Page 57 of Sail Away
“I don’t think we should be doing that.”
“Preston certainly put you in a foul mood. Why don’t you let me fix that?” She leaned closer, letting her hand rest on the inside of his thigh.
He batted it away. “Stop. I mean it. We can’t be fooling around. We made a mistake.”
She opened her mouth, but no words formed. She snapped her jaw and tried again.
Nothing.
She cleared her throat.
Still. Nothing.
This couldn’t be happening. Not again. It was like someone flipped a switch, and Reid went from kind and loving to some angry stranger. This is what he’d done right before they broke up a year ago, and it had Preston written all over it.
She wasn’t going to let that asshole ruin things again.
“We made a mistake? Or Preston got into your head?” She planted her hands on her hips and glared. “What the fuck did he say to you?”
“He has nothing to do with this. We just got caught up in a whirlwind of seeing each other again, and now I have a shit ton of stuff to deal with regarding this meeting tonight and I need to read all this stuff.” He waved a bunch of papers. “I can’t mess this deal up. It’s important to my company.”
“Oh. My. God. Are you fucking kidding me?” She curled her fingers around his wrist and dragged him to his room where she kicked open the door and slammed it behind them. “Do you mind telling me where this is coming from? Because a few hours ago we were—”
“I know what we were doing, and I’ve had a change of heart.”
“Oh. No. You are not doing that. And not just to me. Hell, I don’t give a shit about that. Well, I do, but you are not letting Preston push you around. Whatever he told you just now, he’s just doing it to manipulate you.”
“Get out of my room, Darcie. You’re in over your head, and whatever we thought we could fix, we can’t. Let it go.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Like hell I will. And I’m not going to stand here and let you just give up or let him fuck with you anymore.”
He held up a bottle of whiskey, screwed off the cap, and took a shot. “I’m going to take a quick shower, grab my computer, and then join my team. We’ve got some work to discuss and then some major partying to do.”
“Don’t do this, Reid. You’re going to regret it.”
“You’re probably right, but it’s my life to fuck up, now isn’t it?”
She poked him in the chest. “I’m not letting you do this to yourself. Whatever he’s got on you, we’ll deal with it. Together. I’m not giving up.” She turned on her heel and stormed off with her stomach growling. She needed a few moments to calm down. She’d get something to eat and then she’d talk some sense into that man.
She found the fixings for her favorite sandwich and got to work while Kirk lounged at the table with a book.
“How are you holding up this morning?” Kirk asked.
“Exhausted.”
“I need to tell you something.” Kirk sat up and glanced around. “The entire boat knows you were in Reid’s room last night.”
“Excuse me?” Darcie took her grilled cheese and slid behind the table, hiding her shaking hands. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Anastasia overheard Reid’s team members telling Preston they saw you coming out of his cabin and wondered if you were a cokehead like Reid.”
“What?” Her voice rose a couple of octaves. “First off, I don’t do drugs, and while Reid likes to drink and always has, he’s never even smoked pot. I know this because I have, and I tried to get him to take a hit, and he wouldn’t.”
“I asked Anastasia if she could have misunderstood, but she said Bradley heard some shit too.”
“From Preston and Reid’s team?”
Kirk nodded.
