Page 36 of Seeds of Malice

"Have you sailed before?"

She shakes her head. "No, this is the first time."

"Ah, you're in for a treat. It's the perfect day for it," I declare, and an energy fills me that I always feel when I'm on the water. I breathe in a deep breath and glance around.

Ivy smiles. "You look like you're in your element."

"I am. Sailing is the thing I love to do more than anything."

"I can see why," she says, glancing around.

I sit down and pat the seat next to me. "Come on, sunshine. I'm going to speed things up here till we get out."

There's a small breeze blowing through the bay. She sits down, and I hit the throttle. We coast away from the docks. And then I turn the motor off and declare, "Time to get up and help me with the sail. Come on."

I show her what to do, and the sail's at full mast in a few minutes. The wind provides just the right amount of speed. It's not cold or rough but has enough power to get us where we're going.

"Wow, it feels like we're floating."

She's adorable.

Stop it.

I grunt. "We are floating, we're on water."

"Oh, yeah. But you know what I mean. Like we're soaring across it." Ivy beams.

I tease, "Isn't that how you always feel when you're with me, though? Like you're soaring?"

Red creeps up her cheeks.

"Ha ha, funny," she snarks.

But I know it's true. At least I'm going to make her feel that way. And then I'm going to make her feel like everything's all wrong and that she's going to lose me. She'll never know whether to be happy or paranoid. And I'm an expert at making people paranoid, I remind myself. It gives me great satisfaction and makes me giddy to think of her living in a confused state, doing whatever I want her to do, and being at my mercy.

We sail for a good hour and come to an island. I anchor the boat a hundred yards away from the shore.

"Wow, this is beautiful," Ivy claims.

"Yeah, I like it. It's quiet out here. Not a lot of people know about it."

She smiles. "Well, it's really nice."

"You hungry?" I ask. Her stomach growls, and I laugh. "I guess that's my answer."

"I haven't eaten since I had that cheeseburger."

"Me either. But I've got lots of food for us, so let's dig in."

I go into the kitchen and pull out a tray of sandwiches. I hand it to her, pick up a fruit platter, and grab a bag of chips. We take it to the table outside.

I reach into the cabinet and remove two flutes. Then I open a bottle of champagne.

"Oh, I don't drink," she reminds me.

"You don't want a glass of champagne with me?" I ask, staring at her as if that's the craziest thing I've ever heard. I add, "It's just a glass to celebrate us."

She glances at the bottle and then at me.

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