“I was happier a minute ago,” he grumbled.
“Hold that thought. I wouldn’t want to lose a sale.” She fake-smiled at him, then stalked past him toward the yacht.
*
They took the yacht out for a cruise up the coast a few miles to check the mechanicals and satisfy Nio with the ride. For his part, he knew he’d love it. The forty-four-foot Meridian 441 Sedan had everything he could want: radar, GPS, navigation, depth sounder, two cabins and heads, a luxurious interior galley, plenty of living space for entertaining and, critically, plenty of headroom for him. Though he’d been boating with coworkers in Seattle and San Francisco for years, it hadn’t actually occurred to him to buy a boat of his own until he’d learned that Becca sold them. And if he helped her, so be it. He could afford it. There was no charity to it.
He especially loved sitting in the co-pilot seat, watching the breeze ruffling Becca’s dark hair and the sun highlighting the freckles on the bridge of her nose—which was still apparently out of joint from their fight. She spent most of the time snapping pictures of the ocean and the boat—yacht—in lieu of making eye contact with him.
He’d known that eventually he’d have to fess up about his investigation of her, but if she’d been on social media, which she wasn’t, he might have learned nearly as much on his own. He supposed that reflected her desire for privacy, considering all that had gone on with her family.
Waking up alone on his father’s living room floor this morning had been an unhappy surprise. She was like a spooked cat—one minute wanting affection and the next disappearing to God knows where. Not that he could blame her, with a jerk like Steven Whaley on her side. Or, maybe even more importantly, his own history with her.
But last night with her had been a revelation. He still felt the ache, low in his gut, at the feel of her lithe body beneath his. Finding the phone number she’d slipped in his pocket later this morning had made him feel marginally better. If he could, he would take her below decks right now and make love to her again and drive that paranoia about him right out of her head. He wasn’t about to lose her again. Not if he could help it. No, they had to get this straight. The sooner the better.
A dolphin, skimming the waves beside them, suddenly leapt up parallel to the stern railing before spinning back into the waves.
Becca shrieked as water sprayed her. She lifted her camera and snapped off a few shots. “Oh!” she cried. “Look, he’s checking us out!”
Amazingly, the dolphin seemed to be doing just that as it raced alongside the yacht at a steady clip and Nio laughed, for the first time today, at the dolphin’s antics. God, how he’d missed this ocean; this water, this magical place. The world of technology was fascinating, but nature fed his soul. He’d been away from it too long. He couldn’t wait to take this boat up the coast with Becca and spend an entire day feeling the spray of salt water on his face. Or maybe making love to her under the Southern California sun.
Standing beside each other, they watched over the side for a few minutes until the dolphin’s curiosity was satisfied and it veered off toward deeper waters. Nio and Becca exchanged looks, hers a combination of exhilaration and wariness. Leaning over the rail, he glanced at the shots she’d just taken. Not surprisingly, they were exquisite.
“I suppose you paid him to put on that little show, too,” she said.
A smile tugged at his mouth. “I would have, just to see that look on your face.”
“Which look is that, Mr. Reyes?” she asked, brushing the damp hair from her eyes.
“The one you pretend you’re too cynical for, Ms. Howard.”
She flicked a look at Broyles, who was preoccupied with driving. “You think I’m cynical?”
“I think…” he said carefully, “that you’re beautiful. And a little bruised.”
“We’re all a little bruised, aren’t we?”
“I could show you scars.”
Clearly against her will, she grinned. “Like Quint and Hooper in Jaws? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours? Then we could break into a drinking song?”
Playfully, he began to roll up his sleeve, and began singing about being shown the way home…being tired and wanting to go to bed… He arched a suggestive eyebrow at her, which made Becca laugh.
Glancing back at Broyles, she put her hand out to stop him. “Careful,” she warned, “you might call up a monster from the deep. Or beat a hole in your new purchase.”
Broyles chose that moment to turn to them with a nod. “I’m gonna turn her about now, head back.”
