“Ok, Sara. If that’s what you want. I won’t pretend itisn’t a shame, but I won’t pursue this. The next move is yours.”
“And I won’t make a move,” I clarify. “Because of all the reasons I just said.”
“Mmhmm,” he agrees, nodding. “Understood.”
“I’m serious.”
“You said.”
I narrow my eyes at his suspiciously relaxed response. “Ok.”
He moves his hand across the centre console and leans towards me, his lips close to my ear.
“But if that late-night shower is anything to go by, youwillmake the next move and I’m not going to stop you when you do.”
My neck gets warm as I turn to hold his gaze.
“I’m not going to make a move,” I whisper. I sound so unconvincing; I barely believe my own voice. In my defence, his woody, citrus-scented aftershave is distracting me. That and the tease of his curls falling over his forehead. My fingers twitch to push them back.
Gus nods and rights himself, sitting taller and fixing his collar as he looks ahead.
“Ok.”
When we arrive at the port, Cole’s driver drops us as close as he can and as we stroll towards our luxury cruise, the giant, pristine yacht, glinting in the sun, I can’t help but laugh at the whole thing. Why was I even so stressed to begin with?Oh no, poor me.Stuck in the gorgeous Mediterranean with a handsome popstar.What a chore.Yes, I’ve wasted an insurmountable amount of money. Not only for the nights I’ve missed on the cruise, but all therooms, the coach trips, the train tickets, the food, the drink and clothes.
I dare not look at my bank account.
That said, I waste no time heading back to my room and lying face down on the soft mattress, absorbing the peace of my own space for over an hour. Next, I wash my face, find my skincare products and do an entire cleanse. I’ve been using a cheap standard face cream that I found in the pharmacy in Split, but thankfully, other than the slightly burnt nose and dry eyes, my skin is doing fine. Must be all the sunshine.
Once I’m done, I sit on the balcony and fidget with the ties on my soft white robe.
I shouldn’t be so twisted with excitement and nerves. It’s annoying!
I parted ways with Gus only a matter of hours ago, and yet this excited little buzz keeps teasing me at the thought of seeing him again. I try to shake it off. I amnota giddy teenage girl. I donothave a crush.
Ican’thave a crush.
I bite the end of my thumb to ease the sensation pooling in my core, and lower, but it only intensifies it. I shake my head. There’s no way. I’m being ridiculous. And even if I did think he has a sexy charm about him, a million and more women feel the same.
There’s no way we’d make it work. That’s that. If I see him tonight, I’ll be cordial. I need to pivot. Now I’m back on the yacht, I plan on soaking up every last molecule of luxury and bathing in it.
I head back into the room and pick the sleek black mini dress with a low back for dinner that I nearly didn’t pack,notbecause of him, it just so happened to be the closest dress in my wardrobe.
I sit myself on the edge of the bed and make a call.
“Hattie,” I say, when she answers on the third ring. “I’m in need of some sensible advice.”
“Well hello there. And sensible advice? From me?” she asks, surprised. “Nah, if you wanted sensible advice, you wouldn’t have called me.”
“Ok. I just… I don’t know.”
“I usually callyoufor sensible advice. What’s going on? How is the Mediterranean and the cruise? Is it amazing?”
I fill Hattie in on my mishap adventure, travelling from city to city to city and how I nearly drowned on a fishing boat between Kotor and Bari. She listens, gasping and laughing in all the right places.
“Sara!” she exclaims. “You did this all alone? You actually got on some random man’s boat?Alone?Who are you? That’s wild. I mean, I get it, you’ve had a weird time of it lately and I guess you’re still hurt by… all that went down… Are you doing ok? This is all insanely reckless.”
I take a deep breath. “The thing is,” I say. “I wasn’t actually alone.”
