Thanks so much for all the reviews!! I'm glad everyone seems to like the guys I chose for this one!!
Just a little side note: some of these relationships will progress very rapidly, while others may be more difficult and take more time. I wanted to make each one a bit more unique than the others, not all just easy going romance. And the ones that may seem the most easy going may have a few bumps later on…again thanks for the reviews!!!
Deeper
"Alright boys," boomed Phil over the loud hailer, "We got two hours till we head up to where I want to set the next string. Head inside, get a bite to eat, rest and get ready for round two."
Sasha was busy cooking away on the stove in the galley when the guys rushed in.
"Man I could eat a horse I'm so hungry!" announced Freddy as he rubbed his stomach.
Josh sneered at Freddy and shook his head, "Dude you're always hungry!"
Freddy punched Josh on the shoulder as he skirted away from him. Jake joined the small battle and jumped on Josh's back. Freddy laughed hysterically at the sight just as Dave walked into the room. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head at the sight as he walked over to Sasha. The rest of the crew just continued their play fight, Jake howling with fear and excitement as Josh through him off of his back and onto the floor. Freddy's wicked laugh echoed in the galley as Dave approached Sasha.
She was facing away from him, smirking to herself as she stirred the soup and wondering how in the world she got assigned to this boat full of crazy men. Just then she felt someone's breath tickle her neck.
"Hey there," murmured Dave into her ear, "How's it coming?"
Sasha felt a shiver go down her spine at the sound of his gravelly voice. She glanced back at him and froze when she realized that they were mere centimeters away from one another. Swallowing, she turned back to the food, feeling her face flush with heat.
"Um, it's good…I mean I think it is anyway," she stammered out quickly.
Dave smiled to himself when he realized how quickly he had unnerved her. This girl was driving him insane and he didn't even realize what he was doing until he did it. He placed a hand lightly on her hip and drew closer to her.
Sasha felt a sudden warmth course through her entire body at his touch. Her heart began to race as his gravelly voice sounded in her ear yet again.
"Need any help?" he asked innocently.
When Sasha turned to look at him she saw the devilish look gleaming in his crystal eyes and she laughed as she pushed him away.
"David Millman!" she exclaimed, "Are you coming on to me?"
Dave didn't take his eyes off her face, "And what if I was?"
Sasha gaped in surprise and just stood there in the middle of the galley with a spoon in her hand. Dave smiled at the sight as he watched her search for the right words to answer his rather forward comment.
"Um…well, I don't know you that well yet, but um, well…you are rather attractive and well…"
Dave smirked as he ran a finger across her jaw, "And I find you to be rather attractive as well," he murmured quietly.
"Ow! Josh!"
Jake's screech of pain jolted Dave and Sasha from their intimate moment. Sasha looked over at the group of rowdy deckhands piled on top of one another near the galley table. Jake was squished at the bottom of the pile and he was begging them to get off.
"Josh! I…can't…breathe!" cried Jake.
"Okay guys, that's enough," announced Sasha as she walked over to them, "Everyone get off Jake before you kill the poor kid."
Grudgingly the deckhands stood up and sat down at the table. Sasha helped Jake up from the ground and gave Sasha an appreciative nod.
"Thanks," he mumbled as he stretched his aching muscles, "I thought I was gonna die…I think you saved my life!"
Sasha rolled her eyes at that and turned to go back to the counter where Dave was already beginning to put food onto plates and bowls. She smiled at him and gave him an appreciative look. Dave flashed her one of his killer smiles and she felt something inside of her beginning to melt…
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Maggie found herself wandering back up into the wheelhouse yet again. There wasn't a whole lot for her to do inside the boat when the guys were out on deck working and she was beginning to get a bit bored. That and the fact that Andy was taking a shift at the wheel might have been part of her motivation for walking up these stairs.
Andy Hillstrand yawned as he looked down at the deck. His guys were getting ready to haul the first pot of the season and while he was excited about it, he was also rather tired. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately, mostly because of a certain young woman. Since she had set foot on this boat her face hadn't been able to leave his mind for a second. He was beginning to grow frustrated with himself. He never let a woman get to him like this before in his life.
Just then he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He turned around and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face when he saw Maggie's face.
"Hey," she said quietly, offering him a slight smile, "Sorry…I don't mean to bother you. I just got bored down there so I thought I'd come up here for a bit if that's okay."
