GIDEON WAS FAIRLY CERTAIN the last time he’d worn a suit for a date was his senior prom. Clothes like these were reserved for business meetings, and that was it. On principle he didn’t do fancy dates because that gave a girl the wrong idea, and the last thing he wanted to do was lead one on when he had no intention past having a good time.

But this was Piper, the one woman who always captured his attention.

All the rules and his standard operating procedure when it came to the opposite sex got tossed in the trash. Including his cool.

His hands were sweaty and his skin clammy. Even his balls were sticking to his thigh, and it wasn’t a terribly warm day.

He took the stairs up to Piper’s apartment two at a time. The whole afternoon was one rushed phone call after another lining this up, but it was worth it.

Gideon blew out a breath and lifted his hand.

This was it.

No looking back.

The door opened and Piper stood there, her cheeks stained pink. Gone were the usual worn jeans and graphic T he was used to.

“Wow.” He took a step back to appreciate the full view.

“Wow yourself. I didn’t know you owned anything except jeans, flannel and Nirvana T-shirts.”

“Looks like we both have our secrets.”

“Or friends with really great taste in clothes.” She gestured at the classic sheath dress. What wasn’t simple was the fit. A garment that hugged curves that perfect was a work of art, just like the woman wearing it.

“I’ll have to tell her thank you. You look great.” He held out his hand. “Not to rush us, but we’ve got somewhere to be.”

“Are you going to tell me anything about where we’re going?” Piper locked her apartment and took his hand, just like they’d done a hundred times before.

“Nope. It would ruin the surprise.” He grinned and her frown deepened. “I’ll save you from worrying though. It’s private and fun, promise.”

“Fine.” She sighed, and the tension eased.

He hadn’t asked too much about Piper’s faux-dating, but he was willing to bet that it wasn’t in public. Following Carl’s smear campaign she’d been harassed and assaulted by a number of Carl’s avid fans just about everywhere, which meant Piper hadn’t dared to go to the grocery store without an escort for over a year. Hell, he’d picked stuff up for her from tampons to ice cream and everything in between. But this wasn’t then and they no longer had that close of a relationship.

If she was seeking the help of a therapist, he was willing to bet that her PTSD was still a problem.

Tonight was about easing her into a new comfort level. Given his insider knowledge, he’d figured being on a date was enough stress as is. Going anywhere public was out of the question since it would only keep her wound up. He’d like to enjoy his time with Piper, which had inspired him to cash in on a few favors.

“Still driving the same Jeep, I see.”

“This thing is almost a classic. I couldn’t get rid of it.” He opened the door to his Wrangler and handed Piper in.

Gideon jogged around to the driver’s side and vaulted in before he remembered his fancier than normal attire. He was never going to let his buddy talk him into a tailored suit ever again. He was convinced that was code for a ball vice.

“Okay, I lie. This isn’t the same old Jeep.” Piper stared at the dashboard.

“I had a little work done.” He jabbed the stereo button and reversed out of the parking spot.

“Well, it sounds good. You still favor it heavy on the bottom end.”

Gideon swallowed his next words. Piper was talking audio and sound quality, not innuendo. He wasn’t yet sure how comfortable she was with joking around, or him for that matter.

“Thanks again for doing this. You didn’t have to do anything fancy.” Piper had her hands tightly clenched in her lap.

“I think it depends on the scale of fancy you’re talking about. Whose scale are we using?”

“Gideon...where are we going?” she asked slowly.

“Well, its private, and its time sensitive. Trust me.” He eased to a stop at a red light and turned to face her. “Please?”

“I do trust you,” she said without hesitation.

“Good.” He was fairly certain this was going to be a fun night.

For now, he needed to keep her calm. The one thing they’d always lost themselves in was work. They were both in the audio business, though in different parts. While Gideon crafted music search software, Piper was a freelance sound engineer goddess. She focused on special effects, mostly for video games, but she’d dabbled in movies and TV.

“What are you working on these days?”

“I just turned in an emergency rush job on a forthcoming cartoon movie I can’t talk about, obviously.” She glanced at him, one side of her mouth quirked up.

“Oh no, someone fucked up?” He’d seen her rates go up during their friendships. She didn’t like movie jobs and charged out the ass.

“Sort of. I did cut them a deal because... I can’t say more or you’ll figure it out.”

“Then tell me and I’ll forget.” He kept his smile firmly in place. Before, she’d have whispered not to tell and confided in him, anyway. Things were different now.

For several moments neither spoke.

He missed the familiarity when she’d tell him everything without hesitation. But he’d cashed in his friendship and left the table. The only person to blame for the silence was himself.

