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I keep forgetting he’s here. Partly because I’m focused on Sadie, and partly because he’s barely spoken a word at dinner. So long as he doesn’t cause issues or hit on Sadie, I don’t mind him being here.Or mind him getting drunk, I think as he drains his glass.
“To Benjy!” Jasmine adds. “Always up for a good time”—I don’t miss the way Sadie tenses at this—“and helping a damsel in distress.”
“Sometimes two damsels at once,” Ana says, shooting me a decidedly evil smile.
Sheesh. Really laying the lies and implications on thick there, ladies.
But Sadie may actually believe their very untrue insinuations, which are clearly intended to upset her. Based on the way she pulls her foot from mine and won’t look at me, it’s working.
I stand, raising my own glass. “No need to thank me for coming to your assistance,” I start. “It’s what any decent manwould do for anyone in need of help.” Placing a hand on Sadie’s shoulder despite the way she stiffens, I gently brush her bare skin with my thumb, silently begging her to hear me. “And definitely no need to give me credit for things I have absolutelyneverdone norwantto do.”
Sadie looks up at me then, eyes searching, and I give her a slight nod. Relief is palpable in the way her shoulders drop.
I raise my glass to my lips, eyes still on Sadie’s. “Here’s to old acquaintances, leaving the past behind, and fresh beginnings,” I say.
We all lift our glasses then, even Philip with his empty one, and I don’t miss Sadie’s soft smile, just for me.
An hour later,dinner has ended and everyone has gone their separate ways. Including Sadie, who, after giving me a wink, linked arms and left with Riley to go look at the stars.
Okay, then. Guess I am not as alluring as I thought. Or maybe Sadie’s just giving me a taste of my own medicine.
Should I be surprised? Nope. I can’t say I’m even that disappointed. I mean, yes—I’d like Sadie to be out here on my balcony with me, preferably in my arms, but I appreciate that she is a woman who will never make things easy.
And as a man who’s had a lot of easy things, I appreciate this quality more than I can perhaps articulate.
Just in case, I left my door cracked and the balcony slider open as well. Call me an optimist, though I’m really,reallyhoping Ana or Jasmine don’t take advantage of my open doors.
I’ve always loved this balcony, which is private and spacious and has its own small hot tub. Really, I love this whole boat, something I’m loath to admit considering how over-the-top it is.Beyond the money and the expense to maintain and keep up, it guzzles gas and requires a full crew to run it.
Oakley is home, and I don’t see that ever changing, but I don’t like feeling constrained. Trapped. Static. The boat gives me the sense of movement my inner restlessness sometimes needs. And out here, with the stars pin-pricking the deep velvet sky, I’m always filled with a sense of calm. A surety of my place in this world, of my purpose, that I don’t feel anywhere else.
Would Sadie ever want to live on Oakley? I know she relocated from DC to Atlanta this year—is she a city girl at heart? Would life on the island be too small, too static for her? Would the yacht be enough to give her what Oakley lacks?
“There you are.”
Sadie’s voice startles me. I may have left all the doors open as an invitation, but I wasn’t sure she’d really take it. I stand, my chair making an inglorious screech across the decking as I turn to face her.
With her arms crossed over her chest, feet bare and eyes flashing, she looks furious and beautiful.Mykind of beauty—the kind with a wild edge.
“Hey.” I slide my hands in my pockets, feigning a cool I don’t feel as my heart hammers in my chest. “Are you?—”
I don’t get to finish because Sadie steps forward, places both hands on my chest, and shoves me.
She’s surprisingly strong, sending me back against the rails. I’m grateful they’re sturdy. Going overboard at night has never been on my bucket list. I laugh, stretching my arms wide on the balcony rail, as though I meant to be here, leaning casually as I watch to see what she’ll do next.
“You are the absolute worst,” Sadie says, stepping closer. We’re toe to toe, her face tilted up toward mine and her spicy vanilla scent invading my space.
“You’ll have to be specific,” I say, smiling lazily, the opposite of how my heart feels. It’s gone from hammering to sprinting. “The worst at what?”
She leans closer. “Everything.”
“Hm. Would you mind giving me an example? Whenever I receive feedback about my performance or character, I like to have tangible things I can improve on.”
Sadie’s eyes narrow. “You know exactly what you’ve been doing.”
I shrug. “Enlighten me.”
“First of all, you?—”