“So?” she asked as he made the wide turn toward the marina. “How does she stack up, Mr. Broyles?”
“They don’t come much cleaner. Mechanicals check out and every system is in top shape. I’ll write up a full report for you and have it by tomorrow. But I can’t see anything that should hold up the purchase. But of course, the aesthetic is up to Mr. Reyes.”
She turned to him. “Do you find her worthy, Mr. Reyes?”
“More than worthy,” Nio said, his eyes only on her. “She’s everything I’ve ever wanted. I did feel a little shudder of indecision back there at the docks, but I’m hoping that will even out with some attention.”
“Huh,” Broyles said, scratching his chin. “I didn’t feel that.”
“Attention of what sort, Mr. Reyes?” Becca asked.
“TLC, of course. I figure whoever owned her last ran her a little hard. Maybe pushed her engines a little far. Maybe she just needs a few more dolphins running alongside her and a gentle hand.”
“And that’s in your particular wheelhouse, is it? A gentle hand?”
“That’s my specialty.”
She glanced sideways at him from under her lashes. “Huh. Well, she is pre-owned. A few flaws are to be expected. They’re part of her character. Isn’t that right, Mr. Broyles?”
Broyles pulled a strange look between the two of them. “I guess that’s right, ma’am. But as far as I can see—”
“Don’t feel pressured into this sale, Mr. Reyes, simply because you wrote a contract. If she’s not for you, then she’s likely better off waiting for an owner who doesn’t expect perfection. One who will feel some loyalty to her idiosyncrasies.”
“Idiosyncrasies are what make her interesting. They give her a history. I find the quest for perfection boring.” Nio leaned back. “Don’t you?”
“I find it impossible.”
“Then we’re agreed. This boat has my name on it.”
“Yacht, Mr. Reyes. She’s a yacht.”
“I will try to keep that in mind, Ms. Howard.”
“It would be well if you did,” she said, but she couldn’t stop the smile as she said it.
Chapter Eight
The evening had stayed crystal clear for the wedding, which was to take place on the deck of the Montage, Laguna Beach, overlooking the Pacific. It was a magnificent locale and Becca knew that Molly Walsh, who worked here, had done everything in her power to ensure that Lilah and Graham got the best of everything while in her little kingdom. Even though she was merely standing up for Lilah, Molly was flitting around like a butterfly, checking out last-minute details with the hotel staff and the wedding coordinator to make sure everything went perfectly.
As the clock ticked toward the appointed hour, Becca and the others dressed in a private room while Lilah and her mother fussed over every detail. The bride looked spectacular. Her gown was a simple sheath embellished with Italian lace tucked into a pleat at the back of the dress and flowing out into the short train, and her hair was absolutely gorgeous. Graham was going to lose his mind when he saw her.
Becca always got emotional at weddings, so it was no surprise to her that all the emotions of the last two days snuck up on her as the makeup artist, Molly’s friend Susan, applied her last-minute eye shadow.
“Hey now,” Susan said, handing Becca a tissue. “None of that. You’ll ruin all my hard work.”
“I’m sorry. It’s been a long couple of days. And all this�
��”
“I know. Weddings bring out the feels, don’t they?”
She nodded and snuffled. This day certainly had brought the ‘feels.’
After the survey, Nio had wanted to take her out for coffee, probably to discuss why she’d run off this morning without so much as a fare-thee-well, but she’d put him off, saying she had to work. There was, of course, no rule against schmoozing with paying clients, according to Bob Gandy, but Becca didn’t feel up to hearing goodbye from Nio yet. It had been fun spending the morning with him on the boat, teasing back and forth the way they used to with each other. But she knew she would see him tonight at the wedding and that would be soon enough. He’d told her that he planned to give the house to his father tomorrow, Sunday, before he went back to San Francisco. But she thought it best not to take things any further than they’d already gone with him and try to keep the pain to a minimum.
