by Lauren Wood
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
BE MY SAILOR
A SINGLE DAD AND VIRGIN ROMANCE
LAUREN WOOD
Contents
Be My Sailor: A Single Dad and Virgin Romance
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Billionaire Romance Series
Sports Romance Collection
Bad Boy Romance Series
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Copyright © 2017 by Lauren Wood
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. While, as in all fiction , the literary perceptions and insights are based on life experiences and conclusions drawn from research, all names, characters, places and specific instances are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. No actual reference to any real person, living or dead, is intended or inferred.
Be My Sailor: A Single Dad and Virgin Romance
Published by Wood Publication, CA
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BLURB:
Kayla Peters has never been away from home. Living sequestered in the Midwest had made her nervous about getting out of her comfort zone. Her parents wanted her to be close by, but her studies in law made it necessary to move to Boston.
Harvard law school was where she was going to get her degree. She had no time for the entanglements of a relationship, but when she spies one of her fellow classmates Francis Augustine all that goes out the window.
He’s a playboy with a lot of money and knows how to attract the ladies with his dimples and his casual way of flirting.
What he doesn’t suspect is an introverted young girl sitting across from him that is going to steal his heart. He had never met a woman like her and her fresh outlook and naïve ways made him believe that love was possible.
What happens when they realize that they don’t exactly mingle in the same circles? Can they overcome their differences?
***
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Be My Sailor: A Single Dad and Virgin Romance
“I’ve rented an entire cruise ship but never knew we will be accompanied by a mermaid…”
Blurb
Her graceful innocence surprised me.
The way she stared at me with her intensity made me so hard I could barely control myself from taking her in front of everyone.
I wanted to feel her skin against mine, her warmth against my heat.
I wanted her to scream my name in her voice that had the ability to turn Ash into fire.
I craved to corrupt her, take away the innocence she’d prized for twenty-one years. Make this one week unforgettable in her memory.
Life gives you a lot but takes away even more. I learnt this a long time ago, but never had I wanted my little daughter to face it. I have money, a lot of it, but even that couldn’t save her mother from death.
Now, I need to bring back the brighter part of life she’s lost the vision of. I want to see her truly smile again.
A week long cruise to the Bermuda might achieve this.
But then I saw her.
And she did come for me, multiple times; giving me the solace I didn’t know I needed.
But there are people I don’t trust in here. The Journey of the deep blue might not be as pretty as it’s supposed to be.
Is this solace going to be another thing I’d lose to life?
***
Chapter 1
Dana
After Oceania docked at the Port of Miami, I met my father in the reception lobby to bid farewell to our passengers as they disembarked. There was always a certain sadness to it, saying goodbye to new friends and funny personalities that we knew we’d never see again. Even so, nobody ever wore anything but a smile, especially to shake my father’s hand and even to see me. My father wore his full captain’s uniform for these occasions, so tall and handsome, his brown hair graying just a bit around the sides. Captain Seth Ballard treated every passenger like a diplomat from the beginning of the cruise to the very end. And our customers often behaved in a similar fashion, if the rumors one heard about Washington debauchery were true.
They didn’t call Oceania ‘the commotion on the ocean’ for nothing.
After seven days of the pure recreation on the greatest floating resort on the high seas, the usually college-aged passengers walked past with relaxed smiles, darkly tanned skin, colorful t-shirts, swollen bellies. They'd eaten and drank and played to the hilt, a floating Spring Break, and there was nothing to do by then but to shake the captain’s hand and maybe a last-minute flirtation with his daughter, also the lead singer in the show band and, therefore, a shipboard minor celebrity.
One young man, who’d gone without wearing a shirt for
most of those seven days, had been especially amorous, despite Dana’s courteous refusals. She was well-experienced in the tender art of letting them down gently; she did it every single time.
“There’s the angel of the Atlantic,” he said, referring to more than just my blue eyes and blonde hair, which did give me a certain look, I suppose. But he went on, “I’m gonna take this cruise every six months until you agree to marry me,” he said, his voice looping with a slight surfer accent, popular in the West Coast, especially Southern California.
