“You handle his investments?” I ask as I look around at our extravagant surroundings. “You must be really good at your job.”
He laughs and the sound makes my heart swell in my chest.
“Pretty good, I guess,” he says with a shrug of those round shoulders. “But I’m stuck in the city all the time. It’s nothing like this. You have quite the office.”
I motion to the barstool with the lime green bikini top hanging over it. “Yup. Quite the office…”
He laughs again then smiles at me. I can feel my cheeks getting hot, but this time I hold his gaze and smile back.
My radio clicks on, making both of us jump. “Aubrey,” Captain Vos says. “I need you to take the wheel for a bit. A situation with the wife.”
“Oh, God,” I moan as I roll my eyes.
My new friend tilts his head. “What is it? Everything okay?”
“Yeah, he just always thinks his wife is cheating on him. He’s crazy. Everyone on this ship is crazy.”
“Except us,” he says with a smile.
I look at him for a long moment as my smile builds. “I know I’m not. However, it waits to be seen about you.”
I click my radio on and speak into my shoulder. “Coming up.
“It was nice to meet you…”
“Luke,” he says. “Luke Cline.”
“I’ll see you at dinner.” I get up and leave with a polite smile, but he follows me. “Can I help you?” I ask with a grin as I turn around to face him.
“I don’t want to leave the only sane person,” he says as he runs a hand through his blond hair, messing it up. Somehow, it looks even better. “I’m staying with you.”
“You can walk me to the bridge,” I tell him as I turn and start walking with him on my heels. “But no guests are allowed inside.”
“We’ll see about that.”
We walk up the stairs and I can feel his eyes on my ass. I don’t mind though. I kind of like this guy.
Julie, Eivind, and Knot step out of Julie’s room as we pass. “Oh, just in time,” I say as we stop in front of them. All three of them look guilty. “Julie, don’t ever leave your bar like that again. And you two…” I shove my sponge into Eivind’s chest and then grab Luke’s and shove it into Knot’s chest. “Go make that deck spotless. If I see one scuff mark, I’m going to transfer you into the kitchen with Santiago.”
Both of their eyes widen in panic. They’re terrified of the chef. They wandered in for a snack on their first day and Santiago almost sliced an ear off.
“Yes, Chief,” they both say and then hurry off to get it done. When those two aren’t distracting my bartender, they’re good workers and fun to be around.
Luke follows me all the way to the bridge like a lost puppy. “You can’t come in here,” I tell him when I reach the door.
“I don’t want to leave your side,” he says with an earnest look in his eyes that shocks me.
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” he whispers. “But I don’t. Ever.”
“Okay,” I say with a laugh as I open the door. “Go back to your party and save the cheesy pick-up lines for the tourists in Nassau. We’ll be there soon enough.”
I close the door in his face, but he lingers on the deck, watching me through the window as I take over for Ted.
“Look at this text,” he says with a panicked edge to his voice as he shoves his phone in my face. I lean back and take it from his clenched fingers.
“So?” I say when I read it. “What’s the problem?”
He scoffs. “She’s going to a pub tonight with her friend Rachel?”
“Yeah?”
“Rachel! She was over last month and she was drinking rose wine!”
I shake my head, so confused. “I’m failing to see the problem.”
“They’re going to a pub! They don’t serve rose wine at pubs. She’s clearly going with some guy she’s fucking.”
“Whoa!” I say as I give him the phone back. “You need to dial it way back. That is not what that text says. I’m sure this Rachel girl drinks other fluids beside rose wine.”
“I don’t know,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck as he stares down at his phone. “I just don’t know.”
He storms out of the bridge and Luke catches the door with his big hand before it closes.
“Nope,” I say sharply, but there’s a smile on my face as he looks in. “No guests beyond that point. It’s the law on this yacht and I have to warn you, Santiago is the judge, jury, and executioner for any laws broken.”
“A lifetime of pain would be worth a moment by your side,” he says with those dashing green eyes shining like emeralds.
“Okay,” I say with a smile and a roll of my eyes. “What did I say about cheesy pick-up lines? Let me do my job and stop distracting me.”