace. She coughed as the
icy air hit her lungs. And she really should have paid more
attention to the Weather Channel yesterday when her family
had driven her to the airport. There was no way that she had
been prepared for whatever below zero temperature it
actually was. “And you’re Doctor Brendan Michaels. I’ve
read all of your research papers, sir. And I went to your
lecture a few years back about the decline in waterbird
populations in the Northwest. Great stuff.”

The much older man gave her a quick once over and with

a pfft he dismissed her just as easily. She couldn’t pretend
that didn’t sting. “You’re older than you look. I would have

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pegged you at barely twenty instead of the twenty-five I
know your file says you are. Ever been to Alaska?”

“No, sir.” Her answer was prompt, although clipped.
He nodded and kept walking. “It’ll be a hard adjustment.

It always is at first.” He led her to an older SUV, an Explorer
if she guessed correctly, and got inside. She scrambled to put
her things in the back and slide into the passenger seat. He
stroked his hand lovingly over the steering wheel and
started the engine. “Gotta have a good vehicle up here.
Nothing like having a nice four by four to get you around.
Betcha have one of those little Prius cars right? All of the
girls do these days. My daughter tells me it’s cool or some
garbage like that. She’s sixteen. I’m hoping it’s a phase.”

Ophelia bit her lip and shook her head. She had to force

herself not to laugh. Her vehicle was a brand new Jeep
Wrangler she had just purchased for herself as a graduation
present. It was more of a 4x4 and had better steering than
the man’s Explorer. And it got better gas mileage too. And
unlike her new boss’s apparent love, her Wrangler was a
bright perfect yellow that gleamed in her hometown
Colorado sun and not this drab gray that everything seemed
to be made of here in no-color Alaska.

They grew silent as he drove along the bumpy, unpaved

roads. Or maybe they were paved. Too much ice lay under
the wheels for Ophelia to be able to tell. She snuggled into
her oversized parka and sighed softly as her boss turned on
the radio and the soft sounds of Motown began filling the
cabin. She closed her eyes and found herself singing along
softly to the end of Midnight Train to Georgia. It wasn’t really
Motown, but she loved it. As Boyz II Men picked up where
the previous song had left a silent void she felt her eyes
beginning to grow heavy. It had been many long flights,
many changeovers, and too many random airports and
security checks to count.

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Just as her eyes were fully closed and that comforting

fuzzy feeling of sleep began clouding her mind something
occurred to her. “Is daylight,” she mumbled groggily.

“Is April,” her boss replied, all too cheerfully. “Just one

more thing you’re going to have to learn Cheechako.”

Ophelia yawned and stretched. She smacked her lips

together, then cringed. Really not a good time to realize she
hadn’t brushed her teeth since boarding the first plane
yesterday. “Sir, what’s that word? Chee...Chacheeno?”

Her boss laughed. “Cheechako. It means someone that’s

new to Alaska. Like you, little one. And call me Brendan.
You’re going to be working for me for the next three months,
so we might as well get to be on first names. No one’s too set
on formality around here.”

She nodded. At least now she knew that there would be a

word for her particular brand of newbie.

“It isn’t so bad,” Brendan continued. “At least you’ve got

your mukluks on.” When she eyed him strangely he pointed
to her feet. “Your boots.”

Ophelia blushed deeply and turned her foot so that she

could see the warm, knee-high boots more clearly. “My
sister found them for me. She said she saw them on some
nature show a month before I got scheduled to come here. I
guess she got them right.”

Brendan nodded. “She did. You’ll need more, though. I

could tell you didn’t pack correctly the moment you walked
off that plane. There’s a small store in town. Nothing fancy,
but it’s got some basic clothes that you’ll need and a good
selection of books to read. There’s nothing newer than a few
months ago but at least it’ll help you pass the long days.”

She frowned at him. “Long days? Shouldn’t that be long

nights?” She thought it over for a moment then laughed
quietly at herself. “I forgot. Daylight is longer up here. What
are we up to now?”

Caitlin Ricci

“Fourteen hour days. By next month it’ll be nineteen and

then in June we hit twenty-four hours of straight daylight. I
suggest very heavy curtains and an eye mask if you’ve got
trouble sleeping with the light.” He looked pleased that at
least she had remembered that much from her “Intro to
Alaska” packet that he had mailed her a few months back.
Honestly, she had devoured it, savoring every bit of
information that she could to prepare herself for her first trip
away from her family. But her brain was murky right now
and she knew she wasn’t giving her boss her best showing.

She straightened and pulled a hair tie out of her pocket.

She had to pull her gloves off with her teeth since they were
too thick to get off quickly any other way, but she managed
to squirm her sweaty hands out of them and throw her hair
up into a messy bun that she hoped looked somewhat
professional. She looked into the side view mirror and
quickly turned away. Definitely nothing good to see there.
Her cheeks were red from the cold and her eyes were puffy
and red from her lack of sleep. Her red-brown hair looked
dull and the curls had frizzed and her eyebrows could
definitely use a waxing. Her sister would probably declare a
state of emergency and rush her right out to the nearest
salon if she could see her now.

Ophelia turned to Brendan and gave him what she hoped

was her most professional-looking smile. “I really am
grateful for the opportunity to work under you, sir. You’ve
been an inspiration and a—”

He tutted and shook his head at her. “No need for

overdone displays, girl. You were at the top of your class.
Your test scores were great. Your thesis read great. I needed
someone with your education to come oversee my team and
you needed some real world field experience. Plus your
professors all recommended you.”

She preened under his praise.

Sway with Me

“And you were one of the very few willing to come up to

nowhere Alaska for barely any money,” he tacked on with a
grin. She returned his smile, warming with his gentle
playfulness.

“So, family?”
Ophelia nodded. “Mom, dad, little sister. All back home

in Denver.”

“Ever been away before?”
She frowned and shook her head. “Only when I was at

college, but I came home every weekend. We’re really
close.”

Brendan shook his head, this time in disbelief. “And you

decided to come four thousand miles away from them? Most
kids when they move out go to the next city. Gotta do
everything a little different don’t you?”

Ophelia shrugged. “I wanted the adventure. Can’t get

more adventurous than Alaska without leaving the States.”

He seemed to consider this for a moment before he

nodded his agreement. Then Funkytown came on the radio
and her boss got lost in his own voice and the beat of his
large, gloved hands against the steering wheel. She let
herself get swept away by the noise and closed her eyes,
happily finding sleep just within her reach.

A few hours later Ophelia felt herself being roughly

shaken awake. She blinked and looked wearily at her boss.
“We’re here. Welcome to Absolute, Alaska. Population one
hundred and thirty-five at the best of times and most of
them don’t live in town,” he said as he pulled into a small
parking space in front of yet another gray steel building.
This time it had bright red paint on the front that read
“Store.” Beside it there was a long line of more steel
buildings, each with one door and one thick window.

“Motel?” Ophelia asked as she stretched and rubbed the

sleep out of her eyes.

Caitlin Ricci

Brendan shook his head. “The team’s apartments. Yours

is the first one on the right next to the store. My cabin is at
the other end, but I’ll be out of town most of the time. I’ve
got teams in different areas and I’ll be leaving again
tomorrow morning.”

Ophelia nodded and struggled back into her gloves.

“Store and apartments. Anything else here?” She pulled the
hood of her parka up, fastening it around her face.

Brendan shook his head. “Bar if you get hungry but that’s

it. It’s the only place to eat out for miles. Still think you can
handle it?”

She thought for a moment. It was a small town,

something she’d never experienced. And this was her first
job, straight out of school and her first time on an oil rig.
There was a lot riding on this assignment and she knew that
she had something to prove. She met Brendan’s steady gaze
and nodded. There was no backing down now.

He gave her a good thump on the shoulder and handed

her a key. “This is to your apartment. Someone will pick you
up at five AM to take you to the rig. Now go on. Get settled
for the night.”

“Thanks, Brendan. See you soon?” she asked as she eyed

the bright sky.

He shrugged. “Your team knows to send the reports and

samples back to me. You know how to do your job. I’ve got
faith in you.” He paused and gave her a sly smile. “Even if
you do look like you just went to your prom.”

Ophelia blushed and thanked him before hopping out of

the SUV. He gave her just enough time to grab her bags
before he pulled out of the spot and drove slowly down the
street. Ophelia went to her new apartment, turned the lock
quickly and stepped inside. She closed the door of her little
apartment behind her and kicked off her heavy boots. She
threw the lock and tiptoed around the scattering of snow she

Sway with Me

had tracked in. She had barely passed the small TV set when
her satellite phone went off. As she rifled through her small
suitcase she barely glanced at the studio apartment she had
been given. Overall it was a cold mix of old, beat-up
furniture and white institutional walls. She found the phone
and flipped it open. Instantly her little sister’s voice came
brightly across the line. Ophelia lay back on the scratchy
bedspread and put an arm behind her head as she started
talking to Juliet.

“Hey baby girl,” she said, laughing when her sister

groaned at the use of her nickname.

“I hate when you call me that,” Juliet whined. “I’m not

that much younger than you.”

“Five years,” Ophelia said as she sat up, turned and

began pulling shampoo and conditioner from her bag.

Juliet scoffed. “Hardly anything.”
“How’s classes?” Ophelia asked as she pulled her favorite

pair of tattered jeans from the bag and began sorting
through her clothes. Her well-worn copy of Watership Down
fell to the floor and she picked it up with a sigh. At least she
hadn’t lost her bookmark this time.

“I have three midterms this week,” Juliet whined. “You’re

so lucky that you’re done.”

Ophelia laughed and pulled her flannel pants out of the

bag. “I have a PhD and started a month after high school. It
was not an overall enjoyable experience. At least you’re
going for something fun. And you’ll have time to go to a
movie now and then.”

“Or dress you. I bet right now you’re going to shower and

change out of that nice gray pinstripe suit I dressed you in
and put on those ugly jeans that I wish you’d throw out.”

Ophelia blushed and pulled her hand away from said

jeans. “Yes, Miss Future Fashion Designer.”

Caitlin Ricci

Juliet blew a raspberry at her. “Uh huh. So how’s Alaska?

Tell me all about it!”

She looked around the small room. “It’s gray. The sky is

gray. The buildings are gray. The snow is whitish gray. I
haven’t seen any wildlife or mountains or anything fun like
that. But it’s Alaska and I’m so glad I’ve made it.”

“Psh. What about the men?” Juliet asked, her voice

squealing with excitement.

Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Haven’t seen any but my boss.

He’s older than Dad and thinks I look like I just graduated
from high school. You want him?”

Juliet laughed heartily and Ophelia could hear her rolling

around on her silk comforter. “God, no. But there’s like
twice as many men as there are women in Alaska or
something, right? So go have some fun with some rugged
logger man. Oh, or a hunky fisherman like on Deadliest
Catch.”

“You, my dear little sister watch far too much TV. And

I’m not going to have time for a relationship with all the
work my boss has me doing.” Ophelia sighed. She knew her
sister’s words before she spoke them.

“Who’s talking about a relationship? I’m talking about

fun!”

She laughed and shook her head. “I’m going to pretend

my virginal little sister didn’t just suggest I get laid.
Goodnight, little girl. I miss you.”

Her sister’s laughter slowed. “I miss you too, Ophelia.

Have fun and call me tomorrow.”

Ophelia frowned into the phone. Her sister sounded sad

and a little lost, though she did put up a good happy front.
She swallowed back the words of comfort she wanted to
give her. She knew that Juliet missed her as much as she
missed Juliet. There wasn’t anything she could do about that

Sway with Me

right now. “Give my love to Mom and Dad,” she said
quickly. “And take care of yourself.”

“Will do. Night, Sis.”
Juliet hung up first, leaving Ophelia listening to a dull

repetitive tone. She swallowed back her homesickness and
loneliness and tossed the phone on the bed. She looked
around the small room, taking stock of what there was and
what she would need. The kitchen was small but functional
with an old stove and a narrow fridge. There was a small
table with a chair, both looking their age with wide scratches
and chipped paint. But they would suffice. She got up from
the bed and walked to the door off the kitchen. She found a
simple dorm style bathroom, little more than a sink, toilet
and standing shower.

She licked her lips. A shower would be lovely. She hadn’t

felt clean since the day before, when she had left Colorado.
She quickly stripped off her layers of clothes and freed her
hair from the band holding it. She turned on the water and
sighed gratefully when it quickly became warm. She rushed
to the bed where she had left her shampoo, conditioner,
body wash and other toiletries and then brought the whole
arm load back in with her before stepping under the hot
spray.

The hot water felt wonderful as it sluiced over her chilled

skin. Though the shower was a welcome relief, Ophelia
quickly realized how hungry she was after munching on
little more than mini pretzels and trail mix during the
flights. She hurried through her routine, quickly washing
and drying her hair the best she could with a towel. Back
home she would have left the house with her hair damp and
hanging loosely around her shoulders, but she had no
intention of freezing her hair off in the Alaskan cold, so she
pulled out a blow dryer that she had never used and had

Caitlin Ricci

almost forgotten to pack. Her hair ended up frizzier than she
would have liked but at least it was dry.

She pulled on a pair of flannel tights, thick wool socks

and then the old baggy jeans that Juliet had teased her about.
She had owned them for years and after all that time they
had become as soft and smooth as suede, though they
weren’t nearly as attractive. She layered a tank top under a
sweater followed by her college hoodie. The bright Colorado
State University logo was still white against the black
background. She had bought it just after finishing her
bachelor’s degree. She finished dressing with a pair of thin
leather gloves. They weren’t what she would have worn if
she was going to be outside for long periods of time, but the
bar was only a few feet away. She grabbed her wallet and
left the satellite phone. She hesitated on taking it since it was
habit to carry her cell with her back home. But her family
wouldn’t be calling her again tonight and there was no
reason for Brendan to call her. So she left it where she had
tossed it on the itchy comforter. She frowned at that
monstrosity of bright pink flowers against the glaring yellow
background and shook her head. That would definitely be
going. Hopefully the store had some blankets that she could
buy tonight or else she’d have to see about going into a
larger town or having Juliet send her a new bedding set.
Ophelia giggled. Her little sister would love that. Any
excuse to go shopping would make Juliet happy.

She stepped outside, bracing herself against the wind, and

locked the door behind her. She pulled up her hood and
shoved her hands into the pocket on her stomach before
walking across the narrow street to the small steel building
with warm light spilling through the thick glass windows.
She stepped inside the bar, the smell of fried food and dark
ale instantly wrapping her in familiar comfort. She ignored
the curious stares of the few men that were idly drinking

Sway with Me

and eating with friends at the various tables as she made her
way to the well-worn bar. She slipped into a high stool and
pulled her gloves off before dropping her hood. Instantly the
bartender came to her. His long black hair was plaited down
his back and his dark eyes were warmed by his tanned,
leathery skin. His smile was wide and genuine and Ophelia
found herself warming to him instantly.

“Hey cutie,” he said as he brought over a napkin and a

bowl of peanuts for her.

She smiled at him and offered him her hand. “Ophelia

Nichols. You’ll be seeing a lot of me over the next few
months.”

He took her hand in his, his warm fingers closing around

her much smaller hand. “Stone Durante. Glad to hear it, we
don’t get nearly enough pretty women around here.”

She blushed. “Can I get a cola, and do you have jalapeno

poppers?” She fumbled and bit her lip. “It’s probably an odd
request. If you don’t have them, can I have—”

Stone waved her second request away. “I’ve got ‘em.

You’re not the only one in Alaska who likes fried spicy food.
I’ll have it right out for you.”

Ophelia slumped in relief. “Thanks.”
He poured her a glass of soda and set it in front of her.

She turned and looked around the bar as she leisurely
started sipping her drink. There were a few elderly men and
even some her age and younger, but most of them were in
their forties or fifties, similarly bundled in heavy parkas.
Most had dark ale or shot glasses in front of them and many
were playing card games quietly with the other men at their
table. There was music playing softly in the background, but
it wasn’t anything that Ophelia could place. The only other
woman in the bar was a middle-aged woman who was
bringing a burger out to one of the men playing chess in the
corner. She watched their friendly, warm interaction for a

Caitlin Ricci

moment before the woman turned and wound her way
through the tables back to the kitchen.

The door to the bar opened and the icy blast had Ophelia

shivering. A tap on her shoulder made her turn around and
she smiled at Stone as he set down a giant plate of jalapeno
poppers in front of her. She took of bite of one and moaned
softly as the cream cheese filled her mouth a second before
the sweet spice hit her tongue. She looked up at Stone, who
was eying her speculatively.

“Never seen anyone that happy about my cooking

before,” he said, almost awed.

Ophelia blushed and wiped her mouth with a bar napkin.

“These are my obsession.” He nodded and began wiping the
bar a few stools down from her and she went back to eating.
There was a warm breeze on the hand that currently rested
on her lap. She brushed it off as nothing until a wet tongue
soon brushed over her wrist. She looked down into the
amber eyes of a large wolf mix. She blinked quickly, her
brain not quite understanding what she was seeing.

“Gray wolf. Canis Lupus,” she whispered. She reached her

fingers out to pet him. Having never seen a wolf outside of
the zoo she was mesmerized by its pure size and lanky
beauty. Its lolling tongue slurped across her hand once
more, its long tail swaying in a lazy wag. It was mixed with
something, but what, she couldn’t exactly tell. Whatever it
was, the wolf almost completely masked it.

A large hand came up and pulled the wolf back just

before her fingertips could touch his shiny black nose.
Ophelia looked up, startled.

“Sorry. He’s got very little manners,” the man said,

without looking at her. He was dressed simply in a pair of
jeans and a heavy coat, but even through the thick material
and padding of the coat Ophelia could tell he was well
muscled. He pulled his hand away from the wolf-dog’s neck,

Sway with Me

gave it a rub between the ears and turned back to the glass
of water in front of him. In his other hand, Ophelia saw, was
a worn book. She turned slightly, craning her neck to see
what sort of a book a man with a wolf-dog would read.

Her breath caught at the title scrawled across the top of

the page. Hamlet. She couldn’t believe it. She leaned in
further, trying to see what was going on in the book she
loved. She knew the story by heart and eagerly devoured
every word she could see over the man’s broad shoulders.

He caught her looking and turned to her quickly, forcing

her to back up so fast that she almost fell off the stool.
Embarrassed, she looked away and stuffed a popper into her
mouth. She pretended to be uninterested as the man’s
emerald green eyes looked her over with interest. She tried
very hard not to preen under all that handsome male
attention. He wore a knit cap pulled low over his ears, his
eyes were wide and bright and he had long lashes that made
her envious. She watched him carefully out of the corner of
her eye, drinking him in eagerly just in case she never got
the chance again.

“You were looking,” he said simply, his voice a flowing

cadence that at once sounded interested and curious without
presuming anything. She liked it instantly.

Giving up the illusion that she hadn’t been spying on his

book, she turned and faced him fully, giving him a quick
nod. “Hamlet.”

The man nodded and turned back to his book. Ophelia

cringed when it looked like he was going to dog ear the page
but he pulled a scrap of paper, possibly a receipt, from his
jacket pocket and kept his place with that. He set the book
gently aside on the bar top and called Stone over with a
wave of his hand.

“Need something, Leonardo?” he asked.
The man smiled. “Blue cheese and bacon burger.”

Caitlin Ricci

Stone nodded. “Great choice. I’ll have it out for you in a

second.”

Leonardo turned back to Ophelia and looked like he was

about to say something when she felt someone come up
beside her. She looked over her shoulder to see a middle
aged man standing next to her. She was surprised to see an
EPA badge on his chest, its edges clearly worn by time.

This man gave her a slow, intimate smile in a way that

made her skin crawl. She quickly glanced at Leonardo but
his book was open and he was ignoring her again.

“Um, yes?” she asked him, quickly becoming

uncomfortable with him being so near as he leaned into her.

He licked his thin, cracked lips and said, ““If your left leg

was Thanksgiving, and your right was Christmas, would
you mind if I visited you between the holidays?”

There were numerous outraged gasps from those closest

to them and Ophelia had to take a moment to get her mouth
to work again once she stopped staring at the man. She was
never hit on, especially not so blatantly. Juliet was the cute,
flirty sister. Not her studious, always thinking, older sister.
Her mind slowed and finally clicked into place.

“Um, so what’s your name?”
The man looked positively pleased and eager as if she

was considering his offer. Beside her Leonardo actually
looked mildly interested in the conversation as he watched
their interaction from the corner of his eye. She warmed
under his attention and it gave her a bit of courage.

“Terrance Phillips, miss,” the man answered promptly.

He wheezed a little in his excitement.

“And are you part of the North Slope research team

headed by Ophelia Nichols?” she continued. She saw Stone
come up beside her from across the bar and his grin was
positively contagious. The man quickly nodded, though he
looked less sure of himself.

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“Then Terrance, as your boss, I have to ask you if you’ve

had previous sexual harassment cases filed against you, or is
this a new precedent?” she asked him sweetly as she fished
her freshly made badge out of her wallet and showed it to
him.

He looked somewhere between ashamed and stunned as

he stammered out an apology and scurried back to the table
he was sharing with a group of men, probably also her
employees.

She turned back around to see Stone sizing her up. “EPA

huh?” he sounded interested and also a bit concerned.

Ophelia nodded. “Yes, I am.”
He smiled tightly. “I’m not here to judge, but you and

yours aren’t so popular around here. Just sayin’.”

She shrugged. She figured as much. These men probably

saw the EPA as someone that wanted to tell them how to run
things and take their jobs away. Their lives were already
hard enough out here in nowheresville Alaska. She wasn’t
about to cause undue trouble.

“I get it, Stone. Really I do. But I’m not here to fight. I’m

just here to do a job. Super simple. And I don’t go around
hugging trees and throwing red paint on women’s fur coats.
I drive a Jeep and I pay three something at the pump just
like everyone else back home,” she told him simply before
eating another popper. Her pile had shrunk alarmingly fast.
She took a sip of her drink and looked beside her to see what
Leonardo had thought of her little employment revelation,
but he was gone. The wolf dog was still by her feet, though,
and she gave him a quick rub between the ears just as she
had seen him do.

Stone seemed to relax a bit and gave her a wide smile as

he pocketed the bills Leonardo had left on the bar. “You’ll
do just fine here, cutie. Don’t let the bears eat you and you
might just see the end of the week.”

Caitlin Ricci

She returned his smile. “How about wolf dogs?”
The man chuckled. “He won’t hurt you. He’ll beg

something fierce and he’ll act big and tough if you play with
him. But he’s only a threat to someone with trouble on their
minds.”

Ophelia laughed and patted him with larger strokes over

his broad head. “What’s his name?”

“Lear,” the middle-aged woman said as she sidled up

next to Stone and wrapped her arms around his waist from
behind. They looked similar in the way couples usually did
after years of being together. Ophelia checked their left ring
fingers to see if her guess was correct and she was happy to
see simple gold bands on each of their left ring fingers. Their
hands met easily, their fingers entwining without having to
think about it. Ophelia felt herself filled with longing and
envy as she watched the couple be that comfortable and
open with each other.

She blinked at the older woman. She couldn’t possibly

have heard right. “Leer? As in to leer at a woman?”

The woman laughed and shook her head. “No, no, honey.

As in King Lear. The man that was sitting next to you named
him when he first found that dog as a puppy.”

