No. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be suspended on his first day on the job. “I’ll talk to her,” he said. “We can wait a couple of days while she investigates.” Better than a whole week.
There’d been a moment’s hesitation when Rob had challenged her decision. He could work with that. He was tired of the woman running away from him. Sam jogged down the dock as she was climbing into a sensible sized white hatchback. “Penelope, wait.”
She hesitated, and in three long strides, he’d reached her side. She straightened, keeping her door open, but tilted her chin to look up at him. He’d admire her composure if he wasn’t so annoyed.
He kept his distance, not crowding her, and gave her a warm smile. “Rob might have jumped the gun,” he said. “We’re both concerned about disappointing our customers. We’re happy for you to take the time to investigate properly.”
She stared at him. “You didn’t care about potentially endangering them or the whales when you chose to move forward towards the mother and calf.”
“Instinct,” he reiterated. “I’m trained to run towards the danger, to help those in trouble.” He smiled again and explained. “Ex-army.”
“So now my decision isn’t what you want, you’re asking me to change my mind after forcing me to make a decision on the spot?”
When she put it that way, it did seem unfair. “Rob was upset.”
She said nothing.
Crap. Maybe he’d made a bad impression on the weekend. He had to get her to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I apologise about the other day.”
She blinked twice, the only sign she was surprised.
“I didn’t mean to offend you when you stopped by my house. I’d been joking with Georgie that she was already arranging my life up here, and so my comment was a response to that. I meant nothing by it. You were welcome to stay.”
Instead of relaxing her, the mention of the weekend made her stiffen further. “It’s fine. I had things to do.”
It was a lie. Not only had he heard her offer to help, but she also looked away while she said it. “Well, I’m sorry anyway. Any friend of Georgie’s is welcome at my place.”
“We’re colleagues.”
She was a stickler for accuracy. She reminded him a little of Sherlock in that way. At least the way he was before the accident. He smiled again. “OK. I’m glad we’ve cleared the air.”
Penelope nodded and moved to climb back into her car.
“Wait a second. Do you think we could review the suspension?”
“Did you think what happened on the weekend impacted my decision?” she asked, her tone mild, but her eyes flashing.
Shit, he’d irritated her further. She really was prickly. “Not at all, but it’s been bugging me since Saturday. I was going to ask Georgie for your number so I could apologise.”
She studied him and he continued to smile. “Perhaps instead of an immediate suspension, we could continue operating while you investigate further. It was a rare event. Rob said he’d never seen anything like it in his years up here.”
“Rob wanted an immediate decision, so I gave him one. I don’t flip flop on my decisions.”
Speaking rationally to Sherlock usually worked. “I respect that. We didn’t get the chance to suggest alternatives in there. There’s scope for compromise.”
Penelope tapped her finger on the top of her door frame. “You broke the licence agreements. You’re being given the correct punishment. Nowhere in the licence does it mention compromise.”
Yep, she was definitely a by-the-book kind of woman. “It also doesn’t spell out the exact suspension length for a breach,” he pointed out. “Is there something else I can do on top of this to help? Is there some volunteer work at PAWS to reduce the suspension to a few days?”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
Damn it, she was so straightlaced. “You can’t even take pity on the newbie?” he joked, trying to make her crack a smile.
“No.” She got in her car, slammed the door and drove away.
Shit.
His charm usually worked. Hopefully he hadn’t irritated her enough to increase the suspension.
