Page 35 of Stuck in Paradise with You

‘Is there a beer?’ Luke grumps in response. Now it’smyturn to laugh athim. There’s a member of staff, dressed much like Henry and Jenny, whom I haven’t seen before, and she moves swiftly to a glass refrigerator on the deck.

‘Should I ask?’ Jenny whispers to me.

‘Just some beaten-up man pride,’ I tell her. ‘He won’t be touching my ass again anytime soon.’

Jenny smirks. ‘Welcome to the post-Barbieera, Ken.’

As we’re sniggering and making our way up to the dining tables, Henry appears at my side. He sets my bag down on a chair and says, ‘Come on, I’ll show you around before we raise anchor.’

I glance back across my shoulder to see the steward now has an open bottle of beer and she’s handing it to Luke. As she does, Noah says, ‘It’s noon somewhere, Uncle Luke.’

Ha, the kid’s funny.

I’m smiling as I follow Henry up an exterior staircase to what he tells me is the main deck. It’s another insanely large hangout area.

‘It can seat more than twenty people,’ he says. ‘Great for entertaining.’

He puffs up one of the pale-grey cushions that decorate the space, as if he can’t help himself.

‘I told youElla’s one hundred and five feet in length and she’s forty-seven and a half feet in beam.’

‘Beam? You mean across?’ I ask.

He smiles gently. ‘Sorry, it’s yachty speak. Yeah, in width, if you like.’ He’s kind, Henry, and he seems smart. I like him.

‘Coming off the fly bridge over there is a diving board.’ He points in the direction of the white board overhanging the serene waters. I can see fish swimming and much further below, rocks dug into the seabed. ‘You’ll have some fun on that when we get into deeper water.’

I’m not so sure, but I don’t say that. Being chicken isn’t really cool. ‘Sounds it.’

He gives a short laugh, like he’s got my number. I mean, come on, I’m a thirty-one-year-old tax advisor who spends most of her life between an office and the four walls of her apartment, and the most exciting thing I’ve done in my life was… Luke.

God, I need to getoutmore.

‘There’s a rainfall shower on the aft deck for when you get out of the water,’ Henry goes on, pointing to the rear of the boat and making his way down another set of stairs toward the front of the catamaran. I follow him and we arrive at what look like two giant trampolines between the two hulls. The ocean glistens beneath them, as if it’s lost a fight with an angry pot of glitter.

‘You can bounce or lounge on these and you’ll have the best view in the house from here once we set sail,’ Henry tells me.

I spring toward him, where he’s now as far forward as he can get and turning to look back at the boat.

‘There’s a crow’s nest there attached to the forward portion of the mast. You can ride it up to the second spreader and you’ll get an incredible view.’ Then he looks at me and adds quietly, ‘I like to snoop on people on other boats from up there, especially some of the celebs we get sailing around the islands.’

‘Nowthatdoes sound interesting.’ If Callum were here, I’d never be able to drag him down. He’d have on his star-spangled Speedos and a shameless super lens hanging around his neck. He is the font of all celeb gossip. My only source, in fact.

‘Oh yeah. You wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve seen from that crow’s nest.’

I chuckle. ‘I’ll look forward to you dishing the dirt.’

‘I’d have you up all night,’ he says, heading off again toward a glass window through which I can see the steering equipment and a man I assume is the captain fiddling with things inside. Iknow he didn’t mean anything by his statement but Henry has left my cheeks blushing.

It’s been a while since I was kept up all night.

Arealwhile.

‘This is Captain George. Captain, this is Carrie, a friend of Joe’s.’

Friendseems a little generous, though I’m not a foe and he seems genuinely nice, just a little weird, and I’m certainly enjoying his hospitality, so… I accept the hand of the man wearing a brilliant white and pristinely pressed uniform, with four gold stripes on his epaulette. He could be front and center of a commercial for laundry detergent.

The captain and I make small talk, mostly because I have zero idea what to ask him after ‘where are we headed’ and ‘how is the weather’. I don’t know anything about fancy-pants boats.

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