Page 88 of Worth Every Risk

I pull my sunglasses down to cover my eyes, and Seb breaks out into a loud laugh. Were he anyone else, I’d feel teased and mocked, but somehow I don’t. His laughter is friendly, even if I am dying inside. He doesn’t know that.

“What’s so funny?” Charlie asks, coming up beside us.

Seb’s handsome features fall into neutral. “I was making a bad joke,” he says, with a little bow of the head. “Sorry, Aries. Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

I shrug. “You didn’t.”Not much, anyway.

We file onto the boat, welcomed by the crew, one of whom leads me to my cabin. She’s an athletic-looking woman in her mid-thirties, dressed in a white uniform of a polo shirt and trousers.

I follow her down a series of steps and corridors, and she points out other rooms as we pass. My cabin is nowhere near the others. It’s even a walk around the deck to get to the kids’ room from mine. And it’s tiny.

“Spacious,” I joke, poking my head in to take a look around.

“This is luxury. You’ve got your own room. We’re all in together,” says the woman. “Do you want me to unpack for you?”

“What? Er, no. Thank you.”

“Thought I’d check. We do it for all the other guests and I have time before things really kick off.”

“That’s okay. Thanks.”

She leaves and I sit down on the small bed, stroking my hand over the sheets.

There’s a knock on the door. “Aries?”

My heart is in my throat. It’s Matt. Hope swirls like a whirlwind through my entire body. A moment alone with him would be enough to soothe the awful ache in my chest that being separated from him has caused. The strain of pretending everything’s fine is twisting my insides into a knot.

I stand, brushing down my dress, fluffing my hair, trying to look as casual as possible. I open the door and every fluttering hope in my chest is crushed. It’s not Matt at all. It’s Charlie, holding Lucie’s hand.

I try to conceal my disappointment, but Charlie’s eyebrow quirks up. I’m not about to explain that I thought he was his dad, so I crouch and focus on Lucie. “Hey sweetie, what’s up?”

“We want to show you around, don’t we, Charlie?”

Charlie shrugs as if he had no part in this plan.

“There’s a hot-tub,” Lucie announces. “And I can see the sea out of my window. Oh, and the swimming pool.”

“There’s a poolon the boat?” I ask, half in shock.

“Yes. At the back. We’re going for a swim. You have to come, because I can‘t swim.” She stares up at me with her little hands on her hips. “Not without my armpits.”

I try to contain my laughter when I repeat, “Armpits?”

“Armbands,” Charlie explains. “She means armbands.”

I smile widely. “Okay, let me get changed. Wait here.”

I close the door, rip open my suitcase and pull out a bikini and a cover-up. I grab a hat and a bottle of factor 50, and then I’m ready to go.

The boat is insane. It’s like a floating hotel. The carpets are as lush as the ones in the London house. There’s a cinema room here too. A full dining room, both inside and outside—there’s a deck with an outdoor dining table. Lucie’s bedroom is a luxury suite, and I’m wondering why my bedroom is so small, when every other part of this boat is spectacular. I’m just the nanny, I guess, but somehow, after Matt breaking things off, my separation from everyone else hurts even more. I breathe out the anguish and focus on how grateful I am to be here.I'm so lucky.I mentally repeat the words, hoping they'll break through my heartbreak and shift my mood. After all, it really is amazing. The pool is the best bit though. It’s an infinity pool on the back of the boat, surrounded by loungers, and the water sparkles under the hot sun.

We’re already sailing out to sea by the time Lucie demands to get in. I slip off my cover-up and help her into the water.

There’s noise from above; the sound of men talking and laughing. I glance up to see all three Hawkston brothers on the terrace above the pool with beers in hand.

My gaze lingers on Matt, and like he senses it, he turns to me. His attention hits like a missile launched right into my chest. The impact would take me down if I wasn’t holding his daughter in the pool already.

His eyes scoop down my neck, taking in my full breasts in the bikini top.He still wants me.He looks away, staring so intently into his beer you’d think there was something growing in the bottom of it.

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