Chapter 16

When Pippa returned from the customs office fifteen minutes later, she rushed down to the office, as far away from River as she could. Being friends proved to be awfully difficult when all she wanted was to jump him and tear off his clothes.

“Child, you should go up and get some sun. Willem and I have a handle on things in here,” Maria said with a smile as Pippa passed through the galley.

“That’s okay. I do have plenty of paperwork to take care of.”

Maria chuckled saying, “That boy doesn’t have any sort of filing system. Why don’t you take it up on the deck and get some sun at the same time?”

Bad idea. Up on the sundeck River was with his guests, assigning them their diving gear, while Willem steered the boat out to the coral reef. Mushroom Forest. The name sounded intriguing and for a split-second she wished she could dive with them. See the colorful fish and corals, experience the weightlessness and the freedom under water. What would it be like to be in the water with River, forgetting her stupid for a minute and just enjoying being one with nature?

“No, I don’t want to be in the way.” And I definitely don’t want to be drooling over his hot body. During his security briefing she hadn’t been able to take her eyes off of him. And the heat searing through her every time she saw his bulging biceps move didn’t come from the Caribbean sun.

Maria gave her a skeptical look and turned her attention to a pile of vegetables to peel and cut up into chunks.

Pippa made her way into the office and sat down in the tiny space, catching up on the necessary paperwork. Overnight several emails had arrived with questions about the boat, dates and planned locations. She answered what she could and made notes on post-its of things she had to ask River about.

Grateful for the distraction, she didn’t even notice that the motor had stopped until Maria peeked her head inside the office.

“We’ve arrived. Would you like to join everyone for lunch?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Pippa glanced at her watch. Past one p.m. already. She’d been too occupied with her work to even be afraid the entire morning. A tiny victory. Then she followed Maria up to the sundeck, where tables were set.

River was already sitting with the group of single guys and acknowledged her arrival with a mere nod. Disappointment surged through her chest, followed by confusion. Then anger. You shoved him away, what do you expect?

She sat with the two couples and was soon part of their conversation, gracefully smiling, doing small talk the way she had practiced so many years. But her eyes wandered. They never stopped at the breathtaking scenery, but always returned to the same man, sitting with his profile to her. Damn! Get over him already.

After the light lunch Pippa helped Maria to clear the dishes, while the guests started a flurry of excited activities to prepare for their first dive of the week. The next time Pippa came up to the deck with a wet rag, her mouth gaped wide open as she observed the spectacle in front of her: River was heaving one of the heavy oxygen bottles out of the box and putting it on the back of one of the ladies.

Pippa forgot that she wanted to wipe the tables and stared at the play of his bulging biceps and back muscles. She involuntarily licked her lips as she noticed a drop of sweat running down his glistening back. How could she possible keep her hands off of this gorgeous man for the entire week?

The next moment, he turned to help the next diver and his eyes caught hers. His gaze hypnotized her like a tractor beam and she moved a few steps into his direction, refusing to break their powerful connection. Blasts of energy passed between them. River was the first one to look away and Pippa leapt forward to furiously wipe the table, ridding her of the pent-up energy.

I. Am. Not. Attracted. To. Him.

She fled the deck and helped Maria clean the dishes until she could safely assume that everyone – including River – had left the boat for their dive. With nothing else she could work on without his help, Pippa returned to her cabin and changed into her bikini. Then she went to the sundeck and settled onto the same lounger that she’d occupied late last night, her Kindle in her hand.

But she couldn’t concentrate on her book. The Kindle slipped into her lap as she stared at the turquoise water and the silhouette of Curacao against the horizon. The soft swaying of the boat, the salty breeze and the lapping sound of waves lulled her into a half-conscious state, where she allowed herself to dream. To dream of a happy life without fears. A life with a man who adored and valued her. River. He looked at her with a jaunty smile, bent down and kissed her on the lips.

A shadow fell on her face. “I love you so much.”

Pippa jerked up, frantically glancing around her until she noticed that Marge and Steve had returned from their dive and were standing a few feet away, kissing. A yearning tugged at Pippa’s heart, but she shrugged it away. River wasn’t the right man for her. He lived on a boat, for God’s sake.

“How was your dive?” Pippa asked the couple when they’d stopped kissing.

“Awesome. Exhilarating.” Marge, a petite brunette, answered and her husband nodded. He towered over his wife by more than a foot and probably double her weight. 

“Do you dive as well?” Steve asked.

“I,” Pippa said, trying not to stutter over the lie, “no. I prefer to stay on the boat.”

She got up and returned to her cabin to put on cut-off shorts and a t-shirt over her bikini. The boat filled with the patter of the returning guests as they recounted who’d seen the most colorful, biggest, most dangerous fish.

Pippa smiled at the fisherman’s stories coming out of the mouths especially of the four young college guys. Despite being friends each of them needed to one up the other. What she desperately missed was the sound of his voice. Hadn’t he returned? A stab of pain speared her heart. But the next moment she shrugged it away. His guests wouldn’t engage in happy chit-chat if something had happened to him.

Unsure what to do next, she looked for her Kindle and realized she must have forgotten it on deck. With a sigh she ventured onto the upper deck at the exact same time River climbed the ladder and heaved himself onto the boat. He couldn’t see her from the lower deck, but she had a prime view of him and remained in place as he stored his diving gear and then returned to the stern of the Moana to use the outdoor shower.

Pippa’s mouth went dry as a sand desert when he stepped beneath the gush of water and rinsed the salt from his hair and skin. Ohmygod! What she wouldn’t give to be down there with him, lathering his breathtaking body, making sure, there wasn’t a single trace of salt water left on his skin, especially on his well-endowed…Stop. It. Now. No more fantasizing about your boss.