Ophelia felt rather foolish. “Oh.” So the man that read

Hamlet had also read King Lear. She wondered idly if he
had read the others or if the plays were just a show of
intelligence and sensitivity for the women like some of the
guys had done back home. Somehow, with the lack of
women here, she doubted it. He was interesting enough to
stay on her mind though and she’d probably lose a few
hours thinking about him over the next few days.

“I’m Lena, and you’ve met my husband Stone,” the

woman said warmly.

“Ophelia Nichols,” she introduced herself quickly. She ate

another popper, sadly her last one, and pulled a twenty

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dollar bill from her wallet. Stone went to start getting the
change but she waved him off as she got to her feet. “Thanks
for the food. It was perfect,” she said as she gave Lear a rub
between his shoulder blades. They called out their goodbyes
to her and a few customers said their goodbyes as well.
Before leaving she decided to make a beeline to the table
where Terrance was still sitting with a few other men.

She came up to them, resting her hip on the side of their

booth. “Hey, I’m Ophelia,” she introduced herself. She got a
hey or hi from the other men but no names. Terrance was
still steadily avoiding her eyes. She placed her hand on his
shoulder and leaned in so that only their table could hear
her.

“It’s fine,” she told him gently. “I get it, the lack of

women and wanting to have some fun. Especially after
you’ve had a few drinks.” She nodded to the empty shot
glasses and the men steadily relaxed. “Just don’t do it
again.”

He nodded quickly and she walked away back to her little

apartment.

Caitlin Ricci

Chapter Two

eonardo’s ATV rumbled under him as he raced over the
frozen arctic streets. Well, they weren’t really streets. Not

in the way he’d known in his life before coming to live in
Alaska. Maybe the dirt roads would be something like that
in the summer when the snow melted and the barren white
landscape didn’t look quite as cold. But right now the road
was just a stretch of glistening white ice between steel
houses. He didn’t care. He loved living up here in the great
north. Though the few friends he’d had thought he’d been
crazy to move at first, and maybe he’d thought so too for a
time, the Alaskan wilderness had quickly become home. The
lights of the cabins ahead of him directed him to where the
guys were staying and a few minutes later the ATV slowed
as he pulled up in front of the steel shack he’d been given to
rest up in during his two weeks off. He turned off the
vehicle, slowly worked his fingers off the controls and got
up. Breathing through his thick layers was difficult but it
was better than freezing his face off. It was an expression his
parents had used when they’d been alive. Too bad it was
actually a possibility way up here.

He started shedding layers as soon as he shut his front

door behind him. His free hand flicked on the overhead light
as his other began unwrapping his scarf and tossing away
his hat. Another few minutes and he was almost free from
the overbearing layers that had become a necessity in the
frigid cold. Nearly ten minutes after arriving to what

Sway with Me

amounted to a temporary home for him and the other guys
on the rig, he sat down on the couch with a cold beer in one
hand and the TV remote in the other. He clicked it on, went
through a few channels but found nothing interesting. They
didn’t get a whole lot of TV. He’d watched many of his
movies nearly to death and didn’t really feel like spending
that long being up anyway. He had to go back to work
tomorrow and they’d be leaving early.

He turned off the TV and tossed the remote aside.

Thankfully he didn’t have much unpacking to do. Some of
the guys still got completely unpacked, practically moving
into the cabin during their two weeks off. That was too
much work for him. He lived out of his suitcase, did his
laundry on the first day and kept it up all through his time
off. He was ready to go. Had been since before going to get
dinner. The only thing he had to do in the morning was toss
his bit of toothpaste and other essentials into a bag and put
on a change of clothes. It wouldn’t take him long, but then
again it rarely did. He liked that, the simplicity of it. The lack
of pressure. He got enough of that at work. He didn’t need it
at home either.

Leonardo closed his eyes and rested his head back against

the scratchy plaid couch that was probably older than he
was. It looked it, but at least it was comfortable. He was
tired, his bones aching from the cold, but he wasn’t ready to
go get ready for bed just yet. It wasn’t nearly time for that.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out with a
sigh as he opened his eyes to see who it was.

“Stone?” he answered, unsure of what the man wanted.

They’d just seen each other, after all. He couldn’t possibly
miss him already. He could hear the bar in the background,
men talking, some laughing, the sounds of plates shuffling
around. Leonardo smiled at those familiar sounds. Stone’s
bar had been one of his first hangout spots when the

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company had moved him and the others to this rig. Now it
was a usual place for them to grab an easy meal, even if it
did mean going out in the cold each time.

“What’d you think of the girl?” Stone asked him,

sounding distracted. The sound of papers being moved
around added to the other noises coming through the phone.

Leonardo’s smile dimmed and he put an arm behind his

head to rest on as he stared up at the ceiling. “Nothing,
really. She’s just a girl. Pretty but—”

“Ah, so you did like her!”
Snorting, Leonardo shook his head even though Stone

couldn’t see him. “Right. No one has time for liking anyone
else here, Stone. We’re not in high school. I can appreciate an
attractive girl without having it go further. Did you really
call me just to talk about her? Really didn’t think you were
much for gossip, old man.”

Stone laughed and the sound warmed Leonardo as he

settled into the couch, sinking into its warmth. “Naw, no
gossip. Not from me at least. Just keep an eye on her. Cute
girl like that might have some troubles here.”

Leonardo sighed loudly but nodded anyway. “You know

I probably won’t see her again right? She didn’t seem like
the type to stay around long. Definitely not a lifer, by any
means.”

“True,” Stone replied, sounding like he was relenting a

little. “But if you happen to see her...”

Chuckling, Leonardo forced his tired muscles to sit him

upright. He should really be getting to bed soon. “All right.
If I happen to see her again, as unlikely as that will probably
be, I’ll make sure to keep an eye on her. But just because you
asked me to.”

“Good enough for me. Night, Leonardo.”
“Night, Stone. See you in two weeks,” Leonardo said,

pulling the phone away from his ear.

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“Yep. You be safe up there. All of you.”
Leonardo smiled, glad to have someone that cared about

him like Stone did. “Will do. Bye.”

“Bye.”
He hung up the phone and rose to his feet. It was barely

nighttime but he and the others would have to be up soon
and he needed his rest. The first day back on the rig was
always the hardest as they transitioned back to work and
took over where the last team had left off. They were all
good guys, but they weren’t his and he understood how his
team worked, knew them well and trusted them. And he
didn’t like having to re-organize the paperwork every two
weeks, but then again he doubted that the guy that replaced
him enjoyed doing that either. They all had their little
quirks. At least the other man didn’t write in some awful
color when he did his work. His handwriting was hard
enough to decipher as it was.

* * * *

At three-thirty AM exactly her alarm started crowing like a
rooster. Bleary-eyed and grumpy, she growled at it and
shoved her hand out, barely connecting with the awful little
machine but managing to knock it noisily to the floor
anyway. She put her head back down on the pillow and
closed her eyes before remembering why she had set her
alarm for so early. Within minutes she was wide awake and
in the shower, excited for the morning and her first day on
the oil rig. She rushed through her morning routine, only
bothering with some moisturizer and a bit of Chap Stick,
and shoving the rest of the makeup she had planned to wear
in her suitcase with one large swipe of her arm. She threw
together a quick breakfast of instant oatmeal and instant
coffee, both of which she had brought from home for just

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such a moment and at five AM she was standing outside
packed with just her bag and enough clothes to last her the
three days she would be spending on the rig. The sun was
just barely coming up and the black sky slowly gave way to
a gray dawn as she watched the old Ford Bronco slide to an
icy stop in front of her.

She barely recognized the man driving beneath his layers

of jackets and the heavy wool coat he wore. But he had been
at the bar the night before and the EPA badge that glinted in
the light of the early dawn was convincing enough. Her
father would have given her a strict lecture for getting into a
stranger’s vehicle but up here in Alaska her team would
probably be the only people she knew. She gulped. And
Leonardo. She felt a warm flush come over her as she
recalled his intelligent green eyes and the short bristle that
flowed so naturally over his face. He hadn’t even really paid
attention to her. She couldn’t even remember if he had
actually looked at her. She frowned. It was not like her to
think about a guy this much, especially one that had
dismissed her so easily. She hopped into the passenger seat
and buckled herself in. The Bronco, she was glad to see, had
a great heating system that was in full blast.

“Phillip,” the man introduced himself quickly as he

pulled back on the road. “Sorry about last night. I hate to say
it, but we dared him to talk to you. First girl we’ve seen in
months and all that. We were all pretty hammered too.”

She nodded and pulled out a package of Reece’s Pieces.

“It’s okay,” she said around a mouthful of the crunchy
candies. “It was kinda funny actually. I’d never heard that
line before.”

Phillip gave her a look as she offered the bag to him. She

shrugged at his obvious refusal and tossed back a few more.
“Reese’s at this hour of the morning? Really?”

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She giggled. “It’s just Pieces. And besides, this is nothing.

You should see me with Rocky Road ice cream and a box of
Nutter Butters.”

He looked like he was going to gag. “You sound just like

my sister before she met her husband. If there wasn’t
something to put peanut butter on in the house she would
sit down with a glass of milk, the jar and a spoon and then
I’d have no after-school snack.”

“Older sisters are awesome,” Ophelia said smugly. “I

should know. I am one.”

Phillip chuckled. “Older by how much?”
She sighed, thinking about her bright, shiny little sister

back home who would still be wrapped up in her beautiful
four poster bed and silk sheets until well after eight in the
morning. “Five years.”

Phillip nodded and turned into a small, barely marked

road. She looked eagerly out the icy window. Yesterday she
hadn’t had a lot of time or energy to look around at the land
she would be studying for the next few months, but now she
couldn’t take her eyes from it. “What kind of wildlife do you
see here?”

“Narwhals, belugas, caribou, gray wolves, lots and lots of

birds and some little furry things too,” Phillip answered
promptly.

She grinned. “I’d love to see a Narwhal.”
“Stay here long enough and you will.”
The oil rig loomed in the distance, darkness against the

glowing sky. Ophelia cringed at the sight of its glaring
hardness against the beauty around her. Phillip swore.

“I don’t like them here,” he explained when she caught

his gaze questioningly. “They don’t belong here. This land is
gorgeous and fragile and pristine. They come barging in,
destroying the wilderness with their huge machines and
leaving the land dead in their wake. Personally I hope you

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find enough to shut them all down and send them packing
forever.”

His vehemence didn’t surprise her. She knew there were

lots of guys like him in the EPA. In middle school she had
sounded just like him. Unfortunately for him, she believed in
fairness and in commerce. But her parents had taught her
right. She would bring this rig down if they weren’t
protecting the environment to the best of their ability. They
would leave a trace, of course. Everyone did. But she would
help them minimize it as much as possible.

The Bronco rumbled to an uneven stop and she looked

uneasily up at the tall oil rig above her. She gulped
nervously and opened the door, jumping down onto the
hard ice.

“Here you go,” Phillip said as he passed her a large box.
Ophelia frowned at it. “What is it?”
“Supplies.”
She looked at it again. “It’s a tackle box.”
Phillip shrugged. “It’s also your supplies.” He pulled the

door shut as she stepped out of the way and quickly sped
off, his back tires fishtailing in his haste.

Ophelia rolled her eyes and shook her head in dismay. So

far two of her team of four were really starting to disappoint
her. Hopefully their work was better than their people skills.

She turned and trudged up the short path to a large metal

door. Before she could knock on it a teenager opened the
door and stepped out, holding the door open for her.

“Hey,” he said, his freckles disappearing under his blush.
“Hey,” she replied, sticking out her hand. His grip was

strong and steady. “I’m Ophelia Nichols. From the EPA.”

“Richie, roustabout. We’ve been expecting you.”
She grinned at him. “Sounds ominous, Richie Roustabout.

Lead me in?”

Sway with Me

He returned her grin easily and she found herself

instantly drawn to the lanky teen’s playful nature. If all the
guys were as nice as this kid was she wasn’t going to mind
her three-day stay on the rig at all.

She followed him up a narrow set of stairs to a small

platform with lots of corridors branching off. “I can see how
guys would get claustrophobic in here,” she said idly as she
adjusted her bag.

He laughed and shook his head. “You get used to it. Well,

most of us do anyway. The other ones don’t last long
enough to be noticed.”

She nodded and followed him up another set of stairs. At

the top of these stairs was a large open area where large men
lounged in even larger couches loosely surrounding a huge
TV. Most of them smiled at her, some looked suspicious.
Ophelia returned everyone’s greeting and smiled at those
that were less than enthused about having her around. She
tagged along behind Richie through a doorway and then
stopped short behind him as they were blocked by a tall man
with closely shaved hair. Richie cleared his throat but when
the man didn’t move he gave her a shrug and moved around
him. The man was broad and Ophelia had to squeeze against
the wall to be able to move past him without knocking into
him. Even so, she brushed against him. As she caught his
attention she realized why he hadn’t heard her—he had on
headphones.

“Leonardo,” she whispered as he turned to face her. The

cramped alcove was suddenly much too small as he
crowded into her. She felt petite, vulnerable and feminine in
a way she never had before. She was curvy and hardly ever
bothered with makeup and couldn’t remember the last time
she had worn a skirt. But one look into Leonardo’s intensely
brilliant emerald eyes had her thinking of romantic walks
and lavender scented bubble baths. She almost wanted to

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giggle just because she had his attention. She nearly gagged
on the girlishness of it all.

Ophelia put a hand firmly on his chest and pushed. “Back

up, Leo. Your cologne stinks.” It was a lie, he smelled
amazing, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. She just
needed him to give her some space before she mauled him
with a kiss.

His mouth quirked in a smile and he took a step back,

giving her a full foot of space between them. “It’s
Leonardo,” he said quickly. “And what’s your name?”

Richie stepped up beside them, slinging an arm around

her shoulders. She liked the familiarity of the gesture even if
he was too young for her to think of as anything more than a
kid brother. “This is Miss Ophelia Nichols,” Richie said as he
squeezed her into his side.

She grinned up at him before sticking her hand out to

Leonardo. “We weren’t introduced properly last night. I’m
with the EPA.”

All traces of humor quickly fled his face and those full

lips she had been watching thinned into a straight line. He
shook her hand politely and dropped it just as quickly
before stepping away.

Ophelia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her

chest. “Do I really need to give you the same speech I gave
Stone back in the bar?”

The sparkle slowly returned to his eyes. “And what

speech is that?”

She unwound herself from Richie. “How I don’t hug trees

or destroy fur coats and that I drive a Jeep, not a Prius and
certainly not a scooter. Can’t go off-road in a scooter.”

Another man entered the small room and Ophelia could

tell by the way the two men with her watched him that this
man was in charge. She neatly stepped around Richie and
Leonardo and came to stand in front of the new man. He

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was only a few inches taller than she, but he was nearly
twice as wide and his weathered face and sharp eyes told
her everything that she had to know about this man’s
position on the rig.

“Miss Nichols?” His voice was rough and it hurt her

throat to think of imitating such a sound, but he was not
unkind.

She nodded and stuck out her hand. “Yes, sir.” His grip

was firm and his fingers were calloused as they gripped
hers.

“I’m the boss,” he said as he gave her a quick once-over.

“You’ll address me as such.” She smirked, thinking that he
was joking but once she realized that he did not return her
humor she quickly dropped it. “McKenna, show her around
and watch over her when she’s off-rig. Last thing we need is
some uppity lefty out here feeding herself to the bears.
Damn things come around town enough without that added
incentive.”

Ophelia was ready to argue with him when the man

turned on his heel and left the way he had come. A firm
hand on her elbow stopped her from charging after him. She
looked up questioningly into Leonardo’s gaze. After a
moment of indecision she relaxed and he dropped his hand.
“So, where do I find McKenna?”

He tilted his chin at her. “Leonardo McKenna?” she

asked.

“Yes.”
Richie grinned at her. “Ask him what his middle name

is.”

“Uh...” Ophelia eyed the much larger man. She wasn’t

sure what game the teenager was playing but Leonardo did
not look like he was in a joking mood.

The man in question shrugged. “It’s DaVinci. Come

along, I’ll show you to your room.”

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He turned quickly, his movements measured and precise,

and began moving down the hallway. Behind her Richie
hooted in laughter as she stretched her legs to keep pace
with him. “DaVinci? Really?”

Leonardo nodded. “It’s not that odd.”
Ophelia giggled. “It’s a little odd.”
He turned sharply toward her, stopping her in her tracks.

“I’ve heard it all before.” He gave her a level look. “Why the
name Ophelia?”

She smiled at him, licking her lips as she got ready to

relay one of her favorite stories. “My father is a college
professor and he loves Shakespeare, so I was named after
the tragic heroine Ophelia.”

He tilted his chin, considering her for a moment. “Any

siblings?”

She nodded, not sure where he was going with it. “A

sister.”

“Let me guess,” he said dryly. “Juliet?”
Ophelia nodded.
“Your dad’s not really that original is he?” Leonardo said.

She hoped he was teasing, though it was hard to tell with
him. His lips were in a flat, straight line so, she doubted it.

She put her hands firmly on her hips and stared him

down, just in case he was being serious. “My dad is very
original and intelligent, thank you.”

He held his hands up as his lips turned into a smirk. “I

didn’t say he was dumb, only that naming two daughters
after Shakespearean psycho bitches that went off and killed
themselves might have been a tad unoriginal and doesn’t
show that he thought very highly of either of you.”

She frowned at him. “Wow, a bit harsh there, cowboy.

Aside from your awesome knowledge of Shakespeare’s
Hamlet, you really need to learn some tact. And fine, I’ll
admit it, Leonardo DaVinci is a very cool name if you’ve got

Sway with Me

the diverse skills to back it up. Otherwise it’s just wishful
thinking and a bit obscene.”

He let the faintest traces of a smile touch his lips. “Shall I

build you a flying submarine while writing you a sonnet and
singing opera?”

She softened. It was hard to act affronted with him. Had

any other guy insulted her family, she would have given
him the finger and walked away. Juliet would have punched
him. Leonardo though, she enjoyed for some reason. “If you
could also juggle at the same time while teaching my dog to
make a chocolate cake, I’d be impressed. But until then, naw,
not so much,” she said with a teasing grin.

He shared her grin. “I think you lied about being with the

EPA.”

She laughed dryly. “Why’s that?”
He held up a finger. She couldn’t help but notice how

long it was and how well he kept his nails, despite the oil
that had left a permanent stain on his cuticle. Her own half-
chewed nails were quickly hidden away in her pockets.
“One, you obviously read.”

“The job requires a master’s degree,” she shrugged

dismissively. “Lots of textbooks get read for that sort of
schooling.”

He shook his head. “But you read for fun. What book are

you currently reading? I doubt it’s something light or even
some frivolous magazine. No, you read and you retain and
you enjoy it.”

She frowned at him. He did not get to know her this well

already. “You’re wrong. It’s not intellectual at all.”

“I’m still waiting for the title, Miss EPA.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Watership Down.”
His eyes twinkled with his smile. “Because you like

bunnies?”

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Ophelia laughed and stepped around him. “And if I told

you that I was reading Animal Farm would you say it was
because I liked horses? Come on, show me to my room.”

“As you wish,” he said as he led her through another

hallway.

She shook her head and tsked at his back right before she

dropped her gaze to his jeans that were just tight enough to
show off a very nice backside. “Oh no. Don’t you dare start
quoting Westley. I’m no Buttercup, and you aren’t nearly
handsome enough to pull off the Dread Pirate Roberts.”

“Is there any reference that you don’t know?” he teased

over his shoulder.

She shrugged and stepped into the small room he

indicated. “Probably.” Ophelia thought for a moment, biting
down on her lip. “If you’re ever feeling sappy one evening,
I’ve got a great collection of chick movies back at my
apartment in town.” She had never asked a guy to come
watch a movie at her apartment. She’d never owned an
apartment or lived away from her parents except for at the
dorm. What if he laughed at her? What if he took it as an
invitation to a date? But did she mean it as a date? She
barely knew him but maybe she wanted to.

He grinned down at her, chasing away all of her insecure

worrying. He filled the narrow doorway as he rested either
forearm on the frame. “Will my manhood be in jeopardy
after such an evening?”

“Not if we finish off the night with beer, nachos and a

classic action movie,” she said as she smiled up at him. She
gave him a gentle shove. “Now go away and let me get
unpacked.”

“Okay. But if you need to leave the rig, let me know by

walkie-talkie. It’ll work anywhere on the rig and a good
distance around too,” he said as he unclipped the small
black box from his belt. He showed her how to turn it on and

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then handed it over to her. Ophelia tossed it on the small
bed and then turned back to say goodbye to Leonardo, but
he had already walked away. She let out an irritated sigh
when she didn’t see him down either side of the hallway and
then closed the door.

She grabbed her phone out of her bag and dialed her

sister’s number without looking at the small white buttons.

“What’s up, Sis?” Juliet said after the second ring.
Ophelia breathed a little easier at the sound of her voice.

“Hey. Busy?”

Her sister snorted. “Hardly. I’m just getting ready for a

breakfast date. We’re going to Benedict’s before I have class
at eleven.”

She twinged with jealousy. Juliet had always been good

with guys. She knew what to say, how to act and the guys
she dated seemed to eat it up. “What are you wearing?”

Ophelia could hear her sister’s short hair brush against

the phone. She must have been trying to fix her hair with a
pin or clip. It wasn’t nearly long enough to keep in the
messy bun Ophelia favored.

“Jeans and a t-shirt. It’s nothing fancy. He’s just a so-so

guy,” Juliet said.

She laughed. A so-so guy was Juliet speak for someone

she liked but didn’t want to come on too strongly for. The
difference between them was that her sister knew the steps
to that dance and Ophelia was used to being on the
sidelines. Or, less often, charging in like a bull and laying all
of her feelings on the line and watching the guy run away.
There wasn’t any screaming involved, but it sure would
have fit. Ophelia just didn’t see the point of playing the
games that Juliet tended to favor. They made her sort of
frustrated and dizzy.

“When are you going to make some more Doubles for

me?” Juliet asked wistfully.

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Ophelia laughed. “I dunno. I doubt they have the

chocolate I need here.”

“Order it.”
Juliet’s order was so sharp and sure Ophelia had to laugh

all over again. Everyone in their little family loved her
Doubles. They were sticky sweet brownies made up of
double chocolate, double nut and double fudge. Their dad
couldn’t get enough of them while Juliet could eat five or six
before she finally ran out of milk. And the little twig never
gained a pound.

“Don’t you ever get tired of them?” Ophelia teased.
Juliet was very adamant about her “No.”
She had to smile as her mind wandered to thoughts of

Leonardo and whether or not he would like her brownies,
too. If he was going to be in her family, he was going to have
to like chocolate. Her eyes widened as she realized where
her thoughts were going. She groaned into the phone and
Juliet laughed.

“You sound like you’re having troubles,” Juliet teased.
Ophelia sighed.
“Missing home already?” her sister asked, a giggle

obvious in her voice.

Ophelia wanted to tell her about Leonardo and how she

couldn’t get a man that she had literally just met out of her
head. But that seemed like a bad line from a bad high school
movie, so she simply said, “Yeah. I miss the warmth. I think
it’s supposed to be two degrees today for the high.”

“Gah.” Juliet was clearly disgusted.
She nodded. “But at least the rig is warm.” She looked

around the small room with its newer furniture and soft
sheets. “And my room here is a whole lot nicer than the tiny
apartment the EPA put me up in.”

Juliet laughed. “That’s a private company for you.”

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Ophelia agreed wholeheartedly. They talked for a little

while longer before Juliet had to get ready for her date and
class. After hanging up the phone she put her MP3 player on
and began inspecting the supplies that had been packed for
her.

