Going Overboard

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  He laughed in spite of himself and shook his head. “Oh, boy.”

  “So you would have made love to me without using anything?”

  “Looks like it, doesn’t it?”

  “Hmm.” She gave him a slow smile.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s nice to know Chance Jefferson isn’t quite as buttoned-down as he pretends.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t like being at a disadvantage, and he always seemed to get in that position, with Andi. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep this little incident just between us.”

  “Of course.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What shall we do now?” she asked.

  “Go to bed—separately.”

  “Well, that’s pretty obvious, but what about the rest of the week?”

  “Andi, we’re on a houseboat with two other people. I went crazy enough to want to make love out here on the sand, but obviously that has certain…hazards. And I don’t know about you, but even if we had birth control, I wouldn’t feel very comfortable getting wild and crazy inside the houseboat, with Nicole and Bowie just down the hall. The only doors on this barge are for closets and the bathroom. Neither place seems appropriate, so I think it’s a moot point.”

  “That stinks.”

  “To be honest, it probably saves us from making a terrible mistake.”

  “It didn’t feel like a terrible mistake a little while ago. If you’re so intent on being honest, why don’t you admit it felt damn good, Chance?”

  And it still would, he thought, watching her standing there, her breasts thrust forward in defiance. He remembered how the blood had raced in his veins when she’d arched into his caress. “I want you, Andi,” he said quietly. “After this, I can’t very well pretend not to. But our lives don’t fit together, and all we can do is hurt each other. That’s not going to promote family harmony, and I don’t think either of us wants to make difficulties for Bowie and Nicole.”

  “Ah, I see, the reasonable, responsible Chance is back in control.”

  “Barely.”

  “Well, that’s something.” She turned and hoisted herself up on deck. “Good night, Chance.”

  He watched her go, and then he swore under his breath. For the first time in his life, he truly resented the wealth and position life had settled on him. Had he been the only one to consider, he would have figured a way around all the obstacles. He would have made love to Andi Lombard.

  “HEY, the stock market rebounded last night!”

  Chance’s enthusiastic announcement from somewhere in the front of the boat woke Andi up.

  “Bully,” she muttered. “Better than an orgasm anytime, right, Chance, old boy?” She’d gone to sleep frustrated and had awakened in the same condition, although the smell of bacon and coffee coming from the kitchen helped mollify her. From the sound of things, everybody was up except her. Waves slapped the side of the boat and a breeze blew through the tiny window over her bunk. She peered out at a cloudy day and choppy gray water.

  Hopping down from the top bunk, she located her duffel bag in the stash of supplies on the bottom bunk and went into the bathroom to change into her spare bathing suit. Acting so impulsively with Chance had been a stupid move, she thought as she took off her nightie and put on the suit. Recently, she’d vowed to start looking before she leaped into romantic encounters. Maybe then she’d find herself kissing Mr. Right instead of the usual Mr. Wrong.

  The black tank-style suit might be a tad provocative, she thought as she glanced in the bathroom mirror. A lace insert down the front and each side didn’t leave much to the imagination. But what woman deliberately bought a suit that made her look sexless? Mother Teresa, maybe. Not Andi Lombard. Chance would just have to deal with his hormones, she decided, walking out into the kitchen.

  Bowie looked up from the bacon he was turning with a familiar-looking barbecue fork. “He-ere’s Andi!”

  “Morning. Did every—”

  “Oh, God!” Chance wailed from the table which had become his temporary office. “Quick, throw me a towel, somebody.”

  Andi grabbed a towel from the kitchen counter and threw it at his head with a certain amount of relish. He caught it and started mopping his keyboard.

  Nicole slid down from her perch on the captain’s chair and went over to watch. “What happened, Chance?”

  “Spilled my coffee.”

  Bowie paused with the fork in midair. Then he turned to give Andi the once-over. “Uh-huh. Wonder what came over him? Any ideas, Andi, sweetheart?” He winked at her. “Nice suit, by the way.”

