NautiCal (Forever Wilde 8)

Julo grinned at me. “That one makes you angry, I can see.”

Now it was my turn to grunt which only made Julo laugh.

“I want Prescott gone, Julo,” I said softly so no one else could hear. “He’s not good enough for my brother.”

Julo had a strangely knowing glint in his eye. “I’m not so sure your brother is as helpless as he seems. You might be surprised yet.”

Before I had a chance to remind him that Lucas was practically still a child and had been used this way many times before by gold-digging users, Nat and Jade came around the corner from the deck passageway, laughing about something and waving an empty drinks pitcher at Julo. He teased them about being lushes.

“Isn’t it supposed to be a workday for you ladies?” he asked as he began to mix another pitcher of punch. “I didn’t think swimwear models got a day off.”

They lapped up his easy charm, and I took the opportunity to head back outside to rejoin the group at the bow. Before I stepped onto the deck, however, Julo called my name.

“Worth, hold up.”

I turned back around in time to catch the cold bottle of water he tossed at me. “For your man, Cal,” he said with a knowing grin.

I shot him the bird.

9

Cal

Prescott finally got me alone late that night after dinner. Worth had asked me to escort Mia back on the first tender while he waited to settle the bill. Mia’s head had started hurting halfway through dessert, and Worth had told us to find Julo when we got back on board for his magic headache tonic.

Whatever Julo put in that disgusting drink must have worked wonders, because Mia fell right to sleep as soon as I got her to her room. When I stepped out of her room and pulled the door closed quietly, I almost stepped right into Prescott. The doors to their two rooms were right next to each other in the same hallway as ours. As Worth’s.

“Shit, sorry,” I said automatically before realizing who it was. “Oh.”

“Fucking finally,” he hissed. “What the fuck are you doing here? What the hell happened? Did you seduce me on purpose? Was this some kind of test? Who the hell are you?”

I was so bombarded with his questions, I didn’t even know where to start. When I seduced him? Hardly. When I didn’t answer right away, he grabbed my upper arm. “Don’t fuck with me, Cal, or I will tell Worth exactly what happened between us.”

I spoke at full volume, hoping Lucas wasn’t in earshot. “You mean how you begged me to fuck your face? Or how—”

He slapped his hand over my mouth which stung like a bitch and surprised me enough that I bit my own lip by accident. I tasted the copper tang of my blood and flared my nostrils in annoyance.

“Shut the fuck up. I don’t know what little game you’re playing, but the minute you tell anyone what happened between us, things are going to go just as badly for you with Worth as they will for me with Lucas. So I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut.”

His nasty, clammy hand was still covering my mouth, so I grabbed his wrist and yanked his hand away. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. I wanted to give him a good junk shot with my knee. I wanted to do any number of things to give him a piece of my mind, but that wasn’t why I was here. I was here to seduce him.

I softened my tone. “Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t know…” I struggled to come up with a plausible story. “I didn’t know that you and Worth were like family. And I didn’t know the name of the ship that night. I was distracted by…” I attempted to give him a shy up-down, as if the ugly Hawaiian shirt he sported was the hottest thing a man could possibly wear. “Other things.”

His forehead wrinkled in confusion for a microsecond before smoothing out in a knowing smirk. “Understandable. But I—” He stopped for a beat when we heard footsteps above and shoved me away from him. “Are you open?”

It took me a minute to understand what he was asking. “Me and Worth?”

He made a sound of frustration. “Yes. Is that why—”

The footsteps came down the stairs as I desperately tried to determine which answer would work better to keep him interested. I decided to play coy.

“You’ll just have to find out, won’t you?” I winked at him and stepped farther down the hall toward Worth’s stateroom door just as Worth hit the bottom step and saw both of us in the tiny hallway.

His eyes skipped back and forth between Prescott and me before landing on me. “What happened to your lip?” His voice sounded deep and growly, enough to make me worry what he’d do if he knew Pres had touched me in anger.