But Capt. Ballard smiled with a little nod. “We look forward to seeing you again … ”
“And again,” I said, “and again … and again … ”
We all shared a chuckle as the young man joined his friends and walked out of the air-conditioned reception area to the already humid Miami morning.
Another man approached with a woman on his arm, though both had arrived separately. He shook my father’s hand, thanked him for a fine voyage, then turned his attention to me. He was young, but he had a professional air that a lot of our frat-boy and sorority-sister passengers lacked. He asked me, “Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”
I smiled, deliberately bashful and more than just a little flattered. “I don't think so, Mr, Sanders.”
“Douglass, please. I’m telling you, Dana, a voice like yours, that face, that body ... ” This made me flinch, but not because I was uncomfortable with my body or with being complimented about it. More and more, I felt men on the ship staring at me, looking me up and down. And I knew why. Over the previous twelve years I’d grown from gawky tween to a pretty and vivacious teenage girl and then to an attractive young woman. I didn’t obsess over it, or use my looks the way Caroline did, but I knew I’d grown up to be quite pretty, and men were more and more interested in telling me so. But I didn’t like hearing it while I was standing next to my father!
Douglass went on, “You could be a big, big star. Don’t tell me that’s not what you really want.”
I glanced at my father, and he down at me. That made me nervous, because I never could keep anything from my father. Not that I lied to him, I never did. But I didn’t always want him to know what I was thinking every time. And he was so smart and knew me so well, it was just about impossible to prevent it.
So I gave him the answer I’d given before, the one or two times such an invitation had come up. “That’s really very sweet, but I just don’t think I’m ready yet.”
Douglass Sanders shook his head, his gorgeous brunette companion glancing around, increasingly annoyed with the conversation. “Dana, I’ve produced hits for Brianna, for Heather Gates, for New Girls in Town, and I can tell you … you’re ready.”
But I could feel my father’s gaze upon me, and I just didn’t want to get too far into it, not there and then. So I said, “Well, I’ve got your business card,” which wasn’t entirely the truth. He’d given me three of them.
“Use it,” Douglass said, pointing at me with his index finger as if he were shooting me with an imaginary gun. With that, he led he new conquest away, slipping his five-hundred-dollar aviator sunglasses over his face.
My father stared at me, and I tried to look away. It wasn’t easy, despite the many distractions in the lobby. Cruise director Caroline Sempter nodded and smiled and had to fend off would-be suitors of her own. Male passengers, and a lot of the females too, gave their eyes one long, last drag across Caroline’s face and body, committing it to memory. They copped their last feels, pulling her close for a kiss on the cheek, maybe a glance of side-boob. Caroline was the belle of the ball, and that didn’t surprise me; it happened every time. Caroline was gorgeous, with long, curly red hair, creamy freckled skin, green eyes, an hour-glass physique, long legs. The curves of her tones calves led up into her smooth thighs, their curves pressing against the inside of that white skirt. Her breasts were round and firm, straining the buttons of her blouse. Her waist was small and graceful, tempting any man to rest his hands there. She had thick, full lips that shimmered with gloss, plump and so kissable. The nape of her neck was creamy and freckled, her little ears hiding beneath all those brassy red curls. I’ve never had a thing for girls, but honestly, if I did, Caroline might be just the kind of woman I’d go after. And she was every bit as charming and outgoing as she was pretty, smiling and laughing and casually setting her hand on a man’s arm, his shoulder, leaning in close. She enjoyed their attention, and she enjoyed giving them her own. I often wondered what else she gave them, but I didn’t know for sure and, to be honest, I really didn’t want to know.
It was just one of the many things she and I didn’t have in common. Caroline had an outgoing way about her that I never had, a confidence, a certainty that she was the prettiest woman in the room, the most desirable, even if she wasn’t. Oceania was a floating playground for the young and frivolous with at least some money to spend and most of their lives ahead of them. The young men were almost exclusively well-built, toned, in the peak of their youth. And the girls were often flawless, with sparkling smiles and bodies free of even a speck of body fat. Even so, perhaps even more so because of it, Caroline flashed those big green eyes with practiced skill, rolling her shoulder just so.
