by C. L. Stone
I rolled my eyes, unable to hide the smirk from my face. I elbowed him in the arm. “After this, you might be the only one left.”
“Can’t say I don’t like the sound of that.” He put his arm around my shoulders and rolled me toward him, kissing my forehead. “That’s not what I want, though.”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t want to be your last resort,” he said. “You barely even know me. We always end up fighting or you call me in at the last minute to save your pretty self. Well, here I am, finally able to talk to you. The real you. The real Kayli I’ve been dying to get to know. Literally. Did you hear I was shot? In the leg? It was by this really hot girl. And then the boat exploded. I could have died.”
This caused an even bigger smile, and it almost hurt because I was trying so hard not to smile. “Don’t even start.”
“You’re the one who crashed my party, sugar. You started this whole thing, not me.” He pressed his lips to my forehead again, kissing it, and then he held on to me tight around the shoulders in a hug. “No, sweetie, I don’t want to be your last option. Eventually, I’m hoping you’ll want me because you actually like me. I want to be your first choice.”
I huffed. I wished I could say he was. At the moment, I did really like him. I appreciated that with him, I now felt free, in a way. He was telling me it was okay to be confused, and he openly said he still liked me.
“Until that’s the case, I’m not asking for a commitment. What I’d like to see right now though is your fire back. Kayli doesn’t just let people walk all over her. She drives their expensive new sports car into the mud and blows up the house. I’m starting to think that’s how she shows her affection.”
I put my head back against the headboard and giggled until my laughter turned into a tired sigh. I really was feeling drained now. It was hard to believe not long ago I’d been so angry with him, and even shot him, and now here I was opening myself up to him…and he was still here. Not a lot of guys would do that. Blake was different. “I’m not sure what I’m going to say to them.”
“Right now, nothing,” he said. He kissed my cheek and then started pulling away. He tugged at my arm to get me to lie back down. “Just relax here. Sleep and get your energy back. I bet a lot of this is stress. If you’ve been off your feet for weeks, your energy levels are going to be zapped quicker. We’ll have to ease you back in slowly. Maybe it was my fault. I shouldn’t have let you take the lead so soon.”
“Don’t I have to be somewhere?” I asked. “Make appearances?”
“You’ve done enough for now. Everyone on this ship is scouting out their rooms, setting schedules for massages and reserving seats for movie and dinner times. I want you to sleep, because I want you ready for dinner, if you’re able.” He checked his watch. “It’s a little after noon now. Dinner’s at six, I think.”
“What’s at dinner?”
“We’re going to be seated with Nightingale.” He relaxed on his side next to me on the bed, propping his head up so he could look down at me. “But don’t worry about that right now. I’m going to wait here with you while you sleep, though I might have Avery come in and stay by you if I need to go. Unless your friends can stop squabbling long enough to calm down.”
I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I still blamed myself. I could have settled this weeks ago if I’d just did as Axel wanted and told them all I was dating him. Or Marc. Or if I’d ignored Raven’s advice and said something about us. Or Brandon.
Or Blake. He was right, though. I needed more time with him to build a relationship. It was true that I’d held back a lot. I’d started to open up around the others, but I needed the freedom to do so without worrying about their jealousy. If I told them and they didn’t want to wait, then wasn’t that an answer for me?
I swallowed. My heart cracked. Why did I feel like I was giving up so much if I admitted to being with one of them? And why did I have to be pulled in so many different directions?
I needed to tell them. They needed to know, because we couldn’t continue on this way.
And then there was Nightingale and the other CEOs Blake and I had to check out. Narrowing down this list wasn’t going to be easy. I only hoped Ethan wasn’t aware of what was going on with Axel and his team, or we’d risk losing his confidence.
I closed my eyes, listening to Blake’s watch tick on his arm, to the vent overhead piping in a lukewarm breeze, and to the silence...the lack of other boys in this room.
And every moment they didn’t come back in and talk to me, it felt like they were quietly telling me they did not want to rectify this situation. That they’d rather avoid me.
TURN A KAYLI INTO KITTY
I woke with arms around me. I turned, expecting Blake but when my eyes fluttered open, I jumped, spotting Corey. Or Brandon. Uh oh, which one?
Whoever it was, was sleeping, but then when I shifted to sit up, he stirred. Sleepy eyes opened, and for a moment, I couldn’t figure out which one it was, lacking the friendly cheerfulness or sadness that would tell me which brother was beside me.
His eyes focused and a friendly glint appeared. The corner of his mouth lifted up, and he smiled. “Hey,” Corey said quietly. “You okay?”
I wasn’t sure. I rubbed my face, trying to smooth out the creases the pillow caused on my cheeks. I combed my hair with my fingers, finding a few tangles. The small porthole window was dim with an orange glow. I wasn’t sure if it was dark and there were lights from the ship shining in it or if it was twilight.
I was suddenly overwhelmed with how useless I’d become. I was sleeping on the job. I’d lost probably all faith from my team members. What was I doing here taking a nap? I should be checking out the bad guys. I should be busy, too busy to let this relationship thing even be an issue. Maybe I’d bury myself in the work, and simply ignore it all, until this was all over, and then just walk away.
