Page 18 of His Secret Gift

It was a self-help book about the writer’s struggle with addiction. So, I told Harper ahead of time that it would be a dry party.

Well, despite her telling me she’d be fine with that, she was having none of that, and she brought a flask.

A drunk person may be able to hide behind a sea of other inebriated people—but they stick out like a sore thumb among an otherwise sober crowd.

She made a mockery of herself and me that night.

I should’ve known it was over then. I was such a fool.

But luckily those pictures were taken and released.

“Good riddance,” Bryant said over drinks a few nights after.

I smiled and clinked my glass against his. “Yeah…”

Chapter 6

An Unexpected Delay – Kayla

For the most part, it seems like Denver was right, and Captain Bryant just wanted to make sure I had all my certifications, although I previously emailed him copies of my participation certificates, and made sure I knew the lay of the land.

As he speaks, I can tell that he is confident and knows what he wants. And I can’t help but admire that. His full captain’s outfit doesn’t hurt in making him seem stoic either.

“You see,” he says chewing on a pipe that isn’t lit and crossing one leg over the other, “I’ve wanted to be on the water for as long as I can remember.”

“Oh, wow.” I envy that. I’ve spent most of my life aimlessly. I went to school for finance for no other reason than that I am good with numbers. I never enjoyed any of my jobs in the field. As I said, it was a lot of old, white men telling me what to do.

“Now.” He leans over. “Please do not make it a habit of approaching Jack.”

My brow furrows. “What? How am I supposed to know what he wants…”

“He will tell you. But that’s what I’m saying. Only speak to him when spoken to.”

“Okay.”More white men telling me what to do.I’m starting to worry this was a bad idea.

“But other than that, you should be fine.”

“Okay,” I repeat.

He examines my certificates again. “You know, I’m really impressed you were able to get these so quickly.”

I shrug. “It wasn’t all that hard, really.”

He then gathers the paper and taps them on the table to straighten them altogether.

As we talk, a cluster of employees pass around us.

“There are a lot more people on here than I expected,” I admit after a break of silence.

Captain Bryant takes off his hat and scratches an itch on his head before putting it back on. While it hovered in his hand, however, I saw that he has small indentations near the corners of his forehead, indicating he was balding a little bit.

I don’t know why, but that’s always been kind of sexy to me.

Perhaps that’s a symptom of having daddy issues? Who knows.

“So, let’s cut to the chase here,” he says. While he has remained assured of himself throughout our talk, the conversation doesn’t seem to be fluid—and instead, it has kind of gone in all sorts of weird, choppy paths. However, part of that might have been me. His presence makes me anxious. Well, just being on board this yacht makes me nervous, to be honest.

I glance down at my hands and then meet his piercing gaze. “Okay.”

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