by L. P. Dover
Kim purses her lips, her eyes filled with mischief. “Something tells me that’s not it. You have that after sex glow about you.”
My cheeks burn but I shrug it off. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
She snorts. “Yeah, okay. Who do you think occupied Max’s douchebag friends while you were getting hot and heavy with him in the bathroom?”
Gasping, I smack a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, how did you know?”
I remove my hand from her mouth, and she smiles. “I saw him go in after you. You’re welcome, by the way. I made sure to keep our boss from seeing you two walk out.”
Groaning, I slap a hand to my head. “It was stupid. I don’t want to imagine what would’ve happened if we got caught. I would definitely be kissing a management position goodbye.”
Kim waves me off. “But you didn’t. Just a word to the wise though, I wouldn’t do it again.”
I snort. “Got that right. It’s hard to think straight with Max around.”
“It’s obviously hard to keep your clothes on too with him around.”
Rolling my eyes, I smack her arm. “Enough of that. We’re done. We had our fun and it’s over. He used me and I used him. End of story.”
Kim beams. “Smart girl. The last thing I want to see is you getting hurt by the likes of him. He may be smart, sexy, and rich, but we have to be careful with men like him. We don’t fit in with his flock.”
That’s for damn sure. I’ve often thought about what it would be like to live among the rich, to never have to work sixty hours a week just to get by. I grew up middle class and there was a time when my parents had a lot of money. My mother worked at the local bank and my dad was an Account Manager for a large food broker. He made six figures a year and we had a nice sized house. My dad didn’t like showing off his money, but he did take us on numerous vacations. Those were some of the best times of my life. That is, until he got laid off and we lost everything.
“I’m not going to get hurt, Kim. To get hurt, that means I have to get closer to him. Last night in the bathroom was it. I’m sure of it.”
Her brows furrow with concern. “You sure?”
I push her toward the sales rack. “Yes. Now let’s get back to shopping. Maybe we should start talking about your sex life for a change.”
She scoffs. “What sex life? I’m sure I could get it on with Poseidon’s dumb ass friends, but I don’t want to stoop that low.”
We both laugh and I can’t argue with her. Vance and Yates are egotistical scumbags. They prance around like they’re God’s gift to women. I’d love to see them knocked down off their pedestals. That’ll most likely never happen. The rich always come out on top in my world.
Kim and I browse through the clothes a few more minutes and I grab a couple of sundresses before making my way to the dressing room. I take off my clothes, leaving only my bra and underwear. Some of the shirts fit great so I decide to keep the ones that work. The denim skirt is a little too short, so I move it over to the no pile.
Kim grumbles in the room next to me. “Dammit, I was hoping this dress would work. My ass is too big.”
I roll my eyes. “You wear a size four, crazy woman. There’s nothing big about your ass.” That’s one of the things I’m happy about with my body. I love having curves.
“All right, I’m going back out to find more clothes to try on.”
“Okay,” I call out. “I still have a couple of dresses left.”
She rustles around in her room and then the door slams shut when she leaves. I slide one of the dresses off the hanger and hold it up to my body. It’s form-fitting and royal blue; very classy. A knock sounds on the door and I turn the knob, thinking it’s Kim on the other side. My eyes widen when I see it’s not her.
Max rushes in and holds a finger to my lips. “Shh, it’s just me.”
My heart races. It’s hard not to feel light-headed when he stares at me with those sea green eyes of his. Max slowly slides his finger off my lips. “What are you doing here?” I whisper.
His lips pull back into a devilish grin. “I was walking by and saw you in the store. Figured I’d come in and say hey.”
“Stalker much.”
He winks and takes the dress away from me, hanging it on the hook. “I call it being at the right place at the right time.” His gaze roams down my bare body. “You are so damn beautiful.” He steps closer and there’s nowhere for me to go. Who am I kidding? I don’t want to go anywhere, but we can’t keep being reckless. Max lifts my bra and cups my breast, his lips closing over my nipple. I suck in a breath and bite my lip to keep from moaning. “I want you, London.”
He slides a hand down my stomach, but I stop him before he can go any further. “We can’t repeat what we did in here yesterday, Max,” I hiss quietly. “I can’t be seen with you.” Normally, I don’t play games with men, but with Max, I have no choice. In a way, I’m not lying; I can’t be seen with him because of my job. It’s in the employment contract you can’t get involved with the yacht club members. But also, I want the upper hand. That way, I don’t feel as bad with him not wanting to be seen with me.
Slowly, he steps back and looks at me. “Why not? You told me that first night that you weren’t dating anyone.”
“I’m not. It’s just for the best.”
His hands wrap around my waist and he smiles. “Okay. Then I guess a date is out of the question?”
He pulls me in closer to his body, his hardness pressing into my stomach. “What did you have in mind?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Don’t know. Maybe a date on my boat? That is, if you don’t have to work tonight.”
I shake my head. “I’m off, but there are too many of your buddies around the docks. They’ll see us.”
“Not if you meet me at a different marina.” His eyes light up and he kisses me. “Dawson’s Marina. Seven o’clock. Meet me there.” When I don’t answer, he kisses me again, this time deepening it. “Promise me you’ll be there.”
