He had a huge muscular body with a wide tall frame, which probably meant he played football in high school and maybe even in college, which also means he’s probably taken a lot of hard hits to the head, which probably explains the brain injury.
The small radio strapped to my shoulder clicks on, jerking me out of my daze. “Aubrey,” the bartender Julie says. “I’m taking my break. So are Eivind and Knut.”
I quickly click on the radio. “No. Not until I check the bar. Julie? Julie!”
She’s gone. Damn it.
I rush over to the pool area and feel my blood starting to boil when I see that it’s still a mess. There are clothes and bottles everywhere.
“Julie!” I say into the radio again. “Julie get back to the bar!”
“She went into her room with the Norwegians,” Mila answers through the radio. “They’re not coming out for a while.”
I grunt in frustration as I walk over to the pool and grab the bottle of Jägermeister that’s floating on the water.
I don’t know what’s going on with those three, but they have some kind of weird sex pact or something. Eivind and Knut seem to have no problem sharing their girl.
I could never be in a relationship like that. I’d want my man and that’s it. I wouldn’t want to share my heart, or his, with anyone else.
“Gross,” I whisper to myself when I see the sticky bar. I place the glasses and some bottles in the sink before heading over to the couches to clean up the clothes. There’s a bikini top, some plastic beads, a couple of shirts, and a pair of swim trunks that I pick up with a fork.
When the area is looking good enough to leave until Julie comes back from her Norwegian sex party, I grab a sponge and get to work on the scuffed-up floor.
I’m so focused on scrubbing that I don’t notice the man’s presence until he’s standing in front of me.
I look up and see the guy from before. He’s looking better than ever in beige pants and a dark navy collared shirt with the long sleeves rolled up his thick forearms. His dirty blonde hair is styled to the side and he’s got a smile on his handsome face that brings tingles to my skin.
“What are you doing?” he asks in a deep voice that’s like a shot of brandy to my ears.
“Cleaning up stripper tracks,” I say as I turn back to the scuff marks and try to rub them off. This teak floor costs more than most people make in their lifetime and these girls never seem to give a shit.
He walks to the bar and looks over it.
“My bartender is coming back in a few minutes if you guys are already starting round two of your frat party,” I say, my voice thick with annoyance.
He just ignores me and walks around it.
“You can’t just—”
My words stop in my throat when I see him walking back out with another sponge.
“Oh,” I say as he gets down on his knees in front of me and starts scrubbing out a stripper footprint. “You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
“It costs one point two million dollars to rent this yacht for four days. You really don’t have to clean it.”
He looks at me with a devastating smile. “I know, but I want to help you.”
I quickly drop my eyes to the floor so he doesn’t see me blushing.
“Thank you,” I whisper, barely loud enough for him to hear.
“It’s true what I said before,” he says after a long moment. “I just met these guys. Really. My brothers and I handle the groom’s investments and they invited me down as a thank you. I couldn’t say no to a client.”
He gets out the mark he’s working on and starts working on the next one. With those big strong arms, he’s a lot faster than I am.
“You handle his investments?” I ask as I look around at our extravagant surroundings. “You must be really good at your job.”
He laughs and the sound makes my heart swell in my chest.
“Pretty good, I guess,” he says with a shrug of those round shoulders. “But I’m stuck in the city all the time. It’s nothing like this. You have quite the office.”
I motion to the barstool with the lime green bikini top hanging over it. “Yup. Quite the office…”
He laughs again then smiles at me. I can feel my cheeks getting hot, but this time I hold his gaze and smile back.
My radio clicks on, making both of us jump. “Aubrey,” Captain Vos says. “I need you to take the wheel for a bit. A situation with the wife.”
“Oh, God,” I moan as I roll my eyes.
My new friend tilts his head. “What is it? Everything okay?”
“Yeah, he just always thinks his wife is cheating on him. He’s crazy. Everyone on this ship is crazy.”
“Except us,” he says with a smile.
I look at him for a long moment as my smile builds. “I know I’m not. However, it waits to be seen about you.”
I click my radio on and speak into my shoulder. “Coming up.
“It was nice to meet you…”
“Luke,” he says. “Luke Cline.”
“I’ll see you at dinner.” I get up and leave with a polite smile, but he follows me. “Can I help you?” I ask with a grin as I turn around to face him.
“I don’t want to leave the only sane person,” he says as he runs a hand through his blond hair, messing it up. Somehow, it looks even better. “I’m staying with you.”
“You can walk me to the bridge,” I tell him as I turn and start walking with him on my heels. “But no guests are allowed inside.”
“We’ll see about that.”
We walk up the stairs and I can feel his eyes on my ass. I don’t mind though. I kind of like this guy.
Julie, Eivind, and Knot step out of Julie’s room as we pass. “Oh, just in time,” I say as we stop in front of them. All three of them look guilty. “Julie, don’t ever leave your bar like that again. And you two…” I shove my sponge into Eivind’s chest and then grab Luke’s and shove it into Knot’s chest. “Go make that deck spotless. If I see one scuff mark, I’m going to transfer you into the kitchen with Santiago.”
Both of their eyes widen in panic. They’re terrified of the chef. They wandered in for a snack on their first day and Santiago almost sliced an ear off.
“Yes, Chief,” they both say and then hurry off to get it done. When those two aren’t distracting my bartender, they’re good workers and fun to be around.
Luke follows me all the way to the bridge like a lost puppy. “You can’t come in here,” I tell him when I reach the door.
“I don’t want to leave your side,” he says with an earnest look in his eyes that shocks me.
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” he whispers. “But I don’t. Ever.”
“Okay,” I say with a laugh as I open the door. “Go back to your party and save the cheesy pick-up lines for the tourists in Nassau. We’ll be there soon enough.”
I close the door in his face, but he lingers on the deck, watching me through the window as I take over for Ted.
“Look at this text,” he says with a panicked edge to his voice as he shoves his phone in my face. I lean back and take it from his clenched fingers.