Page 6 of The Billionaire's Teacher

Wes looked around, then shook his head. “Nope. Thanks.”

“Of course.” I stepped out into the tiny space at the foot of the stairs. “I’m going to go up and get us underway. Get settled and relax. If you want a snack or beverage, the galley is stocked.”

“Okay.” Wes looked like he had more to say.

I waited a moment, but when he didn’t continue, I turned and headed upstairs.

He was either going to get over whatever his issue with me being a woman was, or it was going to be the longest three weeks of my life.

3

WES

Iwatched as Sunshine—and I was going to just keep on using her full name as long as it took for me to get the image of a gray-haired surfer out of my head—left my stateroom and headed up the stairs.

I probably shouldn’t have spent even two seconds admiring her legs, but they were long, tanned, and firm. What was a guy supposed to do?

Mom would probably have a smart comment to make. The General was six or seven years older than her. I was sure she’d probably start making comments about finally getting a daughter-in-law if I said anything about Sunshine to her.

No. When it came to Mom, I’d keep on calling her Sunny.

Speaking of Mom. I reached for the laminated card on one of the shelves and followed the instructions to connect my phone to the wi-fi, then snapped a photo of my stateroom. It wasn’t large, but it was certainly luxurious. I tapped out a note letting her know that I’d made it safely to the boat and was now moving on with the itinerary of sailing the islands. I’d sent her the schedule so she could follow along in her mind. Plus, it was never a bad idea for people to know where I was.

The chartering company had the schedule as well. And they tracked their boats. Made sense, given the cost.

I sat on the foot of the bed and gave a little bounce while I looked around. There wasn’t much to see. Two levels of shelves ran down the walls on both sides of the bed. Skinny oblong portholes provided light and a glimpse of the water. There were doors with ring-like catches on either side of the cabin. I reached for one and tugged it open, smiling as it revealed a closet. I checked the other side—same thing. Which meant the door with a more traditional handle was likely the bathroom.

I stood and opened that door, my eyebrows lifting slightly at the luxury packed into the small space. There were drawers under the sink for storage, as well as a good-sized shower and a toilet. Everything I could need. And not so cramped that it would be hard to use.

I shut the door to the bathroom and set about settling in. There were drawers built into one of the closets, so I unpacked my clothes into them. The other closet was more for hanging clothes, so I stashed the empty suitcase and the dive gear in there. It was cozy, but it would definitely work.

And I hadn’t needed the extra stateroom.

Despite the lack of inflection when Sunshine had mentioned the space, I’d gotten the distinct impression that she’d think less of me if I ended up bleeding over into that space. I was probably imagining it, but I was glad not to need to find out.

I exited the stateroom, pulling the door closed behind me. Unable to resist, I peeked in the door Sunshine said led to hers. It was open a crack, so it wasn’t really prying, right? I nudged it slightly, revealing a tidy space. One of the twin beds was wrinkled, as if it’d been slept in and remade. The other was so pristine I didn’t imagine she’d even sat on it. There was a small, gold frame on the shelf beside the wrinkled bed. It held a photo of a man, head tipped back with laughter, his hair mussed by the wind.

I nodded and pulled the door closed. Of course she had someone. Why wouldn’t she?

Why did I care?

I didn’t, obviously. It was simply information to gather and file away.

From her reaction, she hadn’t felt anything when I’d grabbed her hand for balance coming aboard. So it really didn’t matter what I might—or might not—have imagined. Maybe it was just static electricity.

Unlikely, given the humidity in the air down here, but I didn’t need to overanalyze.

I climbed the stairs back to the main deck.

“All settled in?” Sunshine glanced over at me from where she stood behind a console and steering wheel.

“Yeah. Thanks. It’s great.”

“I’ve always thought so. The galley’s stocked, like I said. Feel free to get comfortable. We have about ten hours of sailing ahead of us before we get to our first stop.” She kept her eyes shifting between the view ahead of her and the instruments on the console. “If you need something, let me know.”

It sounded like a dismissal. Was it meant as one? It was just the two of us on the boat. Did she really expect that I wouldn’t want to talk to her the whole time? I wasn’t the world’s most outgoing person, sure, but I wasn’t one of those people happy to sit in silence for hours on end. Especially not when there was someone right there to talk to.

I ran my hand over the top of the table on my way to the galley. “Can I get you something? Soda? Water?”

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