Page 32 of His Secret Gift

“I know.” And I thought I understood that. But I didn’t expect for things to go that badly. “He accused me of wanting to blackmail him. Can you imagine?”

“Well, someone with his kind of wealth and success has to think about that kind of stuff.”

“I know that too.” She’s kind of irritating me. I’m not some stupid kid. Despite people’s belief that I am. “But I would never do something like that.”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

I pause before responding with, “Try to avoid him at all costs?”

I then hear her chortle on the other side of the phone.

“What?”

“Well, tell me if I’m wrong, but unless he’s got some massive yacht, it can’t be that big.”

It isn’t.Although it’s still very impressive, seeing as it’s owned by one man.

“So, I don’t think avoiding him is going to be the answer. Especially since it’s kind of your job to be his beck and call. No?”

I wince. “Sure, but there are other stewards on board.”

“Well, whatever you do, I’ll be thinking about you.”

“… thanks.”

That night, Itoss and turn—and not just because we’re floating on water.

Instead, my subconscious mind keeps cooking up steamy scenes between Jack Shelley and me.

“I want you, Kayla,” I hear his voice say as fog dissipates, and his gorgeous face comes into view. “Do you want me?” His dark eyes fix on my lower lip as he bites down on his.

“Yes,” I answer, breathlessly. When I wriggle beneath him, I feel a sandy texture. Then, I glance away from him and see a sunny sky and seagulls above us.

Next, he lowers his head and kisses me—his beard delightfully scratching my face.

“Ugh!” I sit up and grunt after waking up from that one. It felt so real. I swear I even felt his pelvis crushing down on mine as he laid on top of me.

But over and over again, similar scenes would be conjured in my mind.

I resolve that I have to make a batch of my dad’s sleeping elixir that he would make for me whenever I was sick as a child. It’s god awful, but it works.

Fortunately, the nextday is all business, so I don’t have the time or opportunity to daydream about him. Well, until I see him, that is.

I’m standing on the main deck, and Captain Bryant just gave me and some others a walkie talkie to communicate with him and each other. Jack, who just so happens to be torturing me with his shiftlessness, is standing against a railing on the sun deck.

I have to raise my hand above my eyes to see him. But when I do, I notice that the red undertones in his otherwise brown hair are glistening in the sunlight.

“Just make sure to stay in constant communication,” Captain Bryant says before turning to leave.

My attention, however, is still on Jack.

He takes a pair of aviator glasses out of a case and puts them on.

“He’s gorgeous, right?” A voice from behind my shoulder says.

“What?” When I look back, I see a small woman, obviously wearing the same uniform as me, with dark brown hair that falls at her chin, and big, soulful brown eyes. “No.” I shake my head furiously.

She flicks her wrist at me. “Oh, come on. We all think so. It’s fine.” She then smirks and offers her hand out to me. “I’m Calliope. But you can call me Callie—all my friends do.”

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