  Nicole looked over at Andi and back at Chance. She grinned. “It is a nice suit, don’t you think, Chance?”

  “Didn’t notice,” he mumbled.

  Bowie leaned closer to Andi. “He didn’t notice,” he said in a stage whisper. “It was pure coincidence that the minute you came into the room, he started pouring his coffee into his computer.”

  “I guess I’ll just have to let it dry out and hope it still works.” Chance picked up the open laptop as if it were an injured animal and carried it out to the front deck.

  Nicole clapped her hands together. “I love it. I haven’t seen him this rattled since he got showered with champagne at our reception. I wish I’d seen his face when you first walked in just now. I’ll bet his jaw was on the floor.”

  Andi looked down at the black suit. “Is it too much? I’m beginning to get a complex. Every time I’m around, something crazy happens to Chance.”

  “It’s time a few crazy things happened to Chance,” Bowie said. “The guy needs to have his chain rattled. Now, if anyone cares to scramble up a few eggs, the bacon’s about ready.”

  “I’ll do it,” Nicole said.

  “Nope. I will. You relax.” Andi opened the refrigerator and took out a carton of eggs. “How did you sleep last night?”

  “Unfortunately, your niece kicked most of the night, so I didn’t sleep a lot.”

  Andi paused in the midst of closing the refrigerator door. “That’s too bad.” She wondered if Nicole had heard what had gone on in the sand outside the boat the night before.

  Chance came back in. “I put the laptop on a deck chair outside, but turned it away from the sun. I think it’ll dry quicker that way than leaving it in here.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Nicole said, “but it sounds logical. I’d offer you a hair dryer, but I didn’t bring one. Did you, Andi?”

  “Nope.” She stood next to Bowie and cracked eggs into a bowl while butter melted in a frying pan “I figured I wasn’t on this trip to be gorgeous.”

  Bowie lowered his voice. “Just sexy as hell.”

  She answered out of the corner of her mouth as she whipped the eggs. “These are the suits I happen to have, okay?” She poured the eggs into the frying pan.

  “Very okay. He’s a basket case.”

  “By the way, I heard those crazy wild burros braying last night,” Nicole said. “And you tearing out to save Andi, Chance.”

  Andi froze. Sound tended to carry in such an open area. How much else had Nicole heard? Not that there had been much talking. Moaning and gasping, but not much conversation.

  She turned, a spatula in her hand. “Yeah, it was very sweet, Nic. He’d never heard what real burros sound like, and he thought some drunks were out there having a party. I explained it, and that was that. It’s nice to know chivalry isn’t dead.” She didn’t look at Chance.

  “It’s nice to know my brother isn’t, either,” Bowie said.

  Andi kicked him. “Eggs are ready.”

  During breakfast they plotted the cruising for the day. Andi sat across from Chance. She couldn’t help noticing that he seemed intent on keeping his gaze on her face whenever he looked in her direction. Even then, there was a banked heat in his blue eyes that made her stomach flutter every time she saw it. His hormones were definitely giving him problems. But then, so were hers.

  “I hope the weathe
r doesn’t deteriorate,” Nicole said, glancing at the cloudy sky outside the windows as they cleared away the dishes.

  “It’s not supposed to rain this week,” Andi said. “But we might have wind.”

  “Then we’ll just find a sheltered little cove and wait it out,” Bowie said. “Before we break up camp, though, I want Andi to teach me a couple of yoga moves.”

  “Seriously?”

  “I’m a man of many facets,” Bowie said. “And yoga’s always intrigued me. Maybe after we finish the dishes, we can—”

  “I’ll do the dishes,” Chance said. “You two go ahead.”

  “And what am I supposed to do?” Nicole asked.

  “Be pregnant,” Andi said, giving her a hug. “Go lie down in the back for a little while. If you didn’t sleep much last night, you probably could use some more rest.”

  Nicole looked relieved. “Thanks. Maybe I will, at that.”

  After she left, Chance turned to Bowie. “Is she okay?”

