by Harlow Layne
“Thank you for having me, ladies. It was a delight, but now I must get back to work. Have a good night.” I bowed to them, then taking a step away, I caught out of the corner of my eye as my dinner companion stood on wobbly legs.
“Whoa there,” I grabbed her arm to keep Stella from falling on her face. “Are you okay?”
She ducked her head and hid behind her shiny veil of hair. “I drank more than I realized, and it all just caught up to me. Would you walk me to my room? I really don’t want to fall overboard again.”
I’d probably be fired if she fell over again. Especially if it was because I wouldn’t walk her to her room.
“We can’t have that, can we?” I answered her, holding my elbow out for her to take.
“Where are you going?” Reagan asked with an arched brow.
“I’ll be back as soon as I use the restroom. Remy here is helping me, so I don’t fall off the boat again.”
“You don’t have to come back if you don’t want to. If you need privacy, put something on the door handle.”
Stella sent a murderous glare to her friend, making Penelope laugh. She fell over and leaned on Scarlett’s shoulder.
“Let’s get out of here,” Stella huffed.
Her warm hand wrapped around my bicep, and she leaned into me. She smelled of the sun and coconut. “Thank you, and I’m sorry for Pen grilling you and her insinuation. She loves to embarrass me.”
“Really, I didn’t mind. If she had asked anything too personal, I wouldn’t have answered.” I tried to reassure her. It had been cute watching Stella get all flushed and embarrassed because of her friend.
“Still, she doesn’t know when to stop, so if you ever get cornered again by her, you can tell her to mind her own shit.”
I probably wouldn’t use those words.
“I might just do that,” I said to placate her.
We stepped inside, and the air instantly felt stale compared to the ocean breeze that was continuous on the aft deck.
Her hand moved up my arm and back down again. “You look very handsome in your uniform.”
Women did like a man in uniform. I wondered what she’d think of me in my dress blues.
“Thank you.”
“You guys seem to change an awful lot. Why is that?” She looked up at me with her big brown eyes, and I wanted to drown in them.
“We have different uniforms for different activities. You probably won’t see as many changes for the rest of your stay.”
“Mmm.” She hummed and let me lead her toward her room.
“How are you liking your stay on the Seas the Day?” I asked to make small talk.
“It’s over the top. I’m not used to this kind of luxury. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving every minute of it except for the incident earlier and you having to save me. Well,” she hummed as we rounded the corner to her room. “You saving me wasn’t bad. That probably makes me sound desperate, doesn’t it?”
We stopped in front of her door, but she didn’t seem to realize where we were. Instead, Stella continued to hold on to my arm and leaned into me, warming up the left side of my body.
“Why would it make you sound desperate?” I asked to spend a little extra time with only her.
“Because it’s the most action I’ve gotten in almost two years. That’s a long time to go without a man’s touch.”
It was a hell of a long time. It had been five months for me, and I felt like a walking hard-on most times when I was around a good-looking woman. I shifted my stance to hide the semi I was sporting due to Stella’s proximity.
“I find it hard to believe there exists a guy who wouldn’t want to touch you.” It took everything in me not to growl the last part of my sentence. I didn’t like the idea of others touching her.
“Well, the one man I had didn’t want me,” she said sadly. “But it doesn’t matter now; I’m a free woman.”
I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but I did like the idea that she wasn’t with anyone.
Standing up straight, Stella looked up at me and blinked with wonder in her eyes. “Thank you for helping me down here.” Lifting up on her toes, I thought she was going to kiss me on the cheek, but at the last moment, Stella turned her head and brushed her lips to mine.
It was such a simple gesture, yet it set an electric current through my body. I stood stunned for a moment before my wits came back to me. “You’re welcome. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.”
Her eyes lit up, and I realized how what I said sounded.
“Goodnight, Remy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Or in my fantasies, because there was no way I wouldn’t be thinking about her tonight while I beat off in the shower.
3
Stella
My head pounded as I cracked open my eyes, and the bright light coming through the porthole drilled into my brain. Why did I drink so much yesterday? I swore there was a drink in my hand from the moment we stepped foot onto the boat.
I vowed to myself in that moment, I wouldn’t drink today. I wasn’t sure my head and body could take another drop.
Looking over to the bed on the other side of the room I shared with Pen, I found it empty. The sheets were thrown all over the place, so I assumed she’d slept in it. I hadn’t made my way back to the group after I came down to my room. Instead, after I used the bathroom, I fell onto my bed and promptly fell asleep.
My need for coffee had me climbing out of bed despite how miserable I felt. Slipping out of my dress from last night because I couldn’t even bother to get undressed, I put on a pair of Capri yoga pants and a t-shirt, and pulled my hair up into a low ponytail. I didn’t care what everyone else was wearing. All I wanted was to be comfortable while I was miserable.
Finding my darkest pair of sunglasses, I slid them on and headed out to find my friends. Keeping my head low, I trudged out to where we seemed to spend most of our time. All the girls were already eating breakfast and having mimosas when I stumbled out into the daylight t ocean breeze.