“You know Peter, head of the sound effects lab at—”

“Yeah, yeah. Cool guy.” He gripped the wheel a little tighter, glad she was talking.

“His wife was pregnant, super hard on her. Bed rest, complications, the whole nine yards. Obviously he was distracted and shuffled work to the new guys he’d normally do himself.”

“Oh, man. Everyone okay?”

“Yeah, baby is totally fine, so is the mom. Peter’s scrambling though. I knew all of this when he asked me to do the job and I cut them a deal this time. That wasn’t anyone’s fault, no one fucked up, the new guys just don’t know how to mix sounds to create something unique, you know? They want to just put in the same pattern of steps for every walking sequence. All the doors sound the same. And it’s because they aren’t taught the creative process.”

“Have you considered teaching?”

“I’ve considered bringing on an intern or two, but then that means managing someone. I’m really close to hiring an assistant.”

“I fully recommend it. I know how you can get. An assistant would take a good amount of the stress off you.”

They continued to chat about the pros and cons of hiring help. At their stage in the game it was crucial to make every minute count. Besides, he liked bantering with her. There weren’t a lot of people who understood what he did like her. They spent the entire drive to the marina debating various aspects of work, just like old times. It gave him hope for the rest of the evening.

“What are we doing here?” Piper leaned forward and peered at the lines of docks stretching into the water.

“We’re going on a boat ride.” He killed the engine and got out before she’d unstrapped her seatbelt. He jogged around to the other side and opened her door for her, offering her a hand out. “Come on. I want to be out on the water before sunset.”

“You’re serious?” She kept staring at him with wide eyes. The sea breeze stirred the tiny tendrils of lose hair around her face.

“What? I thought you liked the water.”

“These boats are huge.” She stared at the mega yachts lined up closest to the marina office.

“We’re taking a little boat, I promise.” Gideon glanced around the lot before he spied the catering truck, the driver’s seat empty.

Perfect damn timing.

Piper took his hand and slid out of the Jeep. He locked the doors, then led her to the wooden docks, still hand in hand. It took an effort of will to not grin like an idiot the whole time. He wanted to scoop her up, spin around, and jump for no reason except they were together and about to embark on a leisurely adventure.

They walked along the water front, Piper holding tight to him to keep her steady. Maybe he should have counseled against heels, but they did look nice on her.

“When did you get a boat?” Piper stared at the smaller crafts with the same amount of astonishment as the mega yachts posted up at the front of the marina.

“I didn’t. I’m borrowing a friend’s for the evening.”

He led her down a pier to where the NISI 2400 was waiting, along with their captain and his plus one. The caterers hustled back and forth, loading their dinner. By comparison the yacht was on the smaller end of the scale. It had enough bells and whistles that Gideon much preferred hanging out on the NISI than some of his friends’ other ships.

“Oh my God,” Piper whispered.

“I hope you don’t mind that I told the captain he should bring his wife, too. Seemed silly for him to sit around and wait on us to eat and not make use of the view, too.”

“No, that’s good.”

Gideon made the round of introductions between Piper and the other couple.

The captain ushered them on board, equally aware of the time constraint they were under. While the captain headed up to the observation deck, his wife took over freeing them from the pier with grace and ease that spoke of plenty of time spent on the water. She even answered Piper’s questions without missing a beat or a slip of foot. In no time at all they were easing into the open waterway.

“Come to the front of the boat.” Gideon led Piper to the prow where they had an excellent view of the late afternoon sun dipping toward the horizon and the endless expanse of blue stretching out in all directions.

They leaned on the railing and stood in companionable silence while the yacht cruised along, slicing through the water. Though there hadn’t been much breeze on shore, now the wind whipped around them and the occasional spray of water dotted their clothing like a thousand tiny crystals.

“How far out are we going?” Piper asked.

“Not far, just a little ways out so we don’t have all the sporty water craft buzzing around us.”

She nodded and gripped the rail, gazing at the horizon like they were embarking on a major adventure.

So far, so good.

Gideon peered out of the corner of his eye at Piper. Her smile was uninhibited. Free. Her face glowed. The wind whisked tendrils of her hair out of whatever twisty thing she’d done with it. For now, he could hold the dream of taking Piper on a real date as close as he wanted. It was true for a handful of hours.

“Want a tour of the boat?” he asked.

“Yes. This thing is amazing.”

“This way. Watch your step.”

Once more, Gideon took her hand and guided her into the main cabin.

“The boat has three decks. There’s the observation deck upstairs with a few lounge chairs and a captain’s seat. This is the main deck where we have the bar, a little kitchen, some lounge seating. Over here’s another steering wheel and back there is the dining table.”

