Page 8 of His Secret Gift

I hit reply. “Right now, if that works for you.” I’m serious about holding to this, and I don’t want to hesitate for a second.

“Great. I’ll send you a link shortly.”

Oh, shit.The reality of everything hits me like a brick wall. I’m about to have a professional job interview, and I’m in my pajamas, have my hair up in a messy bun, and have red-stained lips.

So, I scour my closet and find a white button-up to replace the grungy band t-shirt I had on. But I don’t change from my stretchy pants with flowers all over them. I figure he won’t be able to see the bottom half of my body.

Then, I scurry into the bathroom to get my hair free and then braided at my side. The next and final steps are to wet a tissue and rub it along my lips and then brush my teeth.

“Good enough,” I say after looking at my reflection in the mirror.

When I return, I have another email, and I click to join the meeting.

Chapter 3

Haunting Harper – Jack

“Bryant?” I call after arriving at my docked yacht. He says he sleeps best on water, so when we aren’t traveling, I let him stay on it.

“Oh, hey boss!”

It’s nighttime, and he’s sitting on the main deck. He isn’t in his uniform, but he’s wearing a gray V-neck, black pants, a dark handkerchief around his neck, and a brown newsboy hat on his head.

When I climb aboard, I notice there’s a young woman on his screen.

“Bryant!” I whisper while slapping his chest. I’ve been hounding him about getting back in the dating pool after his divorce.And with a younger woman? You dirty dog.

He looks confused and then glances back at the laptop. “Oh! God no.” He runs his fingers through his auburn hair before facing me again. Then, he says, “I’m interviewing stewards for the upcoming trip, sir.”

Oh.“I thought we talked about this.” After everything that happened with Harper, my ex-fiancée, I was very clear that I wanted amalecrew going forward.

“I know, I know.” Now he’s twiddling with his mustache. “But her application was so genuine. The least you can do is say hello.”

I give him a look, but he waves me over.

“Kayla, this is Jack Shelley. The owner ofThe Marina.”

“Hi.” I say without really looking.

“Hi. Um, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Shelley,” the young woman responds.

“Yep. You too.” I then look at my captain. “Are you almost finished here?”

“Just about.”

“Good. I need to speak with you later.”

He nods.

With that, I go into my almost all white cabin.

It’s lined with large windows, but since it is dark out, I don’t need to pull the shades down.

I’ve run myself close to empty planning for this trip, and I’m exhausted, so it is relieving when my body flops down onto the fluffy bed.

But when I fall asleep, there’s even more torment in my mind.

Harper and I are in this very cabin, and I’m just watching her sleep. She had the cutest way of moving her mouth as she slept.

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