A round of cheers erupted as I took my seat beside Pen, making me cringe. “Please,” I held my hands up, “I have the worst hangover.”
“We were worried about you when you didn’t come back last night,” Scarlett said quietly.
That was sweet. I didn’t think they’d notice me gone.
“We sent Pen here to make sure Remy hadn’t taken advantage of you, and she found you sound asleep.” Reagan wrinkled her nose at me like I was going to make or break their night. I was sure they did just fine without me.
“Sorry, once I got to my room and got all warm, exhaustion hit me, and I just wanted to go to bed.”
Pen leaned over with her lips curled up at the ends. “Did anything happen with tall, dark, and handsome last night after he walked you to our room?”
I wanted to tell her of my stupidity, but I kept quiet since I knew the rest of the table would hear me. Instead, I only shook my head.
“I thought for sure something would happen when you pretended to stumble,” Reagan laughed.
“I wasn’t pretending,” I practically growled at her. “All the alcohol from the day rushed to my head. I probably would have fallen down the stairs if he hadn’t escorted me down.”
I was not in the mood to deal with Reagan’s shit this morning.
A flash of me rising up on my tippy-toes and brushing my lips across Remy’s last night hit me. Ugh! How embarrassing. Now I’ll never be able to face him.
Pen pretended to drop her napkin and then whispered from underneath the table. “I think you’re holding something back, but I’ll wait until we’re alone to get it out of you.”
My only response was to give her big eyes.
Ophelia came out then with a steaming cup of coffee. It was like she read my mind, or maybe she saw the way I cringed at the sunlight.
“Thank you. You’re a godsend,” I said over the rim of my coffee before I took a long sip.
“Would you like anything
for breakfast?” she asked as she started to pick up the plates from everyone else.
With everyone already finished, I wanted something fast. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’ll have a spinach omelet.”
“No problem at all. I’ll let the chef know.” Ophelia smiled at me before she asked. “What do you want to do today?”
“We want to play on the toys,” Zelda answered. “I want to ride one of those jet skis and hit the waves.”
“We can do that. I’ll have the crew get them out. Would you like the slide as well?”
I could picture myself going down the slide and then losing my bottoms, only to never find them again.
“That sounds like fun,” the rest of the girls chimed in.
I guess I should have put on one of the tiny bikinis Pen had gotten me to be ready for today.
With every sip I took, my head pounded a little less, and by the time I was done with my second cup of coffee, the world was tolerable again. Relaxing back in my seat, I let out a contented sigh.
“Are you back with the living?” Scarlett joked with me.
“Finally. I can’t remember the last time I drank that much. How do the rest of you not have hangovers?” I asked as I looked around the table at each of them. They all seemed too happy and wide awake.
“That’s what the mimosas are for.” Zelda held hers up in a cheers gesture. “When you’re finished with breakfast, why don’t you join us out on the water?”
“Sounds perfect.”
All the girls got up except for Pen. She sat lazily finishing off her drink. “Are you coming, Pen?”
“I’ll be there in a moment. I’m going to finish my drink and check my emails first.”
“You work too hard,” Zelda told her, shaking her head.
“And you don’t work at all,” Pen said under her breath. “Unless you count giving blowjobs.”
“Pen,” I scolded with a laugh because it was true. I didn’t think Zelda had ever worked a day in her life unless it was under a man to get his money.
Her only response was to give me a knowing look before we both started cackling like two old ladies gossiping.
She looked around us to make sure we were alone before she leaned back with one arched brow. I knew I couldn’t get out of telling her what happened, and she knew me too well for me to keep what happened a secret.
“You’re impossible, you know that,” I laughed with a roll of my eyes.
“Spill,” she looked around as if at any second someone was going to pop out from the shadows and hear.
“Fine,” I huffed. “I sort of kissed Remy last night.”
“What? When?” she whisper-yelled.
Leaning in close, I looked around to make sure no one would hear. “After he walked me to our room, I leaned up and kissed him.”
Pen squealed with a big smile on her face. “Was it good?”
Okay, maybe I’d over-embellished a little bit since there weren’t any details to give.
“It wasn’t so much of a kiss as it was our lips touched.” I could feel my face heat up at making what happened sound like more than it was. Maybe it was because I was wishing it was more.
With furrowed brows, she asked quietly. “He didn’t, like, push you away or anything, did he?”
“No, nothing like that. I said goodnight...I should have tried for more even though I’m pretty sure it’s frowned upon to hook up with the crew.”
“I don’t know. They said to ask for whatever we wanted. I say you ask for the hottie and see if they serve him up on a silver platter. Hmm,” she hummed to herself and tapped her chin with her manicured fingernail. “I think we need to find more opportunities for you to spend time with him. Just the two of you.”
“That’s probably not a good idea. I don’t want to get him fired. I would never forgive myself if I was the cause of him losing his job.”
Pen’s hands flew in the air as she stood. “Don’t worry about that. Let me see what I can come up with while you eat your breakfast. In the meantime, I’m going to see if I can convince all the guys to take off their shirts while they help us with the water toys.”
