“I guess.” I nibbled the cracker and thought about Beth, not so sure I was much help to her. Was she at work? I knew she had a shift this morning, but what if today was one of her impossible days when she couldn’t get out of bed? I felt helpless knowing that even if I were by her side, I couldn’t take the pain away.
Alex swept his gaze around the galley. “Is there a speaker in here? The food tastes better if I listen to music.”
I waltzed over to the pantry. “Bluetooth speakers. Just queue up the music on your phone. The password is right here.” I tapped a small piece of paper taped beneath the panel for the sound system. “But don’t play it too loud, or you’ll give Captain a heart attack. He doesn’t like it when the guests can hear us having real lives.”
Alex glanced down at his phone. “How about the Weeknd?”
Was he really asking about my weekend plans? And here I thought we’d finally had a normal, non-embarrassing conversation for once. I kept my eyes on the speaker’s panel. “I’m usually busy.”
Alex laughed. “Hold on.” He stepped over to the panel and connected his phone to the speaker. A song I vaguely recognized from the radio played, and Alex stared at me, singing along as if waiting for me to pick up on something.
“Oh!” I said, understanding as soon as he got to the chorus. “The Weeknd. The singer. I thought you were...”
“Asking you out?” He smiled, and I looked away. “You don’t date, though, right?”
“Uh, right.”
“Well, there’s another coincidence. Neither do I. You don’t have to worry about me. Though given past experience, I may have to worry about you.”
“No, I—”
“Teasing, Jo.” He turned up the volume of the music and started singing again, dancing his way across the galley. Alex was something else, there was no doubt about it. Confident, but not in the blustery way most men I’d met in bars were. There was something endearing in his openness, even if he was sort of annoying.
When it was time to head up to the aft deck and greet the guests, Alex paused on his way out of the galley. He ran a hand through his hair and straightened his chef’s jacket. For a moment I thought he was nervous. But then he turned to me, face serious, and said, “You think I can become Hot Yacht Chef if I try hard enough?”
I rolled my eyes and pushed past him through the door. “I think you meanthatyacht chef.” But what I was thinking was,Become? You already are.And then:Bad. This is very, very bad.
—
When I returned home that evening, giving Alex an awkward wave when we pulled into the condo parking lot at the same time, I found Mia and Kitty lying on their stomachs in the living room and watchingDr. Phil.
“Jo, you’ve gotta see this,” Mia said, waving me over. “This chick crochets sweaters out of her dog’s fur. It’s unbelievable.”
“Mia says it’s art,” Kitty said, “but I think it’s just disturbing.”
I set my purse on the entryway table and slipped off my shoes, setting them on the shoe rack by the door. “Well, I’ve got an unbelievable story for you.” I lowered myself onto the floor beside Kitty, crossing my legs beneath me. “You’ll never believe who the new yacht chef is.”
“If it’s not Gordon Ramsay, then I don’t care,” Mia said.
“I do! I care!” Kitty said, turning to me with an eager face.
I leaned back on my elbows, tilting my face up to the TV. “Remember Greyson’s dad?”
Kitty looked at me nervously, but Mia grinned. “Of course I remember. Seeing your panicked face after he caught you in the pool was only the best moment of my life.”
“Well, he just happens to be my newcolleague.” I draped myself across Mia, mimicking one of her dramatic groans.
Mia pushed me off her and stared at me with wide eyes. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was kidding,” I sighed.
Mia nodded, her expression unreadable as she fumbled for words. “That’s... evenbetterthan Gordon Ramsay.” And then she and Kitty burst into laughter. They laughed so hard that tears streamed down their cheeks. This seemed to go on for minutes, and every time they calmed, nearly catching their breath, they’d look at me and it would start all over again. It got to the point that even I was laughing along with them. The whole situation was ridiculous. Who would believe it? And by the time the three of us had finally calmed down enough to look at each other without dissolving into a fit of giggles, we were wheezing.
“Greyson is going to love this,” Kitty said, shaking her head as she pulled out her phone.
“Did you three have fun today?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Mia said. “Greyson is hilarious. We weren’t bored at all, were we, Kitty?”
