She’s on the phone with Robert. Herdad.
And this is my cue to leave. And go gouge my eyes out.
Besides, there’s weather coming tonight, that will more than likely rock the boat for a little while. I need to focus on that.
Not Georgia’s perfect tits.
“This is a pretty good storm,” Miles says, sitting across from me in the captain’s lounge. I keep my eyes on the controls and radar, feeling the yacht rock back and forth as the waves keep rolling in stronger.
“It’s not the worst I’ve been through. Not even close.” I fold my arms across my chest and lean back in the chair, sipping on my bourbon.
“Yeah, well, since I know I’m not going to die, I guess that’s my cue to call it a night and return to the peasants’ quarters down below.”
I roll my eyes at Miles’ sarcasm and down the rest of my drink. “I’ll be here if you need me.”
“Deal,” Miles shoots me a stupid look and then carefully heads to the covered stairwell, shutting the door behind him.
I sit in my chair for a little while longer, my eyes glancing over at the bed. This whole place is like its own studio apartment, so to speak, but right now, it feels lonely and suffocating in the storm.
This is how I’ve lived my life since Catherine left.I swallow the little pang of grief that follows that thought, but then push it away. It’s better that she’s gone. It really is. We may have spent many years married, but it was never going to work.
She was too busy with her career to have kids.
I was too busy for her most of the time, but I can’t change that. And I can’t change the fact that she found someone else who wanted to give her that time.
Then left her high and dry.
“The irony,” I snort, shaking my head.
I stand up from my chair as the yacht rocks back and forth with the waves. I roll my shoulders and then make my way toward the bed, figuring I’ll get a little shut-eye for a while.
But the knock on my door stops me dead in my tracks.
“Yeah?” I ask, already stripping and tossing my shirt to the floor. “What’s up?” I somehow expect Miles to come barging back in, asking for some nausea medication, but that’s not who stumbles in at all.
“Hi,” Georgia breathes out, her eyes wide as she meets mine. “I’m so sorry for coming up here like this, but… um…” Her voice shakes as she looks up at me, wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt and a pair of short pajama shorts.
And catching sight of the way her nipples poke through her shirt makes my cock rigid.
“Is everything okay, Georgie?”
She takes a step forward, the boat rocking again. As she loses her balance, I lunge for her, catching her before she falls. “Sorry. I just didn’t expect it to be so rocky. It’s making me a little nervous, I think,” she confesses with a chuckle.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I wrap an arm around her, and then gently walk her to my bed. I ease back on it as the boat rocks, and she slides in beside me, her arms still clinging to me.
“I have no idea what I’m supposed to do in a storm like this. I feel like I’m going to fall off the boat,” Georgia’s voice wavers, and I lean down, tipping her chin up to me.
“You’re okay,” I repeat, grounding her as I hold her gaze. “The boat’s just riding the waves. It won’t last long. It’s just a small storm. Do you want me to pull up the radar for you?” I go to stand up, but Georgia pulls at me, and I give in to the tension, plopping back down.
“Can you just… stay next to me?” she whispers, her eyes pleading with me in a way that sets my entire body on fire.
Oh fuck, what am I doing?
Her fingernails dig into my skin, hard enough that at any moment I know they might break it. “Until it passes?” she finishes.
“Of course.” My voice comes out husky. “You can stay here as long as you need to.” Arousal pours through me as her soft hair brushes against my neck and chest. “I have medicine if you’re feeling nauseous.”
“I’m not feeling nauseous,” she tips her head back again and peers up at me. “Just scared.”
