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"Pull yourself together!"

This was probably the millionth time Edgar was mentally kicking himself today. He'd just tossed the hook and missed for the four time in a row. The entire day he'd been making little screw-ups like this, including giving inaccurate crab counts to Sig and putting juveniles and females into the holding tanks. Twice Nick had to correct Edgar on his error. Sig, of course, was not happy with his mishaps and let him know it incessantly. Though Edgar was fed up with his brother's attitude, he knew Sig's anger was also justified. Edgar took a deep breath, doing his best to clear his head, and tossed the hook for the 5th time, which to his relief, caught the line.

For the rest of the string, Edgar did his best to focus his attention to the task at hand. Yet several times he'd find his thoughts drifting to Natalia and soon enough he'd catch himself staring at her. She was hanging out by the bait station, watching as the crew hauled pots and sorted crab. The Northwestern grind had been in affect for a total of two weeks and everyday Edgar could see that Natalia was coming into her own.

If the truth were to be told, Edgar had not predicted Natalia making it as far as she had. Her first few days had been extremely hard on her, and as best as she tried to hide it, everyone knew she was in pain. She was too slow and she made a lot of rookie mistakes, but one thing everyone admired, is that she never once complained and always tried to give her best.

As he watched her now, Edgar felt a great deal of pride. True, Natalia wasn't the best greenhorn the Northwestern had been endowed with, let alone the best female, when it came to work ethic. Gia Hansen had very little difficulty adjusting to the crabbing life, though in all fairness, she'd been working the seafood/fishing industry in Alaska since her teens, while Natalia had zero expericence. She could long-range fish and she even worked on a lobster boat in Maine for a few years, but this was a completely different ball game and she'd been thrown for a loop.

Still, she was fighting through her obstacles and looking for no easy way out. Within the past two weeks, she was growing and Edgar saw genuine potential in her. He knew that she had "the want" and that everything else would fall into stride, just like he'd told her many years ago. The guys also held back on giving her a hard time, probably because they remembered her as the sweet little girl, who was always hanging around.

God, she was beautiful. Even when she was wrapped in 5 layers of clothing from top to bottom, and wearing boots and rain gear, Edgar swore he'd never been more attracted to a woman. He suddenly began to wonder what kind of lover she would make...

"Stop it!" He thought, mentally chastising himself.

She was a child. He'd known her from the time she was 10 until she was 13. Even though she was "all grown up" now, she was still a kid compared to him. What would a young 28 year old woman want with an old man of 40 years.

But, my oh my, how she had grown. She was filled out in all the right places and she'd possessed the face of a beauty queen. She had olive skin, hair as straight and black as the night sky, and eyes as brown as chocolate. God, how he loved her eyes. He remembered when she was a child and how her eyes filled with pleasure at the very sight of him. At the time he hadn't wanted that kind of attention. But now he found himself almost craving it. He wanted to see her eyes filled with pleasure at the sight of him, at the sound of his voice, at his very touch when he entered into her...

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! CUT IT OUT!" Edgar screamed to himself, angry with the effect that Natalia was unknowingly having on him. She still stood at the bait section, only she was now chatting it up with Ryan, the camera man, and she was laughing at one thing or another, seemingly without a care in the world. Edgar began to grow angry at her obvious disinterest in him and bitterly thought how ironic life was. As a child she'd loved him and wanted him for 3 years, but was unable to have him. And now that she was a grown woman, able to pursue a relationship with Edgar, she didn't want to. Was this some kind of sick joke?

"Well to hell with her!" Edgar decided. He could have his choice of any woman he wanted and didn't need to stress himself over her. Right now he needed to focus on his job and make his money. She was proving to be too much of a distraction and Edgar decided then and there, that the best way to forget her was to avoid her.

Still, it would be hard. They would be living together on this boat for the next month and a half at best, not to mention the fact that they shared a room together. Every now and then when Edgar would pretend to be asleep in his bunk, he'd watch her change. He'd only caught glimpses, due to the lack of light, but the little that he did see was enough to make him hard.

Edgar licked his lips as he imagined what she looked like naked and how it would feel to be inside her. He'd bet anything that she was tight. He'd bet anything that...

"EDGAR! Snap out of it bro." Matt Bradley said to his best friend. Edgar quickly shook his head, hoping to shake away the images that danced in his mind.

"What happened?"

"Dude, you didn't toss the hook. Now Sig's gotta turn the boat back around and you can guess he's not to happy about it. You okay?"

"Oh shit, really? Wow. Yeah I'm fine bro, just exhuasted."

Matt nodded and patted him on the back before walking away. Edgar chanced a quick glance to find Natalia looking at him, confused and amused. He looked away quickly and cursed under his breath.

"Pull yourself together Edgar!"