Free Tick,Tock,Trouble (A Seagrove Cozy Mystery Book 5) by Leona Fox Page B

think I'd better get Mr. Bradshaw a floatation device, he's not a very strong swimmer."
     
    "By all means, get him a floatation device. I wouldn't want you to be nervous about him on the water."
     
    Zack leaned back and put his hands behind his head. Sadie thought he couldn't smile any wider.
     
    Two weeks later, Mr. Bradshaw was standing on the bow of a twenty-six-foot sailboat sporting a bright orange floatation jacket, his nose in the wind. Sadie was sitting in the back next to Zack. Zack's hand was on the tiller and her hand was resting on his. The wind was ruffling their hair as they sailed along the outer shore of Key West.
     
    Sadie never had been to Key West before. The water was a clear blue and the sand on the beaches was white. It was warm here. The chill of autumn hadn't reached Florida -- and for all she knew it never did. She felt free and warm and happy, it was a perfect vacation.
     
    Zack slid his hand out from under Sadie's, leaving her in charge of the tiller. She looked at him in surprise, her eyebrows raising.
     
    "You'll be fine, just hold it steady," Zack said. "We aren't going anywhere in particular."
     
    "Okay," She said. "It's on your head if we crash."
     
    Zack looked around. "What are we going to crash into?" he asked.
     
    "The island?" Sadie pointed to the shore of Key West, which was maybe a mile away.
     
    "Oh don't worry I'll notice before we get anywhere close to the island."
     
    He slid his arm over the tiller and around Sadie's waist, but the tiller was uncomfortable. He got up and came to sit on Sadie's other side.
     
    "Uh, are you sure this is wise?" she said.
     
    "You'll be fine," he said, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her close.
     
    She felt warm and fluttery inside and turned her head to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned, too, and their lips met. It was a much longer kiss than she expected and the sailboat began to list to one side. He let go of her waist and reached across to push the tiller back to center. The movement ended the kiss, which Sadie thought was a pity.
     
    "Sadie," Zack said, and his voice cracked.
     
    "Are you okay?" she asked.
     
    "Of course I'm okay, I'm trying to ask you to marry me."
     
    His voice cracked again, only this time she knew it was from emotion.
     
    "You want to marry me? Are you sure you're feeling okay? You know what I'm like." She put her free hand to his forehead as if to feel for a temperature.
     
    "Oh stop it," he said, capturing her hand and holding it between his.
     
    "Don't string me along, Sadie, will you marry me or not?" He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose.
     
    "You know I would only marry a man I loved, right?" She couldn't help teasing him.
     
    "I would hope not. The question is, ‘Do you love me enough to marry?’"
     
    He looked into her eyes and she knew he knew. He was enjoying playing the game, too.
     
    "Or should I perhaps ask one of the dolphins to marry me instead?" He pointed to the bow where a dolphin sprang from the water.
     
    "You'd have an interesting life," she said, "but there probably wouldn't be much physical intimacy. She might pee on you once in a while… when she's really happy with you." She started giggling uncontrollably.
     
    “I should be so lucky as to get peed on by a dolphin. It would make a nice change,” Zack said.
     
    “Humans pee on you?” Sadie asked, appalled. “Really?”
     
    “That’s one of the more innocuous substances I’ve had on my shoes,” he said.
     
    “But I’m not going to name the others. That would take the conversation in a direction I don’t want to go.”
     
    “Where was this conversation going?” Sadie asked. “I’ve forgotten.”
     
    She was joking but the butterflies in her stomach were making her a little jittery now.
     
    “I asked you to marry me, Ms. Barnett, and I’m getting a little impatient for the answer.” He lowered his eyebrows at her.
     
    “Wait,” she said.
     
    “There was a marriage proposal in