“So, I have an awkward question, and you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to. I’m just curious.” Derek’s voice had an underlying stress which made it sound strained.
She turned and studied his face. “I’ll answer it. What is it?”
He swallowed. “Well, I was surprised when you agreed to get married because I thought you were still dating that one guy. What was his name?”
Nara groaned and closed her eyes. Why had Derek brought him up? She could have gone the rest of her lifetime without thinking about Cameron again. “You mean Fathead. That’s his name.”
Derek sucked in a breath. “Well, I think that answers my question.”
“Yeah, we broke up. And by that, I mean that he broke up with me the night before our one-year anniversary, after I had already bought surprise tickets for us to go see Hamilton. I was out a boyfriend and a buttload of money.”
“Ouch.”
Nara ran her hand through the sand, still amazed at how soft it was. “I went by myself. Cried the entire time. It was miserable.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, he did me a favor. The guy was self-absorbed.”
And now she was craving a Diet Coke like nothing else. She brushed the sand off her hand and stood. “I’m going to go in search of some sweet life-giving nectar. Did you see any soda vending machines around as we came in last night? I was too tired to look.”
“Check our room fridge. I had them stock it before we came.” Derek stood as well and draped his towel around his neck.
Nara couldn’t believe it. “You did?”
“Yeah. They asked what accommodations we’d like.”
“And you thought to mention my Diet Coke? I could kiss you right now.” Nara sprinted toward the deck. She was now officially in love with Derek Marshall. A few precious seconds later she had an ice-cold twelve-ounce bottle of her favorite drug of choice in her hands.
Derek entered the room and slid the glass door shut. She had half the bottle drained before he shut the door to the bathroom so he could change. It might have bugged her that he was giving up on the beach so quickly, but he did give it a good college try. And she appreciated that he wasn’t complaining.
Maybe being stuck with Emperor Derek wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Chapter 6
Derek gripped the railing and looked down at the ocean water, begging his stomach to settle down. He’d only been on a boat once before, and that had ended in disaster. He didn’t want to think about it. Not when he was barely holding it together. Why weren’t those motion sickness pills working? He’d taken two before they’d boarded. Had it not been long enough yet?
Nara sighed as the wind blew her hair in a way that made her look like she was a fashion model on a shoot. If he wasn’t so queasy, he would have snapped a photograph. As it was, he was too concerned about ruining her evening to enjoy anything.
“Isn’t this peaceful?” she said, her arms resting on the railing.
“Yeah.” He tried to sound upbeat. It came out more like a grunt.
She gazed out at the setting sun. “I love how the sunlight reflects off the water. This is the best, isn’t it?”
He nodded, and tried not to think about the gentle rocking of the ship, and how it was making his stomach feel. He was not going to have another horrifying experience. If he had to clamp his mouth shut the entire time, he was going to get through this without incident.
Nara glanced at him, and then did a double take. “Hey, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine,” he said through clenched teeth.
She squinted at him. “Are you seasick? Do you need anything?”
The boat lurched and he stumbled a bit, trying to regain his balance. His head began to spin. Nara grabbed his arm. “Come here. Let’s sit down.”
Derek followed her to a bench and obediently sat next to her. Nara took his hands in hers. “Is this your first time on a yacht?”
“No.”
“Really? When have you been on one before?”
Derek swallowed back the nausea. “Senior year. Prom. Took my date out to dinner. On a yacht.” Why was he talking like Yoda? There was definitely something wrong with him.
Nara squeezed his hands. “So, you knew before we boarded that you might get seasick?”
He nodded, then swallowed again. “Took some pills. Hoped that would help.”
“Sit here a second. I’ll be right back.”
Derek watched Nara rush off to go talk to someone. Maybe she was going to find more motion sickness pills. He didn’t much care, all he could do was watch her skirt swaying back and forth as she hurried, her sandals slapping on the wooden deck. Even though he was nauseous, he still thought she was beautiful.
He closed his eyes and tried to imagine he was on land, which didn’t work well because the swaying back and forth motion was too strong to imagine away. He never should have agreed to this. Why had he not just told Nara he didn’t want to do the yacht? It would have been simple. Except, she would have called him grumpy-pants or something, and he hadn’t wanted to be a downer. Well, if he threw up on her it would definitely worse than being a downer.
Nara came back on the deck with a glass of something. She hurried over and handed it to him. “Sip this. It might settle your stomach.”
He took the glass from her and put it to his lips. It tasted like ginger ale. “Thanks.”
“They’re turning the boat around. We’ll be back in just a few minutes.”
Derek sat up straight. “Wait, what? You won’t get your sunset meal.”
Nara frowned at him. “You’re miserable. Why would I want to stay on here while you’re feeling like this? Let’s just go find a place to eat somewhere on the island.”
“But I’ve ruined your evening.”
“Stop that. You have not. I’m fine.” She brushed her hair over her shoulder. “This is a vacation for both of us. We shouldn’t be doing just what I want to do. What are you hungry for?”
The yacht shifted and he clamped his mouth shut, gripping the glass of ginger ale like it was a lifesaver. His knuckles turned white.