Too late for that, she feared. She’d already crossed that line with him when she’d decided to sleep with him last night.
The memory of him touching her inflamed every nerve ending and curled want deep inside her again. Making love with Nio had been everything she’d remembered and more. No longer a boy, but a man, with a touch as skilled and gentle as a woman could ask for. And he’d wanted her, too. She could feel it in his limbs as he held her and in the hungry way he’d kissed her until she forgot to breathe. He’d fallen asleep holding her in his arms. In some other world, it might have been the start of something good. But there he was, suddenly wealthy, successful, running a company in Northern California while she…well, she was starting over.
Still, no regrets. That was the whole point, wasn’t it? Maybe sleeping with him was just what she’d needed to put a punctuation mark on what had happened between them, now that they were both grown adults. Certainly, he’d taken her mind off Steven and the breakup, and for that she was grateful. But later this afternoon, she’d managed to stumble across Steven and his new girlfriend in town at a coffee shop on Main Street.
She was young and blonde and hanging all over him. The whole thing was awkward and embarrassing. But surprisingly, Becca hadn’t turned tail and run. She’d simply walked on and in her mind, she’d wished them well.
She’d spent what was left of the afternoon with Lana, trying to sort out her feelings for Nio, but she’d left feeling just as confused as she had before.
When Susan was done with her makeup, Becca pulled her Nikon from her bag and snapped some shots of the girls getting dressed. The professional photographer was busy in the other room with the groomsmen now, and these would be just for fun.
She pulled the focus to the faraway look in Lilah’s eyes as her mother, Ruth, fastened a strand of pearls around her neck. Was she thinking about her last moments as a single woman or about the future that lay ahead for them? Both, probably.
Oh, the feels! The feels!
In self-defense, she shifted her focus out the window to the crowd filling the carefully set deck, and she snapped a few photos of the guests. As she moved her lens across the crowd, her heart lurched as she spotted Nio and Steven standing together, exchanging private words. Not particularly pleasant ones, from the looks on their faces.
She lowered the camera, panic sneaking up her throat. What else could they be talking about but her? Not that she particularly cared if Steven knew she’d slept with Nio, but she couldn’t imagine Nio telling him. Actually, she didn’t want them anywhere near each other.
Molly appeared beside her, searching out what had caught her attention out the window. “You okay, Becca?” she asked.
“No, no, I’m fine,” she answered quickly, turning away from whatever was going on outside.
“Something up with you and Steven?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Last night, for starters. Now, the way you’re looking at him like…if he’d claimed the last spot in the boat, you’d let him take it.”
“I would.” Becca sighed and looked back at Nio. “Steven and I are over. Broken up. He cheated on me. Don’t say a word. We’re not talking about it until after the wedding. Besides, I’m not thinking about him. I’m thinking about the guy standing next to him.” Nio was hard to miss and had routinely drawn the eye of every woman in the crowd.
A sympathetic smile lit Molly’s eyes. “Ahh, Nio. I’m sorry, Bec. But now I get it. That’s…a different story.”
“You and Cameron had your problems, right? Got past them?”
“Oh, we did, after a long pause. But I guess it was because, in the end, we were really right for each other. Was it fate? I like to think so.” She glanced out at Nio again. “Are you…with him?”
“Only temporarily. And even that is questionable. You know our history. Probably a moot point anyway. He lives up north. He has a big life there. And I’m…”
Molly held her gaze. “You’re what?”
“I’m—rebuilding.”
Molly faced her seriously. “Becca. I’ve been meaning to say this for a while and for some reason, I never have. For that I’m sorry. But listen to me. Those people who have judged you because of what happened with your dad? Screw them. You did nothing wrong. That had nothing to do with you. The people who love you, like Lilah and Graham and me and the rest of us, we are your friends. Take strength from us and lean on us when you need to and ignore the rest. You’re every bit the amazing woman you’ve always been. A little beat-up, but still fabulous. And you deserve to be happy. You get to choose how that happens. Your choice. Not your father’s or anyone else’s. Yours. And if Nio’s the one? Then I say, don’t let him get away. Because if you do, one day you’re going to wake up and realize you let happiness slip through your fingers.”