Dawson’s Marina is forty-five minutes away and in an obscure town. The chances of any of his people seeing us is slim. The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them. “I promise.”
“Good. You won’t regret it.” He sneaks out of the dressing room and I look at myself in the mirror. My lips are red and there’s another red mark on my breast from where he sucked too hard. The man is going to drive me insane.
I decide to wear the new royal blue dress I bought at the store. When I get to Dawson’s Marina, it’s not hard to find Max’s boat. It’s the nicest one around. I walk over to it and Max emerges from below deck, dressed in a white button-down shirt and khaki pants. The smell of food wafts past my nose and my stomach growls.
Max chuckles and holds out his hand to help me board. “Hungry?”
I take his hand. “Starving.”
He doesn’t let go of my hand as he leads me onto the deck. “Good. I have tons of food. Let me get us out onto the water and then we can eat. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.” There’s a large cushion with blankets and pillows on the deck and that’s where I go. I watch Max in fascination as he readies the boat. When we get out onto the water, the sun starts its slow decent below the horizon.
Max drops the anchor and sits next to me, his gaze focused on the horizon. “If I could live out here, I would. I’d sail around the world and never look back.”
“By yourself?” I wonder.
His eyes twinkle when he turns to me. “Kind of lonely, don’t you think?”
I nod. “Very. You could get Vance or Yates to join you.”
He burst out laughing. “Fuck that. I’d probably kill them before getting out of the harbor.”
This time I laugh. “I can see that. They’re not exactly the kind of friends I’d like to have around.”
He nods. “Sometimes I wonder why I do.” There’s a hint of sadness in his tone, but then it quickly disappears. “Ready to eat?”
My stomach growls. “More th
an ready.”
When we get down below, the table is covered with food. We each have a steak with a lump of crab meat on top, a baked potato, and steamed broccoli. Then, for dessert, there are two pieces of chocolate cake.
Max leads me over to the table and pours me a glass of wine. “I can cook, but I had this catered in since I didn’t have much time.”
I breathe in the food. “You cook? I thought maybe you had personal chefs for that.”
He sits across from me and chuckles, but I sense the hint of resentment in his tone. “My father and my step-mother do.”
“Do you not get along with them?” I ask.
He shrugs. “My dad’s an asshole and my step-mother’s a pretentious bitch. She’s only with him for his money. That’s been apparent from day one.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He made his choice and he’ll pay for it in the end. Literally.” He cuts into his steak and I do the same. It tastes like heaven. I’m half-tempted to dig into the chocolate cake, but I show restraint. “What about you?” Max asks. “I don’t see how a woman like you can be single.”
“That’s because you don’t know anything about my life.”
He leans back in his chair. “Then tell me.”
I eat another bite of steak and wash it down with the wine. “Okay, here it goes. I got married right out of high school and the bastard took all of my money. That’s why I live with two other women and work as a waitress at the yacht club.”
Max stares curiously at me and nods. “I see. I may not have you beat, but my life isn’t perfect either.”
“Oh yeah,” I laugh, staring at him incredulously. “I doubt that.”
He sets his fork down and leans on his elbows. There’s a sadness in his eyes I’ve never seen before. It makes me regret laughing at him. “Yes, my family has money, but it’s not always a good thing. My parents divorced because my dad wanted something younger and better. My ex-fiancé wanted to control my life, and did for a long time until I got tired of it. Then, on top of that, I don’t have any true friends. They always want something from me.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
He averts his gaze for a moment, but then turns those green eyes of his back to mine. “I don’t know. I just feel like I can.”
It’s crazy but I feel the same way too. We eat the rest of our dinner, but Max grabs our pieces of cake and carries them up on deck. We sit on the cushions and I lean against the pillows. The stars are out in full force, making the night a magical one. There’s no one around, only the ocean and the moonlight.
“What are your dreams, London? Surely you don’t want to stay at the yacht club for the rest of your life.”
“Actually, I do.”
He stares at me as if I’ve lost my mind. “Seriously?”
I hold up a hand. “Not as a waitress, but as management. There’s a position opening up soon and I want to apply for it.”
“Think you’ll get it?”
I shrug. “Don’t know, but I hope so. The pay is close to three times what I’m making now. I could really use the promotion.”
His lips pull back in that devilish grin of his. “Maybe you’ll get it.”
“What about you? What are your dreams?”
He blows out a breath and lays down, his attention on the stars. “All I’ve known is sailing. I want to compete for as long as I can.”
“And when you get old?” I ask, lying down next to him. “You won’t be able to sail professionally anymore. You’ll be too slow.”
“Yeah, I know,” he replies sadly. A few seconds pass and then he turns his head my way. “My dad wants me to work at his company when I retire from sailing. He owns Richmond Holdings. They’re one of the largest architectural firms in the world.”
Yes, I know, but I don’t tell him that. I think everyone knows who his father is. “Why do I get the feeling you don’t want to do that?”
“Because I don’t,” he answers, his voice low.
“And why not?”