Caitlin Ricci

Chapter Three

hear there’s a girl on board.”
Leonardo looked up from the dials in front of him to

catch sight of the two men walking down the narrow
hallway in front of the control room. He knew they were
talking about Ophelia, that much was obvious, but it was the
way they were talking about her that bothered him. Their
tone wasn’t cruel, not in the least and he wouldn’t have
tolerated that with his men anyway. But it was more
appreciative. They didn’t get a whole lot of women in their
tiny town and most of the guys had to fly down to
Anchorage to see their wives and girlfriends. There weren’t
jobs in town and the company didn’t provide long-term
apartments for a spouse to stay in.

“Yeah, she’s really curvy too. Like that one actress. The

pretty one. Uh...”

They rounded a corner and Leonardo could no longer

hear their conversation. Still, he shook his head and
mumbled “Idiots,” to no one in particular.

“McKenna?”
“Nothing, Boss, just checking these readings to make sure

the console is in good shape,” was his instant reply.

His boss nodded and stepped up to check the dials over

his shoulder as well. He tapped on the glass of one dial a
few times, shook his head, and stepped away to let
Leonardo get back to work. Leonardo bent his head and
marked off a few more items on his safety checklist. He

“I

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understood the reasons for doing the check each time they
changed shifts, but this part took hours out of his day and he
couldn’t let the guys get to work until he’d finished. Some
had suggested he rush through it or not bother at all, like he
suspected the other leader did sometimes, but Leonardo
wasn’t like that. He wouldn’t risk his men in that way. And
it would be risking them. Things could go bad extremely fast
on the rig and being where they were meant that the first aid
kit was pretty much it as far as care went if a storm came in.
Luckily they weren’t supposed to get another storm for at
least a week. He’d checked the radar weather just that
morning.

“I’m all done in this room, Boss,” he called to the older

man.

He came up against Leonardo’s shoulder and, so used to

his boss doing this, didn’t move until the other man ran his
finger over the safety checks Leonardo had cleared and
stepped away. The first time his boss had done that he’d
jumped, and probably the second time as well, but now he’d
been around the man long enough to know better than to
react in such a way to his actions.

“Good. Have you settled into your room yet?” his boss

asked.

Leonardo’s gaze shifted to his backpack and duffle bag,

stowed unobtrusively in the corner. He’d stashed them in
this room for the time being until he had a chance to take
care of it. “No, Boss. That’s my plan after I check out a few
more things on the rig. I’ve got three or four more sheets to
get through before I can.”

The other man shook his head. “No, son, you’ll do it

now.”

“But—” Leonardo was quick to argue, but his boss shook

his head and lifted a meaty hand toward the open doorway.

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“Take fifteen minutes, then get back to work. Everyone

else is walking around this heap of old metal eating junk
food and drinking sodas, no reason you can’t have a quick
break as well. I expect you to be done with everything by
noon though, so don’t take too long.”

Leonardo nodded, and handed the man a quick “Yes,

Boss” before grabbing his things and heading out of the
control room. His room was easy to find, but after three
years on the same style of rig it should be. That was one
thing he appreciated about the company he worked for.
They didn’t mess around with the layout much. Each rig
was nearly identical, and it made switching crews easier. His
men didn’t have to struggle with finding things each time. If
they were picked up and taken to any other rig the company
owned, he knew it would be much the same as this one was
and they could get to work within hours.

He unlocked the door with the little key he and the other

man shared and tossed his bags on the bed. The room was
small, but he was used to the size by now and didn’t expect
or need luxury. Most of the guys were saving up for it,
though. The company paid well and with most of their
living expenses paid for, most of them had significant
savings. The single guys did, at least, and they liked to talk
about the things they were going to buy when they got out
of the company and went back to a place that had actual
seasons and not simply cold, colder and too damn cold to
tell anymore.

Leonardo wasn’t one of them, though. Sometimes he liked

going south but he was here for life. The company, the ice, it
was his home. And he’d become far too comfortable in his
life to change it now. He reached into his backpack and
pulled out an energy bar. It was stale but it made a decent
breakfast and he didn’t have time to run down to the
cafeteria for more just yet.

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* * * *

Ophelia had long ago given up getting the small sample
containers to line up perfectly on top of the shiny stainless
steel counter and had taken to exploring the rig. She had one
earbud in as she listened to her MP3 player, the other
dangling against the tank top she had changed into. It was
warm and comfortable in the rig and it was surprisingly well
lit. She had imagined it being similar to living on a
submarine, but this was more of a solid steel hotel without
windows. Her boots clunked heavily against the floor with
every step even though she walked as lightly as she could.

She managed to find the cafeteria, marked by a small

plaque with bright white letters next to the single swinging
door. As she entered quite a few of the men lifted their
heads to watch her. She saw curiosity there and definite
interest. It was weird to think that these men probably
hadn’t seen a woman younger than Lena in the bar for
weeks or maybe even months. There was an odd sort of
power in that level of femininity. But it was also a little
disgraceful once she realized that any attraction could be
based solely on the lack of other available bodies. She
couldn’t be proud of eliciting that sort of reaction in a man
when they could be easily compared to men just getting out
of prison. As one man gave her a toothy smile she blushed
and turned away, suddenly not at all comfortable.

There was a warm presence beside her and she looked up

to see Leonardo grabbing a tray and handing it to her. She
realized that she had been blocking the front of the line and
there were men waiting behind him. Sheepishly she nodded
her thanks to him as she began looking over the lunch
choices.

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Ophelia secretly stole glances at him. He still hadn’t

removed the beanie from his head and, like her, he also had
one headphone in. His hands were red as if he had just
scrubbed them clean and despite that there was still a fine
layer of inky black oil smeared across his cuticles. He caught
her staring and put a hunk of BBQ chicken on her tray.

“What if I’m a vegetarian?” she asked him, even as her

mouth began to water as she looked at the large portion he
had given her.

He grabbed one for himself before answering her. “Then

you might want to change your mind. You’ll need the
calories out here. You don’t need to go overboard, but your
body will have to burn more calories to stay warm because
of our extreme colds.”

It made sense and she certainly couldn’t argue with a man

who looked that confident. She smiled at him and wanted to
tell him thanks but he jumped the line around her before she
could. He grabbed a portion of mashed potatoes and put
them on his tray, making sure to heap extra gravy over
them.

“They’re real,” he said as he caught her watching him

again.

She hated that she blushed every time he paid attention to

her. “So what else is good here?” she asked him as she
grabbed a serving for herself too. She followed him down
the line as he continued to grab vegetables and rolls and pile
them onto his tray. She chose a piece of cornbread and put it
beside her chicken breast.

“Everything is good. The cafeteria is open twenty-four

hours and hot food is always available,” he said as he
grabbed a brownie. “Don’t forget to eat.”

She nodded and scooped some ice cream out for herself.

She poured a cup of black tea as Leonardo grabbed a bottle
of water and then turned to look for a table to sit at. She had

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a moment of panic as that first day of school lunch table
feeling began prickling at her gut before she pushed it aside
and began heading to a nearby empty table.

“Uh huh,” Leonardo said as he blocked her with his much

larger body. “You’re sitting over here with us.” He nodded
in the direction of a large table almost completely filled with
men who were already well into their lunches.

She frowned up at him. Taking orders was not one of her

strong points. “And if I don’t want to?”

He seemed to falter for a moment but shrugged and

stepped away from her. “If you want to sit alone, you can.
My boss told me to look out for you while you’re here. I tend
to take his orders seriously. But I won’t force you to make
friends if you’re bent on going solo. If you change your mind
I’ll save you a seat.” He walked to the table, leaving her
alone to decide for herself. She looked at the empty table and
back to the man she had been fantasizing about. Could she
stand to be crowded in next to him? It would be a testament
to her self-control if she got through this meal without
touching him any more than strictly necessary. She
wondered if he even knew how handsome he was. He
seemed like the kind of guy to not really care about that at
all anyway. She looked to the empty table once more before
she walked over to the table he had taken a seat at. Without
hesitating she took the seat next to him and began eating.

He smirked at her. It was a very “I told you so” sort of

look but she grinned back at him, her mouth too full with
the tender, juicy chicken to do much else. He dropped his
headphones into a pocket in his jeans and she followed his
lead, taking her ear bud out.

“Guys, stop staring, she’s just a girl,” Leonardo said to the

other men. Ophelia looked around the table and for the first
time noticed that everyone had stopped eating and was

Caitlin Ricci

watching her intently. She swallowed nervously and gave
them a weak smile.

“Hi...” she said. “I’m Ophelia.”
The men still wore blank faces. “She’s from the EPA,”

Leonardo filled in. That seemed to clear it up for them. Some
went right back to eating, some frowned and then continued
eating but the man on her right was still watching her.

“What?” she asked him, uncomfortable with his attention.

The man wasn’t scary, per se, but he wasn’t exactly the
warm fuzzy kind, either. None of the men on the rig really
were. She moved slightly away from him, surprisingly
enough finding comfort in Leonardo’s nearness. Before the
man could answer her, though, he was pushed aside by
Richie as he pulled up a chair and forced his way between
them. She felt relieved to see him and gave him a bright,
thankful smile. He returned her smile instantly with his own
dazzling rendition.

“What’d you get to eat?” he asked as he began looking

over her choices. “Chicken, good choice. Me, I like the roast
beef. But chicken’s good. And ice cream too. Always a good
call. Did Leonardo tell you that you’ve got to eat more up
here because of the cold than you did back home?” She
barely had time to nod before he continued talking again.
“Good, because your body will burn a lot more calories here
than you’d think. But it’s awesome to have an excuse to pig
out on all this great food.”

He dug into his meal and she turned back to the food in

front of her. Beside her, Leonardo was grinning to himself.
She ate a few bites of her mashed potatoes as she watched
him. She couldn’t help it. Her eyes just drifted to him. He
wasn’t movie-star handsome, but he did have a simple
subtlety to him that drew her attention and held it captive.
She licked her lips nervously, frowning once she realized
that they were actually cold and wet. Looking down, she

Sway with Me

saw that she had started eating her ice cream without even
noticing it. She mentally shook herself out of whatever
trance she had fallen under. This was definitely not good.
Frustrated with herself, she finished her ice cream but
pushed the rest of the food around her plate.

The men slowly began getting up around her. Ophelia

followed them, dumping her uneaten food in the trash and
putting her tray off to the side. She pushed her hair back into
a messy twirl and shoved a chewed pencil through the curls
to form a simple bun. She caught sight of Leonardo standing
with a few men and rushed to catch up to him. The men he
was with saw her first and as their eyes roamed over her
exposed skin and lingered on her breasts and hips she felt
very exposed and wish she had thought to wear more than a
light tank top to lunch. She quickly crossed her arms over
her chest and stuck her chin out as she came up beside
Leonardo, daring them to say something.

He glanced over his shoulder at her. “What’s up?”
She started to say something but one of the men put a

hand on her hip, startling her into squeaking. Leonardo
smacked the man’s hand away and stepped in front of her,
blocking the man’s view. Ophelia put her hand on his lower
back and wrapped her fingers into his belt, needing to touch
him, to feel his strength against the tips of her fingers. Her
heart was racing and she was ashamed that her first reaction
was to make a pathetic noise instead of punching the man
out. She must have been out of her mind to think that she
could be all alone on a rig full of men and that no one would
notice that she was a girl. Especially out here in Alaska
where there were far more men than women.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” Leonardo said quietly.

They were already drawing a crowd. “She’s with the EPA,
you moron. She can shut us all down with a swipe of her
pen. Don’t give her reason to fire us.”

Caitlin Ricci

Most of the eyes in the room quickly shifted to her and

she shrank back from their angry glares. Of course he would
mention that.

The man in front of them held up his hands in defense. “I

was just kidding. Shit, man, it was all in good fun. Cool
down.”

Leonardo grunted a reply and pulled her out from behind

him. He didn’t look at her as he pulled her along next to him
and she didn’t speak until he had delivered her back to her
room. He stood there, so still, as they came to her door. He
looked angry and lost, his emerald eyes cloudy and his
tanned forehead a mess of wrinkles. Ophelia touched his
arm gently, bringing his attention snapping back to her.
Although the hardness hadn’t left his face, his gaze cleared
and he leaned into her touch.

She shrugged, trying to brush it off. “Should have known

better.”

He frowned. “Meaning? And don’t you dare say you

brought his attention on yourself. You aren’t that stupid.”

She bristled and dropped her hand back to her side. “I’m

not stupid at all.”

He didn’t blink. “And?”
“And I just thought that I should have known better

about Alaska. More men than women, tiny town, lots of men
on an oil rig, and one me and—”

He sighed and shook his head, silencing her. “Let the men

that bother you take the blame. And don’t give them an
excuse for being bastards.”

She nodded uncomfortably. As much as she was thankful

to him for standing up for her, this was not a conversation
she wanted to have with him. So much of her just wanted to
go back to her room and be alone with her sheepishness for
a while. She had never been the frail-girl type, but being

Sway with Me

helpless for the first real time in her life left a bitter taste in
her mouth.

“Do you need to go outside?” Leonardo asked.
Ophelia blinked at him, startled. “Huh?”
“Outside?” he asked again. “To look at snow and stuff?”

He shrugged, appearing unconcerned.

She smiled at him and nodded. “I do need some samples.

Sure you can spare the time?”

“You’ve been fitted into my work schedule,” he said.

There was something in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as
she had seen it.

She grinned. “So I get you all to myself every day after

lunch?” she teased him.

He looked uncomfortable with that and she frowned, not

quite sure what was wrong. She was treating him no
different than she would any other guy she knew.

“Grab your stuff and we’ll go,” he said, moment gone.
She relaxed, thankful that she didn’t have to give some

awkward apology. Maybe he was just odd. She would be
sure to watch herself around him from now on.

Ophelia moved passed him, the door turning easily in her

hand. She flipped on the lights and began pulling on her
discarded layers from earlier. She felt Leonardo watching
her and turned to find him still standing in her doorway. He
looked at ease there, neither impatient for her to get ready or
put off by the idea of waiting for her in the narrow hallway.
Most guys she knew would have already started going
through the candy stash in her nightstand drawer. She liked
that this man knew enough to respect her space and her
privacy.

She put her arms through her wool sweater and started to

put her head through the narrow opening but as usual it got
stuck. She really needed to remember to pack a different
sweater next time. She tried to struggle into it as her phone

Caitlin Ricci

started ringing. Grunting in frustration she pulled it out of
her pocket and tossed it blindly to him. She had a second to
reflect on the stupidity of throwing her only way to talk to
her sister and her parents, not to mention her boss and
coworkers, before he neatly caught it.

“Answer it please,” she said, her voice muffled through

the thick material.

“Hello?” he said. Ophelia could hear Juliet’s bright voice

from across the room as she started talking. She had figured
it would be her but she hadn’t considered that her sister
could be overwhelming to strangers. She had a moment of
pity for him until she heard Leonardo’s rich voice talking to
her.

“I’m your sister’s contact on the rig. She’s getting dressed

right now,” he said. There was a startled choking sound
followed by a soft, deeply male chuckle. Ophelia tried to
watch him through the thick weave of her sweater but it was
a lost cause.

“I can’t speak for all men, of course, but I think you

already know the truth. And even if he isn’t back with his
ex, you still have that doubt and lack of trust and that kind
of taint in your relationship is never healthy,” Leonardo
said. His voice was calm and soft and as Ophelia pulled the
sweater over her head she heard her sister reacting to that
gentleness.

She marveled at him, a man she didn’t even know, talking

her sister down from what had probably started as hysterics.
He looked comfortable in profile, his shoulder leaning
against the inside of her door. His feet were crossed at the
ankles and one hand rested in his pocket. He looked relaxed,
as if talking to a strange girl’s sister was the most natural
thing in the world. In fact, he looked as if he did this all the
time. Ophelia wondered about his family, if he had a little
sister out there, just like she did. Someone that he comforted,

Sway with Me

talked down from hysterics and watched old movies and ate
pizza with like she did with Juliet.

“Your sister’s finished dressing,” he said as she moved

into his line of sight. He nodded after Juliet had said
something. “You too,” he said before passing the phone to
Ophelia. She gave him a quick smile as she took the phone
and began putting on her gloves and hat as she balanced the
phone between her ear and shoulder. Unlike her slim cell
phone, the satellite phone was clunky and uncomfortable.

“Hey,” Ophelia said as she adjusted her gloves.
“Oh my God,” Juliet squealed loudly into her ear. “Tell

me he’s as cute as he sounds.”

Ophelia knew that she was blushing. “Uh huh,” she said

noncommittally. “So what’s this about your guy cheating?”

“Nothing much. I’m gonna call him and break it off once

we hang up,” Juliet said offhandedly.

Ophelia blinked. That was odd. “Sure you don’t need to

talk about it?”

Juliet laughed. “I’m good. Sure, I was upset before. But

that guy’s good. I’m awesome now. What’s his name
anyway?”

“Leonardo,” she answered automatically. He looked up at

his name but quickly went back to reading the report in his
hand once he saw that she wasn’t actually talking to him.

“Leo,” Juliet repeated.
“Leonardo,” Ophelia corrected her automatically.
Juliet’s laugh was instant. “Oh nice. Another person that

doesn’t go by a nickname. I like it. Leonardo, Leonardo,
Leonardo...”

Ophelia stomped down hard on the pang of jealousy that

came at hearing her sister testing the sound of Leonardo’s
name on her tongue. She certainly had no claim to the man
and besides, she had done the same thing herself shortly
after learning his name. She liked his name. Liked how it felt

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over her tongue when she said it. It was the kind of name
that invited that kind of caressing attention.

“You sure you’re okay?” Ophelia asked again. Her sister

just did not get over things that easily.

Juliet giggled. “Totally okay. Tell Leonardo thanks for me.

Sometimes you just need a guy’s opinion to help get clarity.
Ya know?”

Ophelia didn’t but said, “Sure,” anyway. She glanced

over at him again which was a mistake. It must have been
near her cycle or something because she felt flushed. She
looked away as quickly as possible. She said goodbye to
Juliet and promised to call her later before turning back to
Leonardo, who still stood next to her door, having never
come more than a foot into her room.

“Thank you for that,” she told him as she approached.

She zipped up her parka and straightened her hat. She
picked up the tackle box with all of her supplies in it and sat
it next to the door.

He nodded.
“She’s leaving him,” Ophelia offered.
“Good. She sounds like a nice kid. And if you’re blood

siblings I can assume that she’s attractive enough to find a
new boyfriend quickly if she wants to. No reason to settle for
him,” he said.

It took Ophelia a moment for her brain to process what he

had said. “You think I’m pretty?” As soon as the words had
left her mouth she started berating herself. She sounded far
too much like an insecure high school girl.

He pursed his lips. “Uh huh.” He shifted his weight and

looked down at her, his dark eyes unreadable and full of
secrets. “So you ready?”

“Yeah,” she said, offering him a slight smile as she

ducked her head to hide her blush.

Sway with Me

Chapter Four

phelia followed him outside, the wind a biting cold
against her face as she adjusted her thick parka around

the goggles she’d grabbed from a small alcove by the
entrance. Leonardo had stopped there too, picking up
gloves, a parka and goggles for himself as well. There were
stations with gear, neatly organized with each man’s things.
In the time it had taken her to put on her parka and zip it up
he had already been ready to go and was just finishing
fastening up his gloves.

“Tell me about Lear,” Ophelia said as she fumbled with a

sample container at the base of the rig as Leonardo looked
on.

“What about him?”
She looked over her shoulder at him. He looked

completely comfortable out here in the cold. She pursed her
lips at him. Was the man always relaxed, comfortable and
confident? And when did he stop looking so damn good?
Soon, she hoped. It was hard enough to open the little jars
with her gloved fingers without her heart racing and her
mind going fuzzy with him just being so close.

“Where’d you get him?” she asked.
Leonardo shrugged. “He found me, few years back I was

hunting—”

She scowled at him. “You hunt?”
He scowled right back at her. “You want your meat in

neat little sealed packages? There’s a grocery store two hours

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south of here. Otherwise there’s the bar, and the convenience
store carries hot dogs. You’re in the middle of nowhere, girl.
Might as well get used to it.”

She gaped at him. “Those are my choices? Being a

vegetarian or eating out every night?”

He shrugged. “Or hot dogs. They aren’t half bad with

some hot sauce.”

Ophelia shook her head in disbelief and scooped some

snow into a container. After she struggled to get the lid back
on and finally cursed at the damnable thing, Leonardo
plucked it from her gloved hand. He easily secured the lid
and pulled a pen out of a pocket on his coat.

“Probably won’t write. Too cold,” she told him

dispassionately with a frustrated sigh.

He gave her a cocky grin and scribbled onto the label.

“Our pens write in any temperature.” He handed the jar
back to her and she looked at the neat label. He had put the
information in correctly, even knowing that she had to put
the distance from the rig in meters instead of feet. She
frowned at him.

“How’d you know?” she asked him.
“Know what?”
She showed him the label, her eyes watching him

suspiciously. “You filled it out.”

He shrugged. “It’s got directions on it.”
Ophelia looked at the small label again. It did have

directions on it, but they weren’t clear to most people. Even
Juliet had been confused at first when she had shown her the
instructions months ago. Huh. Either she wasn’t as smart as
she thought she was or...She frowned. Could Leonardo be
that smart? She eyed him skeptically. He was much more
than he appeared.

She rose from the crouched position below him and

secured the small jar in her tackle box. She would not think

Sway with Me

of the ugly thing as her supply box, only what it actually
was. Ophelia quickly brushed the ice off her pants and
looked further north of their spot. Leonardo looked with her,
silently watching the frigid wind whip against the icy hills.
She frowned, wondering how any person could choose to
live in such a horrible place. She looked to the man beside
her. What could have possibly made him consider Alaska, of
all places? Especially this far north. She shivered despite the
relative warmth of the suit. Just looking around this place
made her cold.

Leonardo nudged her with a gentle hand to her forearm.

They had been out too long already. She had let her mind
wander. She nodded to show that she understood him
before hurrying through another collection. She handed the
jar to Leonardo and he quickly filled in the information. She
tossed it back into the tackle box, not bothering to be gentle
with it. She was done and she turned to go back in. He kept
up with her easily, which wasn’t saying much considering
how short she was.

Once they got back to the rig they undressed quickly in

silence. “Come on, you’ll need to drink something warm
now,” he told her, leading the way to the cafeteria. She
followed along behind him as he grabbed them both
steaming cups of hot chocolate. He added a large dollop of
whipped cream to his before turning to her, a question in his
eyes.

“Yes please,” she said quietly, taking the mug after he had

dropped another dollop onto hers. She drank it eagerly,
despite the heat. The richness of good chocolate coated her
tongue and throat, warming her from the inside out.

Leonardo walked her back to her room. They were silent

but not uncomfortable, both focused on work that had to be
done that afternoon.

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“See you,” Leonardo said, stepping away from her once

they had reached her door.

Ophelia put her hand on his arm, stopping him. He was

warm under her fingers, his muscles tight as he waited.
“Thank you for today,” she whispered. She ducked her head
to hide her small smile and the blush that quickly spread
over her cheeks.

His fingers were strong, the tips calloused, as he touched

her chin. With the barest hint of pressure he raised her chin,
bringing her gaze back to his. “Don’t hide from me,” he told
her. Ophelia sucked in a surprised breath and he gave her a
cocky smile before walking away.

