Aurora took an experimental sip of her drink. It was complex, fruity—tart and sweet, with a spicy undercurrent and a bite from the alcohol that warmed her all the way down to her stomach. She sighed happily and climbed down from the chair, moving away from the bar and towards one of the lounge chairs stationed around the pool.
She kicked off her shoes and sat down, tilting her head back against the cushion and looking out over the sea as she took another sip of the alcoholic elixir. Members of the crew, running around on errands, paused in their paths from one end of the deck to the other, some frowning at the sight of her lounging; but no one said anything.
Aurora watched the ocean, the gulls and other sea birds wheeling and darting around the yacht, while she contemplated her situation. So much had changed, so drastically, in such a short time, that she had barely had the opportunity to process what had happened to her from the moment she’d gotten up with her alarm at four in the morning to make the opening shift at the café.
She finished her drink and got another one, mining the buffet table for a few more choice treats before heading back to her lounge chair. She thought to herself that, had she been in Khaleel’s place, she would not have been convinced anywhere near as easily to let the stowaway stay on board. At the very least, she thought, she would have kept the intruder confined. Is he really a better person than me? Or am I just getting too tipsy to think straight?
She asked Chris for a glass of water to even out the effects of all the alcohol and sipped at it slowly, watching the light of the afternoon shift and change on the deck. It was beautiful, but more boring than she would have thought to just sit there, admiring the view and doing nothing. It’s been ages since I’ve done nothing for more than maybe thirty minutes, Aurora thought. Even when she’d been in Vietnam, or Thailand, or Singapore, she had crammed so much activity into every day that by the time she’d stumbled into her hostel bed, she’d been thoroughly exhausted.
Aurora wished she had a book, or something she could do on her phone—anything to pass the time that wasn't eating, drinking and lounging. She thought briefly that it almost would have been better if she had continued her charade of being one of the crew; she could have found something to do around the ship if she had really wanted to. But she had been too hungry, too angry, and filled with too much spite to try and maintain her cover when the person she had most needed to deceive had already blown it.
Her irritation rose once more at the thought that if she hadn’t confronted Khaleel about the ridiculousness of his “initial evaluation,” she might still be cleaning his room, wearing herself out for a man who wasn’t ever going to pay her for her trouble.
She took a long sip of her cocktail, grateful that the day hadn't taken a more dramatic turn, with her being arrested by the coast guard, and that all she had to worry about, for the moment at least, was keeping herself entertained.
SIX
As the afternoon blurred into evening, Aurora considered the possibility that she might be spending the rest of the night by herself. She had seen no sign of the Sheikh, and she thought he must be the most boring wealthy man on the planet if he was just going to spend the entire journey in his room, working on his laptop.
But then, Khaleel emerged from the interior of the yacht, looking around the deck, surveying his domain. His gaze landed on Aurora and she caught the sight of his amused smile before he wiped the expression away. She set down her cocktail glass as he approached the lounge chair she had taken, pulling up one of his own and sitting down.
“You seem to have made yourself at home,” he said, resting his hands lightly in his lap.
Aurora frowned, hearing the slightly mocking tone in his voice. “Well, what other option did I have?” She gestured around the deck. “I mean, I could have kept pretending to be a maid, but it’s not worth trying to convince anyone else on this boat if I can’t convince you.”
Khaleel chuckled. “Not even to avoid the daggers people are staring at you?”
Aurora shrugged, blinking slowly. She realized she had had more cocktails than she had really considered and told herself to be careful—just because Khaleel hadn’t apparently taken offense at her stowing away didn’t mean he didn’t have any capacity at all for being angered.
“Well they can’t kick me off, and I got my instructions from you to make myself at home,” Aurora pointed out tartly. “If I’m going to be held prisoner on a yacht, I might as well enjoy myself as much as I can, right?”
Khaleel raised an eyebrow just as Chris appeared at their side, carrying a tray with a tall, slim glass, which he handed to the Sheikh.
“Good afternoon, sir,” Chris said, inclining his head slightly. “I hope the day finds you well. If you require something else from the kitchens, I’ll be happy to place your order.”
Khaleel nodded, murmuring a soft thank you to the bartender, and then turned his attention back onto Aurora. “Prisoner?” He raised his eyebrow again, taking a sip of his drink. “You were the one who stowed away; I didn’t force you to come on board.”
“But you’re not letting me go back to shore either,” Aurora pointed out.
Khaleel chuckled. “If you’d gotten onto a jet and were told it was a one-way flight with no stop-overs, would you demand they turn around and go back to the airport?”
Aurora’s cheeks warmed and she took a sip of the water she’d kept at her side for between cocktails. “I still think it was an asshole move for you to pretend like you totally bought my story and pull that ridiculous ‘initial evaluation’ crap,” she told him firmly. “If I hadn’t mustered the guts to call you out, I probably would have been cleaning your room until…maybe right now.” Aurora shook her head, frowning. “You could have just called me to your room and said, ‘Look; I know you’re a stowaway, and I don’t care what the reason is. Stay out of my way and we’ll call it