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Beck sighed. As much as he was intrigued by her, and their undeniable chemistry, her signals were confusing.
"Are you sure? Because I —
"I said I'd be fine." Her voice was harsher than before. He was close to sending sharp words right back to her but he bit his tongue. Nobody had the balls to talk to him like that and it surprised him that he let it go.
"Right," was all he said and left the bridge without looking back.
Intrepid was quiet. After the stormy night, Micki scheduled shore leave. It would give the crew downtime before the craziness of the July 4th party.
Beck was pleased with the results of the cruise slash business meeting down to the barrier island. The guests had left a few days ago and the investors were all in on the project. It looked like the island resort/refuge he wanted to build was a go. It would take a couple of years to complete, but the ball was rolling.
The July 4th party wasn't on his mind much. Beck was provided with updates from his team and they didn't need handholding and he had every confidence in them knowing the event would be a hit.
He shuffled papers on his desk, stacked and restacked them. Beck was frustrated and didn't have to dig too deep to know why. It all pointed to Micki. Something had happened between them the night of the storm. He'd felt it, and was pretty sure she had too. He had no idea why she'd withdrawn from him so suddenly since and communicated only by email when needed.
Where she was concerned, he had some kind of radar and flattened his palm on the wall knowing she was somewhere on Intrepid. He sensed her. Felt her presence.
He hadn't seen her except at a distance since the night of the storm and she was stuck in his head like a song on repeat. She was complicated, one minute soft, pliable, receptive, and the next stiff, cold, distant. He slapped his hand on the wall, yep, he may as well admit it. He liked her. Really liked her.
Yeah sure, there was a big gap in their ages, and she was somehow related to Fletch. Both of those were good reasons to remain at arm's length. But damn, he didn't want that and she'd given him the idea she might feel the same, but then she’s not even talking to him so…
He sighed, maybe it was for the best. He couldn't deny the hurdles they would face if they were together. They did need to talk about it and see if they could overcome the obstacles. If that was what she even wanted!
The upcoming party was where they'd cross paths and then they would figure things out.
Since the night of the storm, a week ago, I hadn't seen Beck or had a conversation in person. Part of me was relieved and another part was disappointed. It was too hard being around him and I couldn't deny the connection between us. Not to mention I didn't trust myself to resist him.
We communicated through group emails for the party planning, which was this weekend. Each time I saw his name, my belly fluttered, reminding me of the night on the bridge during the storm. How he touched me, tasted me, and my response to him. And then after… his tenderness and care. We were lucky Greg hadn't turned up and caught us and that was why I couldn't let it happen again. What if we got caught out? I shivered at the possibility. Not only that, but I get so caught up when I’m with Beck. I touched my lips, where Beck’s mouth had been and my heart hurt to think of keeping Beck at arm’s length.
I was glad the storm had blown out after wreaking havoc for a few hours, and we got Intrepid underway. I'd been exhausted and when we’d arrived at Passion Cove mid-afternoon, I turned the helm over to Greg so I could sleep. I was too tired to think straight and collapsed onto the bed when I got to my cabin. I’d slept like the dead. A hot and steamy dream about Beck woke me in the middle of the night, and I wished he was beside me. I forced myself back to sleep so I could be up at first light.
The following days I steered clear of private areas, just in case I ran into Beck and took my meals in my room or on the bridge. No matter how much I tried to ignore how deeply Beck affected me, I had to accept I was consumed with thoughts of him. Had he sought me out, I would've been a goner unable to resist him.
I pushed the salad around on my plate and thought about the party. It was a big affair and I was glad I'd managed to escape being pulled into the setup. Fletch had warned me about it and said there wasn't anything I needed to do.
It was invite-only but I knew how these things went. Probably no one would be checking the guest list and that guaranteed there would be party crashers.
I'd been around many yacht parties and some of them had gone a little too wild and security was called to escort the riotous ones off. I'd seen the guest list and some well-known people were coming aboard. Sometimes I fangirled, and other times I was meh about who the guests were. I stabbed a tomato and shoved it in my mouth, liking the burst of flavor when I pressed my tongue against the flesh.
I think I was a bit bored. Keeping to myself wasn't really in my nature and avoiding Beck didn't help either because he'd taken up permanent residence in my brain. Like...it was a perfect day to stay in bed and make love.
Rainy days invited coziness and snuggling.
Stop! It's not going to happen.
15
Mother Nature smiled on us. It was party day and the weather promised to behave. Sunny, warm, not too hot, with a touch of a sea breeze. Jessica was a queen. Everything was in place for the party and it was just last-minute jobs to check off before people began to arrive.
The hustle and bustle, and the mood of excitement increased and rubbed off on everyone. I still had a job to do, and let the upbeat mood felt great as I went about my duties. This morning, I did a walk around check of Intrepid, and lot’s of people would be aboard today. I made sure out of bounds area were locked, and hung no entry signs on the stairs leading to the crew quarters. Checked with Chef to make sure she had everything she needed, and so much more.
You could feel it in the air, and it infected me as well. I realized I was looking forward to the party. Initially, I planned to stay in the background. Observe from a distance, keep an eye on things, and make sure everything remained under control. I found Rob going over the last-minute checklist.
"Everything going good?" I asked.
He nodded. "So far so good. But you never can tell with parties like these. They can get out of control at any time."
"Did you hire security?"