  “She says she’s fine. The baby’s just being especially active, that’s all. I told her we’d cut the trip short anytime she wanted to, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

  “She’s really looked forward to this week,” Andi said. “It would be a huge disappointment if we had to go home early, but we have to think about her health, too.”

  “We won’t go far from the marina today, just in case,” Chance said. “And don’t forget, I have the cell phone if we have an emergency.”

  “Let’s hope the stock market isn’t closing when we need to use it,” Bowie said.

  Chance gave him a lazy smile in response. “Have I increased your personal investments in the last six months or haven’t I?”

  “Yeah, but I’m a little worried about that ticker tape that’s started coming out of your ear every morning.” Bowie’s smile was just as lazy, but there was an edge to it.

  “I’m surprised you noticed. The laugh track that runs constantly in your brain must drown out everything else.”

  “Boys, boys.” Feeling like a dorm mother, Andi stepped between them. Her father would have suggested these two put on the gloves and go a few rounds to work out their frustrations with each other. He’d even tried that technique a couple of times when she and Nicole had been bickering, until their mother had protested that he was raising a couple of brawlers. “Come on, Bowie. I’ll teach you the salute to the sun.”

  “What sun? It’s cloudy.”

  “So maybe we’ll coax it out.” She gave him a steely stare. “And do not ever question the master, grasshopper. Always remember, you are but a speck of bug dung on the windshield of humanity.”

  “You’re not the first person to offer that opinion.”

  Andi had been kidding, but she wished she could pull the joke back. No doubt when his father had told him something similar, he’d been deadly serious. And Chance wasn’t improving Bowie’s self-esteem. She really needed to knock him off his almighty perch. Nobody ever deserved it more.

  CHANCE WASN’T PREPARED for the sight of Andi demonstrating yoga moves in the bathing suit that had made him dump coffee on his keyboard.

  He tried not to watch. The sink was at right angles to the deck, and if he faced straight ahead while he washed dishes, he only caught flickers of the activity out of the corner of his eye. But, sure as the world, before long he’d be standing like an idiot, his hands motionless in the soapy water while he stared outside at Andi executing her salute to the sun.

  She and Bowie faced east, which made a great deal of sense if you were saluting the sun, but that meant presenting her cute little backside to Chance, and that was not helpful, not helpful at all. Several of the moves involved bending over, which gave him a heart-stopping view of her firm and very inviting behind. When she placed both her feet and her palms on the deck and lifted her hips high in the air, he nearly broke a glass as it slipped from his fingers and clattered into the sink.

  His only relief from surges of sexual arousal came from watching Bowie, who was definitely yoga-challenged. Chance didn’t kid himself that he’d be any better at it than Bowie, but still, his brother’s uncoordinated efforts made him chuckle. He was a little surprised that Andi didn’t kid Bowie about his performance.

  He regretted the exchange he’d just had with Bowie, but after the effort he put into making sure all the family investments stayed solid, it rankled to have Bowie accuse him of being preoccupied with money. As if he kept track of the stock market for his own benefit. He had little use for money, but his mother needed a strong retirement account, and Bowie needed funds for the baby’s security. Everybody expected him to take care of that.

  He continued to watch Andi work with Bowie, and his admiration grew. Bowie’s request for a lesson had been sincere, and Andi was doing her earnest best to teach him. Good teachers didn’t ridicule their students, and Andi was obviously a very good teacher. Maybe she’d finally found her niche. From what Nicole had said, Andi had been searching for the right career for years. Chance wondered if she realized just how talented an instructor she was, and if she was capitalizing on that talent.

  Then, suddenly, the lesson was over, and as they turned to come back inside, Chance started washing furiously to make up for lost time.

  “That was great,” Bowie said. “Let’s do that every morning. I’ve always wanted to be more flexible, and this beats ballet lessons.”

  “You were going to take ballet?” Chance asked. He risked looking up, and realized he shouldn’t have. The exertion had left Andi’s face flushed and her hair a little mussed, just as it might be if she’d been making love. God, how he ached.

