David stayed where he was and avoided Mavis’s probing gaze as Mandy and Bonnie went below deck. He didn’t have time for the regret surging through him. He’d known from the moment he’d made love to her that he needed to find a way to get her off his boat, especially after that awkward conversation they had. Leave it to Mavis to unintentionally give him the out he needed.

“Hold up there, Dave.” Mavis stooped down and grabbed his arm before he could resume his repairs. “What’s going on, David?”

“I need to work on my boat,” David explained, but there was no point in trying to hide anything from...