Chapter Ten
Nick
I’m trying not to stare.
I’m failing.
Meghan is seated beside me in the passenger seat, a pair of short khaki shorts and boat shoes framing her long, thin legs. And let’s not get me started on the tank top that hugs her upper body like it was tailor-made just for her. Her hair is up in a high ponytail, and she’s sporting a visor on her head to shield her eyes from the sun.
I can also see strings around her neck.
She’s wearing what is probably a bikini.
I most likely won’t survive the day.
As I pull into the parking lot of the marina, I quickly notice the lack of available parking. Instead of searching for a spot, I pull up to the walkway that leads to the dock where Rhenn’s boat is located, and stop.
“We can unload here, and then I’ll go hunt for parking.”
Popping the trunk, I remove the cooler with food and a bag with condiments and extras. Meghan joins me with her own bag, a towel sticking out of the top. The thought of Meghan sunbathing on the deck of the boat has me already half-hard.
“Wait here. I’ll go park and be right back.”
I’m saved from having to park in the back lot when a car vacates their spot only a few rows back from the marina. When the vehicle is locked and I make sure my keys and wallet are in my pocket, I join Meghan back on the walkway. “Ready?” I ask, throwing the bag over my shoulder and reaching for the cooler.
“Here, let me,” she says, coming over to grab the bag. Her hand brushes against my shoulder, and I’ll be honest, the casual touch doesn’t suck. In fact, it is pretty much the exact opposite of suck.
When she has both bags, I grab the cooler and head toward where Rhenn moors his boat, year-round. “Watch your step,” I instruct, setting the cooler on the ground when we approach the sailboat.
“Thanks,” she says, taking my hand and stepping onto the decking.
She quickly sets the bags down and tries to help with the cooler. “I got it.” I offer her a smile as I step around her and set the cooler down.
“You brought a friend? I didn’t know we were bringing friends,” Rhenn says, stepping up from the cabins below deck and retrieving his cell phone.
“Don’t you dare,” I tell him.
“Give me five minutes. I could have some friends here in thirty.”
“Not happening. It’s a perfect day for a sail, and I’m going to spend it with my two favorite people.”
“But…one of your favorite persons is a dude…who likes the company of women.”
“You’ll have to use this five-hour dry spell to sit and reflect on your life,” I tease.
“That’s bullshit,” he mumbles. Honestly, I’m surprised he doesn’t already have a cabin full of half-naked women on board. “At least I get to spend the day with this gorgeous lady,” Rhenn croons, turning all of his charms on Meghan. He reaches out and takes her hand, bringing it to his mouth for a kiss. “Meghan Summer, always a pleasure spending time with you.”
“Knock it off, Burleski. Your charms don’t work on me,” Meghan fires back, making me bark out a laugh.
“Ouch. You wound me, Meghan.”
“I’m sure you’ll survive. You have enough ego to pad your fall,” she sasses. You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face with a putty knife.
Rhenn joins me and helps carry the cooler down to the galley below. “Dude, I think I’m in love with her. She’s the perfect combination of sweet and sassy. If you don’t claim her, I’m going to. Make your move and now is the perfect time. Ladies dig boats. If you play your cards right, I might even let you play Captain for a bit.”
Rolling my eyes, I look over at my friend. “You’re such an idiot. You can’t just claim women like a table at Starbucks. Besides, Meghan has way too much class for a loser like you.”
“Don’t I know it,” he replies, unloading the food and placing it in the small refrigerator. “It was worth a shot, though.”
“You weren’t even playing the same game,” I snort before climbing up the stairs and joining her on deck. “Hey.”
“Hi. So…”
“So…” I mimic.
“So, if you guys are going to talk about me, you should probably make sure to do it behind closed doors, or where the sound doesn’t travel upward to where I’m standing.”
Believe it or not, I blush. I’ve never blushed in my life. Okay, that’s a lie. I’m pretty sure I blushed in high school, freshman year, when the senior head cheerleader walked into Science class and gave me a little smile. You don’t want to know what sort of embarrassing things happened in my pants that day.
