“Not really, no.”
“Okay.” Kelly picked up the bottle of wine she had brought with her left hand and motioned toward Lauren with her right. “Let’s go get that apology out of the way so you two can enjoy the rest of your night.” She smiled at Grey and rolled her eyes. “God, I hate apologizing.”
“I know,” Grey chuckled as she fell into step beside her friend.
They made their way back through the maze of tables filling the patio, and Kelly cleared her throat softly as she approached the table where Lauren sat fiddling with her napkin on her lap as she looked out over the water. “I’m sorry.”
Lauren looked up, her gaze flitting between Kelly and Grey, who were standing beside the table. Kelly looked perfectly contrite, though there was something about the way she held herself that said it was begrudgingly done, and while Grey did not look as relaxed as she had been before her friend had surprised them, she did have a small, genuine smile tugging at her lips. Lauren sighed when Grey’s hand landed lightly on her shoulder, and could not help but lean into it. “Yeah. Me too,” she murmured.
It was obvious from the way Lauren had reflexively relaxed under Grey’s hand that Lauren could no more avoid Grey than Grey could avoid her, and Kelly shook her head as she silently cursed the Fates for dealing Grey yet another spectacularly fucked-up hand. “Right, well—” she made a show of checking the timeon her watch, “—I should probably get going.” She tipped her head at Lauren in a small bow. “Chef Murphy, it was nice to meet you.”
“Lauren, please,” Lauren replied with a small smile. “And it was nice to meet you, too.”
“Grey.” Kelly looked at her old friend. “Take care of yourself, and call me later.”
“I will,” Grey assured her.
Kelly smiled and leaned in to brush a quick kiss across Grey’s cheek. “Be good,” she murmured affectionately.
“When am I ever good?” Grey quipped, her tone holding the same warmth. She nodded in response to the questioning look in Kelly’s eyes, assuring her that she would be okay. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah. Enjoy your meal.”
Grey retook her seat as Kelly made her way across the patio and into the main dining room with long, purposeful strides, and sighed as she reached for Lauren’s hand. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be.” Lauren shook her head as she stroked her fingertips over Grey’s palm. “She’s a good friend.”
“Yeah, but still. You didn’t need that.”
“Honestly, if I were here, I would’ve done the same thing,” Lauren said. “She’s just looking out for you.”
Grey gave Lauren a small smile as she leaned in and dropped a quick kiss to her lips. “I know.” She ran the backs of her fingers over Lauren’s jaw and kissed her again softly. “But I don’t need to be protected. I know what I’m doing.”
“Grey…”
“Lauren.” Grey brushed her thumb over the corner of Lauren’s lips.
Lauren’s eyes danced over Grey’s face. Her eyes were warm and soft, her expression sure, and Lauren sighed as she nodded. “Okay.”
“Good.” Grey stole another soft kiss, and then forced herself to pull away and sit back in her chair. She shook her head as she picked up her menu, already missing the feeling of gentle contentment that filled her whenever she touched Lauren. She looked up at the sound of Lauren’s chair scraping across the patio beside her, and smiled when Lauren’s hand slid lightly over her thigh. She held Lauren’s gaze as she reached down and covered the hand on her leg and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Kip is buying us dinner to make up for being a bitch earlier,” she shared, keeping her tone purposefully light as she tried to steer their evening back to where it was before Kip had shown up. “So I am going to order the most expensive thing on the menu. What looks good to you?”
Lauren stared at Grey for a moment longer, and then shrugged. They both knew that their situation was far from ideal, but as neither of them were willing to put an end to things, there was really no point dwelling on the fact. All that they could do was enjoy the moments they had, and hope that the memories they made would be enough to make it all worthwhile. “I don’t know.” She picked up her menu. “What do you suggest?”
Grey smiled and tickled her fingers over Lauren’s. “Me.”
Lauren laughed. “Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“While that is an incredibly tempting idea,” Lauren drawled as she let her eyes drag over Grey’s body, deliberately lingering on the ample swell of her breasts, “I think I’ll save you for dessert.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
AS IT TURNED out, it was remarkably easy for Lauren to pretend that the end of her tenure aboard theVeritaswas not growing steadily closer with every passing second. When it was just the two of them, it was easy to imagine that the soft hiss of the swinging pendulum of Time that would ultimately tear them apart was simply the wind that was skipping over the waves and filling their sails.
The trip from Charlotte Amalie to Hawksnest Bay had been smooth, and they rounded the rocky cape at the southern end of the bay before midday. Lauren sat up on the sunbathing mat where she had stretched out at the sound of the sails furling overhead, and let her eyes sweep over their surroundings. The water was the clear, gradient hues of turquoise and blue that Lauren had become accustomed to during her time in the islands, and the mooring field near the center of the bay was empty. Lush, rich, green vegetation cascaded down the mountains to a pristine stretch of pale golden sand that wrapped along the curve of the bay, and Lauren could already picture herself spending a lazy afternoon on the warm sand, listening to the hypnotic crash of waves lapping at the shore.
“It’s beautiful,” Lauren said, smiling as she turned to look at Grey.
