“If it’s the partnership you want to let go of, then why not just sign over the show to me? That sounds like a win-win.”
I barked out a laugh. “A win-win? You get my musical, and I get nothing?”
Dirk cut me a look. “Wrong. You get to walk away, which is all you’ve been asking for.”
I gritted my teeth. “You’re not getting my show.”
“Then pay me to walk away.” Dirk raised his hands. “And then it’s a done deal.”
I fought an eye roll as flames licked the walls of my chest. “I don’t have that kind of money, and you know it. Next option.”
“Well,” Dirk started. “You could let me pitch the show to other cruise lines to maximize our profit with the Athena cruise-ship fleet. Once I make my money back, Angst and Grace is all yours.”
I swallowed, knowing that so far, the last option was the only viable one. “What would happen to Kai?”
“I have no intention of letting her go.”
“Bullshit. You brought Claudette here to replace her.”
He shrugged. “I have my reasons for bringing Claudette along. But after what I saw tonight, Kai can stay right here and perform with you. I just want my money.”
I stood, hating that I was even considering anything he had to say. “And if I don’t agree to any of the options? Then we stay on the path we’re on now? Seems that’s in my best interest. Our partnership ends at the end of the cruise season, and I maintain the music rights.”
Dirk nodded. “You could. But then Claudette stays, and I can promise you she won’t remain an understudy for long. You remember how persuasive she can be.”
“I think the word you meant to use was manipulative. Which is why I’m going to call your bluff and stay on our current path. I made the mistake of underestimating Kai before, and I will never do it again.” I narrowed my eyes. “You shouldn’t either.”
Chapter 37
Kai
My gaze caught on the bright-blue sky overhead before I blinked and faced the small tender boat at the entrance to the ship. Just the sight of it had my stomach tied up in knots. We were standing on the lower dock, where a metal plank connected the two vessels, awaiting our turn to disembark with a crowd of passengers.
“Am I really about to do this?”
Sebastian chuckled and moved his arms around my waist. “Yes, and you’ll be fine.”
We planned to spend the day with my friends on Solstice Island, a private beach in the Bahamas owned by the Athena Cruise Line. Wayne, Shane, Lex, and Theo were already over there. But in order for us to get to the small island, we had to take a tender boat from where the ship was anchored.
The weather was beautiful: the skies clear, the water calm. But that wasn’t enough to drown out the fact that I was truly about to test my limits. I’d managed to get through dancing on a rocking stage during the previous night’s performance. But this was different. This was me about to get on a boat the size of my father’s sailboat and cruise half a mile to a small dock. I started to tremble.
Sebastian held my face in his palms and kissed my lips. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “I want to go have fun with everyone. I can do this. I want to do this. Just… give me a second.”
“Take all the time you need.”
As tenders loaded and unloaded passengers who were transferring to and from the island, I watched each trip, feeling braver as time went on. When I finally told Sebastian I was ready, he helped me over the metal plank, found us a seat near the back of the boat, and wrapped me in his arms. He held me the entire ride.
We were about halfway to the beach when I dared a glance at the water we’d been bobbing through, and my heart’s pulsation rose up into my throat. Then a laugh came rattling up straight from somewhere deep in my gut. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I said through my laughter.
“I can,” he said with a smile, his eyes as bright and blue as the Pacific. “You can do anything, Kai.”
Could I? I still wasn’t sure about that, but I felt myself growing stronger by the day. Every little challenge was returned with a reward in the form of courage.
I couldn’t help but compare the way we were gliding over the water with the way I used to travel as a child. Everything felt so different, yet the similarities had adrenaline shooting through my body. My father had always referred to the waves as the heartbeat of the ocean, its speed changing due to the impacts of nature. And just like that, what had once been my biggest fear became one of my greatest memories.
Challenging myself like this, being one with the ocean again—maybe I could even fall in love with that again too.
I stepped onto the dock of the island, and everything that had bundled up into a tight ball in my chest—grief, excitement, anxiety—unraveled like a fishing rod being cast into the sea. Tension fell away, and my chest felt like it would explode with happiness.
“You did it,” Sebastian said in my ear.
I blinked up at him, beaming with a smile. “I did it.”
“I’m so proud of you.”
We made our way down the beach to a blue cabana my friends had rented. The private beachfront area was set off from the cruise crowd. Wayne was picking at a tray of food on the round plastic table beside the refrigerator. Music was playing, bodies swaying, buckets of beers and umbrella drinks being served, and we were welcomed with a loud cheer.
“Beers are cold!” Shane shouted as he danced with Lex.
Theo was perched in a lounge chair with his shades on and the sun soaking into his already-bronzed skin. A book was in his hand, and I had to squint to confirm that he was reading what I thought he was.
“Um, Theo?”
He turned his head slowly, his eyes glued to the words on the page until they finally snapped to me. “Huh?”
I pointed at the book in his hands, Breaker, by Harloe Rae. “Are you reading a romance novel?”
He looked back at the page he was on like he didn’t understand my question. “It’s Lex’s, but it’s damn good. Have you read it?”
I coughed out a laugh. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s my signed copy I lent to Lex.”
Lex sat down beside Theo with an apologetic cringe. “Sorry. Theo’s on this kick lately. Every time he sees me addicted to a book, he has to read it. He swears it makes him romantic.”
I chuckled and looked up at Sebastian, who shook his head at me. “Oh no. You won’t catch me reading your books, Kai. Your bookshelf is safe from me.”
“Really? So Pour Judgment just happened to fall off my shelf and land in your hands before I caught you passed out on my bed?”
His eyes widened. “Shit. I forgot about that. I was curious!”
Theo barked out a laugh. “See. Men read romance too.” He leaned over to peer at Sebastian. “You should try Coming Up Roses by L.K. Farlow. Talk about a badass heroine.”
“Amen,” Shane and Wayne called from the kitchen while laughter exploded from the rest of us.
And just like that, I’d completely forgotten about the trauma of getting over here on that little boat, and I enjoined the day with my friends.