She watched him walk away, noticing again how his jeans

formed over his hips and butt. With a little groan of wishful
wanting she turned away and went into her room before he
could catch her ogling him.

* * * *

Leonardo went back to work with Ophelia lingering in his
mind. He was attracted to her, which wasn’t a surprise. Most
of the men on the rig probably were. But that she interested
him was a completely different matter, and one he didn’t
really know how to deal with. Not right now, at least. Maybe
in a few weeks when he had some time to himself and he
could see if she wanted to grab a burger at the bar, he’d ask
her out. It was worth a shot, anyway, but something told
him she’d probably say no. He figured she had someone
back home, someone that she missed, and that getting a bite
to eat with some guy from the rig just wasn’t in the picture.
As he was mulling this idea over he heard the sound of
crashing metal coming from a room nearby.

With a loud sigh he walked in and shut the door tightly

behind him. “What happened?” he demanded.

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“I was—”
“He—”
“There was—”
Leonardo shook his head and held up his hand, silencing

the older men that had all begun to talk to him at once. “Is
anyone hurt?” he began, knowing that was the most critical.

“I’ve got a cut,” a man sitting on the floor replied. He

hadn’t even seen him around the bulky suits of the men
surrounding him but now Leonardo walked around them to
get a look at the damage. He knelt in front of him and
frowned at the sight of the blood seeping through the man’s
hands.

“You were smart to put pressure on your palm,” he said,

turning to look toward the front of the room. “One of you
get me that first aid kit, please?” The nearest man acted
quickly and a moment later Leonardo was snapping on a
pair of latex gloves. “Tell me what happened.” He took the
man’s hands gently in his own and began cleaning the
wound.

“I slipped. A thin rod got knocked over and then my

hand landed on the edge of the metal table.”

Nodding, Leonardo pressed some heavy gauze to the cut.

“It’s not deep, but it’ll sting for a bit I’m sure. I’m putting
you in the control room for the rest of the day. You can assist
Boss. Get him whatever he needs, but if your hand starts
bleeding through this bandage get me. All right?” The man
nodded and looked relieved. “You can resume normal
duties tomorrow.”

“Are you going to tell the EPA girl?” one of the men

standing behind him asked.

“Tell her what?” Leonardo replied as he finished taping

up the man’s hand.

Caitlin Ricci

The injured man paled and his fingers clenched around

Leonardo’s hand. “You can’t. If you tell her, she’ll shut us
down. It was an accident. I can’t lose this job. My wife—”

Leonardo shook his head and the man across from him

instantly fell silent. “The EPA doesn’t care about your hand
unless you cut it off. She’s only here to make sure that we’re
not damaging the land and messing with the wildlife. She
doesn’t care about your hand. At all.” The man looked
relieved and Leonardo smirked. “Besides, she’s not half
bad.”

“Her butt isn’t at least.”
Leonardo slowly rose to his feet and turned around to

face the man that spoke. He was grinning, but it quickly fled
his face when Leonardo lifted his gaze to meet his. Though
he was at least six inches taller than Leonardo, making him a
giant on the rig, Leonardo didn’t let that bother him as he
pursed his lips. “Would you talk about one of our sisters
that way? Or a wife? A daughter?” he asked the man who
instantly shook his head. “No, of course you wouldn’t. So
why is she different?”

“She’s not. Sorry, sir,” he quietly replied.
Nodding, Leonardo tossed his bloodied gloves in the

trash and gathered up the first aid kit. “Get to the control
room,” he called to the injured man as he put the kit away
and turned to wash his hands. Minutes later the man
radioed to let him know that he was with the boss and
Leonardo made his way into the lower levels of the rig to
help the guys out where he was needed.

Sway with Me

Chapter Five

phelia got up early the next morning. It was barely five
when she rolled out of bed, adjusted her flannel pajamas

and tank top and began writing notes on the samples she
had put into the small mini fridge the night before. She was
full of nervous, anxious energy. This was to be her last night
on the rig, and to make matters worse she had woken up
sweaty, her body throbbing and needy from a remembered
dream starring a very naked Leonardo. She took a cold
shower to clear her head and then went down to the weight
room to burn off some of the energy. After a half hour on the
treadmill with Santana strumming away in her ears, she felt
much more relaxed. She took another shower, allowing the
warm water to wash away any of her lingering worries.

She found herself sitting in the cafeteria with a cup of

coffee between her hands and a pile of past reports from her
team beside her. She mindlessly thumbed through them as
she munched on the bacon and toast beside her. One page
was boring. She turned the page. Also boring, and this one
was poorly written as well. She rolled her eyes.

Men began shuffling in around her. Most were surprised

to see her up so early. She felt a hard knot growing in the pit
of her stomach. Her stay had been too short and she had
enjoyed meeting these men. Especially Richie and Leonardo.
One she was starting to think of like the little brother she
never had, and the other...well...she stifled a girlish sigh as

Caitlin Ricci

she almost swooned at the thought of Leonardo and the
dream about him she had barely survived last night.

She finished her breakfast quickly and took the reports

back to her room before going through the safety protocols
for the rig. She had expected to find Leonardo but hadn’t
been able to. Even Richie had seemingly disappeared. She
signed off on the rig for another year. The rig was running
perfectly, much more so than she had originally thought it
would be.

Once she handed the completed paperwork back to the

men in the office, the air around the rig seemed to lift. Some
of the men were even friendly toward her. She found herself
laughing with a few of them when her phone rang. She
excused herself and went back to her room.

“Hello?” she answered, slightly out of breath from

rushing back to her room.

Her boss sounded gruff and impatient. “You’ll be ready

in an hour?”

She blinked in confusion, sitting down on the edge of her

bed. “Ready?” she parroted.

He sighed, obviously in no mood to explain things to her.

“A team member will be there to get you in an hour. Be
ready.”

The line went dead. She stared numbly at her phone

before tossing it away from her with a humph of disgust at
her boss’s obvious lack of manners. She quickly emailed her
reports to him before shutting down her laptop and
beginning to pack in a rush. She threw her clothes into her
backpack, not bothering with folding them. She was
frustrated, upset and had never felt more rushed and
because of that she was rougher than she normally would
have been when she shoved things into her backpack to
make them fit.

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When she was fully satisfied with the haphazard mess

and was able to just barely zip it closed she sat down at the
desk with a pen and a piece of paper. She wanted to say
goodbye to Leonardo but she had no idea how to tell him
everything that she wanted to say. She took a breath,
stretched her arms over her head and popped her
headphones into her ears as she turned on some country
music as she began to write.

Half an hour later she had re-written the letter at least

four times and had finally had to stop before she ran out of
time. She folded it in half and then went in search of Richie
and Leonardo. She was bouncing down the halls listening to
Blake Shelton when she spotted Richie drinking a soda and
reading the bulletin board.

Immediately she pulled him into a tight hug.
“You look rushed,” he said as he returned her hug.
She ruffled his hair. “I’ve come to say goodbye. A bit

faster than I would have liked, too. My boss called me and
said I had an hour to get ready. Now I’ve got about ten
minutes.”

He nodded sadly and gave her a peck on the top of her

head.

“Have you seen Leonardo?” she asked him hopefully.
Richie’s frown deepened and he shook his head.
“He’s missing?” she said, disbelieving.
He shook his head. “Leonardo’s been in meetings all day.

I haven’t seen him come out once.”

She nodded, pursed her lips and then handed him the

letter.

“What’s this?” he asked as he turned the piece of paper

over in his hands.

“Make sure he gets this, please?” she said, fighting hard

not to blush and failing miserably.

Caitlin Ricci

Richie caught sight of the heat in her cheeks and laughed.

“Yeah,” he said, “I’ll give it to him at dinner tonight.” He
tucked it into the pocket of his jeans. “Wish you could stay,”
he mumbled.

She gave him another quick hug as her phone began

ringing. “Me too, Richie. See you soon, I hope.” She sighed
as she saw that it was a team member’s number and turned
away from him.

“Yeah, sounds good,” he called after her as she picked up

the phone and began heading back to her room.

“Hello?” she said as she answered her phone.
“I’m outside,” a vaguely familiar voice said.
She frowned into the phone. “Terrance?” The already

anxious knot in her stomach grew. She did not want to
spend a few hours alone in a truck with someone who had
so blatantly hit on her. Sure, she had brushed it off in front
of him but she still had a heavy level of disgust as far as this
man was concerned. She took a deep breath and tried for the
positive, though. Maybe he was only a disgrace to the male
population when he was drunk. That had to be it.

She nodded distractedly as he told her all about what was

going on in the projects the rest of the team were working
on. He sounded rude and impatient, though, and she found
herself biting back censoring comments. It would not be
good for her driver to get annoyed with her and leave her on
the rig, she reminded herself. Not that she believed it. Sure,
she knew that he probably would dump her somewhere if
she pissed him off. He just seemed like he already had no
use for this little chore of picking her up. No, the part that
she didn’t believe was that it wouldn’t be good to spend
another few days on the rig. That part actually sounded
rather fantastic.

She hung up with him as she pulled her heavy coat back

on and grabbed her supplies. On her way out the few men

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that she saw said their goodbyes, many shaking her gloved
hands. She smiled at them, thanked them for having her on
the rig and promised that her report was good. Most
laughed at that, obviously relieved.

She stepped out into the icy wind and ducked her head as

she put her supplies in the back. She hopped into the truck
and put her backpack on her lap before putting on her seat
belt. Only then did she meet Terrance’s steady gaze.

“Hello,” she said quickly as she warmed her hands with

the heating vents.

He gave her a nod, turning away and pulling back out

onto the barely distinguished road.

“So where is our base camp?” she asked him, hoping for

at least minimal talking. Sitting next to this man in silence
might have been preferable but she needed to get to know
her team.

“My base camp is near Anchorage.”
She pursed her lips at his sharp tone. “By excluding me

from that, are you implying that I’m to go somewhere else?”

He nodded. It was short, little more than the repeated

tilting of his bristled chin.

“You’ll be going to Yosemite.”
She blinked at him. “Yosemite?” She shook her head,

sounding like a parrot.

“Dr. Milkin requested you personally on his team,”

Terrance said, glancing at her. She didn’t miss the hints of
what he didn’t say. Dr. Milkin had a doctorate in every
degree that mattered in their field. He was also her favorite
professor and the man she had spent an entire semester with
for her internship.

And Terrance was clearly jealous. She chose to ignore that

bit of insight.

Then he spoke.

Caitlin Ricci

“So I’m thinking that semester you spent with him for

your internship was actually spent under him,” Terrance
sneered.

She sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. “Are you so

offended by the possibility of me being better at this job than
you that you have to resort to assuming that I had to have
sex with a perfectly happily married gay man to get to
where I am now?”

His mouth gaped open. Apparently he had never met Dr.

Milkin, or else he would have seen that his husband, Robert,
came with him to every assignment, every conference and
every public appearance. And he would have seen that they
were blissfully, insanely happy together.

“And furthermore,” she continued, fully annoyed with

him now. “I scored nearly perfect on every test I took in
college. I have a PhD in environmental sciences. I carried a
four point oh GPA for every year of college and I have never
had sex with someone to get ahead in this or anything else
I’ve set my mind to.” She sucked in a breath. “So keep your
disgusting thoughts to yourself and out of my pants.”

She turned away from him, not bothering to hear his

fumbling excuses. Further drilling in her point she put her
headphones on and turned up the rock music as loud as she
could take. Stupid, moronic, idiot.

And stupid Leonardo for not being there for her to say

goodbye to him. She breathed out, frustrated with herself
and the man sitting next to her.

* * * *

Leonardo let his head fall onto his hands as the men he’d
been meeting with began filing out of the room. He had a
headache and the noise of the men outside really wasn’t
helping. The door opened and he was barely able to lift his

Sway with Me

eyes to see who it wa,s but Ritchie came forward anyway,
dropping a new pile of paperwork in front of him. “Here
you go,” he said, stepping back. “You okay? You look pretty
awful.”

Leonardo nodded and dragged the first sheet toward him.

A resupply list really wasn’t what he wanted to deal with at
the moment. “Have you seen Ophelia?” he asked Ritchie
before he could leave again. “I wanted to—” Well, he really
didn’t know what he wanted to do actually. Maybe nothing.
But seeing her was a definite option.

Ritchie’s smile slipped. “She’s gone. She left a bit ago. She

said to tell you bye, though.”

“Gone?” Leonardo asked him, although he’d heard the

word just fine.

“Yeah. She had to go.”
Leonardo frowned down into his new paperwork. “So

that’s it then,” he mumbled.

“Naw, you could see her again,” Ritchie said, trying to be

helpful.

Shaking his head, Leonardo didn’t see how that was

possible. “Probably not, but it’s a good sentiment. Wish I’d
been able to say bye, though.”

“She looked like she did too,” he said, stepping back

toward the open doorway. “I’ve gotta get back. Boss is
riding everyone hard today. First few days stuff. You know
how it is.” He shrugged and put his hand on the doorway.

“Yeah I do. See you,” Leonardo said as he dropped his

head and pulled his pen closer, struggling to get back to
work as thoughts of Ophelia distracted him from his task.
The simple daily tasks he did easily enough when he wasn’t
distracted made his head hurt now that he couldn’t think of
anything but how he hadn’t been able to say goodbye to a
woman that had made him smile.

Caitlin Ricci

* * * *

A week later Ophelia wiped dirt and sweat from her
forehead and shook out her hair. Beside her, Dr. Milkin sat
nursing a cold beer while stroking Robert’s feet, which lay
over his lap. Her own beer sat untouched next to her. They
had spent a busy morning testing the oil saturation level of
soils but had now been “taking a short break” as Dr. Milkin
called it for nearly two hours. Ophelia pursed her lips,
irritated, and not just with the overwhelming late spring
heat. April was not supposed to be nearly this hot.

“You look unhappy, darling,” Robert told her.
She shrugged and rolled the cold beer can over her neck

and forehead in an attempt to cool down. The canvas tent
kept them out of the sun but it did little for the heat. “I
thought it would be different.”

“Yosemite?” Robert asked.
She shook her head. “Yosemite is gorgeous. Always has

been. But the EPA...” she shrugged, unable to finish her
thought without sounding petulant and cranky. “I just
expected a bit more,” she finished lamely.

Robert gave her a sympathetic smile while Dr. Milkin

drifted off to sleep. They shared a quiet chuckle as he started
to snore loudly. Robert stole his husband’s beer and took a
large, satisfying swig before putting it down next to him.

“Sweetheart,” Robert began, his sandy blond hair falling

in front of his eyes as he leaned forward to pat her knee.
“What did you really think this would be like?”

She sighed miserably and brought her knees to her chest,

wrapping her arms over her ankles and resting her chin on
top of her knees. She was about to answer him when a bright
blonde head popped inside of their tent.

Stephanie was barely twenty, bubbly to the extreme and

had instantly grated on Ophelia’s fragile nerves the minute

Sway with Me

the woman had picked her up from the airport and started
pushing a baggie of raw carrots on her.

Now she sauntered in wearing tiny shorts and a barely

there tank top with a huge smile on her face as she sidled up
to Robert’s side. Ophelia rolled her eyes as Stephanie draped
an elegant arm over his broad shoulders.

“What are you three doing in here?” she asked, her voice

implying much more than her words ever could.

Robert moved away from her and shared a

commiserating glance with Ophelia. With a hard push he
woke up Dr. Milkin who came roughly awake with a snort
and a bumbling, startled cry.

Stephanie ignored both her and Robert once the good

doctor had woken up. Ophelia gave her an assessing glare.
She wasn’t merely pretty. She was practically the perfect
barely legal vegan fantasy of every man in the base camp.
Ophelia looked to the two men sitting across from her, both
of whom were clearly uncomfortable with her attention.
Those two men were the only ones that had managed to
keep a sane head around the tornado that had turned out to
be Stephanie Lawson.

“...and then I finished recording the data, and I organized

your tea collection, and after that I made you a banana
coconut smoothie, and then...” Stephanie was saying.

By Robert’s glazed eyes Ophelia could tell that he wasn’t

following her anymore either. Even Dr. Milkin looked
disturbed by the girl’s clear infatuation with him. When the
girl brushed her thigh against Dr. Milkin’s arm in a clear
invitation Robert finally had enough. He cleared his throat
and, in the most obvious display of affection Ophelia had
ever seen between them, he wrapped his arm around Dr.
Milkin’s shoulders and nuzzled the side of his throat.

Caitlin Ricci

Ophelia had to bite down on her tongue to keep from

laughing as Stephanie blanched, uttered an apology and
quickly backtracked out of the tent.

Robert wasn’t nearly as good as her at hiding his mirth as

he burst out laughing and finished with a wide grin that
made him look years younger. Dr. Milkin looked at them as
if they had both lost their minds. “C’mon Tom, you had to
know she was hitting on you,” Robert teased him as he
finished the beer next to him and reached for another.

She blinked at them. She had never heard Dr. Milkin’s

first name before.

“And poor Ophelia looked like she was sucking on sour

grapes,” Robert continued. She blushed and shook her head.

“She’s been irritating me since I met her. There’s so few

people that I’ve found that I actually like in the EPA. The
guys on my team in Alaska were...” she made a face.

Dr. Milkin, Tom, leaned forward, suddenly appearing

interested. “How was Alaska? I thought you’d have liked
the adventure of it.”

She nodded, her mind instantly going to Leonardo. “The

adventure was great. The town was tiny and fantastic. And I
really enjoyed my time on the rig. But the guys on my team
were not the best of the male gender.”

Robert rolled his eyes. “And the guys on the rig were?”
She couldn’t help the blush that quickly covered her

cheeks and crept down her neck.

“Uh oh,” Robert said with a soft chuckle. “That’s pretty

telling.”

“I made a friend,” she said softly. He grinned at her. “Just

a friend,” she was quick to clarify.

Tom nodded and shared a knowing look with Robert.

“Whatever makes you happy, Ophelia,” he said in his gentle
way. That’s how he’d always been, even when she was a
freshman in his seminar on renewable energy. She felt

Sway with Me

instantly calmer with him around, and with that calmness
came a clarity she’d been missing.

“I joined the EPA to do good,” she said slowly, thinking.
Tom nodded. “As most people do. But what did you

envision? Has it changed from when we spoke during your
internship?”

She shook her head. “I still want to protect animals and

help the environment. I just wish there wasn’t so much other
stuff.”

Robert laughed. “There’s always other stuff. There will

always be people you don’t like and assignments you don’t
want to do and paperwork that feels draining. There are
other companies to work for. Other agencies.”

Ophelia nodded and curled up onto her side. “I need to

think these things through.”

Tom nodded. “You need to go home for a few weeks.”
She blinked at him. “But I—”
He shook his head and held up a hand to silence her. He

pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and began typing
away at it. “I’m sending you home. With all the training you
went through and the endless seminars and then the trip to
Alaska and then coming straight here, you’ve barely had a
moment to yourself. My girl should never be away from
home that long.”

She swallowed and slowly nodded.
“Good girl.” Tom put his phone down. “You’ll go home

for two weeks. The plane will leave tonight. After that I’m
sending you to the Florida Keys. I’ve booked you on a team
there. They’re expecting you. It’ll be an easy trip. Spend two
weeks with your sister and then go scuba diving for three
weeks as you observe how the reefs are doing. Enjoy
yourself. After that, if you still dislike working for the EPA,
I’ll give you a letter of recommendation and try my best to
help you find something that you’ll enjoy more. Deal?”

Caitlin Ricci

Ophelia could barely smile past the lump in her throat. It

sounded great and she couldn’t wait to get home.

Sway with Me

Chapter Six

phelia lay stretched out in her rumpled bed. Beside her
Juliet mirrored her own position with her ankles crossed

and a few pillows piled high under her chin. They were even
dressed alike, which wasn’t so much of an accident as much
as it was the simplest solution since they were the same size
and Juliet had long since taken over Ophelia’s closet. The
only thing Ophelia hadn’t let her take over was her favorite
ratty pair of jeans.

Juliet had picked her up from the airport only that

morning and within an hour of getting home both girls had
changed into low-slung black yoga pants and tank tops.
Ophelia’s was black and red, sporting the Chinese character
for Fire across her chest, while Juliet’s was brown and green
and had the symbol for Earth. They were part of a much-
loved set their mother had given them the previous year.

Ophelia had once thought that some parts of her closet

were sacred, but that had only been until she caught Juliet
wearing her sky blue lace bra that had cost her a small
fortune the following week. She promptly gave Juliet all of
her lingerie and ran to the nearest store to pick up the
plainest cotton bras and panties she could find. Juliet hadn’t
borrowed her underwear since.

They had plans to go to a spa later, to indulge in plenty of

girly recovery time, but right now they were watching a
Japanese game show with a plate of Doubles in front of
them. Iago, their dog, an old gentleman of indiscriminate

Caitlin Ricci

terrier mixed with Labrador thrown in for size, lay stretched
over the top of the bed, warming their feet. His loud snores
could probably be heard from downstairs, where their
parents were watching a movie. Ophelia turned and ran a
hand over his stiff fur. One soft brown eye opened and
blearily blinked up at her. With a long sigh he closed his
eyes and fell back to sleep.

Ophelia startled at the sound of the unfamiliar ring tone

as It’s A Small World began coming from her nightstand. She
spared Juliet a cutting glance as she reached for her cell. Her
sister had changed her ring tone. Again. She’d get her back,
though. There had to be something equally awful that she
could change her sister’s phone to play. The second verse
started and Ophelia cringed. Eh. Maybe not.

She flipped open the phone, barely glancing at the

unfamiliar long distance number before answering it.

“Hello?” she said as she flopped back down next to Juliet.
“Miss Nichols?” the woman asked. Ophelia didn’t

recognize her voice. She would have remembered her Texan
drawl.

“Yes?” she said, her voice soft, hesitant.
“Ophelia, is it all right if I call you that dear?”
She shrugged and said, “Sure.”
“Great! Well that’s just dandy. My name’s Daphne Plume,

spelled just like it sounds, and I work over here at the
Northwest branch of the Hilldale Corporation.”

Ophelia frowned. She’d never heard of them. “Sorry, I

already donated to my causes this month and I don’t really
need to buy anything. So...Um...Have a nice day and all.”
She was about to close her phone and hang up on the
woman when she heard high pitched protests coming from
her the speaker. “Yes?” she asked her.

“Ophelia, dear,” the woman began, surprisingly sounding

unphased by almost being hung up on. “I don’t think you

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quite understand. You see, we want you to come work for
us.”

She took the remote from Juliet, muting the TV against

her sister’s protests. “Sorry, you must be mistaken. I never
applied to your company. I’ve never even heard of the
Hilldale Corporation.”

She could hear the smile in the woman’s voice. “But you

did recently evaluate one our rigs in Alaska. Calbee
International is our parent company. We at Hilldale handle
more of the paperwork side of things. Sound familiar?”

“Yes.”
“Perfect. I have your review right here in front of me.

Concise. Well written. And the men you worked with gave
you glowing reviews. Everything from lovely little lady to well
at least she didn’t feed herself to the bears.”

Ophelia giggled. That last bit sounded like a few of them.

An anxious knot formed in her belly as she said, “Did
Leonardo McKenna say anything?”

Juliet’s mouth dropped open and she wished that she

could quell the growing heat in her cheeks and take the
words back. Especially as Daphne began hedging her
response.

“Well...Normally I couldn’t tell you what any one person

said,” she said slowly. The sound of papers rustling filled
the background.

