When Sebastian turned back to me, I glared. “There is no way in hell you will ever get me naked out here where anyone can walk by. Not all fantasies are meant to come true.”
He chuckled again. “We’ll see, but I’ll drop it for now.” He brushed a thumb against my cheek. “You still owe me another four and a half miles. You up for it?”
Just like that, a renewed confidence filled me. I looked over his shoulder again, this time toward where the ocean met the dock. A rush of adrenaline came over me from knowing I’d already overcome so much.
I nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter 24
Sebastian
Falling for Kai Ashley had never been part of my grand plan. I’d been determined to be the distraction she needed in order to overcome the memories that haunted her, but in the blink of an eye, she’d become mine.
After our run, I walked Kai back to her room so that she could get ready for rehearsals. I reached for her waist, her exposed skin still glistening from our workout. “Wait,” I told her before she stepped through the door. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
She contemplated her response. “I always eat with the crew.” After an instantaneous sinking feeling filled me, her eyes lit up. “But what about dessert?”
My smile was blooming, and I had no hope of stopping it. “If you insist.”
Her face darkened in color. “Don’t get too excited. That wasn’t a euphemism. There are frozen-yogurt machines all over the ship. We can grab some later tonight and maybe go exploring again? You know, before the passengers take over.”
“Deal.”
She closed the door, but not before I could see the smile on her face. I loved that I was the one who’d put it there.
After I dressed and made my way upstairs to the theater, Jimmy locked eyes on me and rushed forward. That’s when I noticed the phone to his ear. From his expression alone, I knew exactly who he was talking to.
“It’s Dirk. He wants to have a word. I’m going to get rehearsals started.” Jimmy handed his phone over with a roll of his eyes, and my insides instantly boiled.
“’Sup,” I said, deciding shorter was sweeter when it came to Dirk.
“Jimmy’s been giving me a rundown of rehearsals. How’s your girl doing? Kai, was it?”
My girl. If he had any idea… My insides were bubbling lava at the thought of him catching wind of what had happened this morning. No, he could never find out. Dirk would find a way to use it against me somehow.
“Why didn’t you ask your director? I just play the piano.” I prayed my nonchalance would throw him off my scent.
“Yeah, well, if you cared about this show half as much as you claim you do, then you would care about how your lead dancer was holding up.”
I glared at the wall in front of me, hoping to all hell Dirk never made it back to the ship. If he did, I couldn’t trust myself to hold it together. “When are you going to learn to stay in your lane? Jimmy and Deb have a handle on the dancers. You can trust them. I’ll focus on what I do best. The show will be fine.”
“We’ll see about that. I’ll be there in a couple of weeks, and I’ll be the judge.”
I ground my teeth together as I pinched back another retort. That was one of the reasons Dirk so easily triggered my last nerve. He just couldn’t let anything be, always feeling the need to throw his weight around and act like he had veto power over me. He had another thing coming.
“Right,” I said, ending the conversation. It wouldn’t have gone anywhere productive anytime soon. “Later.”
I tapped the phone to end the call, walked into the theater, and tossed the phone to Jimmy with a terse smile. “Ready to go?”
He let out an exasperated sigh—even he was tired of Dirk—and clapped his hands for everyone in the theater to hear. “Places, everyone. Let’s start from the top.”
My gaze met Kai’s as I crossed the stage to a staircase. The production crew appeared to have been busy earlier that morning. My piano was now on the upper platform, along with the rest of the band. From there, I could see over the front half of the stage floor and the entire theater. I had the best seat in the house.
Throughout rehearsals, as much as I tried not to, I couldn’t stop thinking about Dirk and his threats and the fact that he believed them with such conviction. It wasn’t enough for him to take half of my show and fuck my fiancée. He wanted it all, and the more I thought about it, I worried that, if he knew I had any sort of friendship with Kai, he would want her too.
Afterward, I skipped dinner, too wound up to eat, and went straight for the drinks. I plopped down on a stool in the crew bar and ordered the first thing that came to mind. The bartender placed the shot of Jäger beside the glass of Red Bull and swiped my staff card.
As I dropped the shot into the glass and downed it, I dreamed of the moment I would say goodbye to Angst and Grace once and for all. The end couldn’t come quickly enough. The new songs I’d been working on were scrambling around in my brain. Eventually, I might be able to string together an actual storyline.
Then an image of Kai dancing in the empty theater invaded my mind like a lightning storm, illuminating my muse as she drowned me with her beauty, her talent, her strength.
My heart beat faster. The spark was lit. Two drinks later, I couldn’t turn off my mind. It was working faster than I could catch up with, and I knew I had to chase it. I pushed my empty glass toward the small pile I’d started and reached over the bar to grab the bottle of Jäger. I was going to need it.
I threw down more than enough cash, gathered my sheet music, and then I tore through the hallway and down the stairs to my room.
After locking my door behind myself, I squeezed my eyes shut and took a few moments to catch my breath. With the way my fingers were yearning for a piano, I knew the adrenaline wouldn’t let up until I released it.
I uncovered my keyboard, powered it on, settled into my chair… and started to compose.
Chapter 25
Kai
My frozen yogurt was melting just in time for reality to set in.
He wasn’t coming.
I couldn’t believe I was foolish enough to believe that Sebastian Chase actually wanted to meet me for dessert. I would laugh if I wasn’t so completely disappointed in myself for letting my guard down.
After tossing my soggy cone in the trash and stopping at the restroom to wash off my sticky-sweet hands, I marched down to the third deck and pounded on Sebastian’s door. He wasn’t getting away with standing me up without an explanation.
My fist pounded dead air when the door swung open to reveal Sebastian in a pair of bright-blue boxer briefs and nothing else. I dropped my hand and punctuated my glare with small shake of my head, all while trying to mask the excitement compounding in my chest at the sight of him—all of him.
He seemed to be checking me out the same way.
“Hi, Kai,” he said with a chuckle. “That rhymes.”
My jaw dropped at the sound of his words running together. “You’re drunk.”
He peered over his shoulder toward his desk, where a large keyboard was sitting with a half-gone fifth of Jäger.