The Wrong Gentleman

“Yeah. He likes you. And he is the client.” He grinned and pulled me into his arms. He seemed to think it was a big joke. I liked the fact he was so confident that he didn’t see Walt as competition, but I suppose I had hoped he’d step in and . . . What had I expected him to say?

I knew that Landon and I were only together for the summer, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to hear something different from him.

I don’t want you spending time with any other man but me.

Don’t go to dinner with him.

I want you.

I want to be with you.

I’m falling for you.

But I knew better than to wish for things from men, and every comforting phrase that I longed to hear from Landon was entirely unrealistic. It wasn’t who he was.

“You think I should go because he’s the guest?” I looked up at him.

“I don’t want to tell you what to do, Skylar. But if you’re asking me my opinion, I think it’s bullshit and he shouldn’t have asked.”

There was no good reason to turn down Walt’s invitation to dinner. It was just a meal, after all, and it kept things easy for me. I wouldn’t be disappointing a guest and the man who signed my paycheck.

Thirty

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; Skylar

It should have been the most perfectly romantic night. The sky was about to burst it was so full of stars, and the air was warm without being muggy. One of the crew had arranged for music to be piped through to the deck.

The problem was I was spending the evening with the wrong gentleman. Being here with Walt had made me realize what I felt for Landon was more complicated than I’d thought.

Walt had talked about his ranch back in Texas, as well as his plans to replace one of his helicopters. He’d asked me again where I’d gone to college and what my parents did and seemed to have genuinely forgotten that I’d told him both things before.

“I thought I might take you shopping before my guests arrive tomorrow,” Walt said.

“Shopping? Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”

“Well, I was hoping to take you to a poker match next week. Do you like poker?”

Perhaps I should have said no to Walt the first time he asked me to dinner. He might have been upset, but at least he wouldn’t have asked me again. And now to join him in a poker match? It was the last thing I wanted to do. “I’ve never played.”

More time with Walt was the last thing I was craving. I hadn’t seen Landon since he’d told me dinner with Walt was my decision. But still, it was his arms I wanted around me, his company I craved. I wanted him sitting in front of me, topping up my glass.

“Well, I will enjoy teaching you,” Walt said.

Even though I would have preferred Landon to stake his claim to me and to have insisted I refuse Walt’s dinner invitation, it hadn’t watered down my feelings for him.

What I felt for Landon didn’t compare to anything I’d ever felt for any man. Nobody had ever made me feel as safe, as protected, and as accepted as he did. I’d spent all these years resolutely single and I’d done it easily. I’d never craved any man’s touch, never thought I’d be wandering around deck with an empty tray looking for empty glasses just to catch a glimpse of a man.

I wasn’t sure if it was love, but it was something I’d never experienced before, and I knew there was no going back.

“That would be lovely . . .” I couldn’t do this. I knew Landon accepted that me spending time with Walt was part of the job, but I felt like I was leading Walt on and at the same time being disloyal to Landon. It might get me fired. And I might end up with no tip, but I had to be straight with Walt. “But, I want to be completely clear with you, Walt. I enjoy your company as a friend.”

Landon had shown me that I could trust a man to be exactly who he said he was. He’d made me consider that I might have a future outside of yachting.

Landon had opened my eyes to a new world.

He deserved my respect, my loyalty, and for me to be completely transparent with Walt about my interest in him.