Page 53 of Falling Overboard

Maybe Georgia had the right idea and I should go out more with them when they were partying. That would probably bond us better.

It would also have the added bonus of keeping me from spending time alone with Hunter. Being surrounded by a group of people seemed like a safer bet. He tempted me into forgetting all my resolutions regarding staying away from men.

I went to the aft deck with my coffee and watched the sun creeping its way over the horizon. I loved this time of day—the quiet, the tranquility, the beauty.

Even if my life was filled with a lot of hard, manual labor, I was grateful for moments like this one.

“That’s some sunrise.”

I turned in surprise to see Hunter standing behind me with a backpack on. He came over to join me at the railing.

I said, “I think the rest of the crew forgets that we’re in the Mediterranean and how amazing it is here. Don’t you think it’s beautiful?”

“I do.”

But when I glanced over at him, he wasn’t looking out at the horizon.

He was looking at me.

A knot formed in my throat and my vision went a bit hazy. Something was happening.

Or I just really wanted something to happen despite my best intentions.

It was impossible to tell. I turned my gaze back to the ocean. My heart was attacking the inside of my chest, my lungs constricting. “What are you doing?” I asked.

He didn’t seem to understand that I was asking him to name what was happening between us; he failed to pick up on the desperation I was feeling. There was an impossibly long moment before he finally answered. “I thought we were going on a hike.”

Just the tour, then. Nothing else. I wished I could flip a switch that would make my heart beat normally again. To be as indifferent as him. “Was anyone else awake downstairs?”

“No.”

I set my coffee down and pulled out my phone. My hands shook slightly as I sent a text to the group chat, asking if they were coming. I waited for a bit, trying to calm my nerves, but there was no response. That wasn’t good. I put my bag over my shoulder. “I guess this means it’s just the two of us.”

He grinned. “If you wanted to go on a date with me, Lucky, all you had to do was ask. You didn’t have to go to these extremes.”

“I’m not dignifying that with a response,” I told him and headed for the stairs. I was still fighting off the disappointment he’d caused by being oblivious.

Or maybe he wasn’t oblivious. I’d been telling myself since he arrived that he wasn’t interested. I thought I should probably start believing it.

I should also remember that it was a good thing there wasn’t any romance between us.

“Yes, you will. You can’t help yourself.” He had no problem keeping up with me.

And he was right. “It’s not a date. And it’s not a hike.”

I could hear the smile in his voice. “Whatever you say.”

As I stepped onto the dock, he asked, “Are we meeting someone? Didn’t you say this was a guided tour?”

I held up my phone. “We’re going to follow an app. It will tell me the path to take. The whole thing is ...” I peered down at the screen. “Like six kilometers. I don’t know how far that is.”

“It should take us about an hour and a half to walk that. So long as you’re not slow.”

Why did he enjoy baiting me so much? “I don’t do anything slow.”

“That’s a shame.”

He’s teasing you,I had to remind my frenzied libido. I was glad we were going for a long walk. My body needed the exercise so it could work off some of this lust. “This way.”

---