“Oh, sorry. Rhenn doesn’t think sometimes. Actually, all of the time. He sort of just speaks without thinking. You don’t have to worry about him, though. He won’t bother you,” I assure her.
She shrugs her shoulders. “I’m not worried about him.” Then she walks over to her bag and pulls out sunscreen. I watch, helplessly, as she lathers up her arms and legs, making sure the thoughts filtering through my mind are completely inappropriate.
“Ready to hit the water, Romeo?” Rhenn comes up behind me and slaps me on the back. Hard.
I don’t flinch as I turn toward my friend. “Let’s do this.”
Together, we get his boat ready to sail, and fifteen minutes later, we’re slowly making our way through the harbor and out to the Bay. It really is a beautiful day. The sun is shining brightly, with not a cloud in the sky. Plus, there’s a beautiful woman sitting port side across from me. Her hair is pulled up high on her head, a pair of big, dark sunglasses don her face, and she keeps looking up at the sky and smiling, as if she enjoys feeling the wind and sun on her face.
Realization sets in, hard and fast. Meghan Summer may very well be the most remarkable woman I’ve ever met, and what I’m starting to feel for her goes so much deeper than the friend’s category. She’s breathtakingly beautiful, whether in scrubs or dressed up. She’s sweet and loyal. Her smile could brighten even the darkest nights.
And she’s in love with a ghost.
We sail for approximately an hour and a half, and no one so much as utters a word. Rhenn, though slightly reckless with his personal life, is great behind the helm. He maintains a great speed, but never goes too fast. His boat is built for speed, but he doesn’t quite stretch her legs in the open waters. For that, I’m grateful. He doesn’t need to scare the shit out of Meghan like he has women before.
Honestly, I think he only does it in hopes of blowing their bikini tops off.
Rhenn finally slows down and comes to a stop. “This okay?” he asks me, which earns a nod in return.
“Looks good.”
I jump up as he releases the anchor and prepares for our afternoon. We’re a few miles out from land, but toward the southern edge of Virginia. We’ve sailed down here several times before. It’s a gorgeous and common area for boats to gather, with minimal waves. There are already about a dozen boats in around us, though no one gets close enough to bother any other boaters.
Meghan hops up and stretches, the hem of her tank top riding up a bit on her stomach, exposing smooth, creamy flesh that makes my mouth water.
“I’m heading down to grab the food,” I announce, taking the stairs below to put a bit of distance between me and the only woman on board.
“I’ll help,” she replies, quickly following me down below.
Great.
So much for trying to give myself a few minutes to calm down. You know, think shit out. Nothing calms a half-mast dick like thinking about your ancient English teacher with her black knee-high socks and floral calf-length skirts.
Together, we pull the containers of chicken salad, coleslaw, and potato salad from the fridge. I grab the bag with chips and buns and set a few bottles of water in the bottom before turning back to the stairway. “I’ll grab utensils,” Meghan adds, her arms loaded with food.
Back on deck, we work seamlessly to set lunch out on the table. “You didn’t bring beer? What’s this water shit?” Rhenn asks, making a face at the bottles of water.
“You can have beer after you drink some water,” I tell him.
“Thanks, Mommy.” He pops the top off the first bottle and chugs away. When it’s empty, he heads below, only to return a few moments later with a bottle of Coors Light. “Ahhh, this is better.”
I pull out a chair and start to make a sandwich. Meghan joins me, reaching for a bun, and that’s when I notice something is missing.
Her tank top.
She took off her fucking top, her blue and yellow bikini top on full display. I almost groan. Almost. My eyes are riveted to her chest like some perv getting his rocks off. I’m such an asshole.
“So tell me about the boat. Did you pick the name?” Meghan asks Rhenn when he joins us at the table.
