“There really is no rest for the wicked. Who’s the girl?”

“Another crew member.”

“Fucking typical. The only time you’re forced to spend time with a woman and you fall in love with her.”

“Hey, I never said anything about falling in love. And it’s not just because we’re cramped up on this boat.” Maybe if I’d never seen Skylar again after that first night together, she would have disappeared from my thoughts like so many other women before her. But after that day on the beach, watching as she searched for sea shells and showed me the view, after understanding who she was, where she’d come from and what she’d survived—I didn’t just like her. I respected her, wanted her to respect me. There was no going back for me after that. She was honest and loyal and hardworking. She cared about other people’s happiness over her own. “I just don’t know where my boundaries are at the moment. I don’t know how to separate work and . . . not work.” It wasn’t love.

“Sounds like you need a change of pace, which is why I called. Avery and I are flying down to Nice tomorrow. I have a meeting, and there’s no way Avery was going to let me come on my own when she could accompany me to her old stomping grounds and catch up with old friends. Let’s have dinner.”

The thought of seeing my brother was like a cool cloth over my forehead. I rarely got flustered, but when I did, my family brought me perspective. “We’re just off the coast of Monaco at the moment.”

“Which is perfect. Just a short helicopter trip for us,” Hayden said. “Can you get the evening off?”

I’d need to hang around to see who turned up on the boat tomorrow, but if I asked Peter and told him my brother was in town, I might get the night off. “It would be good to see you.”

“Might take your mind off your women troubles.”

“I don’t have fucking women troubles.” I needed to hear from Hayden that the job came first. That duty and honor and the greater good were what had driven me for so long—he would remind me who I was. Because at the moment, Skylar had clouded my vision, and I couldn’t see straight.

Thirty-Three

Skylar

Having a cup of coffee in a café in Monaco seemed indulgent, but it gave me a place to sit and brainstorm . . . and at least I was off the yacht for a few hours—a surprise from the captain for doing a twenty-hour day yesterday as he included dinner with Walt. I glanced up at the blue sky, then the boats in the marina. It all looked so beautiful. But just like every yacht crew worker, I knew the picture to be slightly less perfect.

Yachting wasn’t my passion. And Landon had helped me see that it didn’t need to be my future. But was I really going to turn down a three-year contract? Certainty? Guaranteed money, food, and lodging? For a girl like me, who’d been working toward all those things for so long, it seemed a lot to give up just because I thought I might want to do something else.

Despite not having a plan or even an idea of where I’d be in twelve months, I knew it couldn’t be on board the Sapphire. Landon and I may well go our separate ways after this summer, but he’d changed me. Stopped me running. Encouraged me to look around and show me no one was still chasing me. And I’d be forever grateful.

For the first time since my mother died, I had realized that I had options. Choices.

I just didn’t know which direction I should take.

I opened my notebook and glanced down at my list. At the top was the three-year contract on the Sapphire followed by a list of options that seemed entirely impossible.

My phone vibrated on the zinc table, and I grinned. No doubt it was Landon. I’d had at least five messages in the last two hours.

But it was Avery. Again. I hadn’t answered my old friend’s calls last night because I’d been on duty, having dinner with Walt.

“Hey,” I said, as I accepted the call.

“Finally,” she said. “Are you super busy? Can you talk?”

“Nope. I’ve got the day off because yesterday was so crazy.”

“Sounds like your captain is a softie. Which is good because I need you to get the night off tonight. I’m at the airport. We’re flying into Nice later today—that’s why I was calling you like a maniac last night. I really want to see you and August.”

“The yacht’s in Monte Carlo, for tonight at least. And I’m free until tomorrow morning.” Landon had the night off as his brother was in town, and we’d planned to spend the night together when he was done. The timing couldn’t have been better. I could catch up with Avery while Landon had dinner with his brother, and then we could meet up and spend the night together off the boat.

“Fucking-fantastic. I can’t wait.”

Seeing Avery was exactly what I needed. She’d left yachting and chosen a different path. Plus she knew me almost as well as August did. She’d be able to help me assess some of my choices. And I could tell her everything about Landon.

“I’ll make it happen,” I replied. “I need to talk to you about . . . a lot of stuff.”

“This hasn’t got anything to do with the guy you’ve been seeing, does it?”

I laughed. “Not really, well maybe a little. He has opened my eyes to new possibilities. In the future.” Landon and I were . . . I didn’t know what we were, but he’d always made it very clear he wasn’t about commitment or long-term relationships. I’d been convenient to him over the past few weeks, but I was grateful for the time we’d spent together.

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