Lovewrecked - Karina Halle Page 0,24
glowers at me. “It’s not small. It’s a forty-two-foot Tayana.” He looks to Richard. “And I’ll sleep on the couch. I’ve had naps on it before, it’s comfortable enough.”
“Enough for a ten day voyage?” Lacey asks. “Maybe Daisy should have the couch since we’re going to need the captain operating at his best.”
Everyone is looking at me.
I shrug. “Fine, I’ll take the couch. Whatever.”
“You will not take the couch,” Tai tells me.
“So does this actually mean you’re coming?” Lacey asks.
“What about your flight home?” questions Richard.
“I guess I’ll look into changing it.”
“Air New Zealand does flights out of Fiji,” says Tai. “You’ll probably be able to fly straight home from there.”
“Good,” I say. “Then it’s settled.” I look at everyone. “Isn’t it?”
They all exchange glances, brows raised, and at that moment I can tell that I was never meant to come, that I wasn’t part of the plan.
But none of this was part of the plan, was it?
And I’m up for the challenge.
I’m not backing down.
“It’s settled then,” Lacey says, exhaling loudly. “The honeymoon is still on. Four’s company.”
Tai puts his beer down on the table. “Well if that’s that, I’m going to head down to the boat and start prepping it. If we leave tomorrow, there’s a bloody lot of things I need to get done.”
He goes back into the house and I get out of my chair, following him inside.
“Hey,” I call out as I walk over and see him grabbing a glass of water in the kitchen. “Is this going to be okay?”
He frowns at me. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…a last-minute voyage across the Pacific,” I say. “Don’t you have to spend months planning this?”
He shrugs. “As long as you have all the best equipment and the right food and a steadfast boat in capable hands, no. Not for a ten-day passage.” He gulps down the glass of water, then studies me. “I wouldn’t go if I couldn’t handle it. And to be honest, in a way I’m glad this happened. I’m sure Richard and Lacey would have been fine on their own on the other boat but…sometimes that passage can get pretty gnarly. Would hate for a storm to have caught them when Richard doesn’t have the experience.”
“What do you mean it gets gnarly? A storm?”
“It’s just an infamous passage,” he says, as if infamous is a good thing. “But this is a fair time of year to go. We’ll be fine.”
He puts the glass down and takes a few sauntering steps over to me. “At least, we’ll be fine. I’m not too sure about you.”
“What does that mean?”
“Right now you look a little ill.”
“I’m hungover.”
“Oh. I know.”
“I’m sure we’re all hungover.”
“It was a good party. I just hope you won’t be falling overboard any time soon. I don’t want to be the person to fish you out of the ocean and put you to bed, like a repeat of last night.”
“I fell in the ocean?” I ask, horrified.
You put me to bed?
The corner of his mouth ticks up. “No, but you did want to go skinny dipping really badly. I had to fight to keep my clothes on.”
“What?”
Suddenly a few images filter through my brain like dust.
Oh my god. I don’t think he’s joking. I remember my hands on his shirt, trying to undo his buttons, him laughing and prying my hands off of him.
“Shit,” I swear, pressing my hand into my forehead.
I’m blushing. Tomato Zone Three, all hands on deck.
“Hey, nothing to be embarrassed about,” he says, but there’s a mocking tone to his voice.
Oh, lord.
“I know you’ve been having a rough time,” he goes on. “That Chris guy sounded like a real wanker.”
“Oh my god, I was talking about Chris?”
“More like you were crying about Chris. Then you did some shots and passed out and I carried you to bed.”
I feel like I’m going to faint.
“Don’t worry, I was the perfect gentleman.”
“My shirt was on backwards!”
“I handed you the shirt and left the room. I don’t know what you did with it.” He walks past me to the front door, nodding his chin at the couch. “I slept there last night, and don’t worry, I’ll sleep on the couch on the boat, too. I have my manners.”
He opens the door and steps out. “You better go and start packing,” he calls out as he walks to his truck. I’m trying not to stare at his ass. “The south seas await.”
Fuck.
What the hell have I got myself into?
Six
Daisy
This was a big mistake.
I’m standing