Page 36 of Stuck in Paradise with You

The captain introduces me to his engineer as he passes by, then Henry points out the portside navigation station and a stairway down to what is apparently the starboard hull and the crew sleeping area.

‘Is the boat crewed all of the time?’ I ask, following Henry inside to the main interior area.

He nods. ‘Most of the year, yeah. Either Joe books it out for himself, or friends and family, or sometimes she’s in port. Regardless, she needs a crew to take care of her.’ He has stopped in an opulent passageway, with the kind of walls one might expect of a superyacht – burl veneers punctuated with gold trimmings, and the floor is covered in marble-effect tiles. ‘Ella IIis like a beautiful woman; she needs to be treated right.’

Is he…? Is there… like, athinghappening here?

Surely not. He’s young and hot and really ought not to have any interest in me at all, but the way he’s looking at me is… saying he does? Weird. Awkward. Totally inappropriate.

Yet, a little flattering, honestly.

I clear my throat. ‘What’s this?’ I ask, planting my hands on a table in the center of the wide corridor.

‘A buffet table,’ he says, letting his eyes linger on mine for too long before looking away. ‘The four doors you can see lead to state rooms. A master and three queen guest rooms. I think Ella has taken Char and Sanza for a nap in the master but the guest rooms are free. Would you like to see inside?’

I’m curious, so I really want to say yes and see how the other half sleep, but something tells me it wouldn’t be a good idea with this strange new dynamic I’m sensing to introduce the thought of beds and bedrooms and what people get up to in beds and bedrooms.

‘I’m good,’ I say breezily, moving away from Henry and deeper into the salon, as he calls it.

‘Starboard side.’ I watch him point to the right. ‘There’s another hangout space.’ He’s referring to a large L-shaped seating area with a huge wall-mounted flat-screen TV.

Inside, at a bar and preparing drinks, are two more female crew, with beautiful smiles, pearly white teeth, and immaculate chignons.

‘Port side.’ He points to the left. ‘This is the main bar for the stews to serve drinks. I help out on deck when I’m on the yacht but otherwise I’m based on island. There’re ten crew, when Jenny and I are onboard. You’ve got the captain and an engineer, an Officer of the Watch, Chief Stew – that’s Brittany, who you saw out on deck – Riley and Daisy here, also interior, Bosun, Jake, who’ll be somewhere sorting out the sea toys, probably. Then there’s me, acting as deckhand, and Jenny as an extra stewardess. Which leaves the man you’ll like most of all… the chef. He’ll be prepping lunch in the galley right now, so I wouldn’t advise we disturb him. He’s a bit of a perfectionist. Aka grumpy as hell.’

I chuckle, thinking of the stern chefs onBelow Deck, then turning on the spot, taking in the sheer luxury of it all, mulling over his words, all I can say is, ‘Wow.’ I exhale at the enormity of it all. ‘It’s quite the enterprise.’

Henry gives a short laugh, eyebrows raised. ‘Everything with Joe is.’

Of course it is. He’s one of the richest men in the world. I couldn’t even conceive of having his kind of money. Not that there’s anything wrong with my little Manhattan apartment. It fits me, and Eddie, and Callum is right next door. Plus, I spend most of my life in the office.

But I’ll be damned if this trip isn’t making me think there’s got to be something more. Not money and things, but time. Time to enjoythingsandpeople.

I don’t know at what point I stopped having time. When I decided to give it up. I wonder if anyone can ever get it back without jeopardizing everything they’ve worked tirelessly to achieve.

As if playing the role of the devil on my shoulder, the uncontrollable shrieking of Noah travels in from the aft deck. Through the windows, I see Luke pretending to throw the boy overboard, and Noah’s infectious delight makes my lips curve up.

Cute.

Sometimes, I think I’d like all of that – family life, happy kids. But I couldn’t have it with anyone if I had the slightest doubt about our relationship. Not after what I suffered between my parents.

Maybe that’s part of the reason I don’t really put myself out there and date a lot. I’m afraid of ending up with the wrong guy and terrified the right guy might not even exist for me.

More than that, logistically, I just don’t have thetime.

‘Come on,’ Henry says, gesturing with his head toward outside. ‘You must be ready for a glass of bubbles.’

I check my watch. ‘Sure, why not?’ Like Noah said, it’s noon somewhere. In fact, it’s almost noon here.

We head out to the deck, where Alisha is drinking champagne, Joe is holding a cocktail and still lounging with Toby, and Luke and Noah are making their way back over to the dining table and snacks.

‘Don’t have too many of those; your mom won’t be happy if you don’t eat lunch, buddy,’ Luke says, all… paternally.

It thrusts my mind back to one of the questions of our past.Whatever happened to his baby? Was there ever a baby? Did he just want out between us?

I realize I’m watching him with a furrowed brow and slip my shades from my head to cover my eyes. Shielding me from him, or the other way around.

Brittany seems extremely nice, not least because she brings me a glass of fizz when I take a seat at the dining table near Alisha.

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