Page 116 of His Secret Gift

Understandably, she seems perplexed. “… why?”

I then lead her by the shoulders over to one of the stools on the other side of the island, and I lean with my elbows on it before explaining, “Ever since Wes—Captain Bryant’s divorce, I’ve wanted him to get out in the world and have a little meaningless fun. I think your friend might be just the ticket for that.”

She scowls. “You want us to matchmake them, essentially.”

I wipe at my mouth briefly. “No. Well, not exactly. I just think they might be good for each other. If a romance sparks up—so, be it. If not,” I shrug, “who cares? Hopefully they’ll both have a few laughs and some fun along the way.”

Her middle finger traces her bottom lip. “I don’t know.”

“Plus, wouldn’t it be cool to have your best friend with you in Greece?” I know that will sweeten the pot for her.

She seems to think a moment before saying, “What the hell? Let’s do it. But how are we going to get a hold of her?”

I grin. “Don’t worry. I have my ways.”

A few seconds later, she squeals.

I’ve moved on to cooking some bacon, and the sound that escapes from her startles me at first.

“Oh, sorry.”

I turn the burner down. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I was just thinking about how you might be right.”

Oh, I like the sound of that.“About?”

“Captain Bryant and Molly. On the outside, they seem like a completely cockamamy couple.”

I giggle so hard that particles of moisture fly out of my mouth. “Cockamamy? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were a Cockney from the eighteenth century.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “You know what I’m saying. They just seem like they might be the perfect ‘opposites attract’ situation.”

“That’s what I’m saying.” I also think it’s a good sign if I, someone who knows him really well, and her, who knows Molly better than anyone, can already see it—even before their meeting.

“But what are we going to say to get them together? We can’t just be like, ‘Molly, Captain Bryant; Captain Bryant, Molly. And go!’”

I rub at my chin, which is quite stubbly. “No. But!” I raise my finger up in the air. “We could set up an innocent ploy that we’re all going out to dinner together. That wouldn’t be that suspicious. He’s my good friend, and she is yours.”

“True. True. Then, we’ll just watch and see if a natural attraction or whatever occurs between them.”

“Exactly.”

“Ooh. This is so exciting,” she exclaims. “Just remember, you can’t tell anyone about her connection to Tiffany Yachts.”

“Right, right.” My lips are sealed.

Then, continuing to see her smile warms my heart. Making her happy makes me happy, and I know similarly making our best mates happy would only increase both of our contentment.

Chapter 36

Karpathos, Greece – Kayla

Afew days later, and we finally dock on Karpathos, Greece. Jack and I have continued our flirtations, and mostly in the kitchen when I help him cook the meals, if I’m not busy attending to duties actually associated with my job, of course.

But the sexual tension that has built itself up between us is insane, and I cannot wait for him to get what I hope will be a clean bill of health from the doctor.

As for Molly, I’m not sure how he did it, but he secured her a plane to meet us in two days’ time. However, knowing that she may be taking up a lot of my time, especially if the whole thing with Captain Bryant doesn’t pan out, means the sooner the better for Jack to get tested.

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