Page 32 of Falling Overboard

“The boat’s not rocking as hard anymore.” He said the words softly and it made my insides even meltier.

The boat had been rocking?

My fuzzy mind determined that his words seemed correct and a good explanation as to why I was currently in this situation but all I could think about was how warm Hunter’s lips looked and I wanted to kiss him more than I’d ever wanted anything in my entire life.

“You needed some medicine?” he prompted, that amused look not leaving his bright blue eyes.

Like he knew something I didn’t.

And I needed medicine? For what?

I forced my brain to turn over and start up. Every moment I passed in silence was more humiliating than the last. “Seasickness,” I finally managed to say. “I get seasick.”

“Seasick?” he repeated. “You work on a yacht and you get seasick?”

Was there a way to permanently meld myself to him so that we never had to be apart again? “I do. That’s why I wear these.”

Somehow I managed to lift my wrists, which was harder than it sounded. I was just so off-kilter that it was like I’d lost complete control over myself. It was difficult to get my body to respond the way I wanted it to.

“Elastic acupressure bands,” I added unnecessarily. “I also have over-the-counter meds for it in the bathroom. For if the seas get rough.”

“You should go get that,” he said but he didn’t release me.

“I should,” I agreed. But no part of me was in any hurry to move away from him. Including my brain, who had been convinced by my body that it was a good idea to stay put.

“Or I could get it for you,” he offered and I felt his hand flatten against my back, as if he would somehow pull me closer.

“No, that’s okay. I can do it.” The fact that I was still upright and able to speak felt like a modern miracle.

“Lucky ...” His voice trailed off and I held my entire body still, waiting to see what he would say next.

What he would do.

He didn’t make a move, though. He just kept holding me and I saw his Adam’s apple bob, how he tightened his jaw, and his mouth opened slightly. As if he intended to say something.

Or do something.

But if I stayed here, caught between him and the wall, I was going to make the biggest of mistakes.

I put my hands up on his chest. This time it was deliberate and I pushed gently against his very firm, very warm pectoral muscles. He immediately released me and backed up. I did my best newborn-fawn impersonation with my unsteady legs as I tried to make my way intothe bathroom. I didn’t have very far to walk but it felt like I was crossing an entire football field, his eyes on me the entire time.

When I entered the bathroom, I shut the door behind me and leaned against it, trying to breathe deeply and unable to. My skin was prickly and flushed, my stomach turning and twisting.

It wasn’t anxiety that had me falling apart, though—it was unbridled lust. Hunter was too attractive.

I had probably been sweating again, and with my luck, he’d seen it.

Groaning softly, I pushed away from the door and opened the medicine cabinet. As I rummaged around for my pills, I wondered if there was an anti-Hunter medicine that I could take to clear him from my system.

I located my medication and popped a couple of pills in my mouth, leaning down to drink from the faucet. I had a water bottle in the cabin but I wasn’t ready to go back out there yet.

In large part because I needed to give him the chance to get dressed. I was worried I might turn into some kind of feral vixen if I returned to our room and he was still in a towel.

When I straightened up water dripped from my mouth into the sink and it immediately made me think of how Hunter had looked when he’d walked out of the bathroom. I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

Enough,I said.This is over-the-top ridiculous. You can control yourself. He is a nice man and doesn’t deserve to have you throwing yourself at him and putting both of your jobs in jeopardy.

I waited until I had sufficiently calmed down before I put my hand on the doorknob. It occurred to me at the last moment he might not be dressed. “Are you decent?” I asked through the door.

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