“Can’t believe you’re still sleeping, but sorry I woke you. It’s five in the afternoon here.”
“It’s Saturday,” she grumbled. “And I got trampled by Moscow Mules last night.”
“Nothing that a bit of Polish water and tomato juice won’t cure.” I grinned, thinking of Meredith’s drive for the perfect Bloody Mary. “Hope you picked up some more Tabasco. You were out last time I checked.”
“Yes, goober. Life doesn’t just stop when you’re not here.”
I laughed. “Oh, I thought I was indispensable. Hey, on the subject, I saw an Instagram post from Skull Creek boathouse in Hilton Head that had a whole spicy deep-fried soft-shell crab perched on a Bloody Mary. You need a road trip. It’s only two hours away.”
“I’m not driving two hours for a Bloody Mary,” she griped.
I lay back on the bed and swiveled so I could have my feet up the cabin wall. “I’d drive you two hours for a perfect Bloody Mary. I love you that much.”
“You would. If you had a driver’s license. Gah. I miss your face.”
“Me too.”
“So … how’s it going?” she asked.
My bottom lip was getting bruised by the amount of time I spent gnawing on it. “It’s fine. Xav—Mister P is on and off the boat, so often it’s just me and Dauphine. And the crew, of course.” I paused with everything I wanted to say weighing down my tongue to silence. “But it’s fine. Good.”
“What’s the kid like?”
“She’s … she’s great.”
“A hellion?”
“No, actually. Not at all. No more than a normal kid who’s lost a parent and desperately needs attention from her remaining one.”
“Ah. So, a pretty good fit for you then, huh?”
I quickly got up and closed my cabin door for the sake of privacy, and then opened the small porthole window in order to be able to breathe. “You could say that.” I wanted to add a caveat that it would be far better if I wasn’t cripplingly attracted to her father.
“Just keep your head down. And your pants up,” she added as if she’d just heard my thoughts aloud.
“Hey!” I lay back down on the bed, a smile on my face at being able to catch up with one of my best friends, bantering as if we weren’t thousands of miles away from each other. I wanted to talk to Tabitha too but worried she’d notice the elephant-sized crush in the room.
“I know, I know. Just, oh my God,” she whined. “I’ve been Googling the shit out of him. Hoping I’ll catch a glimpse of you. Oh, and I think I did. Did you all go to a beach restaurant a few days ago?”
A shiver of dread snaked through me. “Um, yes. How—”
“You were snapped in a paparazzi pic. I have no idea what they were saying, and before you freak, they had no idea who you were because your name was nowhere.”
“Oh my God. Was it just one picture?” I thought about our afternoon swimming.
“Yeah. I’ll send it to you. Damn that man is a smokestack. How do you not drool all day long?”
I giggled in spite of myself. “I do. It’s a real problem,” I admitted, then cringed. “Like, Mer, a seriously, serious problem. And I think he pretty much knows it too.”
“Shit. Really?” She laughed. “You always had a bad poker face.”
I covered my eyes with my free hand and lowered my voice. “I know. But it’s not just his looks, I am so drawn to him, and he does these nice things for people,” I added lamely when I couldn’t think how to describe the things I knew. “It’s hard to describe.” And he also just acted like an asshole to you, I reminded myself. “But he’s also complicated,” I added.
There was a short pause. “Tabs is so relieved this worked out,” Meredith said in a tone pregnant with unsaid warnings.
My belly felt sludgy with guilt, even though I’d done nothing wrong. “Anyway, apart from at the beach club, he’s avoiding me. I think. Or I’m avoiding him. I don’t know. Maybe both. But it’s a feat when you’re on a boat, I’ll tell you.” But then that strange touch in Dauphine’s room. What if it really was accidental? It probably was.
“I do give you credit, you know I do. But if he’s avoiding you too, then have you entertained the fact the feeling might be mutual? Maybe it’s making him uncomfortable.”
Despite the fact I was lying down, my insides seemed to drop away. “Ugh,” I moaned