Page 1 of Sail Away
1
Darcie Bowie curled her mic over her ear and tucked the white dress shirt of her uniform into her black slacks. She did a quick check of her hair and makeup in the tiny mirror that hung on the back side of her cabin door. She had to protect her hair from getting tangled up in the lines as they approached the dock, and she needed to make sure she still looked like a lady in hopes of getting the big tip.
A fine line she walked in her industry—one that she resented.
She squeezed the mic. “All deck crew, all deck crew. Prepare yacht for docking maneuvers. Man your stations.” She secured her cabin—which should be called a closet and barely even that it was so tiny—and hightailed it to the aft deck of the vessel. The end of a charter was never bittersweet.
It was always just fucking sweet.
Only, thanks to one very rich asshole she’d prefer never to lay eyes on again wanting a last-minute vacation, she only had one night off. That didn’t make her happy. Not one bit.
“Darcie, can I make swing to port?” Captain Jim’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker. Jim had been the reason she’d agreed to work on this yacht for the summer season.
Two big mistakes wrapped up in one massive dick. She should have known better.
She shivered.
Darcie held her fist in the air as she watched a group of young sailors in Sunfishes learning the finer points of being out in the Sound. The first job she’d ever had was teaching sailing when she was sixteen, and it had been the best. To this day, she helped out in the marina, giving lessons and whatever else was needed during her downtime and whenever she came home to visit.
Of course, if she had a dollar for every time she’d been offered a job to manage the marina, she’d be able to retire.
“Ready to clear in five, four, three, two… ready to swing to port, Captain.” This particular marina was pretty easy to navigate, especially considering they had secured the end of the pier for docking. Her crew could do it with their eyes closed.
For the most part, her team this season had been top-notch. They were a little immature, and she’d had to break them of a few bad habits, one of which her captain constantly perpetuated, but with only two charters left in the season, and the fact their relationship had ended, she had it under control.
She thought.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” Captain Jim said.
Or not.
She rolled her eyes.
She hadn’t liked being called that when she was his friend with benefits—in no way was sheeverhis girlfriend, not in the true sense of the word—so what made him think she’d like it now that they’d called it quits?
Fucking jerk.
As soon as the stern cleared the point, she dropped her hand. “One hundred meters from the dock,” she said into the mic. “You are free to swing.”
“Swinging to port,” Jim said. “Prepare the bumpers.”
“You’re lined up perfect,” she said. “Sixty meters stern to dock.” She paced from port to starboard and back to port on the upper aft deck of the vessel. “You are clear five meters on each side.” She waited until they were at the twenty-meter mark before giving the signal to toss the lines and secure the vessel. “Fifteen meters, Captain Jim.”
“Taking docking engine to idle,” Captain Jim said.
“Ten meters.” She held her mic.
“Tapping reverse,” Jim said.
“And we’re tied off, Captain Jim.”
“Perfect. Thank you, everyone. Let’s get these guests off the boat. We’ve got one night to turn this bad girl around before our next charter. And just a reminder, I won’t be staying aboard this evening.”
Fuck. He had to remind the world that he would be getting laid. She should be happy he was no longer climbing on top of her. And she was, considering she’d planned on calling it quits at the end of the charter season anyway. But it still irked her how this entire fucking thing had played out.
“Deck crew, deck crew, this is Darcie. Meet me in the main salon for guest luggage disembarkment,” she said over the radio, mentally slapping Jim across the face. Though she should be beatingherselfup. She knew his reputation. She’d seen it firsthand. Even suffered through being the shoulder a few of his conquests had cried on when he broke their hearts. If she should be upset with anyone, it should be herself because she’d known sleeping with Jim would only lead to being betrayed.
Again.