"Oh yeah sure," said Andy as he nodded to the co-captain's chair, "Knock yourself out. We're about to pull up the first pot of the season."
Maggie shot him a coy look, "Isn't this the part where it's supposed to get exciting?"
Andy smirked, "Like I said…don't knock it till you try it."
Maggie rolled her eyes and looked out on the deck, "Yeah it's real thrilling," she muttered sarcastically, "Guys running around in orange rain gear. I'm absolutely enthralled."
"Young lady don't you make me come over there!" warned Andy with a playful smile.
Maggie shot him a challenging look, "Like you would!"
Andy raised an eyebrow at that, "Oh really?"
"Really," Maggie shot back, still glaring at him with a playful gleam in her eyes.
Andy gave one last look at the guys on deck and then turned around and charged at Maggie. She squealed in fear as he grabbed her and picked her up out of her seat and spun her around. Maggie laughed hysterically as he finally sat her back down and tickled her until she cried.
"Ah! Andy! Okay, stop!" she cried, "I'll be happy….I promise!"
Andy laughed as he finally backed off, "There we go!" he announced as he retreated back to his own chair, "Now…look, they're hauling the first pot."
Maggie scowled playfully at him as she turned to look out the wheelhouse window. Sure enough a pot was being pulled out of the water. Andy gave a whoop of excitement as the pot cleared the rail. Maggie's eyes flew open in astonishment. The massive metal pot was full of large, red king crab. She had never seen anything like it before in her life. She smiled when she saw the deckhands start jumping up and down as they dumped the crab onto the sorting table. Russell held up a rather large crab to show it to Andy.
"That thing is huge!" exclaimed Maggie as she shot Andy an astonished look.
Andy had a wild gleam in his eyes as he looked back at her, "Told you! Did I not tell you how awesome this is?"
Maggie laughed as Andy shouted and screamed into the loud hailer. The crew was going nuts down on the deck and Maggie suddenly found herself getting caught up in the moment…
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Jenny was staring out the window of the wheelhouse of the Wizard, gazing out onto the deck with a look of longing and desperation. At first Keith thought she was just staring at Crosby, but then he realized that she was watching the guys carefully as they set and hauled gear. She was studying every movement and every step in the process with utter fascination.
Suddenly Jenny turned to face him, her brilliant green eyes sparkling as she gave him a hopeful look.
"Do you think I could go out on deck?" she asked rather excitedly.
Keith whirled around in his chair and gave the nurse an openly shocked look, "You want to go out there?" he asked as he jutted one thumb in the direction of the deck just as a wave came over the starboard rail and swamped the deck.
Jenny just nodded, her eyes growing wider with excitement as the wave washed off the deck, "Yeah why not? I mean it's not like I'm really doing anything in here. No one's hurt so no one needs me at the moment…so I figured maybe I could be a bit more helpful out on deck? Maybe do bait duty?"
Keith raised an eyebrow at Jenny and shook his head, "You are insane you know that? I mean here you are, a nurse forced to work on a crab boat in the middle of the Bering Sea and all you want to do is go out there?"
"Yeah…I mean, I'm sort of an adrenalin junkie to be perfectly honest," confessed Jenny as she brushed a strand of wavy, auburn hair behind her ear, "And, well this is the ultimate rush right?"
Keith gave her a long, contemplative look before he turned and grabbed the loud hailer.
"Hey guys…Jenny's coming out on deck to do bait duty. Keep an eye on her and be nice."
The crew started whooping and whistling the second Jenny appeared on the deck.
"Nurse on deck!" they shouted to one another, acting like goofy little boys.
Jenny rolled her eyes at them as she turned to the baiting station. Crosby made his way over to her and smiled when she looked up and made eye contact with him. He felt his heart do a little pitter-patter as her brilliant green eyes gazed up at him.
"Want me to show you how it's done?" he offered after a moment, flashing her one of his heart-stopping smiles.
Jenny nodded as she felt herself blush slightly, "Um, yeah I'd like that. Thanks, Crosby."
"No problem," he replied as he started showing her how to fill the bags and how to hook a cod fish. Jenny grimaced slightly as he slid the metal hook through the eyes of the cod. She gritted her teeth and squared her shoulders. She was determined to prove to the guys that she could handle this and puking because of a stupid cod fish certainly wouldn't do that.
