“A seamstress? We sure as hell could use one of those right now.”
I snorted. “True. I’m no seamstress, but my sister taught me to sew, so hopefully I can help.”
“Really? That’s great news.” She set her needle down and gestured for me to take a crack at it, so I did, concentrating and trying to remember everything Kayla taught me.
My stitches were messy—sewing was hard work, and while I could patch things up, they never, ever looked pretty. When I finished with a hole and sat back to take the entire thing in, I wrinkled my nose.Ew. How in hellfire did it look so bad?
Sparrow wrinkled her nose. “I hate to tell ya this, Ghost, but I don’t think you inherited your sister’s talents.”
I couldn’t help it, I laughed. Loudly.
Sparrow elbowed me and muttered under her breath, “Shhhh… Reap and cap are lookin’ over here.”
I turned without thought and found eyes on me. One pair of eyes gave me the heebie-jeebies, but the other pair… Mmm. The other pair was as welcoming as the sun upon my face.
I almost smiled, almost, but I caught myself at the last minute and turned away instead. The Reaper wouldn’t want me smiling at him. Max, yes. But not here, in front of the others, where he had to be the big, bad, and deadly Reaper.
“Oh my goddesses, Ghost,” Ariella said, standing over me and looking down at my mediocre work. “Wow, finally found something you suck at.” She patted my back.
I chuckled. “Gee, thanks, Ariella.”
She shot me a grin. “Come help me with a harness check.”
I glanced at Sparrow, and she waved me off. “Please. I don’t want to ever see you with a needle in your hand again.”
I let out a weird noise, a cross between a laugh and a disapproving grunt, and both Sparrow and Ariella laughed at me. As I stood, I flipped them both off, then gave Ariella’s shoulder a small push to get her moving. She laughed the whole way to the middle of the main deck.
But I ignored her, keeping my eyes on Max, who was standing on the quarterdeck beside Viper at the wheel. He was looking through his telescopic, so he had no idea I was taking my fill.
He also had no idea how badly I wanted to get my hands on him, how badly I wanted to find a private space, undress him, and take my time worshipping every inch of his skin.
Goddesses, one morning of tasting him hadn’t been enough. Not even close.
“Wow, Ghost, drool much?” Ariella laughed. “If you don’t shut your mouth, you’re gonna catch some water pixies in it.”
I snapped my mouth shut and felt my face heat with embarrassment. Phoenix tails, we were supposed to be keeping this thing between us a secret, and here I was, drooling over the guy right in front of my friend. I was giving us away, and it’d only been a day.
With a small exhale, I gave myself a moment to get my act together before I faced Ariella, pretending she didn’t see a damn thing.
“How do we check the harnesses again?” I asked, staring at the pile of them and ignoring her eyes on me.
“Pick them up and give all the straps a tug, check for frayed lines, or anything else abnormal. If you see something off, you show me, got it?”
That seemed easy enough. “Got it.”
Ariella and I got into a rhythm, checking the gear and placing it aside, and as soon as I thought she wasn’t going to say anything, she leaned in and whispered, “So what’s going on with you and Reaper?”
I froze, and my eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
She rolled her eyes. “I see the way you two look at each other. Reap won’t tell me anything.” She leaned in again. “So? What’s going on? Are you two hooking up?”
“Uh, no. Nope. Why in the world would you think that? Reaper hates me.”
She stared right at me and slowly lifted a brow. “You can’t fool me, Ghost. Youlikehim. Like, like-him like-him.”
“Please saylikeone more time.”
She snorted and smacked my bicep. “You can tell me. You like that big, muscly asshat of a man with sweet eyes.”