Ophelia felt the knot in her stomach clench. “Oh no. Of

course not. Forget I asked,” she said quickly. She hoped she
sounded indifferent instead of needy, but as she caught sight
of Juliet rolling her eyes she knew she’d failed miserably.

“But I can tell you that if he did happen to say something,

it was positive.”

She frowned. That wasn’t quite what she was hoping to

hear but she guessed that at least it was better than nothing.

“Now about that job...” Daphne began.

Caitlin Ricci

Ophelia frowned. “But I’ve got a job.”
“Yes, and I’m sure the EPA is lovely and all that good

jazz, but how about hearing me out just for a bit. Hmmm?”

Ophelia felt chastised. “I’ll listen, but I can’t make

promises,” she said. She couldn’t be even more rude to the
lady after all.

“Excellent. Well as I said, we want you on our team. We

need a woman to work in the field.”

She laughed—she couldn’t help it. “You want me to drill

for oil? I’m tiny compared to most of those guys.”

Daphne also laughed. “No dear. I want you to go to rig

sites and give presentations. Trainings. Deal with any issues
that they may have. Simple stuff, really.”

Ophelia pondered this for a moment. “But why me?”
“That’s simple, silly,” Daphne said lightly. “The men

respond to you. They listen. Out of all of the people that the
EPA has sent there, you’re the only one I haven’t seen
horrible reports about.”

Ophelia remembered some of the men on the rig and

disagreed with her, but let it go. “But still, I’ve already got a
job.”

Daphne’s voice softened. “Yes, dear. And I’m sure you

think it’s great. But we can offer you so much more.”

She couldn’t help her curiosity. “Like what?” she asked.
“Much better pay for one. Excellent benefits. And instead

of flying all over the states for assignments, you would only
work in Alaska and once in a while here in the Northwest.
You could even settle down in Alaska if you found a city
you liked enough.”

It sounded so tempting. But she had wanted to work for

the EPA for years. She was about to decline, again when the
women spoke.

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“Just think about it, dear. The man you would be

replacing isn’t retiring for another month, so you’ve got
some time.”

“Okay.” She’d think about it, though the answer would

probably still be no.

“Great. Well, Toodles!”
Ophelia’s forehead pinched. No one said toodles. “Bye,”

she said just before closing her phone.

Juliet gave her less than three seconds before the

questions started. “Who?”

Ophelia sighed and ate a Double. The sticky sweetness of

the brownie helped center her thoughts. “The oil company.
They want to hire me.”

Juliet’s face scrunched. “Why?”
Ophelia shot her a look. “I’m not undesirable. And it’s a

good job.”

“Then...?”
She shook her head. “I love working for the EPA.”
Juliet rolled her eyes and turned the sound up on the TV.

“No, you don’t. You love the idea of it, and you’ve been
dreaming about it for so long that you want to love the
reality. But I know something’s off.”

“You’re wrong,” Ophelia said quickly. There. Her voice

was strong and she sounded almost believable.

Juliet shrugged and turned back to the TV.

The deck was warm under her skin as Ophelia lay

stretched out in cut-off shorts and a loose tank top. The
evening sun had just set and the last of the rays had left the
clear ocean a deep shade of green. Her stomach was full
from the dinner of chips and a hot dog she and the others
had consumed earlier. The boat rocked gently under her as
she stared up at the clear night sky.

Caitlin Ricci

This was what she had longed for when she joined the

EPA. She and the small group of men and women on the
boat had spent the day scuba diving as they studied the
precious reef life so many feet under her. Her body ached,
and while she’d always thought she was fairly in shape, the
six hours she’d spent swimming had left her feeling sore in
every major muscle group. And the salt water had been hell
on her hair.

But it had been one of the best work trips she could have

ever imagined. She’d spent much of her time on deck taking
pictures and texting them to Juliet, and although there were
a few bikini-crazed guys on the boat with her, most of the
team had been great to work with.

However, she found herself thinking of Leonardo more

often than she would have liked to admit. Thoughts of him
were there as she caught sight of a bright fish and wished
that she could show him, or now, as she watched the stars
slowly become visible and she thought that he would
probably know the constellations that shined above her. He
seemed like the kind of guy that would know something like
that.

Maybe she was being silly though. She hardly knew him.

In fact, by rights he was a stranger. But she wanted to know
more. She wanted to know all about him.

She took a deep, calming breath, letting the salt air flow

through her nose and fill her lungs. She needed to get out of
this head space. Thinking about a man she’d spent barely
any time with was definitely not healthy. Cringing, she
realized she might have even sounded a bit desperate, if
only to herself.

The deck thumped next to her as an older woman sat

down next to her and offered her a bottle of water. Ophelia
sat up and took the drink thankfully. She smiled at the
woman over the rim as she took a deep swallow.

Sway with Me

“Helen,” the woman introduced herself.
“Ophelia,” she said as she shook out her hair. It was

getting long and would need a trim soon. She recognized the
woman from the tech room below deck. She hadn’t been in
the water with the rest of them, but she had been busy
watching the monitors as the video feed had played back.

“I love the night here,” Helen said as she looked out over

the open ocean.

Ophelia nodded. “I hadn’t realized how beautiful the

ocean could be.”

The woman gave a soft chuckle. “Inlander?”
“Colorado,” Ophelia told her. “Born and raised.” She let

out a soft sigh. “I love the Rockies and the plains and the
sunsets. But there’s just something about this place...” she
trailed off, at a loss for words, giving the older woman a
sheepish shrug.

Helen nodded, understanding her instantly. “It’s just so

vast. Here we are, barely thirty feet of floating fiberglass and
metal, and there’s so much under us, around us, above us.
It’s impossible to understand it all.”

Ophelia gave her a smile and leaned back to stare up at

the stars. They spoke well into the night before retiring to
the bunks below deck.

That night she sat up in bed with the blankets pulled

around her and looked out the small porthole at the dark
ocean. It was beautiful out there and she wished that she
could share it with Leonardo.

Caitlin Ricci

Chapter Seven

he moment Ophelia stepped through the door of her
home, Juliet swept her up in a tight hug that Ophelia

quickly returned. Juliet kissed her cheek and tugged her out
of the house before Ophelia even had a moment to take off
her coat. At least she’d been able to set her luggage down.

“Wait!” she called after her sister as she struggled to keep

up with her. “Where are we going?”

Juliet grinned at her, her glossy pink lipstick shining in

the bright sunlight. “I’ve booked us an appointment. We’re
going to a tattoo shop!” she squealed.

“I don’t know about this,” Ophelia said, looking up at the

neon tattoo sign ten minutes later as she moved her Jeep into
the parking spot. “You really want a tattoo?”

Juliet rolled her eyes and humphed. “A piercing. Not a

tattoo.” She paused, considering. “Not yet, at least. And it’s
just my belly button. No one will even notice.”

Ophelia continued to hesitate until Juliet widened her

eyes and stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. It was overly
dramatic and Ophelia should have felt worse for how well it
still worked on her after so many years, but the truth was
she couldn’t deny Juliet anything if she really wanted it.

“All right,” she quietly conceded. Her put-upon sigh was

instantly drowned out by Juliet’s squeal of delight as she
bolted toward the shop’s entrance. Ophelia took her time
following behind her.

Sway with Me

Inside, the shop was different than she expected. She’d

had her ears pierced, they both had, but that was when they
were just a few years old, and Ophelia had never had a
reason to go inside a tattoo shop before. Where she’d
expected heavy metal music and bright wall art featuring
demons she got Elton John and soft leather couches.

“Hey,” the woman behind the counter greeted them. Her

smile was warm and the butterfly tattoo Ophelia could see
peeking out from the collar of her t-shirt had soft lines and
intricate swirls. As the woman moved to get Juliet a packet
of information about piercings and the consent form,
Ophelia caught a flash of pink dangling from the woman’s
belly button and just barely brushing the top of her low-rise
jeans. She found herself leaning over the counter to get a
closer look.

“See Ophelia? Aren’t they pretty?” Juliet said. Ophelia

blushed at being caught looking but nodded away. The
piercing did look good on this woman.

“Are you thinking of getting one too?” she asked her.
Ophelia wanted to say no. It was on the tip of her tongue.

But that dangling little jewel caught her attention again. She
bit her lip. “Did it hurt?”

The woman shook her head. “My best friend, Bonnie,

works here and she did mine. Super smooth, and I barely
noticed it after the first little pinch. You start out with a plain
stainless steel barbell at first but if you take care of it right
you’ll be able to wear much cuter stuff in no time.” The
woman paused to grin. “And guys love them.”

Juliet was looking up at the woman and smiling. Soon

they were discussing what kinds of dangles the shop offered
and when she could change them out.

“I’d like to get one,” Ophelia said quietly. She blinked,

surprising herself with the thought.

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Juliet paused, her mouth gaping open before pouncing on

her in a tight hug. “Oh, Ophelia, I’m so glad! This is
awesome! We’re getting sister piercings! I know you won’t
regret it!” There was another one of the classic Juliet squeals
of happiness as she took the clipboard from the woman and
plopped down in the couch to begin filling it out.

Ophelia took the clipboard the woman gave her. “Bonnie

will do yours, hon. Not to worry. This piercing will go so
smoothly that pretty soon you’ll be back here wanting to get
your next part pierced. And we are having a sale right now
on all piercings above the waist including your navel
piercings today. Everything is just ten dollars including the
jewelry, so if you decide to get anything else done just let me
know. We’ll be having the sale for another few weeks, too,
so if you decide not to do something today, make sure to
come back and see us again soon.”

She thanked the woman and sat down next to Juliet as she

read over the warnings and signed her name. Juliet was
flipping through a tattoo magazine when she finished. She
would pause on a picture, bite her lip and then shake her
head before flipping the page.

“What are you thinking?” Ophelia asked her.
Juliet shrugged and tossed the magazine aside. “That

butterflies are overdone.”

She nodded. “Yeah they are.” She took a deep breath. “If

this goes well today, do you want to get matching sister
tattoos in a few months when I’ve got some more time off
work?”

Her sister’s face lit up in a bright beam. “Really?” Ophelia

nodded and was instantly enveloped in a tight hug.

“Ophelia?” a voice from her side called. She looked up

into the rich hazelnut eyes of one of the most beautiful
women she had ever seen. “Aloha kakahiaka,” the woman
said. “I’m Bonnie.”

Sway with Me

Her face scrunched as Ophelia tried to figure out the

second word. “Hawaiian absolutely. So you said...” She
shook her head. “Sorry, I’m not very good with languages
though I’ve been to Maui twice with my family.”

She smiled. “I said good morning. Are you ready?”
Ophelia nodded, returned the woman’s easy smile and

followed her back to a small room closed off by a sheer
curtain. She stretched out on the padded table and began
fiddling nervously with the hem of her shirt.

“I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to wear,” she said

quickly. “My sister surprised me with this appointment. I
had just gotten off the plane and then I drove home and she
was there already waiting for me and just sort of grabbed me
and pulled me with her and-”

“Easy,” the woman said, placing a warm hand over her

trembling one. “You’re okay here. You’re safe. I’m going to
tell you everything that I’m about to do, and if you don’t
want to go through something, all you have to do is tell me
to stop and I will back off immediately. No harm, no foul.”
She smiled warmly and Ophelia felt herself begin to relax by
large degrees. “Now, any questions before we begin?”

“I’m sorry. I’m just not good with needles. I know people

do this all the time but—”

Bonnie held up her hand to stop Ophelia’s nervous

mutterings. “Not many people are good with needles, so
you don’t have any reason to apologize for being nervous.”

Ophelia bit her lip as Bonnie raised her shirt up to just

below her ribs. There was a snap of gloves being put on
before she returned and Ophelia felt something cool wash
against her stomach.

“Antiseptic,” Bonnie explained. “Now take a few deep

breaths, hon. You’ll feel a pinch then a slight tug. I’m going
to start, now so if you want me to stop now would be a good
time.”

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She shook her head. “I’m okay.”
Bonnie smiled at her. “You sure? You’re good?”
Ophelia nodded. “Yeah, totally sure. You’ve been super

patient and kind. Not at all what I was expecting when we—
Jesus H Christ!” she cried out just as Bonnie finished pulling
the needle through.

She giggled as Ophelia glared. A twist of her fingers and

the needle was quickly replaced with a simple bar with a
ball at each end. Bonnie pulled down her shirt and helped
her to sit up.

“Stop glaring,” she teased. “If I’d warned you, you

would’ve tensed up, and the pain would have been a lot
worse.”

Ophelia lost some of her glare. “Curse you and your

logic,” she muttered as she went over to the small mirror
that hung over a wide array of tattooing supplies.

“Don’t touch it just yet,” Bonnie told her as she lifted up

her shirt. “You’ll be tender for a few days. Low-rise pants
until the end of the week. Don’t let anything rub against it.
No pools or spas.”

“I can follow that,” Ophelia said quietly as she continued

to look at the shiny metal against her pale skin. She
wondered if Leonardo would like it before she mentally
kicked herself.

“Here,” Bonnie said as she put a small bottle into her

hand. “Spray it on, then twist twice a day. Some people say
to use antibacterial soap. I don’t. Wait at least six months to
change the piercing out. A year is better. It’s a long time, and
a lot of people will tell you that it’s okay to do it faster but I
prefer to be on the safe side. Returning customers get ten
percent off any jewelry purchases and fifteen percent off any
work over one hundred dollars for tattoos and such.” She
took a breath. “Now, any questions?”

Sway with Me

Ophelia shook her head and pulled down her shirt before

thanking her. She was reading the back of the silvery spray
bottle as she went in search of Juliet. She wasn’t in the
lounge and there was only one other room with the curtain
pulled, so Ophelia opened it and stepped inside.

She’d found her all right, but the guy that had given her a

shiny new navel piercing also currently had his tongue in
her sister’s mouth. Ophelia cleared her throat and crossed
her arms over her chest in her best disapproving mom
stance.

The guy straightened up and turned to glare at her before

realizing she was a customer.

“You look a little old to be making out with my sister,”

she told him coldly. At least he had the decency to frown at
her, and now that Ophelia had a better look at him she
realized that her first assessment of his age was low. He was
covered in tattoos which wasn’t a bad thing—when they
were tastefully done like Bonnie’s had been. This man’s,
though, were a harsh mixture of skulls and dancing women
in various forms of undress. The effect was lewd. His
wrinkles were well hidden behind the mess of thick facial
hair and various piercings, but he couldn’t disguise the
graying hair at his temples.

“Why are you still staring, Ophelia?” her sister snapped

at her. “God, you’re so disapproving. You’re just like mom.
And FYI, she pulls off that stance much better than you do.”

Ophelia blanched but didn’t let her sister needle her into

fighting back. “I didn’t know that you were into married
men,” she said quietly, knowing that her tone would get her
sister’s attention more than yelling ever could.

Juliet blinked at her. “Ew. You know I’m not.” They both

turned to look at the guy, who was slowly making his way
past Ophelia toward the curtained door.

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Ophelia shook her head and tsked. “He has a tan line on

his ring finger and lipstick on his collar, Juliet. You have on
gloss, and I know you’d never wear this garish shade of
red,” she said as she pulled the guy’s collar to show her
sister. Juliet’s jaw dropped and her cheeks flamed bright red
just before she hung her head.

“You’re a coward,” Ophelia told him before she stepped

out of his way. “And if you ever contact my sister or look at
her again, I will take a rusty fish hook through your balls. I
think we’re on the same page. Right?” He nodded quickly
and walked away.

Ophelia joined Juliet on the large table and bumped her

shoulder against her sister’s. “I need practice on the stance
huh?” she gently teased.

Juliet made a choking sound through her shame-filled

tears as she tried not to laugh. “I’m so stupid.”

She shook her head and held her sister close. “No, you’re

not. It’s okay to test the waters, to try new things. It’s okay to
date different guys and never be serious about a single one.
That’s what I’ve always liked about you. And always
envied. You play and you experiment and you never give
away your heart. Ever.”

Juliet twisted and turned wide eyes on her. “You like that

I’m a flake?”

She shook her head and brushed a bit of Juliet’s hair

behind her ears. “I like that you’re confident and don’t get so
mixed up in your emotions that you miss the chance to have
fun.”

“Come on,” Ophelia said as she hopped off the table.

“Let’s go to lunch. I’m craving Italian.”

Juliet gave her a small smile as she dropped to the floor.

“I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it. I was just—”

Sway with Me

Ophelia put a hand up to stop her. “It’s done. Nothing

happened. We’re good. Now, are we going to Italian or
not?”

Juliet readily agreed and soon they were walking hand in

hand out of the shop. Ophelia had left Bonnie a hefty tip
while the man had received a much smaller one. Some
people might not have tipped him, and certainly she was
tempted not to, but that just wasn’t how she was raised. Her
mother tipped everyone.

Caitlin Ricci

Chapter Eight

phelia drove them the short distance to a nearby Italian
restaurant, all the while ignoring the new little piece of

metal that stuck out from her belly button and begged to be
scratched. She glanced over to see Juliet lifting up her shirt
as she stared at her own piercing. “It’s strange,” Juliet said as
she twisted to try to see it better.

Ophelia nodded. “Having something in my navel is a bit

weird. We can always take them out, though, if they bug
us.”

Juliet shot her a look and pursed her lips. “No way. It’s

awesome. Just...different.”

She laughed. If their father had been in the back, he’d

have scolded Juliet for using a word like awesome. It was far
too pedestrian for him. She remembered times when they
were younger where one of them would use his bad word
list, including awesome, and they would be told to write
down all of the better synonyms for the offending word they
had used.

Ophelia supposed that was par for having a literature

professor as a father, and she and Juliet had learned quickly
which words not to say when they were around him.
Ophelia had tried to drop them from her vocabulary
completely, while Juliet had held onto them, popping them
out like she was sneaking cigarettes when their father wasn’t
around to catch her. That didn’t always work, though.
Another thing about having a professor for a father was that

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he always seemed to know when they were up to
something. And when they were younger they usually had
been.

Ophelia killed the engine and hopped out of the Jeep with

Juliet hot on her heels. The restaurant was an old favorite of
theirs that their parents had been taking them to ever since
they learned how to twirl spaghetti on their forks. Before
then, their mother had said that they weren’t fit to be seen
by civilized folks as they covered themselves and everyone
around them with bright red sauce.

The familiar smells of roasting garlic and freshly baked

bread comforted them as a hostess brought them to a table
near the back. “Order whatever you want,” Ophelia said as
they sat down and opened their menus.

“Thanks, Sis.”
Ophelia nodded, well absorbed in the menu.
“Hey, Juliet.”
She looked up at the low voice, surprised to see a well-

dressed young man smiling down at her sister. Juliet looked
radiant as she stood up to give him a gentle hug. “Ophelia,
this is Dean, and his brother Jack,” Juliet said, introducing
the man currently on her arm and the older man beside him.

Ophelia looked them both over, smiling at them and

trying not to let her gaze linger too long on Jack as he stood
there looking comfortable in full Army gear. She’d always
found guys in camo attractive. “Hey. Would you like to join
us for lunch?” she offered.

Jack sat down first, not waiting for his brother’s

acceptance. “Thanks. Starving, here. Just got back, and
haven’t had Italian in months.”

He was watching her and Ophelia blushed.
“Jack is in the Army,” Juliet announced, although his

clothing would have easily given that fact away.

Caitlin Ricci

Ophelia glanced at her and gave her a tight smile. She

knew her sister’s tone and recognized when she was trying
to set her up with someone. Though she appreciated the
thought, Juliet was usually too brash and reckless for her
tastes. “Are you really?” she said, playing along so as not to
leave her sister hanging.

Jack smiled, making his chocolate eyes instantly lighter.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m a communications specialist.”

“He’s the best the Army’s got,” Dean said, clearly proud

of his older brother. Ophelia smiled at them both and
noticed how Dean’s hand held Juliet’s on top of the table.
Juliet was obviously into him as she giggled at something
too low for Ophelia to hear.

She wouldn’t judge her sister for playing the field, as their

mother called it. As long as Juliet was happy, she’d support
her in whatever choice she made, with some exceptions, of
course. The tattoo guy was completely off limits, though—
she hoped Juliet wouldn’t make that mistake again.

“So what do you do, Ophelia?” Jack asked, drawing her

attention back to him.

“I’m in the EPA.” She was about to explain what she did

with the agency when their waiter came up to take their
orders. A few moments later he was gone and the
conversation had turned to what Dean and Juliet were
doing, how their classes were going and what they would be
taking in the next semester.

“Hey, Ophelia?” Jack spoke up once there was a quiet lull.
“Yes?”
He gave her a small smile and reached for her hand,

holding it gently under his on the table. “Would you like to
go out for a drink with me sometime? I’m only on leave for a
few more weeks, but I’m pretty open during that time.”

Ophelia hesitated. He appeared to be a nice enough guy,

but she’d felt none of the spark with him that she had with

Sway with Me

Leonardo. Still, though, Leonardo was someone she might
never see again, and Jack was here right now, showing more
interest in her than Leonardo had. And one drink couldn’t
hurt anything, and she might actually enjoy it.

“Sure, Jack, that sounds like fun,” she told him honestly.
He smiled and Juliet winked at her. They held hands for

the rest of lunch.

The next afternoon Juliet came running up the stairs,

surprising Ophelia as she lay stretched on the bed, their old
dog Iago next to her as she read a novel. “Letter for you!”
Juliet announced as she pounced onto the bed next to her.

Ophelia took it curiously. “Who’d be sending me a

letter?” She turned it over and her breath caught in her
throat. Leonardo’s name and return address were neatly
printed in the upper left corner of the large envelope.

“Who’s it from?” Juliet asked, crowding toward her.
“Leonardo,” she said, quickly prying it open. Her sister

giggled and began reading over her shoulder.

Ophelia,
I broke a few rules to get your home address from an employee

file, so hopefully you aren’t offended by my letter.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for leaving me a

note on your last day with the rig. It was unfortunate that I was

held up in meetings all day and unable to see you off. I hope that
you had a safe trip to wherever the EPA decided to send you next.

I—

“Who writes like that?” Juliet scoffed. “He sounds like

he’s from the eighteen hundreds. I’m sure Dad would love
him though. Finally someone he could be polite and stuffy
to.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Shush.” She bent her head and

kept reading.

I’d like to let you know that everyone on the rig enjoyed having

you here, and my boss says that you’re welcome back anytime.

Caitlin Ricci

He’s glad that you didn’t let the bears eat you. There was mention
of an incident of that nature being too much paperwork for him to
be bothered with, but I believe he was joking.

If you would like to keep in touch, here is my phone number and

address.

Take care,
Leonardo

Ophelia was still staring at the letter when her phone

started ringing. Juliet took the sheet of paper as soon as she
put it down to answer the call. “Hello?”

“Ophelia, there have been some troubling things I need to

address with you,” Brendan said quickly.

She blinked, startled by her boss’s tone. “Sir?”
“I’m calling to inform you that you are being formally

reprimanded. A letter stating this will be mailed to you
within the week. You are also being put on probation for six
months.”

Ophelia choked. She’d never been in trouble for anything

in her life. “Sir? For what?”

“You let a man, Leonardo McKenna, into your room, and

you were sexually inappropriate with one of your own team.
Really Ophelia, I expected much better than this from you.”
While he sounded disappointed, Ophelia was just pissed.

