Page 133 of Falling Overboard

“Lucky ...” All the frustration and yearning we both felt was encapsulated in the way he said my name.

“Soon,” I told him.

It wasn’t fair to say because “soon” was so far off. After this charter he and I would sit down and figure things out. We couldn’t keep going like this.

Something had to give.

Chapter Forty-Three

Hunter

Last night, after I had witnessed one of the tech bros asking Georgia to come and sit on his lap so that he could guess her weight, I’d met up with François and Thomas and we decided that none of the female crewmembers should be left alone with our current “guests.” I wanted to call my parents and tell them to be more selective in the charters they accepted and explain to them how terrible these people were.

Lucky begged me not to, because she mistakenly believed my parents would think that she personally wasn’t doing a good job. I tried to make her see that that wouldn’t happen, but she didn’t believe me.

The other guests had gone fishing and Lucky told me that while the succubus and her demon dog were on the sundeck, we needed to clean the primary cabin.

She seemed frustrated, so while we stripped the sheets and comforter from the bed in the primary cabin, I asked, “How are you doing today?”

“I’ve got ninety-nine problems and these horrible people are all of them.” She grabbed the clean, ironed linens and directed me on howto put them on correctly. “If there was an iceberg ahead, I don’t think I’d be too upset.”

I laughed while she showed me how to fold the corners correctly. She was so sexy when she bossed me around. I said, “I’m kind of surprised we don’t have to clean up any Barbies.”

“She is really young, isn’t she? I hoped they didn’t cross any state lines getting here.”

I shook my head. “Some people say age is just a number.”

“And in his case a high one. That closely correlates with death,” she shot back.

“Maybe she’s an old soul and he’s a kid at heart and so together they’re ... still forty years apart.”

She grinned at me. “I’m sure their love will last for many, many days.” Then she tossed me a pillowcase.

I picked up a pillow and read the tag. “One hundred percent cotton, nontoxic, organic.” I glanced up at her. “What are other pillows made out of?”

“Asbestos, toxins, and inorganic materials, obviously.”

I loved how she and I could play around and have fun together, just enjoying each other’s company, while still being able to have the serious conversations if we needed to.

Which Lucky was about to do. “Hunter, about last night, I’m sorry for unloading my frustration with the guests on you.”

I paused what I was doing because I was confused. “When did you do that?”

“I was angry with you for intervening. I kind of snapped at you. I know your heart was in the right place.”

“Lucky, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re allowed to be mad if you’re mad.”

She looked startled. A moment later she said, “If I was ever mad or frustrated, my ex would get angry at me, and even if he was at fault, I always had to be the one who apologized.”

I was going to make a list of all the butts I had to kick when we got off this ship. I went over to her, taking both of her hands in mine. “That’s not how relationships are supposed to work. It’s my job to be there for you when you need me. To support you. And I hope you’d do the same for me.”

“Of course I would.”

“I’ll be strong for you and you’ll be strong for me. We’ll fill in each other’s gaps.”

“Okay.” She smiled at me. “I don’t know if I can trust in people who work through their problems. That doesn’t feel like a real thing.”

“I promise it is,” I said, giving her a quick kiss and then helped get the comforter back onto the bed and also tucked in the corners.

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