God, this was like being in the principal’s office that time after Elle and I thought it would be a good idea to moon the lacrosse team from the bus. I growled in frustration. “Fine. I was mad at you.”
“Why?”
Again with the why? “It’s stupid and I’d rather not say.”
His jaw twitched. “Clearly I did something to upset you. If you don’t tell me what it was, how am I supposed to avoid doing it again?”
“That’s the thing. You have every right to do it again. This isn’t your problem, it’s mine.”
“Give me something here, Rayne. You blew me off earlier and you’ve been dodging me all day. When I tried to touch you, you shouldered me away. You owe me some explanation.”
What did he have, a photographic memory? I huffed and mumbled in a rush, “I was mad about breakfast.”
He frowned. “What about breakfast?”
“That’s … my time with Remington.” His brows lifted and I blurted, “I hear how crazy that sounds. He’s your dad. But our mornings are my favorite part of my job. He talks to me about things I have no idea about. Every day he teaches me something and today you were there and you both talked right over me about things I have no part of.”
He chuckled and put down his glass. Rounding the table, he approached, and I felt so ridiculous, I couldn’t look at him. He cupped my face and kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize—”
“Yes, I do. That was rude of both of us, not including you in the conversation.”
And there it was. He’d misunderstood and I didn’t have the balls to correct him. This wasn’t about manners or including me in the conversation. It was about the pleasure I drew from getting fatherly advice from a man who wasn’t my dad.
“Thanks,” I whispered, because I really just wanted the whole matter put to rest. Pasting on a smile, I looked up at him. “Are you sure you’re okay? That seemed like a pretty intense phone call.”
Ah, it seemed we were all well versed in the fake smiles today.
He released my face and walked to the glass doors, showing me his back as he stared at the deck. He wasn’t going to talk about it.
“Hale?”
“We should do something fun.”
“Like what?” I was up for anything that got us out of this sudden funk. I wanted to reset the day and start over.
“Something exciting.”
We were on a boat. There was only so much we could do. “Did you want to play cards or something? Flip cup? I’m pretty decent at beer pong.”
Glancing over his shoulder, his smile finally reached his eyes. “I was thinking of something a little more exhilarating.”
“What did you have in mind?”
He faced me and asked, “Do you have a bathing suit?”
Chapter Thirteen
I’ll Punch a Predator Right in the Face
Hale found one of his sister’s swimsuits I could borrow, a pure white bikini that I’d never dare try on at a store where my reflection was solely between me and my demons. As I stared in the mirror, I stretched the material over my boobs, but it wouldn’t give, so I put my usual clothes on over top and went to find Hale.
After a few minutes of searching, I heard his and Eric’s voices toward the back of the boat, but they weren’t on the lower deck. “Hale?”
“Down here.”
I peeked behind the pool on the back deck and spotted him and Eric screwing metal tracks onto a small platform. “What are you doing?”
“Come down here,” Hale called and pointed to his right. “There are steps.”
Lo and behold, there were stairs. The yacht wasn’t moving, which had me worrying a propeller broke or something along those lines.
When I reached the small platform, both he and Eric were ducked inside a sort of hooded door. “Is something wrong with the boat?”
Hale climbed out of the compartment. “Did the suit fit?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Put this on.” He handed me a life vest.
This was it. The motor broke and we were all going to die. Or I’d end up on the news ten days from now found floating on a life raft, burnt to a crisp and dehydrated, speaking in tongues.
“That should do it. Guide her out, Eric.”
Hale held a remote control attached to a curled cord, and suddenly a loud motor buzzed, but not loud enough to be the yacht motor. Then I caught sight of a lime green spoiler.
Curious, I stepped close to the platform and my eyes went wide. “You have a boat inside a boat.”
Hale smirked. “It’s a Jet Ski.”
They literally had a garage and docking station right there on the yacht. “Is this why we’re stopped?”
The small motor silenced once the Jet Ski was fully out of the little garage. “We’ll be moving again soon. We’re just taking a little intermission.”
“We?”
“You better get that vest on if you want to come with me.”
Decisions. Decisions.
If I put the life vest on I could go with him, possibly drown in the middle of the ocean, but have the chance to wrap my arms around his waist and cling to his body in broad daylight. If I stayed safely aboard The Lady Parr there was no risk of being eaten by sharks.
Deciding that touching him was worth a shark attack, I stripped down to my suit. As I was bent over to remove my pants, I heard Hale growl, “Eyes back in your head, Eric.”
I quickly turned around and found Hale watching the other man carefully. Eric didn’t look at me, but I assumed he’d been looking right at my money pit when I bent over. Ew. Self-conscious, I slid my arms into the life vest, and Hale stepped in front of me.
He snapped the three clips in place and whispered, “You want to make sure it’s tight.” As he cinched the straps, I sucked in a gulp of air, and my heartbeat skipped into a gallop. He turned and said, “Drop the dock, Eric.”
The little slatted platform started to lower and Hale stripped off his shirt to slide on his life vest. Somehow the Jet Ski remained secure on the tracks until the dock was submerged and Hale guided it into the water.