“It’s a two-thousand fifteen Catalina that I got for a steal when the original owners went through a divorce. He wanted the boat more than he wanted anything else, and since it was in her name – she bought it as a gift for his fortieth birthday – she decided to sell it cheap just out of spite.”
“Wow, that’s…vengeful,” she replies between bites.
“It was originally named Stephanie, which turned out to not only be the wife’s name, but also his secretary’s name – total coincidence, so he says – and when I took possession, I knew I had to rename it.”
“You can just rename a boat?” she asks, totally enthralled with his story.
“Oh, sweet Meghan,” he starts, reaching over and taking her hand. The movement makes my blood start to boil. He notices right away, of course, and offers me a quick ‘fuck you’ wink. “The renaming of a boat isn’t to be taken lightly. The legend goes that the captain must consult Poseidon, as to not invoke his wrath. There’s a fancy and totally necessary ceremony that must commence in order to purge the old name from Poseidon’s memory before the new name can be made official.”
“That’s so cool,” she says, hanging on his every word.
“He had to chant some weird saying and fling champagne. I’m pretty sure it was just an excuse to drink,” I add.
“And drinking we did. I was able to unveil the new name as soon as the ceremony was complete.”
“That’s pretty radical. Why Runaround Sue?” she asks.
“Because it’s a reminder that not all women are the staying-type,” he replies with a smile, though I can see the painful memories brewing in his eyes. “Plus, it was the first song I heard once I signed the papers for my new boat. Let’s go swimming!” he adds with a blinding smile.
We spend the next three hours basking in the sun and enjoying the day. It feels completely natural to spend it with my best friend and my…other friend. Meghan appears relaxed and seems to enjoy her time on the boat. In fact, I’ve seen her smile more in the last few hours than I have in the last few months. I’ve even caught her checking out my bare chest a few times while we sunbathe.
“His ex was named Suzanne,” I confess quietly as we both sit on the deck. Meghan is reading a book, tanning her incredible body. “She cheated on him and broke his heart.”
She glances over at me, and even though I can’t see her eyes beneath her glasses, I can tell they’re full of sympathy. “Makes sense.”
“What does?” I ask, turning toward her and giving her my full attention. Rhenn is down below showering off the sea.
“Why he sleeps around so much. He’s protecting himself.”
I grin. “You’re very smart, Miss Meghan Summer.”
“Don’t I know it,” she sasses, setting her book on the table. I use the opportunity to talk with her a bit more about Wednesday.
“So, I have an idea.”
“What’s that?” she asks, leaning forward and giving me her full attention. My eyes drop down to her bikini. Thank fuck for sunglasses.
“I was hoping you’d swing by the dojo on Wednesday. I have a class that night, but wanted to show you a few things. Like self-defense things.”
She sits up tall in her seat. It’s the first time I really notice the markings on the side of her head from last Tuesday’s assault. The bump has gone down and the bruising is fading, but the memory of what happened is still fresh in my mind. “Well, I’m already taking a class Friday night with some of my sisters.”
“You are? Good. I’ll be there with Rhenn. I always help with his beginners’ self-defense class.”
“Do you think I should still come Wednesday?”
Yes. Not because you need more work, but because I want to spend time with you. Of course, I don’t say that aloud. Instead, I go with, “Wouldn’t hurt. I can show you a few things before Friday’s class. Then you’ll be ahead of the curve,” I reply lightly.
“Okay.” She doesn’t even hesitate. “But you’ll be gentle, right? I’ve never done this before.”
Okay, let’s hold up a moment. I know she means it lightly, and more importantly, is referring to the moves I’ll be teaching her, but my male brain runs right past all logic and lands firmly on inappropriate. My cock twitches in my swim trunks at the thought of showing her moves. And I’d definitely be gentle. Unless she didn’t want me to be.
Clearing my throat, I reply, “Absolutely. Just a few moves to help a woman protect herself if needed.”
“Then, yes. I’ll do it. What time?”
“My class is from six fifteen to seven fifteen. Anytime after that.”
“I’ll be there.”