That was pretty mopey and negative. Had I always thought like this?
Corey sat up next to me. The black T-shirt he wore was wrinkled. It looked a little big on him. I wondered if it was Raven’s. He circled my wrist with his hand, pulling it away from my face. “Kayli,” he said quietly. “What’s wrong?”
At least it was Corey who was here and not the others. “How mad are they?” I asked, my voice a whisper, thick with sleep.
His gentle smile faltered. “I don’t know,” he said. “Axel tried to tell us...” He sighed and shook his head. The friendly glow in his beautiful cerulean eyes faded. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this right now.”
The conversation with Blake spilled from my mouth, before I even realized. “Several of them have been flirting with me,” I said. “I wish they wouldn’t gang up on Axel. No one’s asked specifically for a commitment. They can’t just get mad at each other because no one was talking about it.”
His lips twitched and he let go of my wrist, sliding his palm until he pressed it to mine, holding onto my hand. “Is that what you think is going on?”
I bit my lower lip, studying his face. “Why?” I asked. “Was there something else?” What else could it be?
Corey didn’t reply at first. He gazed at my face, and shook his head slowly. Then he squeezed my hand. “Kayli--”
The door rattled and then opened. Instinct had me ducking, cowering but with fists ready. A reaction from getting kidnapped, I was getting just as paranoid as the guys. Corey got up on his knees on the bed, blocking me a little.
Axel poked his head in. He was wearing tan slacks, a white shirt and a light blue tie. All the light colors contrasted with his very tan complexion and dark hair. I wasn’t sure I liked those clothes on him. His gaze slid from Corey, to the rumpled bed, and finally, to me. “Are you feeling better?”
“She seems to be,” Corey said before I could.
Axel looked between Corey and me again and then focused his eyes on my face. “We need to get ready.” He came fully into the room, holding a dress in a clear garment bag. It was a black evenin
g gown with a gold hoop buckle and more gold detail on the sleeves. “I’m sorry we don’t have time to get your opinion on this. I just tried to go for the simplest design the shop had.”
“I thought we weren’t going to buy clothes here,” I said, although I was grateful I didn’t need to go to Fancy again for clothes.
“On the house, apparently,” he said. “Per Ethan’s orders, we’re to be given complete VIP privileges. It’s all charged to Ethan. I wish I’d known that earlier.”
My nerves were frayed with Axel and Corey together in the same room. I worried they would start bickering. Corey kept his lips closed, a small, but strained smile on his face. Axel’s face was unreadable.
Is this what we’d become? Were we going to sit around and pretend nothing had happened? I crawled to the edge of the bed, wearing the crumpled up sun dress I’d slept in determined to just get on with it. I didn’t have the energy to challenge them right now. If we were required at dinner, then I’d need to prepare. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a makeup kit.”
“Do you need one?” Axel asked.
I stared at him. Fancy dinner and no makeup? Had he never taken a woman to dinner? “I need you to go down to the stores. I think I saw makeup in one of them. Maybe Fancy can help.”
“Fancy can’t help. She’s with some CEOs right now, getting what we asked her to.”
I tried not to think about how Fancy was doing. “Then we’ll have to do this on our own. I need you to go down and get at least the basics.”
Axel glanced at Corey and then me again. “And what exactly are the basics?”
“Foundation, mascara, lip color, almost everything,” I said. Fancy had done some daytime makeup on me earlier, but no doubt after the bath, all the crying and sleeping, I needed to just redo it all. I probably looked a mess.
I must have been feeling refreshed after my nap because I suddenly felt in control, ready to get back in the game. This was my job. I needed to take over. “I also need another pair of glasses if I’m playing Kitty Lane. And shoes. Tell Brandon I need another pair of strappy sandals like the first ones he bought me. He’ll know what to look for.”
He nodded slowly. He looked at Corey. “Got all that?”
“No,” I said, climbing off the bed to get between Corey and Axel, facing Axel head on. He didn’t get to delegate. I was in charge now. “I need you to go do it.” I stepped toward him. He didn’t budge at all. I reached around and found his phone easily in his back pocket. I pulled it out and used the camera to take a picture of my face. “Use this image at the makeup counter. Have the woman there match an evening palette to my skin tone as best as you can. Corey is going to stay here while I shower. I need you to get all those things. And then I need Blake and you back here to brief me on anything I might have missed while I was sleeping before we head to dinner.”
“Blake might be unavailable,” he said.
“Then I need an earpiece with him on the other end,” I said. “He and I need to be in communication at this point. I need to be updated on what he’s been telling anyone else on the ship, and I might need some guidance as far as what to say about investments if anyone asks at dinner. Go get Doyle to make me another earpiece set up with Blake’s.”
Axel’s eyes were steady on mine. He nodded shortly but said nothing. He left the dress in my arms and then turned and walked out, the door slamming closed behind him.
“Wow,” Corey said. He moved to the edge of the bed, putting his feet on the floor to sit up. “You seem...better.”
I turned to him, my heart pounding in a frenzy. “Was I bossy? I just wanted to get things going.”
