“My grandparents lived on a lake, so I’m a decent swimmer,” she says. “I can do it.”
“Okay,” I say with a firm nod. “Let’s go. Nice and calmly.”
We each take a deep breath to calm our nerves and start swimming.
Chapter Eight
Barbara
“How’s the food?” our nice waiter asks. “Is it to your enjoyment?”
I look down at my pasta with fresh jumbo shrimp and back up with a smile. “It’s delicious!”
This whole trip has been wonderful. Harold and I are celebrating our fiftieth wedding anniversary and I feel as in love as I was on our honeymoon all those years ago.
I was so surprised when he told me we were going to the Bahamas. He must have been saving money for the past five years without me knowing.
“More wine?” the waiter asks as he picks up our bottle.
“Yes, please,” Harold says with a smile.
He starts pouring it when there’s a sudden commotion in the water. The beautiful restaurant is right on the shoreline and we have the best table in the house.
“What the hell?” the waiter says with a gasp as he stares at the shapes climbing out of the darkness. He pours our white wine onto Harold’s pasta as we stare in shock at two naked people pulling themselves onto the patio. They stand up and look around with a look of panic on their faces.
It’s a young couple. They’re huffing out deep breaths and trying to cover their wet private parts as everyone on the patio stares at them in shock.
The woman with the curly blonde hair has one hand over her breasts and the other between her legs. I smack Harold whose eyes are practically popping out of his head.
But I should talk. I can’t get enough of the gorgeous man’s huge muscular body.
My mouth drops as he comes right up to our table with a killer smile on his face.
“Can you do me a favor?” he asks as he grabs the tablecloth. “Can you hold those plates up? Great. And pick up the glasses?”
The waiter is holding our plates as Harold and I pick up our wine and water glasses.
The man yanks the tablecloth off our table like a third-rate magician. The salt and pepper shakers, our cutlery, and the centerpiece crash to the floor as he turns back to the girl and wraps our tablecloth around her.
“Sorry about that,” he says with a wince. He eyes our waiter up and down and then starts untying his apron. “I just need to borrow this.”
Our waiter is standing there in shock, holding our plates as the man takes his apron off him and ties it around his own muscular body.
“Thank you,” the man says as he gives me a wink. “Enjoy your meal.”
Everyone on the patio stares at them in shock as they race out of the restaurant on bare feet, leaving wet footprints on the floor.
Now, it’s Harold’s turn to smack my arm.
Because my eyes are locked on the man’s bare ass as they flee the restaurant.
This vacation just keeps getting better!
Chapter Nine
Aubrey
“This is so humiliating,” I say as I stand on the dock, watching in horror as Eivind drives the shuttle boat toward us. Once we escaped the restaurant, we borrowed a cell phone and I called Ted and told him what happened. He turned the yacht around and now Eivind has come to pick us up.
Apparently, the boys returned and said they wanted to head down to Turks and Caicos. They thought we were onboard, so didn’t bother to let us know.
“It’s kind of funny,” Luke says with a laugh.
I look him up and down in that ridiculous green apron and giggle. “You look kind of funny.”
“At least I’m not wearing a tablecloth,” he says and we both burst out laughing.
“I can’t believe my whole staff is going to know about this.”
“Good,” he says with a firm nod. “I want them to know that you’re mine now. I want everyone on the planet to know that Aubrey Riddle is off-limits.”
“But just for this week, right?” It just kind of slips out. “I mean, come on. You have a big company to run in New York City. You’re not going to stay here for me.”
“Yes, I will.”
I smile sadly. I don’t believe him. “It’s nice to have the vacation fantasy, but that’s all it is. A fantasy. You’ll leave and go back to your regular life. Everyone always does.”
“I’m not everyone,” he says as he takes my hand.
I gasp as he drops to his knee and looks me in the eye.
“What are you doing?”
“Aubrey,” he says slowly. “Will you marry me?”
“Stop teasing me. It’s not nice.”
“I’m not teasing you. I want to marry you. I want to be like that couple whose tablecloth you’re now wearing. I want to be with you for the long haul. I want to be with you forever.”
“You’re proposing to me in an apron?”
He laughs. “It’s not perfect. Our life won’t be perfect, but if we’re together, it’s going to be pretty damn close.”
I don’t know why I say yes, but no other word comes to my mind. The truth is that no one has ever made me feel as special as Luke makes me feel. No one has ever got me so excited. Excited physically, excited mentally, and excited for the future. I want to be with him.
I want to see where this goes.
“Yes,” I say again. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He leaps up and grabs me in his arms. I laugh, feeling complete bliss as he spins me around like I’m flying.
And just like that, I’m engaged to the man of my dreams.
Chapter Ten
Luke
“Did you have fun?” I ask Gabriel as the yacht pulls into the dock back in Miami.
He’s so pale as he looks at me with bloodshot eyes. “I don’t know,” he says with a hoarse voice. “I don’t really remember a whole lot of it.”
“Thanks for inviting me,” I say as I give him a friendly slap on his back. He burps. “Really, I mean it. This has changed everything for me.”
“I’m glad,” he says as we watch Eivind and Knot throw some bumpers overboard as the land crew waves Captain Vos in. “I want your whole family at my wedding. It would mean a lot to me.”
“We’re there,” I say with a nod. “As long as I can bring my girl.”
Right on time, Aubrey walks over looking sexy as hell in a pair of white capris and her turquoise work shirt. Her curly blonde hair is loose on her shoulders and she’s got a gleam in her eye as she stands beside me.
We’ve spent the last three days in my room, having sex on the bed, in the bathtub, in the shower, and even in the walk-in closet. I keep thinking I’m going to tire her out, but she’s always game for more. She’s my kind of girl.
After the yacht picked us up in our tablecloth and apron outfits, there was no need to hide our relationship anymore. Everyone onboard knew what we were up to. They teased us a little but were cool about it.