He exhales and rolls on top of me, his hand gentle as he brushes the hair away from my face. “My whole life I’ve had people tell me what to do. For once, I want to choose my own future.”
“Then tell me what your future looks like?”
Slowly, he leans down and kisses me. “It’s a lot simpler than my life now. When I’m done sailing, I want to teach kids how to do it. Being on the ocean has been my escape. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
“Then do it,” I murmur. “Choose your own path.”
His smile makes everything inside of me tighten. “I think I will. But what about you? It’s your time to choose what you want tonight.”
“What are my choices?”
He presses his cock into me. “You can either stay tonight and I give you as many orgasms as you can handle, or I take you back to the marina.”
“As many orgasms as I can handle? Think you can do that?” I ask, grinning mischievously.
“Don’t know, but I’m more than happy to try.”
Four
Max
Before most of Rhode Island woke for the day, I had London back to Dawson’s Marina completely sated and unable to walk normally from all the orgasms I gave her. I have never broken a promise and I wasn’t about to start with this one. It was as I walked back to my boat that I noticed the for-sale sign, hiding somewhat behind the scrubs. There was no way the marina was for sale.
I don’t know how long I stand and look at the sign. I have the number to call memorized and I’ve found the listing on some local realtor app. Honestly, I’ve never looked at the price of a marina before but am surprised I could afford this place. I finally decide to look around. There’s a booth that people pass by, where they pay for parking and whatnot. The parking lot has to be resurfaced, and if I’m not mistaken, there’s a defunct restaurant with patio seating that looks over the water.
Instead of heading back to my boat to make a phone call, I see a path leading through the trees and decide to see where it will take me. After getting smacked in the face by a few errant branches, I finally land on a nice sandy beach.
“What the fuck?” I mutter. I look around and notice that overgrown trees are preventing people from using this space. Maybe that was intentional, but it seems like a nice marketing tool, especially to entice families to come visit.
I give this place one last look before I pull my cell phone out and dial the number on the for-sale sign. The line rings three times before voicemail picks up. “Hello, my name is Max and I’m calling about the for-sale sign at Dawson’s marina. If you could call me back,” I finish by leaving my number and making sure I’ve saved this contact.
As soon as I’m on the dock, I drop down to my knees to look at the structure. It looks sound and would be one less expense for me to tackle right off. There’s more pep in my step when I get back to my boat. I want to tell London about my idea, and I go to call her, only to realize I don’t have her number, which is how I ended up in her dressing room yesterday. I wasn’t exactly honest with her about happening to see her in the window, and I had been following her, but it was only after I saw her and her friend pulling into the parking spot that I decided I needed to see London again. It took, what felt like forever, for her to finally find something to try on. As soon as I was in that small room with her, I wanted her. Hell, just thinking about her now gives me a stiffy.
It took me three years to ask London out and when I finally had the courage, and she said yes, I never thought we’d end up between the sheets. Although, it was exactly where I wanted to be with her. She’s sex on a stick, wrapped in a nice little package, and gives me hard-on like no other. The problem I’m facing is that my parents are coming to town, both sets. One will accept London for who she is and the fact that she’s putting a smile on my face. The other set will put her down, call her things no one should ever be called, tell me to get her out of my system, and take my boat to Newport where Alyssa is waiting.
Every part of me wants to tell my dad and his trophy wife to stuff it. He was never this type of person when he was married to my mom. I’m not sure my mom would even allow that kind of behavior. Worse, if I hadn’t lived with my mom growing up, I probably would be like Yates and Vance. That thought makes me shudder.
I sail back to the Wesleyan Yacht Club, thinking about the things London said to me the night before. She had been married, right out of high school and her ex took her money. For some reason, I have the urge to find out who he is and demand he give it back. It’s an unreasonable thought as I’m sure the guy has spent it all by now. I’m also surprised by the idea that she loves what she does, well at least at the yacht club. I’m sure when she gets idiots like Vance, Yates, and myself, she wants to strangle us. We are known to be complete shitheads. I blame it on our parents. They raised us to be entitled assholes. Hell, just look at me. I don’t have to work if I don’t want to and daddy gives me whatever I want. I’m a complete ass.
Pulling into the marina, I’m stunned to see the slip between Yates and Vance is still open. I thought for sure someone would nab it last night. I make sure my buoys are down and pull slowly into the spot before cutting the engine and jumping off the side to tie my boat down.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Yates is standing on deck, with nothing but a pair of boxers on. He’s holding a cup of coffee and his already unruly hair is standing on end.
“Rough night?” I nod toward him, hoping to divert our conversation to him.
“Eh, picked some chick up at the bar.”
“Classy,” I say this under my breath. “She still on the boat?”
Yates shakes his head. “No, she left about one or two.”
“Hopefully, you at least walked her to the car.”
Yates chooses to take a sip of his coffee or whatever he has in his mug instead of answering me. It’s fine, because I know the answer. Anytime I’m in the city with him, I’m always the one making sure his conquests are making it home safely. Truthfully, I need new friends. As I stand there and apprise him, I realize he’ll never accept London either. And if he somehow did, he’d never let it go that he considers her beneath him.