left. There wasn’t much time to think things through. I mean, with the fire, and…you…” I drifted off, leaving that subject to dangle in the all-too-quiet room. I was pretty sure neither of us was ready to have that conversation anyway. “But Reina, saint that she is, was able to bring some things for you before the boat left LA…so…” I awkwardly thumbed toward the bathroom again.
Jesus Christ, when did everything become so uncomfortable between us? I needed to get the hell out of this room, though, and breathe for a minute, so I powered through the last bit. “Why don’t you get a shower, and then we can talk more over breakfast? We have nothing but time now.”
“Uhh…okay.” She gave a little nod, and I was out the door without another word.
The two laps I took around the outside deck were exactly what I needed to get my head back in the game. Except when I got back to the stateroom about twenty minutes later, Rio was in the exact same spot in which I’d left her. The faraway look had returned to her face, and she visibly startled when I opened the door.
“That was fast,” she muttered, looking at me after a few beats.
“We’re not on a schedule. At all. If you want to sit right there in that same spot for three days, then that’s what you should do. I just need you to eat and drink and sleep. Would I love for you to go outside and see the sun while it’s up? Maybe let the fresh air blow over your skin?” I nodded soundly. “But I won’t force you to do anything.”
While I spoke, she kept staring at me with her wide chocolate eyes. They were always so much darker while we were indoors, I noticed. Outside, especially in the SoCal weather, her irises picked up the golden flecks of the sun, and her big baby doll expressions lit up more like liquid amber then. But in either setting, in any place, noticing things about her—noticing everything about her—had become my favorite pastime. Since meeting her, my world had become a brighter, bolder adventure. Even now.
Suddenly, she kicked back the covers. Before I could figure out what she was doing, she shot up from the bed. Immediately, she swayed on her feet. “Whoa,” she groaned and plopped back down on the mattress. “Oh, holy shit. Stop the world. I want to get off.” She squeezed her eyes shut while a low moan escaped her lips and then gripped both sides of her head as if she could steady the spinning from holding on to the outside.
“Maybe you should get some food in you first and shower after?” I offered, already feeling pathetically helpless again. “I have no idea when you ate last. They should be almost done with setting up breakfast right now.” Though my phrasing was suggestive and open, no way I was letting her slide on getting some nutrition. Her bout of dizziness had sealed the deal on my determination.
“Grant.”
Her tone was impatient, but two could play at that imperious-and-not-budging game. “Yes?”
We both just stared at one another. This woman and her feisty will made my balls ache in a way they shouldn’t, but some things would never change, I guessed.
And did I really want them to?
Finally realizing she wasn’t going to win this standoff, she let her hands flop to her sides on the mattress. “Look.” She sighed. “You don’t have to wait on me like this.”
“No waiting going on here,” I defended evenly. “All I’m doing is just seeing to your well-being. And now you can’t even argue that you’re not hungry. You’re going to pass out soon if you don’t eat something. Now come on.” I held my arm out like a gentlemanly escort. “I’ll make sure you don’t faceplant along the way.”
She ducked in front of the oval mirror that hung above the dresser. “But I can’t go anywhere looking like this.” She winced while finger-combing her bangs into some sort of order.
“There’s no one on the entire boat but the crew and us. But you won’t even see them unless you want to. They’ve all been specifically instructed and well paid to ensure it. Come.” I motioned again with my outstretched arm.
“Don’t call to me like I’m your pet.”
A growl of frustration slipped out, and I wasn’t sure I regretted it. “Stop trying to pick a fight at every turn. You need nourishment. Your attitude is atrocious. And