Page 71 of Night and Day
Jungle-like greenery hung off the river banks, climbing so high she could barely see the occasional houses perched on top.
“It looks like the Amazon rain forest,” Mia blew a deep sigh.
The river was its own private world, occasional bridges the only reminder of the city that sprawled on both sides.
Izzy glanced at her, smiling at her expression. “I love it here. You can’t hear the traffic, but you see this whole other side of town. The birds and secret swimming spots and the rich people’s backyards.” He flashed her an impertinent smile.
“It’s gorgeous.” Mia filled her lungs with the fresh air flapping at her dress and sat on the two-seater in the cockpit, letting Izzy drive. “Where are we going?”
“I thought we could just go downstream for a bit and find a nice spot to hang out, then come back up?”
“Sounds perfect.” Mia closed her eyes, listening to the burbling of the water, mixed with the soft puttering of the engine. Then a thought hit her. “Why did I bring an overnight bag, though?”
Izzy’s grin turned sheepish. “Um... there’s a double bed down there.” He pointed at the floor.
“Really? How do you get in there?”
“Just back up a little and you’ll see the stairs.”
Mia investigated the small space behind her, and discovered the entrance leading underneath the deck. “Can I take a look?”
“Sure. Take the bags with you. You can store them in the cupboards.” Izzy pointed at the two backpacks and the guitar case which they’d crammed between the seats in the cockpit.
Mia took the bags, leaving the guitar, and negotiated her way down the steep, narrow steps. The space underneath was larger than she’d expected, and surprisingly cosy, with shiny wood detailing and jungle-patterned green cushions perfectly matching the river scene outside. Other than the rather hot, stuffy air, it felt cosier than any space she’d come across on her travels. Could she just stay here and never travel anywhere ever again? People lived in boats, right?
Stashing the bags in an empty cupboard, Mia climbed back up. “How much does a boat like this cost?”
Izzy kept his attention on the river, steering them between a green and red buoys. “Are you thinking of buying one?”
Mia perched herself on the seat by his side, hanging her arms over the railing. “Just dreaming.”
“A hundred thousand, maybe.”
“I’ll keep dreaming.” She huffed a sad laugh. “It’s so cosy down there, I could easily live on a boat like this.”
Izzy’s face brightened in delight. “So you’re okay to spend the night? I’ve only done it once, but it was the best sleep I ever had.”
Mia grinned at him. “Yes! I’m not that keen on sleep, though. I can sleep on the plane.”
Izzy narrowed his eyes. “No talk about tomorrow!”
She sighed. “I’m trying! It’s just so hard. If there’s something you’re not supposed to think about, it’s all you can think about, right?”
“Yeah. That’s how the human mind works. Let me moor up somewhere and I promise I’ll do my best to distract you.” He winked, and a shiver ran down Mia’s spine, her gaze zeroing in on the curve of his bicep stretching the thin T-shirt material. The veins on his forearms twitched as he handled the steering wheel. Yes. He could definitely distract her.
She’d never really cared about the male form, blissfully uninterested in what Mikko wore and how his arms looked. Ogling the opposite sex felt embarrassing. But Mikko was skinny and pasty white, and she suspected he’d never cast a smouldering look at anyone in his life. The way Izzy’s gaze roamed her body, his pupils dilating like a shadow grew from within, hit her like a heat wave, switching off her rational brain. And he hadn’t even touched her yet. The previous night’s events flipped like a slide show behind her eyes, making her legs shake. Could she ever get enough of him?
After a while, Izzy steered them closer to the riverbank, towards an off-channel area where the water pooled into small swirls before joining the main stream.
Mia noticed something in the middle of the greenery. “What is that?” It appeared someone had built a dock to access the bay.
“Must be someone’s private access,” Izzy said. “But it looks old. Might not be in use anymore. Should we moor the boat there?”
“Can we?”
Izzy studied the dashboard. “It’s pretty deep around here. We should be able to.”
Getting closer, they saw the true state of it. A tree had fallen on the part that attached the dock to the riverbank, leaving an isolated platform one could only access from the river side. Izzy dropped the anchor and they listened to the clank of the metal chain unfurling. Within moments, the boat slowed and they crept towards the dock. It was a beautiful spot, sheltered from nearly every direction by the green ferns and trees growing over the water, hanging their leaves just above the surface.
