Luke places the plates on the table and then pulls out my chair. “Join me. I insist.”
I look around as I bite my bottom lip. I’m tempted. I’ve always been the one to serve and I haven’t ever sat on this beautiful yacht as the guest.
There’s soft romantic violin music playing that Ashley must have set up for us. I make a note to apologize to her for being so rough about the chocolates. She can have the whole box for setting this up.
“If the guest insists…” I say as I sit down.
“I do.” He pushes me in then takes the napkin from the table and places it on my lap. “Wine?”
“I’d love some.”
I watch as he takes the open bottle of white from the ice bucket and pours each of us a glass.
My eyes never leave him as he sits down and raises his glass. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.”
We clink glasses and I take a cold sip of the delicious wine.
“You didn’t want to go partying?” I ask him as we dig into the amazing fish.
“I didn’t want to leave your side,” he says with a smile.
I can’t help but blush as I tear off a piece of my fish with my fork. “Where did you say you were from, Mr. Cline?”
“Luke. And I don’t think I did. I work in Manhattan.”
He tells me all about his family company and he has me laughing when he describes each one of his brothers and his little sister.
“So, you have family dinners in the conference room?”
He laughs. “Every Thursday night. It’s a tradition my dad started and you better not miss one if your last name was Cline.”
“It’s nice to meet a new friend,” I say as I take another sip of wine. He watches my lips wrap around the rim of my glass and it sends a jolt of something hot ripping through me. I don’t think anyone has made me feel so beautiful in my life. So… noticed. “I guess you’re leaving back to New York in four days?”
He takes a deep breath as he looks at the spectacular scenery of Nassau glowing in the dark. The sun is gone for a slumber and the bright moon is out. The stars are lighting the night sky on fire and it’s all terribly romantic. We’re the only ones up here and it feels like we’re the only ones on the planet right now. It’s just us.
“I think I might hang around for a bit,” he says as he turns back to me. “Something caught my eye.”
“And what’s that?” I ask with a playful grin. “One of the strippers? It was Chastity, wasn’t it?”
“You got me.” He takes a bite and grins as he chews, his eyes never leaving mine. “I can’t go back to New York if my heart stays on this boat.”
“Lucky Chastity,” I say as a rush of heat washes over me.
He puts his hand on mine and looks me deep in the eyes as the soft music plays. “I’d like to stay, but I guess we’ll see what happens.”
I pull my hand away after a minute like I need it to eat, but really, it’s because if he holds my hand like this any longer, the customer service barrier between us will crumble down forever. It’s already quickly eroding.
“Tell me about yourself,” he says.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
“Everything?”
He nods. “Where are you from? Let’s start with that.”
“A small town in Texas.”
“I thought I detected a slight accent. You hide it, don’t you?”
“A little bit,” I say in my southern drawl. He smiles. “It only comes out when I’m really mad.”
“I’m glad I’m not hearing it now.”
“Are you kidding, sugar? I’m as happy as a tick on a dog.”
His laugh reaches his eyes and it makes me smile. “My dad says that all the time.”
“And what small town did you say it was?”
“I didn’t. You’ve probably never heard of it anyway.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because the only restaurant downtown is in a bowling alley. Trust me. You’ve never heard of it. There were eleven of us in my high school graduating class and two of them were my cousins.”
He laughs as I tell him all about it. My parents were both born there and they’ve never left. Not even for a vacation.
“They must love it,” he says.
“Or, they’re too afraid to put themselves out there and experience life.”
“But you’re not,” he says as he points his fork at me and narrows his eyes. “You want to experience everything. You want to see the whole planet, don’t you?”
I gulp as those fierce green eyes focus on me, analyze me, break down the wall I’ve put up for everyone else.
“That’s why you’re working on this yacht, isn’t it? A different country every week. Bahamas tonight, where to next week?”
“British Virgin Islands. A family. They’re regulars.”