Page 6 of The Prince's Castaway Baby

But I’m scared to sleep. What if I never wake up again?

I reach for the emergency kit, wanting a snack, but then I hesitate. Is it better to eat tiny amounts often, or save it all for when I’m starving? Why didn’t anyone ever teach me any of this stuff?

I never should have done this alone.

For a long time, I stare at the water, letting the bright blue mesmerize me as the sun glints off the waves. In the distance, there’s a shadow of land, an island maybe, green and fuzzy, and…

Wait — land?

I sit bolt upright, rubbing my eyes in disbelief. Land! It’s really land! If I can just get over there, then maybe I’ll be okay. I’m still not exactly equipped for survival, but if I can get off the water, I can find shelter, maybe find some berries or whatever to eat. Who knows, maybe someone lives there!

The idea of human contact makes me dizzy enough that I’d fall over if I wasn’t already sitting down.

Another great feature the life raft came with was a paddle. My arms ache, but the sight of land has filled me with adrenaline. I crawl over to the paddle, then wrestle for a minute with the ropes tying the roof to the raft.

In a move that can only count as a fail, I manage to release the roof canvas only for the wind to catch it and whisk it off, far away across the sea. “Damn,” I mutter. Still, at least I can get shelter on the island, and some sun will give me a great tan.

It takes less than five minutes for me to realize why all rowers are absolutely ripped. This is exhausting. Every time I dip the paddle into the water, the waves snatch at it, making it skitter over the surface and fall back with a splash. I grunt, gripping the handle with all my might. I’m not losing the paddle. Without it, I’m screwed.

Eventually, I get the hang of it enough that I start moving in the right direction. It’s brutally tiring, and as the island gets bigger and bigger, the relief of knowing that it’s real is the only thing that stops me from bursting into tears. My knuckles are cracked from the salt water, my skin is going to be blistered from the sun, and my arms are going numb with the exertion, but I can’t stop now.

I have to make it there.

As I get close enough to see details of trees and the sand of the beach, I notice a flock of birds launch into the air and, squawking, flap noisily over my head. It startles me and I cry out, but my fists are clenched so tightly around the paddle, I think I’m going to need a crowbar to open them again.

When I look back to my goal, I see a figure on the beach, waving both arms at me. “Hello?” I shout, my voice cracking.Is this a figment of my imagination too?

But she doesn’t fade from view — in fact, she just gets clearer, until I can see that she’s a beautiful blonde, her hair tied in a loose ponytail, her tanned arms bare, and just the hint of her belly showing under the crop top she’s wearing. I must have done something right, because this is fate smiling on me.

Abandoning me on an island with a beautiful woman? Now, that’s like a dream come true.

Or at least it should be. I keep paddling with renewed determination, and call out again, waving. “Hello!”

She waves back, but finally I can just about make out her expression, and it’s not the joyful welcome I had hoped for. Her voice carries over the waves, faint but not too faint that I can’t hear it. “For God’s sake, what are you doing?” she yells. “You’re disturbing the birds!”

She’ll understand when I get there. Whatever she’s doing here, she’ll understand, and she’ll take me back home and everything will be okay.

Won’t it?

CHAPTER 4

BILLIE

From the second I spotted him on the horizon, I could tell that this guy was a moron.

With some people, it’s hard to know whether they would be any good at surviving in the wild.

Some people, you can tell straightaway that they spend a lot of their time camping or sailing or hiking. It’s written into their features and the way they hold themselves when they’re outdoors. It’s in their shoes and clothes.

And even if you can’t tell their skills from their appearance, you can tell whether a person knows how to work by looking at their hands.

This guy is one of those people you can tell immediately is not designed for this kind of environment.

He waves at me with his paddle and a frantic grin, then immediately falls over. For a minute, I’m worried that he’s fallen overboard. But he manages to sit back up and wave at me again, slightly more sheepishly this time.

He calls something out, and the last of the red-footed boobies spooks and launches off, taking to the sky in what would usually be a spectacular sight to me. But I was getting some really great shots of them on the beach, and now they’re gone. They very rarely collect like that in the open, so I’m just going to have to hope that the photos I got will be good enough.

When this guy lands, I’m going to kill him.

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