Thankfully, the further south we traveled the warmer the weather. But the water, when I dipped my toe in, was frigid.
Hale straddled the Jet Ski, and the motor kicked on, the air briefly tinged with exhaust. Grinning, he held out a hand. “Your chariot awaits.”
Taking his hand, I stepped ankle deep into the ocean and squeaked. “It’s effing cold!” But Hale pulled me behind him and soon my feet were resting on the damp foot grips.
“Let her go, Eric.”
Eric hit a button on the remote, and we backed off the platform, now free floating in the ocean. “Oh, God.”
“Hold on tight.” Hale did a quick little rev of the motor and then I was screaming in his ear as we sped across the surf leaving The Lady Parr far behind.
It was probably a fascinating sight, but my eyes were screwed shut so tight I missed it. My ass took a severe beating as we bounced over waves, the surf spraying my skin as the sun hung high above us.
My lips tasted salty, and I desperately wanted to see if Hale was racing us toward our death, but I was too chicken shit to peek. My heart thundered in my chest and my hands were permanently embedded in his life jacket.
The deathtrap suddenly slowed and my screaming cut off.
“Look,” Hale yelled and it was hard to hear him over the pounding in my ears.
Forcing my eyes open, I stared ahead as we puttered toward the open horizon. “What am I looking at?”
“Dolphins.”
My gaze searched the water and I gasped. Three, no four—five—dolphins swam beneath us, weaving in and out of the surf, cresting the water in our wake as we went.
“Oh, my God!”
“Beautiful, aren’t they?”
More came and soon I lost count. Hale killed the motor and everything went silent aside from the gentle lapping at our feet.
I scann
ed the horizon for The Lady Parr and spotted her off in the distance, looking smaller than a rowboat. We sat in silence, watching the dolphins swim and then Hale sent our little craft rocking as he stood up.
“Come on.”
“What? Where?”
He plunged into the ocean and I panicked.
“Hale! Shit!” I grabbed the handles and did a shaky downward-facing-dog type stand as I waited for him to resurface. The second he did, I screamed, “Are you out of your mind?”
“What? It’s the ocean. People swim in it every day.”
“On beaches! We’re a million miles away from safety.”
He bobbed and laughed, waving me to join him. “Come on. I’ll protect you.”
“How are you going to protect me from a shark?” I snapped. “Get back on the Jet Ski!”
“How are you going to give up the chance to swim with dolphins in the wide open Atlantic?”
He had a point, but what about the Shark Week montage playing in my head? Shutting my eyes, I sent a little prayer up to my guardian angel and held my nose, propelling my body into the deep.
The water was fucking freezing! Breaking the surface, I gasped and caught my breath, my teeth immediately chattering.
Hale reached into a compartment at the back of the Jet Ski. “Here. Put these on.” He handed me a set of goggles and a snorkel and pulled out a set for himself.
Once I had them on, my legs pumping with every rolling swell, he smiled and popped the mouthpiece between his lips. When he took my hand underwater, I momentarily tensed, but then recognized the feel of his fingers entwining with mine. He gave my hand a tug and plunged his face under the surface.
I debated for a few seconds then dropped my face into the cool water, first checking if Jaws was lingering nearby. I watched a lot of nature shows and saw my fair share of deadly ocean encounters. Keeping my fingers laced with Hale’s and my free hand balled into a fist, I reminded myself that the best thing to do was punch the shark right in the nose if it attacked. But Jaws was nowhere to be found.
The world silenced, muffled by the cool ocean at my ears as I stared into the depths of the sea. Hale kept hold of my hand and squeezed. An unexpected calm washed over me as I took in the vast view. The ground didn’t exist and the coast was miles away. I never felt so alive and insignificant at the same time.
Here I was, floating like a speck in the deep, just one of the oceans on this vast planet, and nothing else existed for a moment—nothing but me, this, and Hale. I was suddenly a tiny part of the biggest thing I’d ever known. Life.
We floated for some time, the dolphins chirping around us as they curiously came close then drifted off again. There were no rules or politics here, only nature at its unrefined best. Sea plants and plankton floated in the water as we let the current hold us.
When we came up for air, the wind chilled my face. He pulled his goggles down around his neck and I pushed mine up like a headband over my hair.
“It’s indescribable, isn’t it?” He bobbed closer, brushing the drops off his brow.
“I feel so small. I don’t think I’ve ever been this far from civilization.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the yacht in the far distance. When his gaze returned to mine, he whispered, “We’re completely alone out here.”
Weight and heat gathered in my center as I looked at him, unsure if this was one of those times I should be bold or let him take the lead. Thankfully, he hooked a finger into my life vest and tugged me across the distance separating us. “Come here.”
My legs, slick under the water, wrapped around his hips as I clung to him. He kicked his legs slowly, keeping us upright in the rolling waves. His mouth gently closed over mine.
“What is it about you?” he asked, whispering against my lips.
His hand slipped into the bottom of my suit, softly squeezing my ass and I felt his body harden beneath mine. His erection bulged against my cleft and I instinctively wiggled closer as he groaned.