“Good idea,” I laughed. Pen never had a problem getting guys to do what she wanted, and I, for one, wouldn’t mind some eye candy for the day.
Stepping down onto the inflated platform, the ground underneath me rippled, causing my arms to shoot out for balance. That was unexpected. How the hell did everyone else make it look so easy?
Luckily, everyone already did the slide and was tired of it by the time I ate my breakfast and changed into my bathing suit, so I didn’t have to worry about it.
One of the other crew members stepped out from a cove in the back of the boat and over to me; I thought his name was Owen. “What would you like to do? All the personal watercraft are being used, but you could paddleboard or just lay out if you want. Whatever you want.”
I’d never tried to paddleboard. It looked like it could be fun. With the other girls out doing their thing, I could get some exercise in and enjoy exploring the cove we were in.
“I think I’ll try the paddle board. Owen, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. It’s Owen.”
“Sorry, I’m not a hundred percent yet after yesterday.” I hated not knowing his name. I was sure it was a common occurrence for them, but I wasn’t some elite snob who thought she was better than everyone else. I was far from it.
“That’s alright. Believe it or not, it happens quite frequently here. Especially when Ophelia is making the drinks.” He said the last quietly and then winked.
Got it. Watch out for drinks from Ophelia.
“I got it from here, Owen. You can take your break,” Remy said as he went over to the few paddleboards that were leaning against the side of the boat and then bent down to grab a paddle. I watched as his tight shorts showcased his ass. He still had his shirt on, so I guess Pen didn’t get her wish, but damn, was he fine. “Have you done this before?”
“Nope, I live in the desert and haven’t seen the ocean in…” I shrugged because I couldn’t remember, “I don’t know how long, but it’s definitely been too long. Is it hard?”
“Do you have good balance?” He promptly covered his mouth with his hand. He must have been remembering my grand entrance to the yachting world and his subsequent need to save me.
“Normally, it’s not too bad. I do yoga regularly.” But I obviously didn’t have my sea legs because I had problems since boarding.
“Then you should be fine. We do require you to wear a lifejacket in case you do fall in. I told the others they were to slow down when they were close to the boat, but if I were you, I’d head inward just in case they forget. You don’t want a rogue wave taking you down.”
“So a wave could make me fall in?” I asked, unsure if this was the right activity for me. I didn’t love getting my hair wet.
“It could, but I wouldn’t worry about it.” He smiled, trying to reassure me, and a dimple popped out—a freaking dimple. I was done for. He probably had women throwing themselves at his feet just because of his looks.
“Maybe I should wait until one of the jet skis is available. There’s probably less of a chance for me to fall in the water that way.” Plus, it wouldn’t be so bad if I could hang out here with Remy alone for a while.
“Have you ever driven one?”
“No,” I drew out the word in frustration, annoyed at all the things I’d missed out on because I was too busy working to support my husband over the years.
He looked out toward where the girls were zipping along the water. “You might want to either ride with one of the girls, or one of the crew can show you how.”
That sounded promising. “Can you show me?”
“If you want me to...or one of the other guys can show you,” he added a few seconds later.
Now would be my chance to have my body plastered against his. I could wrap my arms around his trim waist, and...hell yeah, I wanted Remy to show me how to drive one
of those things.
“I’d love it if you could show me.” Now all I needed was the girls to be done so I could have my turn.
“While we wait, I need to inform my senior deckhand that I’ll be going out with you and that he’ll be in charge.” Remy turned and started up the steps. Once he was halfway up, he looked over his shoulder. “Don’t fall in while I’m gone.” He winked and then continued to walk away.
Ugh! I was never going to live down falling overboard. With him saying that, I almost wanted to try my hand at driving the jet ski without him, but I also didn’t want to die just because I was embarrassed.
One watercraft was headed back toward the boat when Scout, who was short with shaggy brown hair, brown eyes, and a megawatt smile, came down the steps. He looked like a mix of young and now Zac Efron.
“I hear you’re going to give it a go,” Scout said with an Australian accent that nearly took me to my knees. I was a sucker for an accent, add on good looks, and hot damn, he was a winner.
Sitting on the edge of the platform, I let my legs drift in the water. Looking over my shoulder, I found Scout staring down at me. “I’m going to give it my best. It’s not too hard, is it?”
“I have faith in you.”
“Even after I had to be rescued yesterday?”
“Even if,” he smiled. “Don’t let Remy give you a hard time. I think it scared him that someone could have drowned on his first season of being the bosun.”
“What’s a Bosun?” It sounded super official and kind of hot. It made me think of Remy last night in his tight black uniform and how hot he looked in it.
Scout looked over his shoulder before he sat next to me with his feet dangling in the water. “It’s the ship’s officer who’s in charge of equipment and the crew.”
“So he’s important.” Scout nodded. “And having someone fall overboard or drown would be bad.”
“It’s bad anytime someone drowns.”
“Of course, I didn’t mean…”
“I know, but it would be for everyone in general, not just Remy.”