“Never mind. You probably don’t want to be thinking about food right now. You’re kind of green. Let’s talk about something else.” Nara tapped the bench seat as she thought. “I know. Let’s talk about your favorite subject. Work.”
He gave her a weird look. “Work?”
“Yeah. That’s what you like most, right? Working at the company?”
A wave of sadness washed over him as he stared at her. Nara didn’t know him at all, did she? They’d known each other since they were kids, but she knew nothing about him. “That’s not my favorite thing.”
Her eyes grew wide. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope.”
“Then what is? Because I’ve only ever seen you working, or talking about work, or wanting to get back to work…” She looked up at the clouds, like she couldn’t remember anything else about him. “Okay, maybe you did talk about raisin oatmeal cookies when we were kids.”
He squinted at her. “What?”
“I remember this one time when someone at my Dad’s office brought in cookies, and you grabbed one thinking they were chocolate chip, but then you bit into it and it was raisin oatmeal, and you yelled for a good twenty minutes about how no one in their right mind should ever put raisins in a cookie, and how could they do this to you when you thought it would be chocolate.” She grinned. “Remember that?”
He laughed. “No, but that sounds like something I would say. I hate raisins in cookies.”
“Okay, mission number one, make Derek loosen up. Mission number two, find out what Derek likes besides working.”
“I’m sitting right here. Why are you referring to me in the third person?”
“Because I’m making a note to myself.”
“Make another note. Don’t take Derek on another boat.”
Nara snorted. “I made that note a long
time ago, when I first saw how green your face was.”
A few minutes later the boat docked and one of the crew came to tell them it was safe to deboard. Nara took his hand. “Let’s go.”
Once they were back on land, the guilt set in Derek’s chest. He walked beside her on the sidewalk by the pier. “I’m sorry I ruined your evening.”
“You didn’t. I told you that already. Besides, I just wanted to rent a yacht because I knew it would be expensive. Now I get to charge another meal on Pop’s credit card. One more twist of the knife in Dad’s pocketbook.”
Derek frowned, a sadness making his chest heavy. Richard Claymore was like a father figure to him. He hated to see the distance between him and Nara. He shoved his fists into his pockets and looked down at the sidewalk reflecting the streetlamp. “Do you really hate him that much?”
Nara stiffened and looked up at him. “Don’t worry. He’s a bazillionaire. He can handle a couple of small charges on his credit card. I doubt he’ll even notice.”
That wasn’t what Derek was asking, but he decided to drop it. Nara and her father had a complicated relationship. He knew that. He just wished she were nicer to her father. Especially since his health had been declining. Richard hadn’t told Derek anything, but he had noticed how gaunt her father had become. Something was wrong, and her father wasn’t talking about it.
“Are you feeling better?” Nara’s large eyes stared up at him.
“A bit. Still a little queasy.”
“You had it bad. Your prom dinner thing probably didn’t go well.”
He cringed. “Yeah. Not well at all. Tossing your cookies on your date’s lap isn’t exactly the most romantic thing you can do.”
Nara gasped. “Seriously? That’s what happened?”
Derek hated to admit it, but he nodded anyway. “Terrible, huh?”
She whacked his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me that when I was going on and on about renting a yacht?”
Why did she have to keep asking him that? He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the darkening sky. “I guess I didn’t want to be called a party pooper.”
Nara stopped walking and grabbed his arm, jerking him to a halt. Her eyebrows drew together. “Have I been like that? Because that sounds like something I’d say. And if that’s why you got on a boat even though you knew it would make you sick, I’m so sorry.”
Derek stared at her, not only because he was shocked at the sincere expression on her face, but also because something about her captured his attention. Maybe it was the way he was reacting to her touch. Or maybe because he hadn’t seen her care about him before. Whatever it was, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I mean, I want to get you to loosen up, but I don’t want you to do things you hate just because I suggest them. Please tell me if I’m pushing too hard in the future. I need you to be honest with me about that kind of stuff.” She squeezed his arm and then let go. “Okay?”
He didn’t know what to do other than to nod. “Yeah, sure. Okay.”
“Thanks. Because my goal to get you to not be so stuffy shouldn’t make you do things like get on a yacht when you know you get seasick. Let’s make a deal. If I’m trying to get you to do something, and you don’t want to because of a reason, you’ll tell me the reason. And if I think it’s valid, then we’ll skip it. But if you’re just being lame, I reserve the right to whine and beg and push until you give in.” She gave him a grin. “Sound good?”
“All right.”
“I’m glad we cleared that up. Because I was starting to feel really guilty over the whole yacht thing.”
They continued along the sidewalk, walking in a comfortable silence for another fifteen minutes. Derek’s stomach settled down as they walked, and he started to feel a lot better.
“Stop,” Nara said, halting. She took in a deep breath through her nose. “Do you smell that? What is that?”
He did smell something. Seafood, maybe? “It smells good.”
“Over there.” Nara pointed at a small shack. It had the words Baked Clams painted on the side. “I think the smell is coming from there. Let’s go check it out.”
He was starting to get quite hungry. “Okay.”
