Watching Jillian’s face go as red as an apple was almost as good as seeing her again. It had been a surprise, to say the least. I hadn’t exactly been planning to walk out of the shower on the yacht broker, no matter what my plans were. But here we were, and it was still my ship, so I figured I’d walk around however I damn well pleased.

I never expected to see Jillian, however.

My eyes roamed up and down her body. I didn’t make any effort to hide it any more than I did to hide my own bare skin. I noticed she wasn’t moving, either.

“Damn, Jillian,” I said with a smile. “It’s been a while. Too long, apparently.”

“Uh…” she stammered, her eyes still wide in disbelief. “Y-yeah?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her shock, and I raised an eyebrow as I looked down at myself. “Waiting on something?”

Finally, she seemed to snap out of it and shake her head quickly, averting her eyes as she stooped down to start picking up the pile of papers and a few electronics she dropped. “No, no, I just… I wasn’t expecting…” While she gestured at me without turning her head up, I took the time to get a better look at her.

“Six years,” I finally mused out loud, putting a hand on my hip and tilting my head at her.

She had grown her dark hair out, and it looked good on her. Beautiful. I watched her brush it out of the way and saw its glossy shine in the dull light of the room. My eyes trailed to her hips and saw how she’d filled out, and I felt a twitch in my cock as it grew a little fuller.

This wasn’t the shape I remembered Jillian Hargrove having. The Jillian I remembered was an awkward teenager who was growing into an only slightly less awkward and much more high-strung young adult with big plans for the future. We had been worlds apart, but I still remembered the braces I saw her in the first time we half-met.

“Excuse me?” she asked, finally glancing up, only to look back down. “And would you please put a towel on? Or clothes? Clothes would work.”

I ignored her questions as I took a step to the right, moving around the bed toward the closet, but I took my time. “Six years since I last saw you. You must have been what, nineteen?”

“Oh,” she replied, “I...I suppose that’s right.”

I grinned, crossing my arms. “You were just Jeff’s little sister back then. Little Jilly,” I added, my eyes lighting up as I remembered her old nickname, and at that, she looked up at me with a shadow of a scowl before scooping up the rest of her papers. “Aw, you remember the nickname he had for you.”

“That was a long time ago, Bruin,” she said, and I was delighted to see that even though Jeff’s little sister was all grown up, the attitude she carried around on her shoulder was still there, strong as ever. I wondered if she was as tightly wound now as she had been back then. “I’m surprised you even recognize me, honestly.”

I was as surprised as she was. This wasn’t Jillian, this was a complete knockout. And I could tell from the look on her face and the way she carried herself she had no idea.

“You’ve changed a lot since college,” I understated with a grin, holding myself back from commenting on the fact that she now had a pair of legs I’d kill to have wrapped around my face. “But how could I forget my best friend’s little sister?”

“I—” she started, but the surprise on her face was still wearing off, and it took her a few moments to find her words again. I gave her time. I was a lot to take in on short notice. “Well, you haven’t changed much, yourself.”

“I have in a few ways,” I said offhandedly, turning my hips and looking down at my body on display as if it were a statue. “I’ve had more time to work on my quads, and I hit thirty with the same abs I had when I was in my twenties, which I think isn’t too shabby.”

I gave her a cocky smile as I strode toward her, and she pulled her papers closer to her as she took a step back, but I turned my back to her once I was closer. I flexed my arms and glanced over my shoulders. “And you can see a little more definition in my lats and biceps, thanks to a few personal trainers worth their weight in gold. Go ahead, give them a feel, if you want,” I offered, looking over my shoulder at her rosy cheeks.

“I’ll pass,” she said tersely.

“Let’s see, what else is new?” I wondered out loud, glancing around the room. “Oh, and I own this yacht. Not for much longer, I guess, but I’ve got my mind on a better one.”

“Wait,” Jillian said, looking more shocked than ever. “The owner of the yacht is... is you?”

I raised my eyebrows, glancing around the place. “Do you see anyone else walking around the master suite like he owns the place?”

As if on cue, the bathroom door opened, and the Greek chick stepped out, a towel already wrapped around her body, and her curly hair dripping wet behind her. She glanced between me and Jillian, then glared daggers at me.

“Well, besides her,” I said to Jillian with a grin.

“Who is this?” the girl asked, looking Jillian up and down before turning her razor-sharp gaze on me.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Jillian beat me to it.

“I’m the yacht broker handling the sale of this ship,” she said, and her voice had a crisp, professional tone to it that I wasn’t used to hearing in her voice. She’d always been a tightly-wound ball of awkward anxiety when I knew her. This kind of professional confidence I could sense in her was refreshing, to put it politely.