Pulling his mouth away, he whispered, “I’m usually much more reserved than this. But every time I see you I’m itching to touch you.”
I giggled and squirmed. “You don’t have to be reserved with me. I like seeing who you really are.”
His gaze met mine and held for a short moment as I suspected he had something to say but held back. “I’m not a bad guy, Rayne, but… things might get a little complicated once we reach Florida.”
That didn’t sound great. “Why?”
He shook his head, mouth pursed. “Can we put a pin in that conversation for a few days? Let’s see what this is between us first. If it’s truly something, we’ll get to all those talks, but right now I’m enjoying the simplicity of us.”
Being that I didn’t want to lay my soul bare in front of him just yet, I could respect his desire to take it slow with the personal stuff. In a week this whole little hook up might be over and done. No need to expose too much too soon. We were creating something easy and fun, which was really all I could manage. I didn’t want to bog it down with unnecessary stress.
I pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “No worries. I do better taking things day by day anyway. Whatever this is, I like it, and I don’t want to overcomplicate it.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman as straightforward as you. It’s refreshing. Maybe I’m jumping the gun here, but I feel like I can trust you.”
“You can.”
He smiled and reluctance flashed in his eyes.
Clearly, Hale had some trust issues and a story to share. When he was ready—if he wanted to tell me about it—I’d listen, but I didn’t need to know right now.
He glanced over his shoulder again. “We should get back.”
Reluctantly, I disentangled my limbs from his. “This was fun.”
“We can do it again. I can only take being onboard for a few days at a time.”
The return ride to the yacht was smoother, but we were both chilly and wet.
We had a few minutes of quiet idling as we waited for Eric to come to the back and help us dock.
“Thank you for taking me,” I whispered in Hale’s ear, pressing a kiss to the damp, salty skin of his neck.
He turned and kissed my lips. My body immediately responded and I wished we had a little more time to ourselves. But when our lips parted we weren’t alone. Eric stood on the platform watching us. His expression blank, but I knew he’d watched Hale kiss me.
I didn’t know why Eric’s judgment bothered me, but it did. I was a grown woman and allowed to kiss whomever I wanted, but for some reason, knowing Eric knew there was something going on between Hale and me, made me fearful. I didn’t want him to tell Remington because I didn’t want Remington to think poorly of me, like I was some gold digger trying to get in good with his son.
Hale jumped off first and helped me back onto the yacht. “Why don’t you grab a shower? Your lips are blue.”
I was shivering, so I nodded.
Hale remained below, working with Eric to get the Jet Ski back in the little boat garage. I grabbed a towel from beside the pool and dried off.
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
Startled, I pivoted, still ringing out my hair. “Remington. I thought you were napping.”
“Couldn’t sleep. That’s probably a good sign, but I’m still tired.”
I covered myself with the towel and got quiet, wondering if it was wrong that I’d used his Jet Ski.
“Don’t cover yourself on my account, Meyers. I’m old, but I don’t mind looking at pretty things from time to time.”
Scrunching my nose, I gave him a rebuking look. “Then watch the sunset, because I’m not about being on display.”
He chuckled. “Sit with me.”
“Okay.”
Settling in to the lounge chair beside his, I sighed. The sun heated my cool skin and removed the chill, but I still kept the towel wrapped around my body. We sat in comfortable silence.
“You like my son.”
Comfortable silence over. “I like everyone.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Meyers.”
I didn’t know what to say so I said nothing. The truth was I did like Hale. Very much so.
“Hale’s a good man,” Remington commented quietly. “I’d take issue with the two of you if you hadn’t told me you like being unattached. You’re both young. There’s no harm in enjoying yourselves.”
My tongue was literally stuck to the roof of my mouth and I couldn’t seem to blink.
Remington gave a raspy chuckle. “Don’t look so petrified, Meyers. Your job’s not in any jeopardy.”
Well, that was good to know. If I hadn’t told him I was opposed to serious relationships would he take issue with my interest in his son? No need to jump ahead.
“We’re just having fun,” I finally said.
“Is that all it is?”
I glanced at the rails and let out a slow breath. Was he fishing for reassurance? Trying to warn me off? Sending me a polite message that fun was fine, but anything more was not?
It didn’t matter anyway because once we reached Florida I was sure we’d go our separate ways and that would be that. Hale and I both seemed in the market for something uncomplicated.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about, sir.”
The gears of the lower dock rising broke the peaceful quiet. When it stopped, Remington said, “Naomi was a tricky wife. I hardly think of her now, but when I do I still don’t understand what it would have taken to make her happy. Hale’s a lot like his mother in some ways. But he’s also like me.”
Footsteps carried as Eric and Hale crested the steps. Hale paused when he saw me sitting with his father and not in the shower.
“Good weather for a ride today,” Remington said.
“The ocean’s calm,” Hale replied, and Eric just stood there glaring at me. Jesus, look somewhere else.
“I’m going to shower if you don’t need anything, Remington.”
Calamity Rayne: Gets A Life Page 17