“No,” he said. “Actually, that’s...” He shook his head and then smiled, this time genuinely. “You don’t seem sick anymore. Maybe the muscle relaxer and a nap did the trick. It’s like you’re back to your old self.”
“Old self?” I asked.
He shrugged and then stood up, going to the bathroom and opening the door. “You were like this when I first met you,” he said. “But I like it. You were honest about what you wanted. Lately you’ve seemed kind of blah. Not much of an opinion on anything.”
I walked into the bathroom and looked around. Soaps and towels were placed back in their original positions and the toilet paper roll had been replaced. This time it had a regular, ordinary white toilet paper roll. “Who cleaned the room?” I asked.
“Kevin made sure he and Raven did it,” he said. He went over to the sink, messing with the tiny soaps. “And there’s a Do Not Disturb sign out there just in case. It should stop anyone else from coming by.”
That was good. We didn’t need anyone else snooping around. I went to the shower, turning on the water. The spray blasted strongly at first, and then eased to normal pressure. “Do we get normal ordinary toilet paper now instead of the blue stuff?”
Corey looked over at the roll and shrugged. “I heard Raven say something about you didn’t like the blue stuff.”
I smiled. “Anything I should know about what’s going on around the ship?”
“Colt stayed,” he said. “Ms. Wayward and Mr. Smith got together and talked a little. They talked about you.”
“Good ways?” I tested the water and as it was warm enough, I checked the bottles and soaps to make sure what I needed was there. “If you’re going to stay in the room and talk, I’m about to hop in.”
He moved from the counter to the toilet, putting the lid down and sitting on top of it. He kept his eyes on the floor and there was a wall between the shower and the toilet so he wouldn’t be able to look in. I smiled at how considerate he was of my modesty, even though he’d already seen me naked.
He went on, “It might be good. Mr. Smith doesn’t like Axel. But he wants to talk to you. Now we just need Blake and that other guy, Mr. Cline, to talk with Mr. Smith to help confirm you are who you say you are. Blake was trying to get Mr. Cline into the same bar with Mr. Smith, but he was reluctant. Seems like they don’t really like each other. To be honest, I don’t think anyone likes Mr. Smith.”
I stepped out of the underwear and pulled the sundress over my head, dropping the clothes on the floor before I stepped into the shower. I let the water stream around my body, soaking up the warmth. “Am I going to be sitting at a table with all of them?”
“I think it’s just Ms. Wayward and Mr. Smith and the new guy, the one we haven’t talked to yet.”
I’d forgotten about him. Four men and two women from Nightingale. “What about the second woman? The older one?”
“She’s eating at one of the other restaurants outside of the main one. I don’t think she goes to many of the social events. She’s been sitting by the pool reading on her iPad all day.”
I started washing my hair. With the door closed, the glass was fogging up. I stared at it blankly as I did the shower thing. “She’s older. Who can we get to make friends with her?”
“Avery seems like he’s getting along with her,” he said. “I’m wondering if we can’t send Avery and Ethan in to talk to her. That would make her feel special to get attention from a Murdock.”
“Do we have any details? What is she like?”
“She’s married, but didn’t bring her husband along. She really doesn’t get out much. I think she’s the original person who started Nightingale before it was bought. She may not be much more than a figurehead, which is weird because she rarely goes to events or the meetings. The others sort of split it among themselves. Except for Colt. He tends to avoid anything involving the press.”
“If she did start the company, we might be able to get a better history and find out when things started changing. Like what might have changed around the time that Michelle stopped getting payments from Nightingale.”
There was movement in the bathroom. It sounded like shuffling, like Corey was playing with stuff. “We’ve got a few days to at least get acquainted and open that line of communication. At least Ethan can start with her if you want to focus on the others. We can make her fee
l like Ethan Murdock is giving her attention, and she may be open to talking to him more than us kids.”
“Are we picking up anything else from all the other people onboard?”
“According to Doyle, everything’s being recorded. We just need to go over it later. I’ve been busy trying to get to the tech these six from Nightingale brought on board. We’re waiting to get access.”
“Should I lift more cell phones?”
“Maybe,” he said. “Slowly. Let’s not make it obvious that whenever you’re around, phones go missing. Colt’s been looking for his. He was harassing the kitchen staff, asking questions.”
Whoops. I hoped someone didn’t get fired because Colt assumed they had stolen his phone. I started washing my body, using the washcloth to scrub my legs. “I’m going to need to shave if I’m wearing a short dress. I can’t wear socks this time. Did you bring a razor?”
There was more movement, and the blurry figure standing at the counter left as I presume he went to go find a razor.
A few moments later, the door to the shower stall opened. At first, I was a little proud of Corey. Very brave of him. I was just about to tease him about being an adorable pervert.
But when I turned, I found Raven in the doorway. He wasn’t fazed at all, not even looking down. He held out a razor.
I was going to try to cover myself, but I had a tiny wash cloth. I turned my body to the side and covered my boobs with my arms a bit. It was a little too late anyway. When had he arrived?
“You didn’t have to open the door,” Corey said from somewhere out of my view. He must have still been on the toilet. The shadow had been Raven walking in. “You could have just handed it over the door.”