Chapter 5

Joe returned to Crazy Drinks the moment Pippa left. He sauntered up to the bar and whistled low. “That’s just what I need to get over being screamed at for the last hour. Nothing like a nice piece of American ass, down here looking for a good time.”

“Leave that one alone.” River got in Joe’s face as his temper flared.

Joe gave him an apologetic look and held both hands up. “Wow! Okay, then. Didn’t realize you’d already staked a claim.”

“I just hired her, so stay away.” River usually could care less with whom his employees slept – as long as it wasn’t with him. But Pippa had awakened the full juggernaut of protective feelings in him. Joe was a hound dog and there was no way he was going to let him put the moves on Pippa.

“Fine. She’s all yours. Some pretty hot nights with that bombshell on your yacht,” Joe said, pumping his hips back and forth.

“She’s my employee, shithead. I do have a hard and fast rule about sex and business, no matter how incredibly hot she is,” River growled out.

“Don’t be a spoilsport. If you don’t want to bang her, where’s the problem if I do?”

“Because she’s much too good for you. Keep away from Pippa. Understood?” River spat out. He had no idea why he was so upset at Joe. It wasn’t like they didn’t hook up with random women all the time.

“Sure.” Joe cast him a glance, but knew better than to utter a word. Instead he handed River another bottle of beer. Then he grabbed another bottle for himself and leaned on the bar, watching the beach fill with sun-hungry tourists.

Several minutes later two platinum blonde girls dressed in skimpy bikinis giggled their way into the bar surround, making no secret of the fact that they were looking for a good time. Joe waggled his eyebrows and then poured on the charm.

“Ladies, you’re looking like trouble. What can I get for you?”

“A screaming orgasm,” the busty blonde said.

“Sure, sweetheart, as many as you want.” Joe expertly made the ordered cocktails and put them in front of the two girls. “These are on the house.”

River looked at the two girls. He knew that Joe expected him to join the party. Half-heartedly he joined the conversation, his mind still occupied with thoughts of Pippa.

After finishing her cocktail the taller girl leaned across the bar, showing off her considerable assets and batting her eyelashes at Joe. “That was a nice orgasm. But what we’re really looking for is some company. You game?”

“With a hot girl like you anytime. Lemme just get someone to cover at the bar, sweetie.” Joe stared at her boobs while he pulled out his phone and called his employee to come in early. Then he rose to his full height of six feet, the same as River, and flashed a smile at the blonde. “All set. What if you and your friend get warmed up with my friend River here and I’ll fetch you as soon as I’m free.”

The girls didn’t seem to mind his suggestion and turned all of their attention toward River.

“River, what a funny name,” the smaller one said, sidling up to him and running her fingers along the edge of his t-shirt. “Wow. A whole lot of muscles there.”

River tipped his beer to his mouth, he wasn’t actually in a mood to hook up with her, but since the woman he lusted after was off limits for him, he reconsidered. This is just what I need. A night of wild, unabandoned sex to take my thoughts off of Pippa.

“I’ll let you see all of my muscles, if that turns you on.” River winked at the blonde and pushed off the bar. The two girls linked their arms with his own, pressing their ample, barely covered, breasts against his arms. For some strange reason he felt like he was being taken to the scaffold. It had been a rough day. And it would be a rough week, caged on his boat for an entire week with gorgeous Pippa, not allowed to touch, feel, or kiss her. Yes, shooting off one last time before exposing himself to that torture was the reasonable thing to do.

But River didn’t want to be reasonable. Never had. Never would. Having two women plastering their all but naked bodies against him didn’t turn him on. His body stubbornly refused to get aroused, even as the three of them stumbled down the hallway to the girl’s hotel room.

The door closed behind River and before he could even blink, the two blondes stood naked in front of him, pressing their full lips all over his exposed skin, tugging at the hem of his shirt and ripping it apart. While he usually liked the wild streak in his women, today it felt oddly like – betrayal.

He rubbed his beard wondering whatever had happened in his life in the last twelve hours, oblivious to the efforts of the two women trying to seduce him. His thoughts and heart remained with a blue eyed, pert-nosed brunette beauty, who’d captured him from the first time he’d seen her. And despite how hard he’d been for her the entire day, for the first time in his twenty-four years, his cock stubbornly remained limp at the prospect of having wild sex.

I gotta stop this.

River took a step back, from the two confused looking women and pushed a strand of hair from his forehead.

“Sorry, girls, I can’t do this. Not today…I totally forgot I have to be at the marina in ten.”

“Really? We can come with you…” They both gave him a pouty look.

“No. I’m afraid not. Don’t wait for me. This is going to take a while to straighten out. I’m really sorry. You both are fabulous. Have a great rest of your vacation.” He grabbed his torn shirt and let himself out of the room, eager to make a clean escape.

During the short walk to the marina, where he lived on his yacht Moana, his head whirled with confusion. He hadn’t done more than talk to Pippa – and employ her – and yet, she had crawled under his skin and occupied every single one of his thoughts, emotions and reactions.

In the course of a few hours he’d almost punched a friend and partner-in-crime, and let down two attractive women. What the hell was happening to him?

He reached the marina and walked down the pier, his eyes lighting up like always when his gorgeous boat came into view. He’d bought her with the help of his older brother Preston who’d loaned him the money. She had previously been used for drug trafficking and he’d been able to snag her up at roughly half the normal price during a customs auction.

It had taken him almost a year of hard work to clean, restore and adapt everything until the Moana had become a stunning beauty, perfect for receiving up to ten paying guests and taking them on a cruise to the most stunning diving spots in the Caribbean.

God, I love this boat. He never regretted for one second that he’d exchanged his place in Los Angeles with the boat. She was his home, his love, and his sanctuary. His soulmate even, because she seemed to understand when he was talking to her. She could divine his moods and acted accordingly.

River made sure she was in the best possible condition and in return she provided him with a safe place to live.

“Looks like I’ve found us an assistant for the next cruise,” he said and crossed the gangway to jump onboard the Moana.

He stored everything for the night and then went to the upper deck and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge there. He sank onto a cushioned chair and stared out across the marina.