Page 10 of The Bosun

“Are you back with the living?” Scarlett joked with me.

“Finally. I can’t remember the last time I drank that much. How do the rest of you not have hangovers?” I asked as I looked around the table at each of them. They all seemed too happy and wide awake.

“That’s what the mimosas are for.” Zelda held hers up in a cheers gesture. “When you’re finished with breakfast, why don’t you join us out on the water?”

“Sounds perfect.”

All the girls got up except for Pen. She sat lazily finishing off her drink. “Are you coming, Pen?”

“I’ll be there in a moment. I’m going to finish my drink and check my emails first.”

“You work too hard,” Zelda told her, shaking her head.

“And you don’t work at all,” Pen said under her breath. “Unless you count giving blowjobs.”

“Pen,” I scolded with a laugh because it was true. I didn’t think Zelda had ever worked a day in her life unless it was under a man to get his money.

Her only response was to give me a knowing look before we both started cackling like two old ladies gossiping.

She looked around us to make sure we were alone before she leaned back with one arched brow. I knew I couldn’t get out of telling her what happened, and she knew me too well for me to keep what happened a secret.

“You’re impossible, you know that,” I laughed with a roll of my eyes.

“Spill,” she looked around as if at any second someone was going to pop out from the shadows and hear.

“Fine,” I huffed. “I sort of kissed Remy last night.”

“What? When?” she whisper-yelled.

Leaning in close, I looked around to make sure no one would hear. “After he walked me to our room, I leaned up and kissed him.”

Pen squealed with a big smile on her face. “Was it good?”

Okay, maybe I’d over-embellished a little bit since there weren’t any details to give.

“It wasn’t so much of a kiss as it was our lips touched.” I could feel my face heat up at making what happened sound like more than it was. Maybe it was because I was wishing it was more.

With furrowed brows, she asked quietly. “He didn’t, like, push you away or anything, did he?”

“No, nothing like that. I said goodnight...I should have tried for more even though I’m pretty sure it’s frowned upon to hook up with the crew.”

“I don’t know. They said to ask for whatever we wanted. I say you ask for the hottie and see if they serve him up on a silver platter. Hmm,” she hummed to herself and tapped her chin with her manicured fingernail. “I think we need to find more opportunities for you to spend time with him. Just the two of you.”

“That’s probably not a good idea. I don’t want to get him fired. I would never forgive myself if I was the cause of him losing his job.”

Pen’s hands flew in the air as she stood. “Don’t worry about that. Let me see what I can come up with while you eat your breakfast. In the meantime, I’m going to see if I can convince all the guys to take off their shirts while they help us with the water toys.”

“Good idea,” I laughed. Pen never had a problem getting guys to do what she wanted, and I, for one, wouldn’t mind some eye candy for the day.

* * *

Steppingdown onto the inflated platform, the ground underneath me rippled, causing my arms to shoot out for balance. That was unexpected. How the hell did everyone else make it look so easy?

Luckily, everyone already did the slide and was tired of it by the time I ate my breakfast and changed into my bathing suit, so I didn’t have to worry about it.

One of the other crew members stepped out from a cove in the back of the boat and over to me; I thought his name was Owen. “What would you like to do? All the personal watercraft are being used, but you could paddleboard or just lay out if you want. Whatever you want.”

I’d never tried to paddleboard. It looked like it could be fun. With the other girls out doing their thing, I could get some exercise in and enjoy exploring the cove we were in.

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