it if you thought there was the potential that we wouldn’t get along?”
Luna rolls her eyes. “I had to. There was no other choice… except just not to do an internship this summer. And that wasn’t acceptable to me so…” She looks at me. “Here I am.”
I just nod and make a vague sound of agreement. Her brows knit and she bites her lip. When she speaks, her voice drops to a whisper.
“Are you glad that I’m here, Gabe?”
Our eyes meet. That energy that flows and crackles between us seems to pull at us both, binding us closer together than ever. Her expression is earnest, without a trace of deception.
Am I glad? My mouth puckers a little.
“I’m honestly not sure,” I tell her. “I’m supposed to be worried about the boat, not wondering what to make of you. I’m the captain here. The boss. And you are an employee of mine…”
I let the thought trail off, unsure how I would even answer her any differently if I could.
A flicker of displeasure and hurt ripples across Luna’s face. She breaks eye contact with me. “I see.”
She straightens, moving to leave. On impulse, I reach out and snag her by the wrist before she call pull away. She looks back at me.
I look at her very seriously. “Luna. It’s not just you that would be affected if I were distracted from doing my job. You get that, right?”
Her lips pinch together. She seems disappointed with my words. “Of course, captain.”
My brows descend and I open mouth my to explain. But that’s the moment that Mal opens the door behind us with a clang.
“Hey, Gabe—" she starts. Then she sees the way that Luna tugs her wrist from my grasp. “Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt…”
Luna pulls herself up, smiling brightly at Malkia. “I was just going to head downstairs anyway. He’s all yours.”
I refuse to watch her leave as she skirts past Mal. Instead I look forward, my thoughts churning like the deep, dark ocean.
Chapter Twelve
Luna
A day into our trip, I look out over the deck, inspired by the amazing scenery all around. We sail north, mostly sticking close enough the coastline that I can make out the broad strokes if not the details.
The stark navy of the sea. The crisp white caps that appear in it occasionally, more frequent as the waves reach the rocky shores. The rugged brown soil, rising and falling with no regularity. The greenest pine trees everywhere, with the occasional brown bear or white tailed doe just visible beneath the branches.
Everything seems so saturated with color, more so than back in Seattle at least. The winds grew brisk yesterday, cutting through my clothes with ease. Today I got wise to the weather and have been wearing my parka all day.
There isn’t much for me to do just now. It’s after breakfast and the dishes have been cleared away. The clients have settled in the lounge downstairs and they were playing a rousing game of canasta the last time I checked.
“Enjoying the view?”
I turn my head and see Malkia coming upstairs, zipping her parka as she emerges onto the deck. I smile.
“Actually, yeah. I really am. I was just looking at the coastline and sort of marveling.”
Malkia nods, rubbing her hands together for warmth. “British Columbia is breathtaking. I always stare out at the ocean, though. I find it so…” She pauses for a second to think. “Enchanting, I suppose? It is soothing to just listen to the lap of the waves and watch them roll under the yacht.”
I look behind me to the open sea. “I hadn’t thought of looking out there.”
Malkia squints at the ocean. “I think there are dolphins or orcas out there right now.”
“Really?” I walk across the boat, coming to the railing. Here there is less to look at and yet more at the same time. The endless sea, turning from navy to a grayish blue closer to the horizon. The sky stretches to meet it everywhere I can see.
“There,” Malkia says, touching my shoulder and pointing. “Look.”
She points at the sea. I squint where she indicates, staring at the water. At first, I only see the ocean rising and falling.
Then I see a flash of something under the water, something sleek and gray and gleaming.
“Oh!” I say, growing excited. When I turn to look at Malkia she’s heading back down the staircase to go belowdecks.
I guess I’m going to have to be excited by myself. I stand on the deck, both hands