NautiCal (Forever Wilde 8)

Jade craned her neck to see behind me. “Where’s Worth? Didn’t he come up with you?”

“He’s working,” I said absently, making a beeline for the pitcher of rum punch I spied on a nearby table.

Nat sighed. “Why did I even ask? I hoped he’d be different with you here, but I guess not.” She was clearly annoyed, and I wondered if I should have kept my mouth shut.

“I’m sure he’ll be up soon. In the meantime, have you guys ever played Liar’s Dice?”

My attempt to distract them from Worth’s absence was successful. I pulled out the bag of dice I’d picked up at one of the shops and ran downstairs to beg some Solo cups off Julo. Once I was back at the table with the three women, we started playing.

As Captain Vin steered us slowly out of the Turshall Cay area, the hot sun, cold drinks, and easy company worked their magic. Pretty soon we were laughing and teasing each other like we’d been together for years instead of hours. I was doing a fairly decent job of ignoring Prescott’s pointed stares while at the same time preening a little bit to see if he’d take the bait. The whole situation made me nervous which made me drink faster. By the time Worth finally poked his head up on the top deck, I was feeling just fiiiiine.

“There’s my boo,” I said. “Come lie with us. Wait, that didn’t come out right. Come liar with us. No. Come dice with us.” Mia and I started giggling.

Worth’s furrowed brow smoothed out, and he grinned. “Seems I’m a little late to keep you from overconsuming Julo’s special punch.”

“There’s some kind of magic in that shit,” I admitted. Natalia snorted, and Jade held out grabby hands toward Worth.

“Come say hello, big guy,” she purred.

Instead of walking around to her side of the table, Worth leaned across me to drop a kiss on her cheek. I got a face full of delicious Tom Ford cologne and felt Worth’s hand trail along my shoulder as he leaned in. I shuddered. Damn this man for being so sexy.

After he leaned the other way to kiss Mia’s cheek, he turned back to me. “Having fun?”

I nodded. “I taught them Liar’s Dice, but then they all kicked my ass.”

He laughed and ran his fingers through my hair. I lapped it up like a dog finally being pet by his favorite human. “I was wondering if you wanted to go up on the bow for a little while.” He was looking at me with such feigned affection, it made my stomach wobbly.

“Um, yeah. Okay.”

He reached out his hand for mine, pulling me up from the bench at the table. As soon as he saw the suit I was wearing, his eyes widened. I still had the button-down on, but it was open, flapping a little in the breeze.

“I thought you decided against that suit,” he said. His eyes were lasers attached to the scrap of rainbow-colored fabric.

I took the opportunity to remove the shirt and twirl around in a circle, ostensibly showing it off for Worth even though Worth would know I was trying to tempt Prescott. “Nope, that was you. I like it.”

“Me too,” Lucas said from where he sat on the edge of the hot tub. “It’s sexy.”

“No kidding,” Jin said with an easy smile. “I’m not even gay and I can appreciate your man in that suit.”

Worth made a little growling sound under his breath. I noticed Prescott’s eyes track my every move, but he smartly kept his mouth shut.

Natalia teased her brother. “Is that why you’re taking him away from us? You want his hot little bod all to yourself?”

Worth slid his arm around my waist. The sensation of his smooth palm against the bare skin of my hip was intoxicating. I wanted to turn toward him and bury my face in his neck to inhale more of his scent and feel his arms tighten around me. “Something like that. But you’re all welcome to join us on the big sun bed. I wanted to enjoy the view as we approach the islands. We should be able to see the tip of Virgin Gorda soon.”

As he led me toward the stairs, Worth slid his hand lower on my hip until it brushed my ass. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not, but it sent a buzz of need through my body. This tiny swimsuit wouldn’t be forgiving if I spent too much time noticing Worth’s touch, so I busied myself running through mast light combinations in my head.

Red over red, this boat is dead…

“You okay?” Worth asked in a low voice when we got down to the main level of the ship. When he spoke in that voice that only I could hear, it went straight to my lower belly. I nodded, afraid if I opened my mouth, I’d blurt something stupid like a demand for him to take me to bed and pound me into the mattress.