"I promise," Cooper said, "No trying to walk on this little thing. I'd go straight over the side! Which might be funny to see, but I'm not lookin' to go swimming just now." He had slipped a little closer as he spoke, until his hip rested against the curve of Sarah's backside. One hand settled on her shoulder, holding her close, as the other continued to roam over her skin.<br/><br/>"Now ... other nautical adventures." Coop gnawed his soul patch for a moment. "Well, I haven't seen any mermaids. Never fought any sea monsters, unless you count that marlin I hooked that time Greg and I were fishing off the after deck. Damn near pulled both of us in after him, speaking of going overboard. And then there was that time we got struck by lightning off Bermuda - the ship, I mean, not Greg and me. All of a sudden our electronics are popping like microwave Orville Redenbacher ..."<br/><br/>That had been nice, that little tremor he had felt shoot down Sarah's back. Cooper drew here a little closer still and went on with his tale of near disaster, sticking to the facts - more or less - but not above trying to spin them to draw another shiver.