“This is fine, thank you.” She looks out of her window.
“You’d like to convince yourself you despise me, wouldn’t you?”
“What makes you so sure I don’t?”
I cock a brow, and her face reddens. “That is a low blow, even for you.” She grimaces, shaking her head.
“Quite literally.” I offer. Her mouth forms an O, and she laughs for the first time since she’s been in my presence. It’s light and free. She throws her head back, dark hair resting against my headrest. Her violet eyes are teary when she stops. Something inside me aches to hear more of that.
“That was so distasteful.” she smirks. It’s cute. I cannot remember the last time I thought that about a woman, or when I last joked around with one. This is all new to me. I frown my eyes on the road again. She’s quiet too, glancing at the scenery outside. “It’s beautiful here. Nothing like England.”
“Oh, yeah, what’s life like on your end of the world? I’ve traveled to London on business, but I have never spent more than a day or two in the city, stuck in hotels for the most part.” The truth is I want to know how she sees her world, what it means to her.
“Less sunny.” She smiles, and I know she means that fondly. “I live in Kings Cross, have my whole life. It’s busy, especially near the station. Mum and I live in a flat, and I take the tube almost everywhere. It rains a lot. I lived close to campus when I attended Oxford, with Amy,” She looks over at me, her violet eyes mesmerizing.
“What’s she like, your mother?”
“Colorful and loud. My mom loves to talk, and she’s full of life. I wish I were more like her. She would give you a run for your money. You wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
“What about your dad?” I ask.
She looks down at her hands in her lap “He passed away before I was born, I never knew him. He was Turkish.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. My mother was backpacking through Istanbul during her final year of college, met him; they fell in love, and well, the rest, as they say, is history. They had a whirlwind romance, but he sadly passed away before I was born.”
“I’m sorry,” I pause. “about your dad. I kind of know-how that is. I never met my mother, either.” I haven’t said that out loud to many people. I’m not close enough to anyone to share something that intimate about my life, but there’s something about Kennedy that disarms me.
“I’m sorry too.” she says, placing her hand on mine.
We fall into silence, the lyrics ‘it’s true, the way I feel was painted on your face’,the only sound. I look over at Kennedy, and she seems to have drifted off into her memories, hopefully, none that haunt her the way mine do me. We reach the docks, and she looks over at me. “You were serious about the water?”
“I never say anything I don’t mean, Güzel.” I offer her a smile before turning off the radio, and stepping out. I round the front of the car and stand beside her, with my hand extended to help her out. She takes it. Her hands are soft, small in mine, and I can’t help but wonder what they’d feel like wrapped around my cock. I’ll have to behave for now, though. I want to know how far this woman is willing to go for her friend. She thinks I’m unaware why she’s here, but there are very few things that get past me.
It’s a warm day, and the sun makes Kennedy’s hair shimmer as she looks around the docks. She turns to me. “Shall we?”
I offer her my arm, and she loops hers through it. I walk her toward my yacht, and she gasps when we stop in front of Siren. “She’s magnificent. And yours?”
“A birthday gift from my father.”
“I should have a chat with my mom; her gift-giving skills are really lacking.” She laughs as I lead her onto the deck, and she looks around in wonder. “This is stunning.”
I watch her roam the deck, running her hands over the railings. One of the crewmen is running the bar and offers her a drink when she approaches. She asks him for a recommendation, and he makes her what I know is a very strong cocktail.
“I just need to have a word with the Captain. Make yourself comfortable.” She smiles over at me and nods. She sits on one of the barstools and looks out at the ocean. I go down below and give the Captain our co-ordinates then join her again.
The barman offers me a beer, and I take it from him before taking a seat next to her. “So, what shall I do now that I have you all to myself?” I quirk a brow.
“I can swim, Sai. I did the Thames Marathon twice.” She says confidently, taking a sip of her cocktail.
“You’ll find the ocean and a river are different terrain.” I tease.
“Not for a swimmer like me.” she winks.
“Come on, let me give you the tour.” I give her my hand, and she hops off the stool, excitement dancing in her eyes. She isn’t like any other woman I’ve hung around, she is genuinely just curious. My money and status don’t faze her. I can tell.
I lead her below deck. The lights in the bar aren’t on now, but there is no mistaking the kind of entertainment that goes on here. She steps out of her heels, stalks over to the pole, and casts me a playful look. To my surprise, she does a power hold, ending with a spin. She laughs, “You should see the look on your face.”