Molly hugged her and brushed a knuckle beneath Becca’s damp eye. “Now. We have a couple of friends to marry off. Smile. Everything’s going to work out the way it’s supposed to.”
Becca hugged her, grateful. But what if that was what she was afraid of? That it was supposed to work out that she’d end up alone? Was it her choice? Did she really get to decide how she and Nio would end? Could she ever trust him enough to allow herself to love him again? Maybe her friend Lana was right and it was simply fear standing in her way. Maybe choosing was the only power she could still claim, and choosing Nio, regardless of the outcome, was the start of getting herself back again.
Or choosing him could be her biggest mistake.
*
Nio’s phone buzzed him five minutes before the start of the ceremony and he took the call away from the crowd. It was his second-in-command, Brian Haviland, this time with a company crisis that needed his attention.
When they’d plugged the hole in the crisis for the time being, Brian said, “Everyone is getting nervous at this end, Nio. You comin’ back soon?”
“Of course I am,” he said. “I just have a few things at my end to work out.”
“What’s her name?”
Nio smiled. “What makes you think there’s a woman?”
“Because nothing else on earth would drag you away from this thing you built,” Brian said. “Is she portable?”
He didn’t exactly like the term. “I don’t know yet. She’s got a life here. Her mother. My father’s here and my brother, occasionally. And I can surf here. Too damned cold in San Francisco.” But honestly, none of that mattered except Becca.
“All good reasons. But none of them is good enough to leave your company behind.”
Brian was more of a partner than a second. He had done just as much work on Reyes Tech as Nio. But business wasn’t his forte. Nio loved the business part. At least, he always had. Somehow, in the last few years, making his company 100 percent of his life had become less and less appealing. And if last night hadn’t crystallized that for him, it had become perfectly clear to him this afternoon.
“Nobody said anything about leaving the company behind. I don’t know how this is going to play out yet. I need some time. She deserves some time.”
“What’s
her name?”
He crumpled a napkin next to the phone’s mouthpiece. “What’s that? You’re cutting out.”
“Funny.”
“I’ll call you later, okay?” he said then hit the end button on his cell.
He walked back to his seat as the groomsmen walked the bridesmaids up the flower-bedecked aisle and took their places beside the minister. Nio couldn’t pull his gaze off Becca who looked beautiful, if uncomfortable in proximity to her ex.
Whaley found him in the crowd and gave him the evil eye from his place at the end of the lineup. Nio smiled evenly back at him. While being an assistant director in Hollywood might mean he liked being in control, Hollywood was where that control ended, if Nio had anything to say about it.
He was no expert on weddings, but this one seemed to go without a hitch. Lilah made a beautiful bride. Graham’s eyes misted when he saw her and it was all he could do to hold it together as he spoke his vows. As the sun dipped below the horizon, they were pronounced husband and wife and a cheer went up from the guests who, like him, wanted nothing but a happy future for the couple of the night.
If the rationale behind big, expensive ceremonies like this was to reiterate the need for traditions like marriage, this wedding served its purpose. Nio imagined himself in Graham’s spot, watching Becca walk down the aisle toward him. And while it might have been the first time he’d actually pictured such a moment, Becca as the woman he wanted to share his life with was a long-tendered dream of his. Suddenly, he wanted a big wedding, too, with a few hundred friends around them. A room full of her favorite flowers, lighting and the whole thing.
But he’d never see that happen if he screwed up with Becca again. It would be more than ironic if she held the money he’d made against him. They needed to talk, clear the air between them. He needed to come clean about everything, including the business with her father. Staying quiet was getting him nowhere and the clock was ticking.
He was standing at the bar, ordering a scotch, when Becca found him and pulled him off to a private corner.
Unsung Hero Page 10