“Do I need to call you Captain?” Emma asked, carefully putting her foot on the gangplank. The boat bobbed slightly and she was glad she was watching what she was doing.
“Only if you want to,” he replied. He winked at her, nearly causing her to lose her balance. “I like to be called Captain.”
She grinned and stepped onto the boat. “This is beautiful,” she said, looking around. Everything was wood paneled or shimmering white. She could see three neatly hung sails, ready to take them on an adventure.
“I’m glad you like it,” Jackson said, coming up behind her. “I thought we could sail today. If you’d rather take the yacht, we can, but it needs a crew. This boat I can handle by myself. I thought you’d prefer the intimacy.”
The word intimacy made her cheeks flush. She could go for some intimacy. Hell yes.
“I like t
his boat,” she said, her voice husky. “We can do it on the yacht next time.”
He grinned at her words and she flushed straight down to her toes. “If you say so,” he replied. He moved past her, his hand on her shoulder as he passed.
“You know what I meant,” she stuttered.
“Sure do,” he called back, heading to the front of the boat to untie the ropes.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. There was no recovering that one. Best to just move on.
“Can I help?” she asked, coming over to where he was working with a rope.
“You want to steer us out of the marina?” he asked.
“I don’t have a sailing license,” she told him. “Just a driving license.”
He laughed. “That will work. This way.”
He brought her to the back of the open boat to a large steering wheel. It looked exactly like what she thought a pirate would use to steer his ship. She put both hands on the wheel and braced her feet.
“I’ll get us started. We have to use the engine until we’re in open water,” he explained, turning a key in the ignition. The boat rumbled to life and she felt her palms go sweaty. “Slow and steady.”
Jackson stood behind her, putting his strong hands on her shoulders. She had to focus on what they were doing and not the fact that he was touching her. It was a difficult task to ignore the heat he caused.
He gave simple directions, keeping his voice low and calm as she worked the boat out of the marina. It was like driving her uncle’s giant Buick, but on steroids. She managed to get out of the marina without hitting anything or tipping the boat over, which she considered a true success.
Jackson cut the engine and they gradually came to a stop, or at least what felt like a stop. It was hard to tell if they were actually going anywhere with the way the waves constantly moved around them.
“Excellent job,” Jackson told her, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze. His praise meant the world to her.
“Is it always this... bumpy?” Emma asked. Everything was in motion. The boat went up and down. It went side to side. It went diagonally up and down and side to side at the same time. Nothing felt secure.
“This is actually pretty calm,” Jackson told her. He ran around to various ropes, loosening and tightening different ones to make the sails come down. They flapped in the wind.
“Calm?” She swallowed hard. Now that she wasn’t focused on not crashing the boat, she was very aware of her stomach and just how unhappy it was. “This doesn’t feel calm.”
Jackson looked over at her. “You might be getting seasick,” he said. His green eyes watched her with concern. “Do you get motion sickness?”
“Only when I read in the car,” she said. Her stomach knotted and she swallowed down, her mouth too wet and too dry at the same time.
“Look out at the horizon,” Jackson coached. He unfurled another sail. “Let’s see if some air helps.”
He did something more with the sails, but Emma wasn’t paying attention. Her focus was on the bobbing horizon and trying to keep her stomach under control. She heard him go to the big steering wheel and the boat moved even more. She tried not to groan.
A fresh breeze hit her face. It helped a little and she opened her eyes. Maybe I can do this, she thought.
And then she threw up over the side.