She turned on her heel, grabbed her Kindle and stored it in her cabin. She still had to ask River how to answer to those emails. Working for him had been the worst idea in the world.

Most of the guests lounged in the sunchairs, nibbling at the snacks provided by Maria and drinking iced lemonade until it would be time for the second dive of the day.

Pippa caught River when he stepped out of his cabin, dressed in another pair of colorful swim trunks that ended mid-thigh and a silly yellow t-shirt with green letters that said River Diving.

“River? I thought we’re on the ocean,” Pippa commented, giggling.

“Very funny,” he growled back at her. “My brothers thought it was funny, too.”

“Your brothers?”

“Yes, they gave it to me as a present. It was the first one that fell into my hands...” He shrugged and Pippa imagined he used the same filing system for his clothing as he did for his paperwork. Bachelors!

“What do the rest of your siblings do for a living?” She couldn’t help but ask.

He gave a short laugh. “We’re a pretty crazy bunch. Drake is the oldest and wisest. He’s a scientist, a volcanologist to be precise. Drake spends half of his time with his nose stuck in some dusty books, in the other half he travels to any place in the world with a volcano. Despite public wisdom, he seems to think it’s fun to climb atop a fire-spitting, rumbling monster of a mountain. When everyone else evacuates, he gets shiny eyes and runs straight into the lava.”

“Not really.” Pippa chuckled.

“No, he’s actually pretty safety-obsessed. He knows what he’s doing.”

Just like you.

“The love of fire seems to run in the family, because my second youngest brother Tyler is a firefighter in L.A. I guess he’s safety-obsessed too, but you wouldn’t notice. He’s been awarded with several awards for bravery on call.”

“Wow.

“Yes, wow. He’s the one all the girls flock to. You know, the hero stuff.” River grinned.

“Poor you. All the girls for your brother and none for you?” she teased.

His grin broadened. “Well, one or two might have liked me, too.”

For some reason Pippa wanted to scratch out the eyes of those random girls. “So two fire-lovers, one water-lover, one P.I. What about the other two?” she quickly asked to distract from her jealousy.

“Preston is a business man through and through. He owns more hotels and resorts than I own t-shirts. He’s currently building a beach hotel, a sister hotel to the Palazzo Borghese in Rome, Italy.”

“I’ve stayed at the Palazzo Borghese several years ago. It’s one of the best hotels I’ve ever known. The attention to detail is phenomenal and the service is stellar. I always thought the owner must be Italian.” Pippa remembered a trip with her parents to Italy when they’d stayed in the Palazzo Borghese. Her father had been working non-stop on some important financial transactions while she and her mother had visited the many breathtaking landmarks and museums in Rome.

“I guess it is. I’ve never been there. Rome’s too far away from the ocean.” River rubbed his beard and grinned at her. “Then there’s Vivian, the only girl in our family. She’s a court reporter, but her real mission in life is to meddle with her brothers’ love lives. Can you imagine that she secretly flew in Preston’s girl from Rome, because she couldn’t stand their indecision to get committed one day longer?”

Pippa shook her head. “Did she really do that?”

“Yeah and don’t get me started on how she threatened her bestie’s boyfriend with torture should he ever hurt her.”

“I guess I could have used someone like your sister to look out for me, but I’m an only child.”

“Be careful what you wish for.” River chuckled.

“Can I ask you a few questions about the emails that came in last night?” Pippa remembered the reason why she’d come looking for him.

He nodded and followed her to the office. She wouldn’t be able to send them off tonight, because they would only have signal once they moored at the Marina again, but she wanted to have everything done and ready.

The tiny office was barely big enough for the two of them and his presence filled the space. He smelled like sunshine, happiness, and arousal. Ohmygod. I’m getting obsessed over this man.

***

Later that evening, after a delicious dinner of hearty stew and fresh rolls, River invited everyone into the main salon for a daily de-briefing.

“We’ll anchor here for the night and have an early morning dive for anyone interested and then head for new ground.”

There was a brief discussion about where they should go next, with River throwing out a variety of options for his guests to choose. After coming up with a game plan, River invited them to watch a slide show of the underwater pictures he’d taken today.

Maria provided non-alcoholic cocktails made with fresh fruit juice and soda. The ever-busy woman had also prepared a late night snack of finger foods that everyone raved over.

River loaded the pictures from his underwater camera to the large television screen. The guests, laughed, chatted and teased each other as they reminisced about the day’s adventures. Apparently everyone had enjoyed the day to the fullest.

Except for Pippa. She stayed in the background feeling like an outsider. She had nothing to contribute to the discussion. One of the guys, Jeremy wandered over to her with a fruit cocktail in his hand and an easy-going smile on his face. “I didn’t see you dive today.”

“I was working. There’s a lot of administrative stuff to do.” Pippa gave him a nonchalant smile.

“That’s too bad. I bet you’d look awesome in a dive suit.”

“Is that so?”

“Sure. You’re gorgeous, but guys probably tell you that all the time.” Jeremy was easy on the eyes with his short, dark hair, brown eyes and well-built frame. Pippa allowed him to flirt with her as a way to pass the time. He was nice enough and Pippa decided a little harmless flirtation might be just what she needed to stop thinking about River. The one man on board who made her body tingle with raw desire.

“So, tell me what you do back home,” she invited with a warm smile. People, and men especially loved to talk about their profession or their hobbies. Jeremy was no exception. He grinned, moved a few inches closer and then told her about his graduate studies in computer science and how he’d worked for Google as in intern last summer.

While she dutifully laughed at Jeremy’s funny anecdotes, her ears and eyes followed every one of River’s steps as he mingled with the guests. So much for not thinking about him.