To put it impolitely, it was keeping my naked cock at half-mast, and I’d all but forgotten the fact that I was supposed to be getting a towel.

“You’re the broker?” I said, taken by the same surprise that had taken Jillian a moment ago. I gave my head a shake, then ran my hand through my hair as if making myself look a little neater. With the same kind of professional posture and tone as if I weren’t completely naked, I thrust my hand out to Jillian with a charming smile.

“Bruin Kinkaid, pleasure to meet you. Welcome aboard the Mirabella. I’m sure you’ll find everything up to and beyond your expectations,” said in the same tone of voice I used with the businesspeople I dealt with on a daily basis.

Jillian was dumbstruck, and she stared at my naked form for a moment before the other girl interrupted by clearing her throat.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, giving my head a shake and gesturing to the girl, “Jillian, this is…” I paused, realizing I never got her name. “Shit,” I muttered.

“Maria,” the girl finished for me, this time with a bitter look in my direction, stomping over to the foot of the bed to pick up her clothes and trudge back into the bathroom, muttering something under her breath before slamming the door behind her.

Jillian gave me a look of total disbelief, and I rolled my eyes with a chuckle as I finally went to the closet to get a spare towel. I used it on my hair for a bit, giving her another good look at my body stretched tall.

“So, yacht broker, huh?” I said once I’d finally finished toweling my hair, and I ran my hand through it before wrapping the towel around my waist at last. “I’m impressed, Little Jilly.”

“Only my brother calls me that,” she said wearily, but I noticed the flick of her gaze to the edge of my towel, where my abs descended into an enticing V.

“Good point,” I said, glancing at her professional attire and the confidence in her posture. “Out on your own, executing multi-million-dollar sales on yachts, socializing with handsome billionaires.” Watching her face shift into different shades of blush was truly entertaining. “You’re right, Little Jilly’s a little juvenile for you now. You’re all grown up. How about Jill?”

“I go by Jillian,” she said flatly. If I was being honest, I only called her Jill because I remembered Jeff telling me she’d been teased with the Jack and Jill rhyme in elementary school, and the grudge against the name just stuck.

“And a little professionalism you didn’t have when you were younger,” I commented, putting my hand to my chin. “If you’re trying to get my attention, Jill, you’re doing a decent job. I have to say, I’m not surprised very often.”

“Excuse me?” she said, her eyes wide.

“As a peer, of course,” I clarified, a grin on my face. “It’s part of my job to spot potential, Jill, and I can clearly see that potential is something you’ve got in spades,” I noted, but my eyes were drinking in her body. I thought she could tell, but I didn’t care.

She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, but finally, she took a breath and said, “I’m here to tour the ship, Bruin.” She narrowed her eyes and added, “Or maybe Mister Kincaid would be more appropriate, since we’re being professional?”

“I do like the way Mister Kincaid sounds, coming from you,” I said, striding over to my dresser and taking out a bottle of designer men’s cologne and giving myself a quick spray under my jaw. “But you can call me whatever you want, Jill. Maria in there calls me sir,” I added with a flash of a smile to Jillian, whose jaw was in a perpetual clench.

“Whatever the case may be,” she said with impeccable professional grace, “I have a tour to finish. If I’m a little taken off-guard, it’s because I wasn’t expecting anyone to be on board.”

“That’s the difference in doing business with me,” I quipped with a cocky smile as I checked myself out in the mirror. “I wouldn’t want to make you wander around aimlessly. I’d planned on taking the broker out to breakfast afterward, you know, but if I’d known the broker was my best friend’s little sister, I’d have had something a little more personal ready.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Jillian said, brushing some hair out of her face as she moved to the opposite side of the room, her eyes going to the furnishings and the layout of the room. She was doing a fabulous job of dodging every double entendre I was throwing her way. It was frustrating, but there was something about that I liked. So, she really is doing this broker thing after all, isn’t she? I frowned. “I’ve done my homework on this class of yacht, so I generally know what I’m looking for.”

“Good, I was starting to wonder if you wanted me to be your first,” I said, unable to resist. Her cheeks were burning, but she kept her face from moving to show it. “I’ll be in my office if you need me. If you forget anything from your ‘homework,’ come find me,” I said with a wink.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” she said, turning to leave. I was expecting her to slam the door, but I heard her hesitate a moment. “Nice to see you again, Bruin,” she said at last, awkwardly, and when the door finally closed, my smile split into a grin.

I was going to enjoy this.