  “They say it’s great for flexibility and rhythm, both of which I ain’t got,” Bowie said.

  “Yoga won’t be much help with rhythm,” Andi said, “but you don’t have a problem with that, judging from the way you danced last night.”

  “I’ve practiced a lot. Chance here picked it up naturally. Played drums in a garage band during high school.”

  “Really?” She gave Chance one of those looks that fried his circuits. “I’ve heard drummers are the craziest members of the band.”

  “I was the exception.” Chance returned his attention to the dishes.

  “Don’t believe him,” Bowie said. “He had the makings of a wild man, but Dad convinced him of the error of his ways and brought him into line. I guess Dad decided I was hopeless and left me alone. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no talent for drums, so the band folded.”

  “I see.” Andi walked over to the counter and took a dish towel off the rack. “You’re not very far along on this chore, drummer boy. I’ll dry.”

  “That’s okay. You helped cook. I’ll do it.” The close-up scent of her brought back those heady moments from the night before, and he was having trouble breathing normally.

  “I feel as if I ought to do something,” she said, grabbing a dish from the strainer.

  Put on more clothes, Chance thought. “I guess we should pick up everything from the beach, if we’re going to leave.”

  “I’ll do that,” Bowie said. “You guys finish up the dishes.” In a flash he was out the door, leaving them standing alone together at the sink.

  Chance searched for something to say. He cleared his throat. “Thanks for covering for me with Nicole.” He set a glass in the strainer and miraculously didn’t break it in the process. His hands were shaking.

  “I said I would. She may know more than she’s saying, though.”

  “They both do.” He took a deep breath and leaned both hands on the edge of the sink to steady himself. “Andi, if you-have any compassion in your soul, you’ll put on something extremely shapeless and ugly over that suit.”

  “Bothers you, huh?”

  He didn’t look at her. Didn’t dare. “Yeah.”

  “Bowie thinks you need to have your chain rattled.”

  Chance bowed his head. “Bowie’s clueless about the kind of pressures I’m under. He has no idea what would happen to Jefferson Sport
ing Goods if I threw caution to the wind, like he does.”

  “Or maybe he cares more about you than about that precious business.”

  He stared at her.

  “New concept, isn’t it? Bowie watching out for you for a change. Well, drummer boy, I’m not covering up. Just remember, it’s for your own good. I think I’ll go check on Nicole.” She ran a fingernail down his backbone and sauntered toward the hallway. Just before she turned the corner, she looked back at him, raised her hand to her lips and blew him a kiss.

  He groaned and closed his eyes.

  “That’s done,” Bowie said, coming in through the front sliding door. “Aren’t you finished with those dishes yet? You are the slowest dishwasher in the world, bro. Where’s Andi?”

  Under my skin. “Checking on Nicole.”

  “Good. Think I’ll do the same. And by the way, you’re working too hard at that dishwashing job.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been scrubbing that same plate since I walked in the door, and it looked clean when you picked it up.” He headed down the hallway in the same direction Andi had gone.

  7

  AS CHANCE WAS finally rinsing the last dish, Bowie and Andi came back.

  “She’s got a slight backache,” Bowie said. “And of course she’s not supposed to take painkillers or anything. We forgot to bring the thing she uses for it, one of those gel packs you heat in the microwave. She thinks this is a stupid idea, but I’d like to go back to the marina and see if the general store has anything like that.”

  “Let’s do it,” Chance said. His pulse quickened. Oh, God, he’d have a chance to buy—no, he wouldn’t think about that now. He had to concentrate on Nicole. “You’re sure she’s okay?”

  “She seems fine,” Andi said, “but those microwaveable packs are great. I recommend them to my yoga students all the time. If the general store doesn’t have any, there’s a little town not too far down the road. I’ll volunteer to go. Then we’ll have the heat pack for the whole trip. I’ll bet she’d sleep better with it, too.”

  “Great,” Bowie said. “Come on, Chance, let’s get those stakes pulled up and take this sucker back in.”