“Mr. McKenna was answering my phone, and I would

never come on to a member of my team because they are all
jerks, and frankly the guys on my team had been nothing
but inappropriate asses,” she seethed into the phone, barely
controlling her anger.

“Well, Ophelia, you just got yourself into even more

trouble. I am going to recommend a formal suspension in
light of your attitude in regards to this matter.”

“Go to hell, Brendan. I quit.” She slammed her phone

closed and groaned loudly.

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Beside her Juliet giggled. “That sounded awesome. Think

Leonardo actually told him?”

Ophelia shook her head. “No, I’m sure it was just

someone on the rig that saw us. And Terrance was trying to
get into my pants the whole time, so I bet he was the one
that complained to try to get me in trouble. And stop
listening in on my calls.”

Juliet shrugged. “Then don’t have the speaker up so

loud.”

“So...I got fired from my first real job...”
Her sister nodded. “And told your boss to go to hell. It

was pretty classic.”

She found herself giggling despite how upset she was.

She reached for her phone and scrolled through her recent
calls.

“No!” Juliet shrieked. “You can’t call him back to

apologize!” She dove for the phone but Ophelia quickly
stood up out of her reach.

“Hello?” the deeply accented voice asked through her

telephone.

“Miss Plume? This is Ophelia Nichols—”
“Oh, Ophelia! How are you, dear?”
She smiled and tried to keep from laughing at Juliet’s

shocked expression. “I’m good, thanks for asking. I was
wondering, though...Is that position still available?”

“Yes, dear, it is. Are you interested?”
Ophelia nodded. “I am.”
“Well that’s just perfect. I’ll have the new employee

welcome package mailed out to you this afternoon. You just
take a look through it, sign it and send it back to me. Sound
good?”

“Yes, it does. Thank you,” she said quickly, sinking back

down on the bed. “In light of full disclosure though, I should

Caitlin Ricci

tell you that my boss at the EPA just fired me for allegedly
being sexually inappropriate.”

She held her breath, waiting for the offer to be taken back,

but Daphne just laughed loudly. “You think I care what
your boss at the EPA says? I care what my men on the rig
told me. And they said you were stellar. Your old boss will
be a distant bad memory within a month of you working for
me, darling. You’ll see.”

Ophelia released her breath and smiled. “Thank you, Miss

Plume.”

“Daphne, dear. I’ll expect to see your response in the mail

quickly. You take care, now.”

“You, too,” Ophelia said. They said their goodbyes and

she closed her phone.

“So?” Juliet asked, popping up beside her.
Ophelia smiled at her. “I guess I’m going to go work for

big oil now.”

Her sister laughed and tossed a pillow at her. “It serves

Brendan right! Wanna catch a movie?”

“Sure.” Ophelia started looking through the local listings.

Ophelia went out for her date with Jack two nights later.

She drove herself to the bar, an old habit that her mom had
instilled in her since high school. She hadn’t dated much
then, but Juliet had, and their mother was fond of giving
them the same lectures. She’d taken some time that
afternoon writing a letter back to Leonardo, but hadn’t had a
chance to mail it yet. Juliet had been in her classes all day
and somehow Ophelia didn’t have the guts to send it out
without her sister looking it over. She’d never written a
letter to a man before. There wasn’t even anything really
groundbreaking in the simple note. She was still thinking
about what she’d written and whether it had been too much,
or maybe too little, when she met Jack in front of the

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crowded bar. They were dressed alike, simple t-shirts and
jeans, and Ophelia smiled at him.

“Hey, you look good,” Jack said, pulling her in for a quick

hug.

“Thanks, so do you.” His jeans fit him well and they were

clean. His t-shirt was soft and probably one he wore a lot,
judging by how faded it was. But it looked good on him. She
was wearing some of her best jeans and a college t-shirt. It
wasn’t her nicest outfit, but Juliet had told her that Jack
really wasn’t a suit-and-tie kind of man. He might have been
a skirt guy, though, Ophelia was realizing as she followed
him into the bar and saw the array of bare legs around her.
There wasn’t much she could do about it now. She wasn’t
sure if she even had a skirt. She would’ve probably had to
borrow one from Juliet.

They sat in a booth and started making small talk. It was

all safe, nothing too complicated. Ophelia brought up Juliet
and Jack talked about Dean. Ophelia was learning that they
were both nice guys, and she was glad Juliet was with Dean.
She just didn’t feel much for his brother. Still, she’d give him
a chance. He’d probably make a decent friend at the very
least.

“Can I get you two anything?” a waitress asked, coming

up to her shoulder.

“Colorado bulldog,” Ophelia replied instantly. It was her

favorite drink, and one that she never got tired of, despite
how sweet it usually was.

“I’ll take a black and tan,” Jack said.
The waitress nodded and quickly scribbled down their

drink order. “All right, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Twenty minutes later, having covered nothing more than

the recent movies they’d both been unable to see because of
work, they left the bar.

“Want to walk around for a bit?” Jack asked at the door.

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Ophelia considered him for a moment. The night was

warm, she didn’t need to get home for any reason, and Jack
still appeared interested. She nodded. “Sure.”

He smiled. “Great.” Jack took her hand, slipping his

fingers between hers and they started walking. He’d chosen
a bar in one of the best parts of Denver, and the people
walking with them were mostly couples out on a date or
groups of friends heading down to the clubs a few blocks
away. They passed coffee shops, an organic clothing store,
and a shop selling large pieces of jewelry made from antique
cameos. They weren’t her style, but her mom might have
liked some of them.

A used bookstore caught her attention, though. She had

both her hands and her nose pressed against the glass before
Jack noticed that she’d slipped out of his hand. She knew
this store—it was the same one her father bought his books
from, since it was right on his way home from teaching.

“See something you like?” Jack asked, coming up beside

her and looking in the window as well. “Oh, a book on
World War II. I should get that.”

“I want that one.” Ophelia pointed to the small paperback

of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Hero had always
been one of her favorite characters.

“A play?” Jack sounded skeptical as he followed her into

the bookstore.

“Yep, one of my favorites.” She was nearly bouncing as

she came up to the counter. “Hey Tanner, busy night?” she
asked the guy at the counter. He was younger than her,
probably about Juliet’s age.

“Not too bad. What can I get you, Ophelia?”
“You have Much Ado About Nothing in your window. I

want it.” she pulled out her wallet, making it clear to Jack
that she was buying it. She didn’t know if he was planning
to try to pay for her new book, but she wasn’t going to let

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him. It was going to be a present for Leonardo. She didn’t
try to talk herself out of the impulse buy, especially since it
would be so easy to put the book back since she’d never
given a guy a present. But she wanted to buy it for him, and
that was final. Her racing thoughts and lingering doubt
would just have to deal with that.

Tanner quickly grabbed it for her, putting it in a little

brown bag which she eagerly took after handing him the
cash. She didn’t take her change. That was Tanner’s tip,
though she was sure it wasn’t normal to tip the son of the
man that had been supplying her family’s book addiction for
years.

“And what can I get for you?” Tanner asked Jack as

Ophelia stepped back.

“You have a war book in the window that I’d like,” he

said, leaning on the counter. Tanner retrieved his book as
well and Jack pulled out some cash for it as Tanner wrapped
it up.

They walked for another half hour and then he took her

back to her Jeep. Ophelia enjoyed his hug and stayed against
him for a few moments, but he didn’t get her heart racing
like Leonardo did, and though she didn’t have much
experience at all with men, she was pretty certain that meant
something.

Caitlin Ricci

Chapter Nine

ou should send some Doubles to him too,” Juliet
suggested the next morning as they sat wrapping up

Leonardo’s new book on the kitchen island. “And I think
you should re-write the note onto pink paper. I’ve got some
really pretty stationary upstairs you can have. It’ll be much
more feminine than the plain notebook paper you chose.
Less basic and icky.”

Ophelia giggled. “No. I’m sending it like it is. I’m not

frilly and I want him to know that. Just in case...”

Juliet perked up. “In case of what?”
She shrugged and looked away as she started wrapping

up one of her Doubles for Leonardo. “Maybe I’ll see him
again...” she said quietly.

“Do you want to?”
Ophelia shrugged. She wasn’t sure. Yes, she wanted to get

to know him more. So yeah, she did kind of want to see him
again. Maybe. She really wasn’t sure yet. “I might,” she
quietly admitted. She packed up the box, making sure
everything was packed well, and then sealed it up. Juliet put
his address in front of her and she carefully wrote it onto the
cardboard face. Though her hands were trembling, she
thought the words came out pretty straight.

She’d take it to the post office in a little bit. First she

wanted to call Dr. Milkin and tell him about what happened
with Brendan. Juliet went for a walk and Ophelia went up to
her bedroom, flopping down on the bed she hadn’t bothered

“Y

Sway with Me

making that morning. She could see Juliet’s bright pink
room through the open doorway, her things neatly put away
in the many cubbyholes she had along the wall. They were
opposites in many things, yet they were the same in all the
ways that mattered to Ophelia.

Dr. Milkin answered after nearly four rings. “Hello?” He

sounded a bit out of breath and maybe even frustrated.

“Dr. Milkin? It’s Ophelia. Is this a bad time? I can call

back later,” she quickly told him.

His laugh was warm and comforting. She could hear

Robert talking in the background and smiled. They sounded
happy. She hoped that someday she’d find someone like that
to be with for as long as they’d been.

“Ophelia, no, stay. We were just making lunch and I

burned the red pepper sauce. How’ve you been? How were
the Keys?”

She settled onto her bed on her stomach, grabbing a

pillow to prop up under her chin. Iago slowly lumbered into
the room and sat down with a sigh in front of her bed. “They
were good. Thank you for sending me there. I wanted to tell
you though, I no longer work for the EPA. Brendan fired
me.”

“For what?” He sounded outraged, and Ophelia grinned

at the idea of having this very formidable man in her corner.
If Dad could be scary when he came down on a student, Dr.
Milkin was nearly terrifying.

Her voice was small, though, as she responded. It was so

incredibly embarrassing to have to say what she’d been fired
for. “Being sexually inappropriate with men on the rig and
members of my team. And I gave him attitude about it.”

His laugh was thick and rich, just like the molasses that he

used to spread on toast before every class. “Did you really?”

“The attitude part? Yes. But the rest of it—”

Caitlin Ricci

“Nonsense. He’s a ridiculously small man, if he ever

thought you would be inappropriate with anyone. So where
are you looking for a job now? I’ll write you a letter of
recommendation right now and have it in the mail this
afternoon. I’ll say how stupid any company would be to let
you go by. You may not have been the loudest voice in any
of my classes, but you were always the smartest, the most
considerate and the only one aside from Robert who would
be honest with me.”

She was blushing deeply as his words slowly trailed off.

He’d given her praise before, and so had Robert, but he’d
never sounded so sure, so emphatic about how he felt about
her. “Thank you...really. That means a lot, Dr. Milkin. You
have no idea how much your respect means to me.”

“Hush. So where am I to send this letter? Still living with

your parents? Robert, darling, get me that nice stationary
that’s left over from our wedding. The cream vellum. You
know which one I mean...no, not the white one stack. The
cream ones. The plain ones, I don’t need the few that we
bought with the gold detailing. No, I think that might be a
bit overkill.”

She could hear Robert grumbling about him in the

background and it made her giggle. “Dr. Milkin, thank you,
but I’ve got a new job already.”

“Oh? Do you really now? Where at?”
“The company that owns the oil rig I was on in Alaska.”
He laughed. “Never mind, Robert, our little Ophelia is

going to work for big oil and be surrounded by rough,
brawny men dressed in flannel. I almost envy you, little
girl.”

“I don’t think they all wear flannel,” she hedged,

grinning.

“No, but you’ll be near your friend. What was his name

again?”

Sway with Me

Her cheeks flamed just thinking about him. “Leonardo.

And I won’t be close to him. Not really. It’s not like I’ll be
working on the rig with him. I’ll be based in the northwest.”
She took a breath. “I may not even see him again.”

“I hear that, that bit of a thing in your voice. Tell me, how

do you feel about not seeing this young man again?”

As usual Dr. Milkin could cut right through everything

she was thinking and get right to what she wanted. “I don’t
know if I could do that,” she quietly admitted.

“See him again?”
She shook her head. “No, not see him again. But that’s

crazy. I barely spent any time with him. He could be married
with a bunch of kids and have some beautiful wife waiting
for him or—”

“Or he could be just as interested in you as you are in

him,” Dr. Milkin said, cutting her off. “Take a chance. I
know that’s hard for you, little planner that you are. But try
it. You might surprise yourself.”

She took a breath. He was right. She could take a chance.

The possibility of getting to know Leonardo better was
worth the risk and anxiety she felt with maybe putting her
feelings out there.

Almost a week later the mailman delivered her new

employee packet along with a letter from Leonardo. Her
heart was racing as she turned the simple envelope over in
her hands. After a few minutes of biting her bottom lip and
wondering if she should open it now, or let Juliet open it for
her later in case it was something bad, she decided to put it
away and tried to focus on the packet Daphne had sent her.
His letter still called to her though, taunting her with
everything he might have said—and everything she wanted
him to say. She might have come on too strong. Most people

Caitlin Ricci

didn’t just send books and chocolate brownies to strange
men. His letter might tell her not to bother him again.

But maybe, hopefully, he wanted to talk to her again.

Maybe he wanted to get to know her just as much as she
wanted to know him. Maybe they could be friends. They
might be able to be even more.

She sighed and tried to focus on the packet. Once she

started absorbing all the details, though, she couldn’t help
the grin that quickly took over her face.

Ophelia was calling Daphne before she’d even finished

reading the first paragraph.

“Daphne Plume,” she answered.
“Hi. It’s Ophelia Nichols. I got the packet. I accept the

job,” she said quickly, nearly bouncing on her bed in her
excitement.

Daphne giggled, sounding far younger than Ophelia

imagined her to be. “I’m glad the terms agree with you. In
case you missed anything, let me go over it all with you. I’d
like you to fly out here to our Seattle office for training next
Monday, if that’s agreeable with your schedule. This office
will be your base in the lower states. Anchorage is your
Alaskan base. You’ll have a desk there. And you’ll fly from
there to all of the rigs and drilling sites we send you to. The
schedule is four months in Alaska, then two weeks off and
we’ll pay your airfare for you to go anywhere in the States
that you want to go. Hawaii is also included in that and a lot
of our employees do choose to go there for their vacations.
Keeping up?”

“Yes.” Ophelia could hardly believe it. Their offer was

incredible.

“Good,” Daphne said, continuing. “You’ll have an

apartment in Anchorage, provided by us, and a twenty
percent pay increase. Since you won’t be in Anchorage more
than a few days a week, you’ll get a company vehicle to use

Sway with Me

during those days. You’ll have weekends off unless a plane
can’t get to you on a rig because of a storm. You’re required
to be in the office six hours a day, twice a week and you’ll
usually be on a rig. If you make it four months with us you’ll
get a five thousand dollar sign-on bonus along with your
first vacation. Do you agree to all of our terms?”

Her mind was racing so fast that she could barely think.

“Yes,” was the only thing she could think of. The offer was
amazing. She’d be near Leonardo. She could take Juliet to
Hawaii or the Grand Canyon. They could go anywhere they
wanted to.

“Good. Fill out the packet and I’ll see you Monday

afternoon. The information for your plane tickets will be
emailed to you by tomorrow morning. And Ophelia?”

Her breath caught. “Yes?”
“Welcome to the team.”
She laughed. “Thank you, Miss Plume. Thank you!”

Daphne hung up first and then Ophelia bolted downstairs,
grabbing her keys on the way down. Juliet was painting her
toenails and watching TV in the living room when Ophelia
dropped the keys to her Jeep on her sister’s lap.

“Wha...” Juliet was staring at the shiny metal.
Ophelia could barely get out the words, she was laughing

too much. “It’s yours. Happy birthday. Early. I’m moving to
Anchorage and I fly out to Seattle on Monday!”

Juliet shot to her feet and started jumping up and down as

she laughed too.

She and Juliet were well into a horror movie marathon

that night before she got up the guts to go to Leonardo’s
letter and open it. Her hands were shaking as she slowly
pulled the flap up, not wanting to tear the envelope. Juliet
turned off the TV and knelt next to her on the corner of the
bed. “What’s that?”

Caitlin Ricci

“Letter from Leonardo.” She opened it slowly, carefully

pulling out the folded piece of paper. A photo fell out and
Juliet picked it up before Ophelia could grab it.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, pouting.

“Wow...Seriously?”

Ophelia took the picture from her and smiled as warmth

flooded her belly. She sank onto the bed next to Juliet, lying
down and holding the photo above her. Juliet lay down next
to her, smiling too.

“That’s him?” Juliet asked, pointing.
Ophelia nodded and dragged her finger over the picture

of Leonardo. He was kneeling, crouched down in front of a
log cabin. Lear was in front of him, his bright eyes shining
against the snow falling on his face. Whoever had taken it
had done a great job. Leonardo was smiling, his arms
around the large wolf-dog.

“He’s hot,” her sister said earnestly. “Too bad I’m with

Dean. I’d go for that.”

Ophelia shook her head. “Mine.” Her voice was soft, little

more than a breathy whisper. She hadn’t even meant to say
it. But she knew that she wanted it to be the truth. Maybe
now, with this new job, she could see him. At least she could
invite him down to her apartment. They could hang out,
watch some movies, listen to the music. She touched his
smile. Maybe she could even get up the nerve to kiss him.

“Read the letter,” Juliet demanded. “Before I do.”
Ophelia put the picture aside, laying it gently on her

nightstand. She’d find a small frame for it tomorrow. Maybe
the bookstore would have something that would fit it.
Tanner’s dad sometimes carried little gifts like that.

She took the letter dangling from Juliet’s impatient

fingers. “All right, all right. But no interrupting.” She took a
breath, hoping to calm her nerves. “This is only my second
letter from a guy.”

Sway with Me

Juliet nodded. “And he’s cuter than a puppy and I want

to bring him home a lot more. Now read.”

“All right, all right.” Ophelia grinned and opened the

perfectly folded plain piece of paper.

Ophelia,

Thank you for the book. It is one of my favorites, though I

haven’t read it for at least a few years. I’m glad to own a copy now.

The rig has been working well since you left. Arguments don’t last
long when you’re stuck with other guys for weeks at a time. My
two weeks off are almost over and I’ll be going back. Here’s my

number. Call me.

Leonardo

Juliet sighed and shot Ophelia a grin. “So simple but so

nice. Call me. I love a man that can give orders like that.
Wonder what else he’ll order you to do...”

Ophelia pushed her sister away with a groan. “Gross. Go

back to watching the monsters and screeching when the
ghosts come out.”

She laughed and sat up. “He does sound pretty great. You

should hang out with him again. And you’ve got to call him.
Tonight.”

“Tomorrow,” Ophelia said, shaking her head. It was too

late now. He could be busy. She could be too nervous to hear
his voice. The butterflies in her stomach would calm down
by tomorrow. They’d have to. She wouldn’t make Leonardo
wait.

Caitlin Ricci

Chapter Ten

t was nearly two the next afternoon when Ophelia got up
the guts to call him. Well, she’d started dialing at least.

She was in the backyard, her dog at her feet and the sun
warm on her face as she tapped the phone against her chin.

She had to do it. Just suck it up and call him. She was

twenty-five, for crying out loud. Acting like a nervous
teenager wasn’t okay. And she was stalling. But she’d never
called a guy she liked before.

She held her breath and dialed quickly, slowly relaxing

when his phone kept ringing until she thought she might be
able to get away with just leaving him a message. Her hopes
went out on a breeze though as he picked up.

“Hello?” He sounded sleepy, his voice rough before he

yawned.

“Leonardo? It’s Ophelia. Did I wake you?”
She could hear the smile in his voice. “Hey. No, I’m good.

Lear and I just fell asleep reading Othello in front of the fire.
What are you up to?”

“Nothing much. My dog and I are outside on the back

deck. I got your letter. Thanks.” She reached down to pet
him, stroking through his wiry fur.

“Sounds nice. Lear misses you.”
Ophelia laughed. “No, he doesn’t.”
Leonardo chuckled. “I’m getting a beer and checking the

elk roast. Want to come for dinner?”

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“You know, I’d love to, but I think it’d be cold by the time

I got there.” She was smiling and blushing, amazed at how
easy he was to talk to. The nerves had almost completely left
her.

“Too bad. Richie says hi, by the way. I briefly mentioned

to him that I was going to write to you and he wanted me to
say that.”

“Tell him hi for me too please. I miss him. And you.” It

felt weird telling him that she missed him. But it felt good to
be honest with him about how she felt.

“Miss you too. And someone from your team started

something at the bar last night. Stone shut him down fast
though.”

She laughed. It could have been any of the men that used

to be on her team, but thankfully they weren’t her problem
anymore. “He wasn’t one of mine. I don’t work for the EPA
anymore.”

“Oh?”
“You and I now work for the same company. I have a

meeting on Monday in Seattle, and then my Alaska base will
be in Anchorage when I’m not out at the rigs.” Ophelia
couldn’t wait to go up there again. Starting this new job felt
like a whole new adventure, one she was anxious to get on
with.

There was a long pause and she tightened her fingers in

Iago’s wiry fur, afraid she’d said too much.

“I’d like to come visit you sometime, if you’ll have me.”

His voice was so quiet that she could barely hear him but
she heard the warmth and hope behind his words.

She smiled. “I’d like that. You’d be welcome anytime.”
“Ophelia! Don’t forget that we’re going out tonight!”

Juliet called loudly from the other room.

She groaned. “Sorry, my little sister is letting me know I

have to get ready to go out.”

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100

Leonardo laughed and the sound warmed her to her

bones. “Don’t be sorry. You’re lucky to have her and the rest
of your family.”

“Thank you,” she smiled. “I’ll call you soon.”
“You better.”
She hung up and leaned back, grinning into the bright

sunshine. Her heart was racing and she was excited as she
got up to go meet Juliet. She’d see Leonardo again soon and
he wanted her to call. She couldn’t wait.

“Ophelia, welcome!” A brightly dressed woman met her

at the airport in Seattle a week later.

“Daphne,” Ophelia said, smiling and gripping the

woman’s hand. Her thick accent was instantly recognizable.
“Thanks for meeting me here.”

“Not a problem, darling. How was the flight? My you’re

pretty,” she gushed. She walked quickly, her purple skirt
fluttering around her knees as her high heels clicked loudly
on the linoleum flooring. She reminded Ophelia of a
fluttering petunia.

Ophelia struggled to keep up as she pulled her small

rolling suitcase behind her. “Uh, thanks. The flight was
good. Are we going to the office now?”

Daphne laughed. “So eager to get started?”
A quick blush covered her cheeks. “Yes, ma’am. But if

you’d rather not, that’s fine too. I don’t know how your
schedule is so—”

“All right, have it your way,” she said quickly, waving off

Ophelia’s words.

It was gray and windy as they left the airport, but

surprisingly there was no rain. She’d been expecting a
downpour. Daphne led her to a sleek silver sedan, just
shades lighter than the darkening sky above her. After

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101

loading her bag in the trunk, Daphne was quickly speeding
into what appeared to be downtown Seattle.

“You’ll get to know the city in no time at all,” Daphne

said as she pulled into a parking garage just off a major
intersection. “It took me a few months, but there’s a grocery
store just a block away from our company apartment
building. A lot of our employees work on a shift similar to
yours, so making friends should be easy for you.”

Ophelia followed her to an elevator and then past a

security checkpoint to another elevator.