They entered the small restaurant, if you could call it that. It was literally a grass roof being held up by four tin walls. But the smells coming from the kitchen area were divine. There were three tables in a tiny eating area, all full of customers, but then he noticed a door that led to a back patio.
They each ordered a heaping paper plate of baked clams, a side salad, and soda. They took them on trays to the outdoor seating area. Nara picked up her fork. “These look delicious. I’m not even starting with the salad.” She dug into one of her clams.
Derek held in a chuckle. “Why did you order a salad, then?”
“Because I’ll eat it, just after I eat the clams.” She moaned as she ate one. “Oh, my gosh, these are so good.”
He took a bite of his salad but was seriously getting jealous of Nara. “But salad is supposed to be eaten first.”
Nara made a face. “Says who?”
“Says everyone. The salad comes before the main course. Everyone knows that.” He stabbed a cherry tomato with his fork.
Nara picked up another clam. “Well, do you think the etiquette police are going to come arrest me?”
“No. But you’ll enjoy the salad less if you’ve already eaten your clams.”
“So not true.” She scooped out the clam meat from the shell and ate it.
Derek ate his tomato, but the smell of the clams was making him even more hungry. After another couple of bites of a salad that was not making him happy, he finally pushed it aside and pulled his plate of clams to him.
Nara pointed at him with her fork. “Ha! See? You want to eat the clams first too.”
He hated to admit it, but she was right. He ignored her taunting and scooped out a shell. The taste of the clam with the garlic breadcrumbs was heavenly. He couldn’t help but groan as he ate it.
“I so win this conversation,” Nara said, a smug look on her face.
“All right, you win. The clams are delicious. The salad is just mediocre. But how am I going to be able to eat the salad after this? I can’t. It will go to waste.”
Nara rolled her eyes. “Loosen up. Next time we go out to eat I’m making you eat dessert first.”
Derek’s mouth dropped open and a gasp emerged. “Never.”
Nara laughed. “Oh, you are so making this a challenge. Now I have to get you to. I can’t back down now.”
“Come on, now. We aren’t anarchists.”
Nara’s grin widened, and she waved a hand at him. “Shut up and eat your clams.”
Chapter 7
Nara grabbed Derek’s hand, tugging him along the beach. They’d made it back to their resort and she’d convinced him to take a night stroll along the water’s edge. The full moon lit the way.
A wave washed over her feet, and Nara reveled in the feeling of the soft, wet sand beneath her. Ahead of them a small group of people were night fishing. A man struggled with the rod. As they neared, Nara called out to him. “Did you catch something?”
The man nodded. “Yeah. It’s big, too. I just can’t tell if it’s a shark or a stingray.”
“Mind if we watch you bring it in?”
“That’s fine.”
Nara stood beside Derek, watching the men trying to bring in whatever it was hooked on the end of the line. Derek stood, his hands in his pockets. He looked serious. So much like the Emperor she knew, even with his loud shirt on. She supposed no matter what he was wearing, he would still be the stoic man he’d grown up to be. It kind of made her sad.
They stood for a few minutes as the men tried to reel in the large whatever they had caught. Nara breathed in the salty air. “I hope you had a good day, even if you don’t love the beach.”
Derek peered down at her. He looked like he was contemplating something. �
��It was good.”
“I’m glad.”
One of the men shouted. “I see a fin. I think you caught a shark.” There was a commotion as the men tried to reel in the large fish without breaking the line. And then a wave receded and Nara could see the shark. It had to be about five feet long.
“Wow, that’s huge,” she said.
The man with the fishing rood hooted. “This is the largest one I’ve caught.”
Nara pulled out her phone. “Mind if I get a picture?”
“Go ahead,” the man said.
“You might not get a good one with your phone,” Derek said. “Not in the dark.”
“It’s fine.” Nara took a couple of photos and then turned. “Thank you,” she called as they started to head back.
The night air turned a bit chilly as they walked toward their resort. She involuntarily shivered as a breeze blew. Derek touched her arm. “You cold?”
“Just a little.”
He slid his arm around her shoulders. Warmth spread over her skin, and that crazy sensation of an electric current ran through her. It was pleasant. A little too pleasant, if she had to admit it to herself. But he was just being nice. He didn’t mean anything by it. She shouldn’t get all goofy over him. “Thanks,” she muttered.
It was almost a relief when they got back to their suite. She needed him to stop touching her. She quickly grabbed her pajamas and entered the bathroom. Her fingers shook as she tried to get into her nightclothes. Why was she so affected by Derek’s arm around her? It was stupid. Derek, of all people, shouldn’t be making her insides quiver. She shook her head and washed her face. After her heartbeat returned to a normal level, she exited the bathroom.
Derek was sitting in the chair at the desk typing on his laptop. He turned to glance at her. “Are you wanting to turn the light off and go to sleep?”
Nara shook her head. She had too much pent-up energy to be able to sleep right now. She rummaged through her art bag. Seeing her journal reminded her she still needed to write down her father’s newest insanity. She shoved it aside and pulled out her sketchbook. “I need some down time first. I think I’ll draw for a few minutes.”
A Marriage of Anything but Convenience Page 4