“Wow. This is swanky. Who owns this?”

“Buddy of mine got into boats. When he’s not coding, he likes to be out on the water, but since time’s limited he buys boats and charters them out to people that want a luxury experience. It’s his hobby. And, usually means he’s got at least one boat hanging out, doing nothing.”

“He just owns boats—for fun?”

“Yeah, unreal, right?”

“Clearly I went into the wrong part of the industry.”

“No. You do great. Want to see downstairs?”

“There’s a downstairs? Holy shit.”

“Yeah. The boat sleeps ten guests and two crew.”

“Where?” Piper stared around the main deck.

“I’ll show you. Come on.”

Gideon led her down the tight, spiraling staircase to the accommodation deck.

“There are four cabins. The one at the prow in front of you is probably where the captain and his wife will be eating.”

“Eating?” Piper smirked at him.

“They have five kids. Boys, all under twelve. They are cool kids, but they take a lot out of you.”

“Holy shit. Yes, they deserve a night out. I do want to see some of these cabins though.”

“These others are okay, but the real show stopper is the master. Come on.” Gideon led her down the hall to the back of the boat where the suite resided. He stepped in and to the side so she could take in the full scope of the luxury accommodations.

“You...are kidding me.” Piper gaped at the suite, her head swinging back and forth.

He’d had a similar reaction when he first saw it, too. He’d been perfectly impressed with a queen sized platform bed in one of the other cabins, but this?

King size bed with a mirror ceiling. Sofa on one side. A bath with a window view on the other. Closets. Bathroom with a three person shower. It was better than many homes Gideon had lived in over the years.

“How much does he rent this for?” Piper walked around the bed, peering at this and that.

“I have no idea. We’re friends and I didn’t ask.”

“He just gave it to you for the night?”

“Pretty much.”

“Are the other rooms like this?”

“No. The two middles ones are a bed and a closet. The other suite at the end has a small bathroom attached. This is the granddaddy of them all.”

“This is crazy. You’ve slept on this boat before?”

“Yeah. It’s nice. Maybe you can come out with us sometime.”

“Is this one of your party boats?”

“Depends on who comes out.”

“I’ve heard you’re still quite the party guy.”

“It’s fun to go out. I don’t drink as much as I used to. It’s nice to just be around people sometimes, you know?” Despite needing quiet for work, there were times when Gideon wanted to socialize. He came from a large family, and he missed the hustle, bustle and noise of it often.

“Yeah. I get that.”

The boat slowed the engine’s purr decreasing.

“We must almost be to the spot. Come on.”

Gideon guided Piper back up to the main deck. The captain parked the boat and dropped anchor a good distance out to sea, but not too far that they couldn’t see the city.

“Wow.” Piper walked straight to the back of the boat and stared at the sunset.

“Amazing, isn’t it? I mean, it’s pretty seeing it from the shore, but something about being on the water makes it seem...”

“Bigger?”

“Yeah.”

The sun touched the horizon, the wisps of clouds turning from pink to orange and purple.

A pair of loafers descended the stairs, the captain coming into view followed by his wife.

“Dinner now or in a bit?” Gideon asked.

“Now’s good.” Piper sighed, her gaze still on the sunset.

Gideon and the captain’s wife figured out which plates were whose while all Piper had to do was relax.

“Okay, I had to make food decisions for you, so I hope you like a raspberry spinach salad with grilled chicken for starters.” He placed the first dish in front of Piper.

“Gideon, this is all too much.”

“I haven’t even shown you the main course.”

“There’s more?”

“There’s desert and champagne. Come on, it’s a luxury yacht. You get the luxury treatment. Enjoy it. Unless you would have preferred a reservation at Sur or someplace?” Due to the owner of Sur being on a reality show, the restaurant was always packed.

“Not really. I like getting to catch up with you without all the distractions.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

He grabbed the lighter from the drawer and lit a couple of tea lights. It wasn’t terribly fancy, but it added to the ambiance of the evening.

Gideon situated the lights and then joined Piper for the first course while the sun continued its descent below the horizon.

Piper’s hand closed around his wrist. He turned toward her and his heart knocked around inside his chest. The way she was staring at him...he’d dreamt about moments like these.

“Thank you. For everything,” she said.

“My pleasure.”

The look of contentment on her face was one of the best things he’d seen in ages. He wanted to lean across and kiss her lips, taste the raspberries on her tongue, but that would be going too far. She had trusted him to take her out on a date, nothing more. Which brought him back to the same old problem.

He wanted Piper, and she trusted him to be a good friend. God, he was a bastard for taking advantage of her faith in him. He wasn’t happy with being friends. He wanted it all.