Page 76 of Falling Overboard

Not that again. She couldn’t say that to me or else I might slip up and tell her just how much I wanted.

“I’ll be right back.” I went into the bathroom to give myself some breathing room and get ready for bed.

This was enough. Whatever she had to give me was enough.

And I’d be thankful that I got to be close to her.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Lucky

Our next charter guest, Rodney Whitlock, was what my mother would have called an odd duck.

He had arrived on the yacht precisely on time and totally alone. He visibly startled when he was introduced to Hunter, a reaction I completely understood, as I wanted to do the same thing every time I saw Hunter.

Especially when I woke up to him in my bed.

I’d never been on a charter where there was only a single guest. And I had mistakenly thought it might involve less work, but there was always plenty to do.

Rodney spent most of his time reading in the main salon. He didn’t want to go to shore or have any excursions, didn’t want to use any of the water toys or head into any ports.

He was happy to stay put in the middle of the ocean and read. He took all his meals in the salon as well. He had requested that Andre make him the exact same grilled steak (but without grill marks) and baked potato dish every night. The chef highly disliked not being ableto flex his creative muscles and I got an earful in several languages every night at dinner.

There was only one more night left on this particular charter, so I wouldn’t have to put up with Andre’s exasperation for much longer.

It wasn’t too upsetting, though, because other than Andre, the week had gone extraordinarily well for me. Hunter and I had stuck to our routine of watching a movie when we got off shift and then sleeping together in my bunk.

Every morning when I woke up, I felt like a princess out of a Disney movie. Like woodland creatures should have come and assisted me with my chores because everything in my life felt so magical.

My feelings for Hunter deepened at an alarming rate. This was part of sea goggles, too. Everything happened quickly on a yacht because of that impermanence thing. People developed feelings faster than they might normally.

That also meant they went away quicker, too.

I didn’t know if I could risk my heart that way again. I was afraid that losing Hunter would be a million times worse than when my other relationships had ended. Because he was such a better person and I liked him so much more.

I really wanted to keep Captain Carl’s rule, wanted to remember that relationships never worked out for me, but it was getting harder with each passing night.

I adored Hunter Smith. I might have even been a bit in love with him.

We had both been able to call off a bit earlier than normal, as Rodney went to bed at like, nine o’clock in the evening. We weren’t going to have an early evening tonight, though, because Thomas had asked Hunter to come help detail the Jet Skis. The bosun was taking advantage of the fact that Rodney wasn’t a demanding guest to get deeper cleaning done.

I was doing the same thing. I’d assigned additional jobs to my stews, which Emilie had grumbled about and basically ignored.

It was getting pretty old doing her work. Especially because she took an equal share of the tips.

Whenever I complained to Hunter about my Emilie situation, he would listen. He wouldn’t offer suggestions unless I asked for them, something I appreciated. Men I’d dated in the past had always wanted to fix things and thought they had some brilliant insight that I couldn’t have possibly come up with on my own. Not Hunter.

I knew the situation annoyed him, and he sometimes might say as much, but he treated it like it was my problem and he would respect whatever decision I made.

Only I wasn’t making a decision. I continued to just do it myself and be upset about it.

Since Hunter wouldn’t be off shift until later, I decided to watch some massage therapy technique videos. I had some coursework that I probably should have been reading but I had always been a visual learner. Watching people do the work was the most helpful.

I got into bed and found a video from one of my favorite YouTube channels. They were doing some deep tissue massage and the woman on the table seemed to be very enthusiastic about them digging into her back.

My cabin door swung open and there stood Hunter.

“What are you watching?” I heard the delighted implication in his voice that I might be watching some kind of naked movie. I hurried to hit the pause button, but because his presence was flustering me, it took a few attempts.

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