“Our division is on the eleventh floor. It’s a hell of a climb

in heels but the view is well worth it. Sasha is our
receptionist. When you’re close, give her your drink order
by text or email before you come in and she’ll have it
waiting for you on your desk when you get in. She’s
fantastic like that.”

Though Ophelia wasn’t big on coffee, she had to admit

that did sound great.

“And here’s my office,” Daphne said proudly as she

ushered Ophelia into a large room lined with tall windows
and large bookcases filled with books that instantly called to
her. She moved closer, skimming the titles and smiling when
she saw Daphne’s collection of romances.

“Do you like to read?” Daphne asked, coming up beside

her and looking over her shoulder.

“Love to.”
Daphne smiled and linked her arm through Ophelia’s.

“Good. You and I will get along just fine. People that don’t
like to read, well, I just don’t understand them. How could
they not enjoy getting lost in a whole new universe full of so
much possibility?”

Ophelia shrugged. She didn’t understand it either. “My

dad’s an English professor. I grew up on Othello. I knew that
Romeo and Juliet wasn’t really a love story by the time I was

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102

ten. It’s two teenagers who call a few days together a
relationship that results in the deaths of multiple people. My
middle school English teacher didn’t appreciate that
analysis.”

Daphne snorted. “Too true. You’ll fit in famously here,

Ophelia.”

She was starting to get that impression.

Ophelia was laden with new employee packets, t-shirts,

keychains and other company merchandise when she
arrived back home on Wednesday. The past two days with
Daphne had been a whirlwind of activity between sitting in
on meetings, watching training videos and talking to
company representatives from every angle of the business.

Ophelia had the impression that such thorough attention

wasn’t normal for new employees, but Daphne had taken
her in and hadn’t let her out of her sight for very long. The
woman read even more than Ophelia did, which was saying
quite a lot, and her favorites were the classics though she
had a soft spot for romances and mysteries. She’d confessed
a love for Jane Eyre like it was a secret desire.

Monday night she’d invited Ophelia over for Thai takeout

and they’d watched two movie adaptations of the novel.
Then they’d compared in true debate style which was closer
to the true vision of the author. Since she’d died many, many
years before it was a lost cause, but it sure was fun, and
Ophelia had gone back to her hotel late that night still
grinning and smelling like spicy coconut soup.

Though she was tired, she happily went along with Juliet

and their parents to their neighborhood bar. She’d never
have expected the surprise party Juliet had waiting for her
there though.

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103

“Surprise!” Juliet cheered as she slipped a plastic crown

over Ophelia’s head and snapped the elastic string under her
chin.

“You’re crazy!” she yelled back over the loud noise of the

bar. She picked up one of the beers that waitresses were
bringing around and took a long drink. “You bought out the
whole bar didn’t you?”

Juliet laughed and danced away from her, her pink silk

dress swaying with the motion of her hips. “Nothing’s too
good for my big sister.”

Ophelia grinned after her sister and found her way to a

table nearby. Country music played loudly from speakers in
the walls and in no time at all she found herself swaying in
her seat as she looked out at the gathering mass. Her friends
were there, along with her parents and their friends. There
were teachers from her past and people she’d only known in
passing. It appeared that Juliet’s idea for the guest list, if
there had even been one, was to get as many people in the
bar as possible. Though she wasn’t close to most of the
people gathered in the small bar, she was glad to see them
all having fun. And Juliet looked like she was the happiest of
all when Ophelia caught sight of her and Dean in the corner,
laughing in between the kisses they shared.

“Want to dance?”
She turned in her seat to see Jack standing just behind her.

She hadn’t spoken to him since their date and had known
there wasn’t any hope for a relationship between them even
before going to Seattle. But one dance would be fun.

“Sure,” she said, smiling. He took her hand and led her to

the mass of people dancing in the middle of the bar, right
next to the bucking bull. She caught sight of her mom and
dad waltzing to a classic country song over Jack’s shoulder
and giggled.

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104

He held her loosely, gently guiding her through first one

song and then the next. He twirled her, smiling as she
laughed and nearly tripped over her sneakers. She was the
most underdressed person in the bar, but with Jack it didn’t
seem to matter. He made her smile, but he didn’t make her
heart race like Leonardo did. She didn’t go to sleep thinking
about him and she didn’t kiss his photo goodnight. Not that
she had one of Jack, but the idea was the same. And the
feelings just weren’t there.

After three dances she stepped away. “Thanks,” she said

quickly. “I’m stepping outside for some air. Want to come
with?”

“Sure.”
She took his hand and led him through the throng of

dancing people, some couples and others groups of friends,
until they were outside in the warm night air.

“It’s kind of crowded in there,” he said, leaning against

the brick building with her.

Ophelia nodded and pulled her long hair back in a loose

ponytail. “It is. And I’ve spent maybe thirty minutes with
most of those people over the years. Juliet did a great job,
though, organizing all of this.”

“She and Dean seem to be getting pretty close.”
She smiled. “I didn’t realize that. Are they good

together?”

He looked surprised. “You didn’t know?”
“I think I’ve been a bit too wrapped up in my own stuff to

really check in with her like I should be doing. Growing up
we were incredibly close. Now, though, life’s getting in the
way,” Ophelia quietly admitted. In a way, she felt like she
might be letting Juliet down. But her sister knew that she
could come to her for anything at all. At least she hoped that
Juliet knew that.

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105

While she was silently musing, she didn’t realize that Jack

had started leaning toward her. She backed up quickly,
placing both hands on his chest to move him away. “Uh,
Jack?”

“Yeah?”
She shifted away. “Whatcha doin’?”
He chuckled and then shook his head, stepping away.

“Yeah, that felt kind of wrong too. Sorry.” He stuffed his
hands in his jeans pockets.

Ophelia blushed. “A bit awkward. Sorry.”
He caught her gaze and smiled. “Don’t be. It’s cool.”
“I just don’t really feel any kind of spark,” Ophelia

admitted. “I know that sounds generic and stupid, but—”

He cut her off. “No, it doesn’t. I wasn’t really feeling one

either. I had a nice time, though.”

“I did too, Jack.”
“Friends?” Jack stuck out his hand and she shook it

quickly.

She laughed. “Yeah. Friends sounds good. Want to head

back in?”

“Sure.” He slung an arm over her shoulders and led her

back in.

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106

Chapter Eleven

hree days later found Ophelia trying to stuff as many of
her things as possible into two oversized suitcases. They

would be expensive to get on her plane to Anchorage, but
Daphne had told her to take everything she wanted and not
worry about the financial stuff. That woman continued to
surprise her.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” Juliet said with a sigh

as she carefully wrapped the latest plate of Doubles for her.
“You’ll have so much fun, and you’ve got to take lots of
pictures for me.”

“I promise I will,” she said quickly, trying not to think

about how hard it would be to be away from her family for
four whole months. “I’ll miss you so much. You’ve got my
new address. I expect pictures and letters. And be ready to
take a trip in four months. Just the two of us. Wherever you
want to go in the US. It’s a company perk that I fully intend
to take advantage of.”

Juliet giggled through her sniffles and Ophelia quickly

hugged her. “Will you be seeing Leonardo soon?”

She shrugged. “Sometime, maybe. We haven’t pinned

down much of anything. He’s back on the rig.”

“Maybe soon,” Juliet said wistfully. “I’d love to have a

picture of you two up there.”

Ophelia nodded. “I’d like to send you one. Hopefully

soon.” She sighed. “Take care of the Jeep okay? It’s new. I
know you’re good with cars. But just—” She wiped a few

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107

tears off her cheeks. “I’m gonna miss you so much, baby
girl.”

Juliet whimpered and hugged her again. “Me too.”
“What’s this? Why’re my girls crying?” their dad called,

entering Ophelia’s bedroom. His arms were laden with
heavy piles of books.

“She’s leaving,” Juliet muttered.
“And it’s a wonderful experience,” he reminded them

both. “Come now, no crying. Ophelia, help me pack these.”

“They won’t all fit, Dad,” she told him even as he began

gently placing them into the pockets of her suitcase. He
managed to get half in before he ran out of room.

“Where’s your backpack? You need to take the rest of

these.” He looked around, frowning when she pulled it out
of his reach.

“Dad, really, I’ll be okay with just my favorites for now. I

still need to pack more clothes. Do you want me to freeze up
there just because you had to pack your favorite Tolstoy
novels?”

Juliet laughed and helped her pack some more. “You

need one of those readers. The electronic ones. Then you
could have thousands of books with you all the time. Bet
you’d even have room to buy lots of new books too.”

Their dad gasped and they both looked up into his

shocked face. “You won’t feel the book, the weight of it in
your hands. There will be no smell of the old, well-read
pages. I won’t have it.”

Ophelia shook her head, thankful that their mom called

them down for dinner before Juliet and their dad started
debating the importance of physical versus digital libraries.

Ophelia breathed in the crisp fall air in front of her

apartment building in Anchorage. Though much of the
Alaska that she’d seen was a beautiful, desolate territory,

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Anchorage reminded her very much of Denver with its tall
buildings and business district. Daphne had been right, there
was a grocery store well within walking distance of her
apartment, and next to it, a small coffee shop that served
delicious cupcakes with hot chai tea. She’d be taking Juliet
there the first chance her sister got to visit this far north. And
she’d be showing her the beautiful totems on nearly every
corner.

She’d found her apartment easily enough and was

surprised at how quiet the building was. There were no
noisy neighbors or screaming children. She heard faint rock
music coming from an apartment on the first floor but there
was no other noise, so she assumed most of the small
building’s tenants were at work somewhere in the company.

She went into her small studio apartment, pulled back the

curtains, and looked out over the water. It was midday and
the sun shone over the water, making it sparkle like glass
from the view in her third floor apartment. The scene was so
perfect, the water so beautiful, that she almost expected to
see a whale breaching out of the water just off the coast.

Her phone started ringing and she answered it

automatically, assuming it was Juliet. “Hey.”

“Hey, you,” Leonardo said warmly.
She sank onto the narrow bed, the springs creaking under

her. “Hey.”

“How do you like Anchorage?”
Ophelia smiled and looked back out the window. “It’s

beautiful. The water looks amazing, though I’m sure it’s
freezing right about now.”

He laughed. “Probably.”
“There’s a coffee shop nearby that I’d like to take you to,”

she ventured nervously.

“And there’s a movie theater on the outskirts of town. It’s

small, but they play old movies on Thursday nights. I try to

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make time to see a movie there whenever I’m in town. And
they carry Italian sodas and giant chocolate chip cookies,”
Leonardo quickly replied.

“I’d like to go with you,” she whispered.
“A date with the prettiest girl I know? Sure.”
She giggled. A date. She had a date with Leonardo. She

wanted to jump around and cry out, she was so happy.

The little plane landed with a shake and shudder as

Ophelia clenched her teeth together to keep from crying out.
She was trying to be professional and unafraid of the bumpy
little plane. She only wished she could say the same for the
pilot, who had joked with her much of the hour-long flight
up to the rig. As it was her first assignment for the company,
she was excited and nervous, neither of which did
particularly good things to her stomach. At least she’d
skipped breakfast. Actually, she’d overslept, since she’d
spent much of the night talking with Juliet. But now, with
her stomach upset as she carefully climbed out of the small
plane with the assistance of the pilot, she was glad for her
mistake.

There was a small vehicle waiting for her, and a guy

probably closer to Juliet’s age opened the passenger door for
her. She hopped in, thankful to be away from the cold, and
sank into the well-worn seats.

“I’m Cody, I’ll be taking you to the rig.”
“Ophelia.”
He nodded and carefully started driving on the icy

terrain. She was much further north than she had been in
Anchorage, and the difference in landscape really amazed
her. This place looked almost the same as the harsh
whiteness of Absolute, and thinking of that little town
always made her think of Leonardo. She wasn’t so bothered
about where her mind had decided to go this time and she

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spent a few minutes wondering about him and what he was
doing right then. He’d be at work. It was early, so maybe he
was eating some pancakes. Or maybe he preferred waffles.
They hadn’t moved into breakfast food choices, though she
planned to ask him about his preference soon. It was just one
of a million little things she wanted to know about him.

“We’re here,” Cody said about twenty minutes later as he

turned on the makeshift road and slowly pulled up to the
tall steel rig. She still thought they looked ugly against the
brilliant white beauty of the land around them, but she
doubted that her aesthetic opinion really mattered to
Daphne as long as she did a good job. And she planned to
do just that.

Unexpectedly Cody came around to her side of the

vehicle before she’d even gotten her bag together and
reached for the door. He was young, but the heavy
protective clothing he wore should have hindered his
movements somewhat.

“You’re fast,” she said as he opened her door.
Beneath the thick material of the mask he wore to protect

his face, she saw him blush. “I played football in high school
in Oregon. Welcome to the rig.”

“Thank you.” He helped her down, offering her his arm

as she stepped down onto the icy terrain. She slipped, just
for an instant, and he stood there to right her, helping her
balance. He stayed right next to her as she made her way
across the sleek terrain toward the rig.

The face that popped out of the front door had her

gasping and nearly stumbling to reach him. Richie grabbed
her in a tight hug that nearly lifted her off her feet. Once the
three of them were inside she took off her scarf and gloves,
tossing them aside as she hugged him again.

“I’d think you were missed, Richie.”

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Ophelia turned, the grin never leaving her face as she

caught sight of Leonardo. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He smiled too.
She wanted to hug him, didn’t know if he’d like that, but

still really wanted to run into his arms. A second and two
strides later he made the choice for her, sweeping her into a
hug and holding her close against his chest. She wrapped
her arms around his waist, holding him tightly.

“Looks like I’m the odd one out,” Cody said from the

entrance behind them. “I take it you’ve all met?”

“Sure thing. Ophelia here’s cool,” Richie said, patting her

on the shoulder.

A minute later, and far too soon for Ophelia, Leonardo

stepped back, letting her go. The loss of contact left her
instantly wanting more and, although she felt like a needy
child, she latched onto his hand anyway, slipping her cold
fingers into his much warmer ones. He squeezed back and
tugged her closer.

That evening, full from pot roast and apple pie, Ophelia

and Leonardo were hanging out in the rig’s large lounge.
Behind her, men played pool, and others read quietly in
oversized chairs. She wasn’t sure what time it had gotten to
be, but it had to be after eight. She’d had a full day of
checking out the rig, making sure all of the paperwork was
in order and talking to some of the guys about concerns
they’d brought up. There hadn’t been anything that she’d
had to escalate up to Daphne, though she had sent her
memos throughout the day to keep her up-to-date. And
she’d said that she appreciated it so that made Ophelia
pretty happy as well.

This rig was different than the first one she’d found

Leonardo on, and he explained that sometimes they got
bounced around, but they were all a team, so when they

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moved the entire team did. It kept the family aspect intact to
have the same group of guys working together all the time.
Cody was the only new guy, and he was replacing someone
who had quit to finish college. It was pure luck and chance
that she found him again so soon. And she was grateful for
both.

Leonardo wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she

moved closer to him, relaxing against him as she tried to
focus on the movie in front of them. It was classic horror and
one that she hadn’t seen in years and though she tried to get
into it, Leonardo was just far too distracting as his heart beat
quietly against her cheek.

Two hours later, well into their second movie and after

most of the room had cleared out as the guys got ready for
bed in order to get up early the next day, she fell asleep
against him with his arm still holding her close.

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Chapter Twelve

t was hard to leave the next evening but she knew that
she had to get back to work. And so did they. Leonardo

and Richie had become her guys, both for very different
reasons. She hugged them both and waved to them for as
long as she could as Cody drove her back to the where the
plane waited for her.

That night while she waited for her laundry to get done in

her building’s small laundry room, her phone started
ringing. Seeing Leonardo’s name on her caller ID had her
grinning madly.

“Hey,” she breathed warmly.
“Hey. Flight back okay?”
She hopped up onto the table usually reserved for folding

clothes and started kicking her legs back and forth. “Yes.
Thanks for asking. Rig okay?”

He chuckled. “Always. We’re having pot pies tonight.

What’s on your menu?”

“My menu? We don’t all have chefs to cater to us,

Leonardo,” she giggled.

“So tell me what you ate anyway.”
Ophelia shrugged. “I made some pasta and put some

butter and garlic on it. Nothing too fancy. But it was warm at
least.” She took a breath. “Tell me about yourself, please.”

His voice dropped a little and she frowned, wondering if

she’d said the wrong thing. “What would you like to
know?”

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She bit her lip. “Anything really. Whatever you want to

tell me.”

Leonardo’s answer took a long time coming but when it

did, he surprised her. “I’ve got one tattoo and won’t be
getting any more.”

“Really? Of what?”
“It sounds creepy but it’s a raven with a decaying face

that shows his skull underneath. My mom loved Hamlet and
my dad’s favorite story was Poe’s The Raven. He was reading
it to me before I could even read myself. It wasn’t the
greatest bedtime story and my mom gave him hell over it a
few times until he called her out on the darker elements in
Hamlet. Then they agreed that I was too young to
understand what either story was really about and left it at
that.”

He chuckled. “I can still remember their voices as they

read to me—it’s the reason both stories go with me to every
rig, so that I can hear them talking to me again. They were
good people. They were both actors in the local theater.
Whenever I could, I’d be up on that stage with them, helping
them rehearse their lines or playing the part of some bush or
unspoken child in the background. It was fun to play
pretend.”

Ophelia batted away the tears that threatened to fall

down her cheeks. She didn’t want to know, not really, but
she had to ask. “What happened to them, Leonardo?”

She could hear the sadness clearly in his voice and she

wished that she could reach through the phone and hug
him. “Our carbon monoxide monitor broke. They died
peacefully, in their sleep. I was spending the night at a
friend’s house.”

“I’m so sorry. So very, very sorry,” Ophelia whispered.

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“It was years ago. I miss them, but they went together and

their passing was gentle. I guess that’s the most any of us
can hope for.”

She nodded. He was right, but it still sucked. “How old

were you?”

“Two months over eighteen. I moved in with a friend

while I got everything in order. I sold the house. I couldn’t
live there, knowing what happened to them in the bedroom
just across from mine.”

“I couldn’t have, either.” She shuddered.
“Then one day I sat looking through the paper and came

across an ad advertising a job on an oil rig in Alaska. I joined
up with the company as a roustabout a few days later and
haven’t looked back since.”

She shook her head. “At all?”
He chuckled and the sound helped relax her some. “Not

really. I like this life. A lot of people probably can’t
understand it. But, while I work hard for two weeks, I get
the next two off. There aren’t too many other people that can
say that. And the pay is a lot better than someone without
any college education to speak of can get. Now it’s your
turn.”

“My turn?”
“Yes, why did you join the EPA?”
Ophelia laughed. “It’s a boring answer.”
“Tell me anyway.”
She shrugged. “I wanted to help. I saw an oil spill on TV

as a child and there were all these birds and other animals
that were affected by it. After that I decided that I wanted to
be one of those people that went out and helped the animals.
I guess I was pretty naive.”

“No, you weren’t. Wanting to help is noble. You were just

on the wrong side of it. Private is so much nicer.”

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Ophelia laughed. “Yeah. I’m starting to understand that.

They gave me a little apartment in Anchorage and I’ve got
this great view. I want to show it to you.”

“And I want to see it.”
She gulped at the warmth in those words. “Pancakes or

waffles?”

“What?”
“I uh...I want to know what you like for breakfast...”

Ophelia froze as the implication in her words fully sank in.
What had she just said?

Leonardo laughed softly. “Waffles. You?”
She grinned. “Either. As long as there’s maple syrup.”
“I think I can arrange to pick some up on my way there.”
Ophelia blushed deeply. “Good. You do that.”

A few days later Ophelia was surprised to see a package

from Leonardo waiting for her in front of her apartment. She
opened it as soon as she was inside, eager to see what he’d
sent her and smiled as she sank down on the couch with a
small, delicately carved whale made out of some kind of
dark stone. It was barely a few inches long and she held it
tightly in her palm as she opened the neatly scrawled letter
that had come with the tightly wrapped whale.

“Ophelia,” she read aloud. “This is a carving of an Orca

that Stone found and wanted me to give to you. I ordered
one from the shop he found them at, so now I have one as
well. Mine is sitting on my mantle and I like that its small
enough to fit in my bag when I go on the rig. I hope you like
it. I think of you when I look at mine. Leonardo.”

With a soft sigh she put the letter down and got up from

the couch. There was plenty of space on her mantle and she
put the whale in the middle. It looked good there and she
was still delicately stroking its tail when she pulled out her
phone and called Leonardo.

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“Hey,” he said at the second ring.
She smiled. “Hey. I got your package.”
“Good. I was hoping you would soon. The postal service

here is really slow sometimes. I sent that a bit ago.”

Ophelia moved away from the mantle and went into the

kitchen. Work had been busy and she’d barely eaten. Now it
was time for a quick dinner. But first she kicked off the low
heels she’d been wearing. “Yeah. I’ve seen that a bit. I like
the whale a lot. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m sure there’s some great story about

the whales around here, but I don’t know all the legends. I
wish I did. Maybe I’ll try to learn them.”

She opened the fridge and pulled out some potato salad

that still looked fresh. “When you do, tell them to me please.
I’d love to know them too. I bet they’re really interesting.”

“I think they will be. What are your plans for tonight?”
Ophelia shrugged, then remembered that he couldn’t

exactly see her doing it. “Hang out, probably. Eat some
dinner and then maybe watch a movie, but I’ll probably read
instead. My boss lent me a few dozen romances. They’re
from the eighties and some of the descriptions make me
laugh pretty hard. But she likes them and I’m just happy to
have an intelligent boss this time around. The one I had at
the EPA was pretty lacking in that department.”

Leonardo chuckled and she found herself blushing at the

sound. “Yeah. I’m sure he was.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Ophelia asked him. She expected him

to say something about just that he was in the EPA or maybe
why he’d fired her. But his next words stole her breath.

“Because he couldn’t see how wonderful you are, and he

was stupid enough to let you go.”

Ophelia couldn’t speak. “Thank you,” she whispered after

a long moment of silence in which nothing intelligent came
to mind.

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“It’s the truth. I need to go take care of something here.

Talk to you later?”

She didn’t want to let him go. Not at all. But she knew

that she had to. “Sure. Call me soon.”

“I promise.”

A few weeks later and out with her sister, Ophelia pulled

the short tank top down in a vain attempt to cover the wide
expanse of her stomach that was left visible by the skimpy
outfit Juliet had begged her to wear. At least her sister had
been kind and picked out a pair of jeans to go with the
sparkly black material she’d tried to convince Ophelia was
actually a shirt. It would have looked much better on her
sister, but most clothing did. That was Ophelia’s opinion, at
least. She was short and curvy and Juliet, while still petite
and having some curves, seemed to look good in everything
that she tried on. The club Juliet had decided to go to for her
twenty-first birthday was a dark swarm of activity as Juliet
led her inside. Though her sister had never been to Seattle
and so knew nothing about this club other than what she’d
read in online reviews, Juliet walked around like she knew
everyone. She waved to girls she couldn’t possibly know
and danced against men who knew nothing more about her
other than that she wore a tight dress and seemed interested
in them, if only for a moment.

