down on one of the white leather cushions nearest to her.
“No, she’ll stay docked all weekend, I just thought it would be a new experience. We can find a hotel if you prefer?” He saw a member of the crew coming up towards them and nodded.
“I can tell you, madam, that we offer some of the most luxurious services you’ll find in Miami. Anything you can find in a hotel you’ll find on the Platinum Fantasy.” The young woman with blond hair and tanned skin smiled pleasantly over at Marie.
Marie recognized the name of the boat from the script in silver on the dark blue hull of the multi-story yacht. Marie knew next to nothing about yachts but she had sense enough to know that this was a yacht that most people would never even know existed, much less ever step foot on.
“Let me show you around, then you can decide?” the young woman, with a name tag that had Tiffany written on it, added as Marie looked around.
“Oh, it’s not that I don’t want to stay on it, I’m just so… astonished.” Marie knew it sounded unsophisticated but didn’t care. It was the truth.
“Come on, let’s look around.”
Marie followed and saw that there were many other people onboard, quietly in the shadows working to keep everything on the yacht in order. Marie saw the stateroom they’d stay in, a large room with a double bed, television, and its own bathroom. There were quite a few decks, one with a bar and an attendant. There was a pool on another deck, along with a hot tub that caught Marie’s eye. She’d never been in one and wanted to try it. They could order food from the kitchen below from anywhere on the boat and Marie realized they didn’t have to leave it for anything. It really was a city on the water.
“We could just live on this boat forever, Matteo,” she said once they were alone in their room. She sighed happily and looked over at him. “I need a bathing suit, maybe even a bikini.”
She grinned at him happily with a naughty tilt to her lips.
“That we can arrange, just find one online and I’ll have someone go and get it for you.” He sprawled out on the bed and gave his own sigh of happiness. “I’ll need a few things too, and later we’ll go out for dinner.”
“Oh, but we could just stay here…” Marie sighed out as she came to lie beside him. “It’s so fascinating.”
“The food will be worth taking a step away from the yacht for a while.”
“It better be.” She took his hand in hers and looked over at him. “Thank you. I was going stir crazy back home. You really have to find something for me to do.”
“But I don’t want you to work, you don’t have to.”
“Oh,” Marie responded softly. “But I’m used to staying busy, Matteo. This is really hard for me you know? Not doing anything all day.”
“Do you want to be a Mafia Queen or something?” He looked over at her with a grin. “What could you do? What skills do you have?”
She was a little miffed at him for dismissing her, but she forgot about it as she turned over towards him. “I have one skill that you can’t live without.”
Her hand slid down between his pants and his skin. His eyes went wide and a smile stretched over his face.
“Oh yes, you do have some very good skills that I very much adore.” He pushed his zipper down and opened his belt to give her easier access to the parts of him that she was most focused on.
With a whisper of a groan Matteo lifted his lips to hers as she began to stir them both into a passion that was never far away. She wanted to tell him about how much she loved him but kept it to herself. That was for another time, someday in the future.
A wave of dizziness made her skin go cold and she gripped at him. She felt as if she might fall out of the bed, but when she held onto him, she steadied again. Maybe it was just seasickness, she thought and took a deep breath. His lips brushed against hers and Marie forgot about the moment, too caught up in her husband to let the moment be ruined.
18
A few weeks later Marie put her laptop down and leaned back in her chair. She was at the kitchen table