"So…how are you?" asked Crosby as he and Jenny started filling the bait bags together.
Jenny looked up at him and smiled, "I'm doing alright…great actually now that I'm on deck. I've been watching you guys and I couldn't take it anymore so I finally asked Keith if I could come out here. Honestly I think the only reason he said yes to the idea was because I've practically been breathing down his neck up there in the wheelhouse."
Crosby laughed, "So you're the adventurous type?"
"Very much so," smirked Jenny as she hip-checked him lightly, causing Crosby to stumble a little as the boat rolled with the waves.
"Oh is that how you want to play?" he asked as a playful gleam entered his eyes, "Alright then…"
He hip-checked her back, causing her to fly wildly to the side. She caught herself and turned around to give him a playful glare.
"You're messin' with the big boys now," laughed Crosby, "Better watch yourself!"
She slinked up to him and looked up in his eyes. They were only a few inches apart and Crosby felt his heart stop for a moment.
"Maybe I don't want to watch myself," she murmured as she gazed up into his dark eyes.
"Hey when you all are done flirting, we've got work to do!" shouted one of the deckhands standing near the launcher.
Crosby sneered at him and turned back to Jenny.
"Guess we better hurry up," he mumbled sheepishly.
Jenny just smiled at him and nodded, "Yeah…I guess so."
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Sig Hansen felt as if he had died and gone to heaven as Amber turned around on his lap to face him. She swung a leg over, straddling him in his chair. Sig swallowed and forced himself to keep breathing as she leaned down and looked deep into his eyes.
"Sig Hansen I think you are the most attractive man I have ever met in my entire life," she said quietly.
Sig's grin went from one ear to the other at the sound of that, 'Oh is that so?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.
Amber nodded as she laughed, "Yes…it is."
Sig acted on impulse. Without a moment's hesitation he reached up and snaked his hands through her hair and pulled her into him, kissing her like there was no tomorrow. Amber responded as her hands played with the soft hair at the nape of his neck. Just then, there was loud shouting coming from the deck below them. Sig pulled reluctantly away from Amber. She quickly got off of his lap and they both turned to look out the back window.
Edgar had a flamethrower and was chasing Jake Anderson around the table with it.
"Edgar! No!" screamed Jake as he fled from the mad deck boss, "I'm sorry! I won't put cod fish in your bunk ever again, I swear!"
"Too late junior!" responded Edgar with a wicked laugh, "It's payback time!"
The rest of the crew was watching from the rail, howling with laughter as the young deckhand screeched in fear and Edgar laughed evilly.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me," muttered Sig under his breath.
Amber tried desperately to stifle her laugh as she watched the spectacle going on outside. Sig turned around and narrowed his eyes playfully at her.
"Don't encourage them," he said as he stood up to walk outside.
Amber watched as Sig walked out onto the rail and leaned over it to shout at his crazy younger brother.
"Edgar!" he roared.
Immediately Edgar and Jake stopped running around. Edgar turned off the flame thrower and hid it behind his back, doing his best to look innocent.
"What?" he asked, looking confused.
"What the hell are you doing with a flame thrower on deck?" asked Sig, sounding stern.
"What flame thrower?" asked Edgar innocently.
Jake glowered at him, "The one behind your back!"
Edgar shot the younger deckhand a glare that promised further revenge at a later time, and Jake cringed at the sight.
"Edgar," warned Sig.
Edgar pulled the flame thrower out from behind his back and looked up at Sig. He had his hand outstretched and was beckoning Edgar over to him.
"Come on…hand it over."
Edgar gaped in horror, "What? Why? I wasn't setting anything on fire…just Jake!"
Sig narrowed his eyes and Edgar signed in resignation as he slowly ascended the outside stairs and handed the flame thrower to his brother.
"Thank you," said Sig curtly as he turned and went back inside, leaving Edgar to sulk as they neared the next string.
Amber was crying she was laughing so hard. Sig couldn't help but smirk a little when he saw her.
"It's not that funny," he muttered as he put the flame thrower in one of the cabinets above where he kept the maps and charts.
"Oh, Sig lighten up," replied Amber as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "It was too funny, you know it."
Sig grumbled and Amber leaned up to kiss him, silencing his negativity. He smirked at her and sighed, "Now…where were we?"
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Thanks so much for the reviews!!!