They found a spot on the dance floor, little more than a

slight opening, and Ophelia closed her eyes, letting the
music move into her. She wasn’t interested in grinding or
showing off for the guys, though she knew plenty were
looking. For once though, as the heavy rock music blasted
through her bones, the attention didn’t bother her. She
opened her eyes to see Juliet twirling in front of her,
laughing loudly. They swayed with the music, dancing with
each other and not having a care for those around them

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except to try not to step on anyone’s feet. A few guys tried
dancing with Juliet, but she shut them down quickly. They
were there together to celebrate her birthday, and though
Ophelia knew Juliet and Dean were still fairly casual Juliet
wouldn’t be hooking up with another guy while they were
on vacation.

The four months since she’d left home and gone to work

in Alaska had gone by in a flurry of activity. She’d spoken to
Leonardo often and even Richie had been calling at least
twice a week. She enjoyed being able to keep in touch with
them, even if it never felt like nearly enough.

A pair of strong hands on her hips stopped her instantly.

She froze, not knowing quite what to do. Juliet swayed to
the music, her eyes closed and her hands twisting far above
her head. When the fingers tightened, squeezing a little, she
snapped into action as if a switch had been thrown. She
spun quickly, her hand already curled as she prepared to
strike the guy that had dared to touch her.

But Leonardo’s wide grin stopped her and her arms

dropped limply to her sides as he pulled her into a tight hug.

“Leonardo!” she gasped, finally hugging him back. She

stood up on her tiptoes to reach her arms around his neck.
He lifted her up, letting her feet dangle as he spun her in a
tight circle.

He set her down and she stepped back, grinning and

laughing. No one had ever spun her in a hug before. She
grinned wildly as she turned back to Juliet. It was far too
loud in the club, she couldn’t introduce them properly but
Juliet gave her a wink and stepped up to Leonardo, offering
him her hand. They shook quickly and Juliet blew her sister
a kiss before she moved back and kept dancing. Still
laughing and wanting to ask him what he was doing there
and how he found them and all sorts of other questions, she

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moved against him. His hand found hers and he spun her
quickly, twirling her.

They moved slowly at first, well out of time with the

music, and honestly Ophelia couldn’t have cared less. All
she knew was that she and Leonardo were swaying together,
his hands around her and his breath warm against her
forehead in the crowded club. They sped up for the next
song and though Ophelia had no idea how to dance, letting
him lead seemed like the easiest thing in the world. She was
just glad she’d chosen to wear sandals instead of the high
heels Juliet seemed so fond of. She moved with him, letting
the music and some latent sense of rhythm guide her hips.
And the bright smile never left her lips.

Two songs later Juliet tapped her on the shoulder.

Ophelia nodded, took Leonardo’s hand and tugged him
along as Juliet led them to a free table. The music seemed a
lot quieter here and Ophelia leaned forward across the table
to get Juliet’s attention. “Juliet, this is Leonardo.” She
bumped her shoulder against his. “This is my little sister,
Juliet. It’s her birthday today.”

He smiled. “Really? Happy birthday.”
“Thanks. I’m twenty-one now. And I think I’ll try my first

drink.”

Ophelia giggled when she caught sight of Leonardo’s

startled look. “Your first? Really? You didn’t experiment
with alcohol at all?”

Juliet shook her head. “You’ll understand when you meet

our dad.”

Ophelia blushed. Leonardo meeting her dad? That would

be really crazy. But...

Leonardo nodded. “All right. In four months when

Ophelia gets some time off again, I’ll come for a visit.”

Her breath caught and she turned to him. “Really?”

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Juliet pursed her lips. “Yeah, really? Invite yourself over

much, why don’t you?”

She shot Juliet a glare. “You really want to come over? To

meet my dad? My mom?”

Leonardo’s smile was slow in coming, but once it arrived

it warmed her to the very core. “Yes, I honestly want to meet
your parents. And I apologize for being so forward. Wasn’t
my intent.”

Juliet shrugged. “You’re fine. Just be prepared. First guy

Ophelia has brought home in...ever.”

“Oh?” he asked her.
She was going to kill her sister. She really was. She tried

kicking her under the table, but she sat too far away.

“I promise to be nice,” Leonardo continued, looking

between them both.

Ophelia patted his shoulder. “You’ll be fine. You read

Shakespeare. There isn’t too much more that you can do get
in his good graces. You’re set for life with just that much.”

He tangled his fingers with her above the table. Juliet

smiled at the sight and winked at Ophelia, who quickly
blushed. Leonardo, appearing oblivious to their exchange,
squeezed her hand gently in his. “I do want to meet them
both. It’s important to me.”

Ophelia looked up quickly, catching Juliet’s gaze. She

looked just as alarmed. And then Juliet’s gaze softened as
she relaxed and smiled at Leonardo. Ophelia smiled as well.
He wanted to meet her parents. She tried not to think about
it more than that. Her parents were great. She loved them.
And they would like Leonardo instantly. How could they
not?

Ophelia tossed her third sweater of the morning aside

with an irritated huff. She and Juliet were meeting Leonardo
in an hour for breakfast and she couldn’t find anything to

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wear. She had plenty of clothes. But nothing seemed to fit
right or even look halfway decent.

“I should just cancel on him,” she grumbled to her

reflection in the hotel’s large mirror.

“No, you won’t.” Juliet snapped from the doorway. She

threw a cream-colored shirt at her sister and walked into the
bathroom.

Ophelia shook her head and unfurled the shirt. She hadn’t

seen it before and usually didn’t like crocheted tops, since
they were a bit revealing. At least the ones Juliet usually
wore tended to be. This one though—this shirt was simple
and elegant with the crochet pattern making small intricate
designs all over the shirt’s soft fabric. She grabbed a tank top
out of her suitcase and put both on. By the time Juliet
emerged from the bathroom, Ophelia was stepping into her
best pair of jeans.

“A skirt would be better,” Juliet chided, brushing her hair

as she walked.

She shook her head. “Jeans are fine.”
“Uh huh.”
With a laugh, Ophelia finished getting ready. Juliet put on

a pair of sparkly stud earrings when she met her by the front
door. Her sister looked beautiful, as always. Even just going
to breakfast, she had on a lavender dress that hugged and
flared everywhere that it was supposed to, perfectly
accenting her lithe body and making her seem even more
beautiful, as if that were even possible. She even wore
delicate high heels.

“Nice earrings,” Ophelia said, looking in the mirror to put

on some lip balm.

Juliet grinned at her reflection. “Thanks. They’re from

Dean.”

She smiled. That was nice of him.
“He said every girl needs a pair of diamond earrings.”

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Ophelia nearly choked. “They’re real?”
Juliet frowned. “Well...yeah. What did you think they

were?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know jewelry at all. I just thought

they were pretty and sparkly.”

Her sister’s bright laughter was contagious. “Well, at least

you thought they were pretty.”

Ophelia blushed and opened the door, stepping out into

the hotel’s carpeted hallway. They walked quickly, Juliet
surprisingly agile in her heels as they left the hotel and went
the few short blocks to the diner where they’d promised to
meet Leonardo for breakfast.

He stood waiting for them outside the diner when they

arrived. Though they were both exhausted, he looked well
rested and good in a pair of dark jeans and a black long
sleeved shirt. He pulled her into a hug instantly, smiling
down at her before looking over her head to where Juliet
stood just behind her. “Hey,” he said, getting the door for
them both.

“Been waiting long?” Juliet asked as she led the way.
“No, just got here actually.”
Ophelia took his hand and leaned against him as the

hostess took them to a booth. “You look very awake. I’m
jealous.”

He sat down after them, sitting across the booth. “It’s all

those early mornings on the rig. I can stay up as late as I
want, but my body instantly gets up at four regardless.” He
shrugged.

Both she and Juliet stared at him. “We didn’t stumble into

the hotel until close to two. This is you after two hours of
sleep?” Juliet asked him.

Leonardo nodded slowly.

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“Wow.” Ophelia said softly, looking him over. He

brushed his fingers across the back of her hand and she
blushed, quickly looking away.

Juliet grinned at her and opened up her menu. “So,

what’re we all eating?”

“Bacon,” Leonardo started off instantly. “Beyond that I

haven’t decided. I’ll need coffee, though, if you two are
going to run me around at all today.”

Ophelia laughed. “Well, it is Juliet’s birthday weekend so

that’s really up to—”

“Yes, you’re coming with us.” Juliet quickly chimed in,

surprising her. When Ophelia stared at her she gave her
sister a shrug and flipped her short hair back. “What? You
think I’m passing up the chance to walk around with a hot
guy?”

She pursed her lips. “My hot guy, thank you very much.”
Juliet laughed. “That part doesn’t matter so much to me.

You won’t punch me for looking, will you?” She batted her
lashes and stuck her tongue out.

Leonardo’s deep laugh drew their attention. “All right,

girls. I’m yours for the day. I’m in town for a meeting at the
head office, but that happened yesterday and I go back
tomorrow. So make the time count.”

Ophelia smile. Oh, she’d make it count, all right. She’d get

to spend the day with the man that she cared about and her
little sister, her two favorite people in the world aside from
her parents. It would be pretty perfect.

That night well after Juliet was asleep, Ophelia walked to

Leonardo’s room in the hotel, a six pack of beer in her hand
and a bundle of nerves currently refusing to settle in her gut.
She lifted her hand to knock on his door, then thought better
of it but quickly changed her mind back and rapped her
knuckles on his door. When he didn’t answer at first she

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125

nearly counted herself lucky and was ready to turn back
around but then a sleepy-eyed Leonardo opened the door
and gave her a soft smile.

“Ophelia?”
She bounced on the balls of her bare feet. “Hey. So I know

it’s a little late but I was wondering if I could
maybe...um...could I come in?” Her cheeks were bright red
and she knew a lesser man would likely laugh at her
fumblings. But Leonardo wasn’t like that. He simply let his
smile grow and stepped aside, silently inviting her in. She
put the beer down on the counter and played with the hem
of the sweater she wore over a pair of baggy lounge pants
she’d already had on before she’d walked down the block to
get the beer she was sure she’d need.

He shut and locked the door behind her and she stepped

cautiously into his arms, completely unsure of herself here.
“Hey,” she said again, her voice a breathy whisper.

Leonardo hugged her tightly and she leaned into his

chest. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Ophelia nodded. “Me too. I adore my sister, but I wanted

some time with just you for a bit too.”

He kissed her cheek and she lifted her mouth to his,

tasting him as well. Leonardo pulled away first and opened
one of the beers and handed it to her before taking his own.
“Want to watch some TV or something?” he asked her
before taking a sip of his drink.

Ophelia rolled the bottle between her hands and bit her

bottom lip. “I was kinda hoping maybe something a little
different. Something like...”

Leonardo lifted his brows. “Like?”
She gave him a little shrug and nodded toward the bed.

“Want to?”

He put the beer down on the counter and her cheeks

flamed. He was probably going to kick her out now that he

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126

realized just how new this all was for her. Her gut twisted in
on itself and she shook as he came toward her. She was
ready for him to toss her out, to maybe even laugh at her, for
him to—

Leonardo cupped her face and gave her a gentle kiss. He

took the beer out of her hand—she easily let him—and then
he walked her to the bed. They didn’t speak, only kissed as
they lay down together and Ophelia ran her hands over his
chest and stomach feeling those hard muscles, grown from
years of working on the rig, under the thin t-shirt he wore.
His hips dipped against hers and she froze underneath him
as she felt his length pressing against her core through the
lounge pants.

“You okay?” he asked, lifting himself from her.
She slowly nodded. “Yes. I’m just...” She bit her lip again,

wondering how to put her condition delicately. “Really new
at all of this.”

Leonardo frowned. “Which part of this is new for you?”
“That’s the thing,” she slowly said, her voice filled with

her hesitation. “All of it is.”

He looked surprised and started to get off the bed but she

grabbed his arm, stopping him from getting too far away.

“Please don’t go,” she said as she looked up at him.
“You really want me to be your first?”
Ophelia nodded, more sure of that than anything else.

“Yes.”

He still didn’t look convinced. “In a hotel room? I can

think of a hundred places more romantic than here.”

She laughed and the action felt good as it loosened

something inside of her. “Me too. But yes, here. And now.
Please?”

Leonardo came back to her and stripped off his shirt,

letting her see him and the tattoo that added a bit of art to
his skin. It was beautifully done and she traced it gently as

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127

he brought his mouth back to hers. When he lowered
himself against her this time, she was ready and enjoyed the
feeling of having him pressed so intimately to her body
through her clothing. It was a good start, but soon the gentle
rubbing became more frustrating than pleasurable. He
pulled up her shirt, baring her stomach, then her ribs, and
finally her bra. She’d thought he’d likely want to get it off as
soon as possible—that’s what they did in the movies
anyway—but he dipped his head and sucked on her aching
peak through the plain cotton cup until she was shivering
under him and curling her fingers over his shoulders.

When he finally did remove her bra, her nipples were

tight and the cold rush of air made her gasp. His warm
mouth quickly fixed that for her, though, and she leaned
back and enjoyed having him moving his tongue over her,
filling her with sensations she’d never believed could be
possible.

He kept his mouth on her as he moved his hands to the

waist of her pants. She didn’t stop him when she put her
hands over his, instead helping to pull her lounge pants and
underwear down until she was bared beneath him and
feeling more self-conscious than she ever had before. He
didn’t give her long to fuss though, instead kissing her again
and taking her mind off being naked as his tongue darted
between her lips and made her sigh. He settled between her
legs and rubbed against her again, just adding to her
frustration as he made the motions of what she wanted but
didn’t give her everything. He slipped his hand between
them, making her freeze up again, but a few whispered
reassurances from him had her easily settling back down as
he cupped his hand against her body, gently rubbing her
and playing with her slick folds.

Ophelia brought her hips up to meet his hand, seeking

more from him but unsure how to go about getting it, until

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128

he pushed a finger inside of her tunnel. She smiled against
his mouth and rocked against his finger as he added a
second one.

“Please,” she whispered against his lips, asking for more

when even two of his fingers weren’t enough to satisfy her.

“You sure?”
She nodded, very sure of what she wanted right then.
“I don’t have any condoms,” Leonardo told her, sounding

reluctant and as if he’d just remembered that.

Ophelia smiled up at him and rubbed her fingertips over

his chest, making sure to touch his nipples as he hissed in a
breath. “I had one in the pocket of my pants. I took it from
Juliet’s purse while she was asleep.”

He turned his mouth up into a grin and leaned over the

bed to dig it out. Once he had it he slipped off his shorts and
she got up on her elbows to watch him. He was beautiful all
the way around, from every angle and every inch. He was
lightly covered in hair, well-muscled without being bulky or
unnatural and when he looked back up at her he was still
smiling. She liked his smile most.

They were kissing again and then she felt pressure and a

spark of pain before he chased that away with the gentle
rhythm of their bodies meeting as he rocked over her well
into the night.

Sated, happy, and unable to stop smiling, she stood in his

doorway hours later and kissed him goodnight before going
back to the room she shared with her still sleeping sister.

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129

Chapter Thirteen

eonardo stayed true to his word and arrived on her
parents’ doorstep right when he said he would. “I would

have picked you up from the airport,” Ophelia said quickly,
pulling him inside.

“Yeah, but if you had I wouldn’t have had a chance to get

these.” Grinning, he pulled three bouquets from behind his
back. “I wasn’t sure what the best ones to get would be. So I
went with the classic.”

Ophelia smiled up at him. “You got roses.”
“One for each of you ladies,” he said.
Her mom came downstairs, a book in one hand and a cup

of tea in the other. “Leonardo, I presume?”

Leonardo nodded and, though he stayed right beside

Ophelia, separated one of the bouquets out for her mother.
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for having me. These are for you.”
They were yellow, and her mother quickly brought them up
to her nose, breathing in their sweet fragrance.

“Thank you, Leonardo. Come in, please. Their dad is on

campus right now, but you can meet him tonight when he
gets home from teaching. Unless...” She looked between
them both. “Ophelia said how much you liked to read.
Would you like to sit in on one of his lectures?”

Ophelia frowned. Sitting in one of her dad’s classes? Not

that she didn’t love to. But who would willingly sit through
a college class that they weren’t getting any credit for?

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130

“I’d love to, actually. Do you think it would be all right

with him?” Leonardo said, cutting into her thoughts.

She turned to stare at him. “Seriously?”
He shrugged. “I never went to college. You’ve been

telling me about how great a teacher your dad is since the
first day we met. Unless you don’t want to? If you had
something planned for today already, I won’t go around
that. And here, this is your bouquet.” He handed her a
dozen bright orange roses and she grinned into them as she
sniffed the flowers.

“Orange?” she teased him. “Not red?”
He grinned back at her. “You’ll get red ones next time.

These are because they reminded me of the orange in the
sunset last night in Nome.”

“Oh, oh I like him,” her mother cooed as she patted

Leonardo on the cheek.

“Thank you, Mrs. Nichols. Where’s Juliet? I’d like to give

her this bouquet.” He held up the pink one. “She’s always
wearing pink,” he said with a shrug.

Ophelia giggled and took it from him. “She’s at her

boyfriend’s house right now. But she’ll be back later. I’ll put
them in a vase and put a sticky on it so that she knows it’s
from you. Last chance to back out, sure you want to go sit in
on one of my dad’s lectures?”

He nodded. “Yes. I want to meet the father of the woman

I love.”

Ophelia nearly stumbled as she quickly spun back to face

him. Her mother gasped beside her and covered her mouth
with a trembling hand. “You...you love me...?” she
whispered.

Leonardo gave her a tentative smile and wrapped his

arms gently around her waist. “Yes. I do. And do you?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes.”

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131

His kiss was sweet and the scruff on his face tickled her

chin. He was gentle, soft, and when he pulled away the taste
of him lingered on her lips. She smiled at him, knowing that
she blushed deeply and not caring at all.

Her time with him was always too short for her liking and

so a week later when he had to say goodbye, Ophelia found
herself clinging tightly to him, unwilling to let him go even
though she knew she’d see him soon.

“Don’t leave,” she whispered against his shirt as she dug

her fingers deeper into the soft fabric.

“You know I have to.” He was frowning. She didn’t have

to look at him to know what his voice sounded like when he
was sad. She was too and wished he didn’t have to leave.

“I do. But I’d prefer that you didn’t.”
He tightened his arms around her back. He was already

running late and she wouldn’t make him miss his flight. But
that meant letting him leave as well.

“Run away with me.”
Her frown softened a bit and she wiped the tears off her

cheeks as she turned to look up at him. “Where would we
live?”

His answer was instant. “In the cabin with Lear.”
Simple enough. Ophelia gave him a soft smile. “And what

would we eat?”

Leonardo smirked down at her before leaning forward to

kiss her forehead. “Those disgustingly rich brownies of
yours and all the meat I can catch.”

“Your cabin has only one bedroom. Where would my

family sleep when they visit?” she teased him.

His smirk turned into a smile and she reached up to trace

it with her thumb as he surprised her by saying, “The better
question would be, where will our children sleep?”

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132

“More than one?” She hoped that her words came out

light and teasing, like she’d meant them. But she was afraid
they were far more serious and that he could somehow hear
the rapid beating of her heart as she imagined having a life
with him that involved children.

Leonardo nodded and his smile slipped a little. “Two?”
“Four?” she countered.
“Eight?”
“Sixteen.” They were playing now, and as his gate was

called she knew her time with him was up. “I would like
some,” Ophelia said as Leonardo stepped back. He held his
hands over her sides, seeming as unwilling to let her go as
she was with him.

“Some what?” he asked. He was smirking and the little

lines around his eyes were creased with his smile.

Ophelia laughed. “You know what!”
He crushed her in a hug that stole her breath but she

didn’t mind at all as she clung to him. “Me too. Hamlet and
Mercutio.”

She shook her head. “Not on your life. Normal names.

Like Seth and Luke.”

“Michelangelo. We’ll call him Mikey for short.”
Closing her eyes, she pressed a kiss to the side of his neck.

“And Donatello and Raphael. You’re already Leo, after all.”

“And here I thought you might not have grabbed the

reference.” He squeezed her tightly one last time before
putting her down on her feet.

Ophelia shook her head. “My parents preferred books,

but I did have a TV growing up. You be safe. You promise.”

It was time to let him go, but knowing that didn’t make

saying bye any easier.

“I will. You too.”
One more kiss and another hug and then he was walking

through security and Ophelia had to force herself not to run

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133

up to the nearest ticket counter and use all of her credit cards
to get on the plane with him.

Caitlin Ricci

134

Chapter Fourteen

ix months later Ophelia stood on the deck of a small
cruise ship in the cold Alaskan waters. Leonardo stood

behind her, his big body shielding her from the cold wind.
He took her gloved hands in his and held her close. They’d
spoken nearly every day since his visit to Colorado. It had
been so very hard being away from him that long. She’d
only seen him once since then, when she’d been sent to his
rig to do some follow-up work from her previous visit. It
wasn’t nearly enough. She’d missed him every day and
thought about him during every free moment that she could
spare.

Her dad had loved him, though there hadn’t been any

doubt of that. When he learned that Leonardo had been in
theater performances with his parents when he had been a
child, her dad had instantly pulled out his favorite plays and
gone through the scenes with him. Leonardo had been no
less than twenty different men that night. At first she
thought he might just be indulging her father’s whims. But
then she’d caught sight of his wide smile and knew she’d be
sitting through many more of their impromptu plays in the
middle of her parents’ living room. Her favorite had been
his portrayal of Mercutio, who had long been one of her
favorite characters from childhood. She and Juliet had been
recruited as well. Their mother had narrowly escaped her
own lines as she rushed off to make dinner.

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135

It made her giggle just thinking about it. The captain told

them to look over the side of the bow and passengers
crowded around them, trying to get a glimpse of one of the
whales. She felt Leonardo move away and glanced quickly
at him before turning back to the whales. She hadn’t seen
one breach yet and she really wanted to. They’d been out
almost two hours with barely any sightings.

“Ophelia?” he asked.
She turned around, her mouth falling open as she caught

sight of him kneeling on the well-worn deck.
“L...L...Leonardo...” Her brain would not catch up to what
appeared to be happening. She started trembling as the
people around them gave them room, backing up and
staring at them.

“Ophelia, I love you.”
“I love you too.” He stayed still on his knee. Why would

he be doing that?

He grinned at her and fished a small purple box out of the

pocket of his jacket. He opened it slowly, revealing a shiny
whale tail set with sapphires on either side to look like drops
of the deepest ocean. “Ophelia Beatrice Nichols.” He
swallowed thickly. “I’ve been chasing you for over a year.
I’m done and tired. Marry me and come home. Live in
Absolute with me. Love me. Put up with Lear. Make me
those disgustingly rich brownies you and your sister seem to
consume like air. I’ll read to you before bed every night. I’ll
build you your own personal library. Whatever you want.”

She shook as he stood back up.
“And I’ll love you forever. If only you’ll be my wife.” He

took her left hand in his and pulled the ring out of the box.

Tears brimmed her lashes and a grin stayed firmly

planted to her face as she grabbed him in a tight hug and
nodded against the warmth of his neck. “Yes, Leonardo. Yes.

About the Author

Caitlin was fortunate growing up to be surrounded by
family and teachers that encouraged her love of reading. She
has always been a voracious reader and that love of the
written word easily morphed into a passion for writing. If
she isn’t writing, she can usually be found studying as she
works toward her counseling degree. She comes from a
military family and the men and women of the armed forces
are close to her heart. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, and
horseback riding in the Colorado Rockies where she calls
home with her wonderful fiancé and their two dogs. Her
belief that there is no one true path to happily ever after runs
deeply through all of her stories.

www.caitlinricci.com

Document Outline

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
About the Author

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