Still smiling and nodding at the disembarking passengers, my father said to me, “Don’t forget the meeting, in the grand banquet hall.”
“Of course not, Daddy. When have I ever missed a meeting?”
He shrugged. “How often do we have staff-wide meetings at the last minute? Just running a tight ship, dear.”
“No no, you’re right, Daddy. But I’ll be there.”
“I know you will be,” he said, giving me a little kiss on the side of my head.
*
The grand banquet hall, the largest of three, was filled with every member of the Oceania staff. I sat near my father instead of with Sticks Simmons, Eric Newton, Barry Meuller and the rest of the musicians in the show band. The room still smelled quite strongly of bacon and coffee from the morning breakfast.
“There’s something a bit unique about our trip out to Bermuda this time,” my father said, his hands behind his back, pacing slowly in the front of the room. “In fact, in all my years on the sea, I’ve never come across anything like it.”
“Daddy?” I said, expressing the piqued interest of everybody in the room.
My father held his hands out to calm me and anyone else with my growing confusion. “All’s well, folks, take it easy. The thing is, we’re setting out with a very special guest.” But this only furthered my confusion. We’d had special guests before; celebrities, sports stars, even the sons of famous politicians. But we all knew not to share anything we saw happen or try to use it against any of the passengers, so there was no reason to gather us all together just for that.
My father explained, “His name is Preston Hutchinson.” I was thinking, How special could he be? I’ve never heard of him. But my father once again seemed to be reading my mind. “He made a fortune in tech stocks, real estate — ”
Barry Mueller brushed his long, feathered brown hair from his handsome face. “Is he famous? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of him.”
“He’s too rich to be famous,” my father answered, some of our crew chuckling. I noticed Hector Gonzales and a few of the other bartenders sharing smiles and nods. Wealthy single dads meant two things to bartenders; lots of drinks and big tips.
“Mister Hutchinson,” my father went on, “or Hutch as he apparently likes to be called, is arriving with his young daughter, Blu. She’s nine, I think, maybe ten.”
Oceania was basically a party boat, not perfect for a kid that age. But I could already name a dozen or more fun things for him to do, so I still couldn’t quite figure why my father had called this big meeting.
But then he stopped pacing, turned to face me and the rest of the crew. “And they’re coming alone.”
I was completely stumped. A man traveling with his son was no Earth-shattering news. It happened quite a bit, as I thought
about it. I had to assume, The guy’ll probably go home with a new girlfriend. If he's that rich, it’s almost a certainty.
I even thought I saw Caroline’s posture straightening just a bit, shoulders back, breasts pushing out from behind her uniform blue jacket.
“I think we can handle that,” Caroline said.
My father smiled. “I should hope so. Because when I said they were coming alone, what I meant was … they’re going to be our only passengers on this run.”
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. “The whole ship, Daddy?”
“Stem to stern,” he said. “As I said, it’s … unusual.”
I couldn’t help but repeat, “Unusual? It’s just … weird.” Members of the staff chuckled, but my father wore a stern, authoritarian expression and respectful silence returned to the grand banquet hall.
“You know better than that, Dana. He’s our passenger, and money or no money, he and his daughter deserve the best service we have to offer.”
“Of course, Capt. Ballard,” Caroline said, shooting a nasty little glare at me from the corner of her eye, careful not to let my father see. “We’ll show them the time of their lives, of course.”
Barry asked, “Does he have special requests for the band?”
“If he does,” my father said, “I’m sure he’ll let you know. Anything else?” No more questions rose up from the massive group, people on every level of pay and power. They shared silent nods and worried glances as my father dismissed us. “He should be here close to noon, so let’s be ready!” The crew disbanded, but my father glanced at me. “Oh, Dana, would you mind?” I knew he wanted me to stay behind for a private chat, and I had a good idea what he wanted to talk about.