Below Deck

Knowing Declan would probably stand here all day until I give up, and really, really wanting to drive my own jet ski, I let out a huge, annoyed sigh, unable to believe that I’m actually giving in to this asshole.

Unfolding my legs and pushing myself up from the couch, I smack his offered hand away, just to make myself feel better and let him know in no uncertain terms I’m not happy about this situation. I’m only going along with it so he can say whatever he has to say to ease his conscience, and I can go back to pretending like he doesn’t exist and doesn’t matter.

“Let’s get this over with,” I mutter, brushing past him. “But if I go too fast and you fall off the back, I’m leaving you there and letting you drown.”

CHAPTER 13

Declan

Even though Mackenzie clearly wanted to punch my face, and I could tell she’d rather do anything else instead of go somewhere alone with me, I thanked God that my jet ski idea actually worked.

When I sucked up my pride and went in search of Ben to apologize for always getting on his case about rules, and to admit just how royally I’d fucked up and to ask him for advice. I found Zoe helping him pull out extra cases of liquor from the storage area at the back of the ship to restock the crew pantry, since Mackenzie’s relatives had depleted our stock today.

When I finished explaining everything to the both of them, Ben just laughed at me and Zoe punched me in the arm. Not only did she think I’d behaved like a complete asshole, she’d had to deal with Ashley pestering her twenty-four-seven, asking her if she knew why I’d been avoiding her and if it had anything to do with the way she caught me staring at Mackenzie a few times. So much for thinking I was doing a good job hiding how much I wanted her.

I told Ben to shut the hell up and I apologized to Zoe, promising her I’d have a talk with Ashley and get her off Zoe’s case as soon as I could. One problem at a time. Right now, my problem with Mackenzie was my main concern.

As soon as Ben brought up the idea of taking her somewhere on a jet ski since the ship would be stopped for the rest of the day, I forgave him for laughing at my predicament. Zoe agreed with the idea, even though she still thought I was an idiot for deciding I couldn’t pursue anything else with Mackenzie for obvious reasons.

She got that even though I wanted to take that risk, there was too much at stake for me to do it. My main goal in getting Mackenzie alone needed to be for me to apologize for my behavior and make sure she knew, in a nicer way than what I’d already attempted and failed, that it couldn’t happen again. And really, with the dirty looks she gave me and the way she smacked my hand away when I tried to help her up from the couch, I’m pretty sure even if I decided to say “fuck it” and let whatever happens, happen, Mackenzie wanted none of that anymore.

It took every ounce of willpower I had not to drop to my knees and change my mind when we got to the railing where I’d had Ben toss over the ladder that would take us down to water level and the waiting jet ski he’d left tied up to the side of the boat.

After I threw on a life jacket and stood there holding Mackenzie’s in my hand, I had to count to ten in my head and mentally tell my dick to calm the fuck down when she pulled the cover-up off her body and tossed it to her feet. She stood in front of me defiantly with her hands on her hips, wearing nothing but that blue string bikini and I had to keep my shaking hands steady when I helped her into her life jacket instead of running them all over her body like I wanted to.

When I went over the side of the railing and down the ladder first, I had to concentrate on every step I took to avoid falling into the water while I stared up at her barely-covered ass and those gorgeous long legs as she followed me down.

Let’s not even talk about how difficult it was to put my hands on her hips and give her a boost up onto the jet ski once we got down in the water, or how good it felt to get on the seat behind her and feel her body nestled between my thighs. I tried as hard as I could to hide the shakiness in my voice while I leaned forward and scooted closer to her to start up the engine and give her a quick rundown on how the jet ski worked.

Hoping she couldn’t feel my permanent hard-on nestled against her ass, I clutched tightly to the safety bar behind me with one hand. Even though I could have put them both there to hold on, I tortured myself by wrapping my other arm around her waist and holding her securely against me. It was part need to touch her no matter what my convictions were, and part fear for my life since true to her word, as soon as Mackenzie revved the engine and took off, she tried her hardest to chuck me off the back of the damn thing.

As pissed as she was at me, she couldn’t hide her excitement or how much fun the thrill of racing through the crystal clear water was. Her squeals of delight echoed over the sound of the engine, and her laughter shook her entire body as she flew us up and over the waves from the wake she cut through the water.

When we got close to the coral reef, I removed my arm from around her waist long enough to point it out to her and told her to slow down before the water got too shallow and we plowed into the sand. She took her hand off the gas and we floated to a stop a few feet from the reef. Keeping one foot on the ledge of the ski and swinging my leg around and off the seat, I held the jet ski stable with one hand as I hopped off and held my other hand out to help her down.

All of her happiness from just a few seconds ago disappeared. She glared at my outstretched hand and smacked it away like she did back on the ship and got down without my assistance. When we both stood in the waist-deep water, we silently removed our life jackets and flung them over the seat of the jet ski before she turned away from me and started wading a few feet away, staring down at the tropical marine life that swam all around us, not caring that we’d just invaded their territory.