Page 4 of The Sailor in Polynesia
The two from the bow were obviously a couple. They’d puttered around tidying the boat up, staying close to each other, and I could hear their occasional laughter drift over. The tanned brunette had disappeared below, so that left me watching the skipper.
Which was the best option of all. This guy was tall and lean, and he’d bent to work inflating a stand-up paddleboard. I could barely see what he was doing, but I was curious about what brand of paddleboard it was. I could barely make out anaand ap.
Binoculars were helpful. Yes, I could definitely read the name of the paddleboard company now.
There was a lot of muscle flexing going on. I’d never inflated a stand-up paddleboard before—I always wanted one, and nearly had a sponsor give me one, but I had to back out—so I didn’t know how hard it was, but based on the way this guy’s muscles were moving, it was quite a workout.
I nibbled my lip. I might have been a bit deprived lately.
Once the board was inflated and pushed into the water, I watched the man climb down and stabilize himself. The brunette came out of the boat and handed him... something. I couldn’t tell what it was. He placed it on the board between his feet and pushed off his boat.
And pointed directly at me.
“Oh crap,” I muttered. Still peeking through the binoculars, I watched him paddle toward me, strong arms stroking a few times on each side before switching. I shook myself: time to stop peeping before he gets close enough to notice.
* * *
“Hallo?”a man’s voice called out.
I stepped into the cockpit and looked toward the starboard side. At the gunwale a few feet away, strong fingers gripped the rail, and a moment later a blond head popped up. His hair was pulled back in a bun, his skin tanned and eyes hidden behind sunglasses.
When he saw me, his eyebrows rose and his mouth fell open.
“Uhhh... hi,” I called back, not moving from my cockpit.
He stared at me briefly and then shook himself. “Yes, I have... I have a gift for you.” He had a thick accent that must have been Norwegian, and his fingers twitched nervously on the rail.
Despite the minor annoyance of my busy afternoon being interrupted—naps were important—I was intrigued. Who came bearing gifts to total strangers?
Reaching down, he lifted the gift, a fillet of tuna in a plastic bag. “We... we caught this on the way here from Rangiroa, and even though there are five of us on board...” He trailed off and his mouth opened and closed a few times.
“That looks like tuna?” I supplied.
For whatever reason, he hastily started opening the bag and then tried to pull out the fish.
“You don’t have to...”
In doing so, he let go ofWelinaand started to drift away. When he noticed, he lunged for the gunwale again, throwing himself off balance. I watched in horror as he, and the tuna fillet, plunged into the water.
I scrambled to my knees. His boat had just come in, he may not know...
“Get out, get out, get out,” I chanted as he surfaced, the tasty morsel of tuna bobbing next to him. “Sharks swim around here all the time.”
His sunglasses were gone, so I saw his eyes widen. Thankfully, he was still tethered to the paddleboard, so he turned and grabbed it, lunging to climb on.
I saw the moment he made the decision, but I could only watch in horror as he swept his hand through the water and scooped up the tuna.
Safe on his knees on the paddleboard, he panted and rubbed his hands over his face. He cursed in Norwegian.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He held up one hand and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other. “I know—I should not have done that.”
“Which part? The falling in or the scooping up?” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.
He laughed darkly.
“Why don’t you come on board? I’ll put the tuna away and if you need a shot for fortitude, I’ve got tequila.”
