“Are you crazy?”
The smile he gives me is dazzling. “Yes, but that’s beside the point.”
“Which is?”
“That you told me you’ve never been on a yacht. And as much as you enjoy walking by and sitting out on the balcony watching the boats, I figured it was time to take you out on one.”
My heart melts all over again. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how I can mention something once and he remembers it. I’ve never had anyone pay that type of attention to what I say, not a boyfriend, at least.
I love you.
The words are right there, on the verge of falling out, but I hold them back.
Travis opens the trunk of his car, revealing a bag of mine he’s already packed for the day.
“It would’ve been my preference to not have to bring any clothes on this trip, but …” He trails off with a lifted eyebrow.
“Clothes are a must,” I insist, laughing and taking my bag from him.
“There are some beaches in France and Italy where the laws on nudity are more relaxed, you know.”
“Stop it.” I swat at him.
Travis pushes out a defeated breath. “If you insist,” he says before leaning in and kissing my cheek. “Wait for me here, while I go check with our host to make sure our yacht is ready.”
Watching him stroll away, I sigh. As I rub my belly, I think about how full my heart is, both for this baby and the man who brought my heart back to life after years of suppressing any emotion remotely related to love.
Maybe one day soon I’ll actually be able to tell him.
CHAPTER 38
Travis
“She can’t go that damn deep,” I yell at the yacht crew member who’s also a highly trained snorkel instructor.
My knees bend, body filling with tension as I poise myself to jump back in the water from the deck of the eighty-foot yacht, when Alyssia pulls the snorkel from her mouth and yells, “I’m fine.”
She waves me off, putting the piece back in her mouth after the instructor says something that makes her laugh.
I glower at both of them. A second later, I jump back into the warm waters off of Plage Mala private beach. I’ll be damned if I let Alyssia or my baby drown because the fucking instructor I hired for our trip wants to flirt with her.
As I approach, Alyssia pops up from the water. She pulls her mouthpiece out again, smiling.
“You decided to come back in?”
Beads of water that stream down her face, her brown eyes glitter like diamonds from the sun shining on us from behind, and the joy on her face all leave me breathless for a beat.
“It’s time to come back to the boat,” I say in spite of my soft heart wanting to give her whatever she wants.
Instead of waiting, I swim closer and turn my back to her. “Wrap your arms around my neck, I’ll swim us in.”
“I’m capable of swimming on my own. The boat’s right there.” She points out the yacht that’s less than twenty feet from us.
“You’ve been swimming for hours. You’re probably more tired than you realized.”
“I know my own body,” she huffs.
I take one of her arms and wrap it around my neck. When I go to do the same to the other, she reluctantly does it for me. Waiting to make sure she’s secure, I use my legs with the fins on my feet to propel both of us back to the yacht.
