I had all the money a twentysomething could need to start up whatever company I wanted or sail around the world for a year traveling. That didn’t do a damn thing to help me get over it, though.
His passing was sudden and unexpected. It’s something I may have come to terms with now, but I’ll never “get over it.”
I kept his handwritten note to me from the will in my pocket for years and barely touched the money. It took me a while to get back on a boat again, but I couldn’t bring myself to sail it. It’s his and he’s the one who should be sailing it. Maybe I’ll bring it down here. So many maybes are sounding off in my head recently.
“Any update on the permits?” I ask Griffin as I step down from the deck to meet him for a beer.
“Not yet.” His answer is accompanied with the pop of a bottle cap and then it clinks, the thin metal hitting a bucket to the left of Griffin’s cooler. Two meetings now have been canceled and pushed back. We just need the meeting to actually happen. Politics are frustrating the hell out of me.
“All right,” I say and it’s all I can answer, not knowing how long these things usually take. It’s the weekend, and I’m certain there isn’t a bureaucrat willing to work on the weekend when they could be out on the water. Although for a new bar and a decent beer you would think they might sign a paper or two. A huff of a laugh leaves me. “We’ll get it soon enough.”
Taking a sip, I look out to the horizon, trying to ignore the anxiousness of getting the bar up and running. I can already see Magnolia walking through the front doors, her blue eyes widening as she takes in the place.
With an asymmetric smile curling up my lips, I nod again at Griffin when he agrees, “Soon. It’ll all go through soon.”
My gaze follows the shades of pink that blend seamlessly into the early morning horizon. It’s time to set sail, as my grandfather would say. I swear, every time we went out, he’d announce it just before pulling up the anchor. That’s one memory of him I’ll always have.
“Well, good morning,” Griffin calls out behind me, bringing me back to the present. With his beer lifted in salute, I turn to see Magnolia, a slight blush in her cheeks.
The dress she’s wearing over a simple white bathing suit that hugs her curves delectably, is nearly sheer. It’s only a cover-up with a dark blue paisley design and the color matches both the flip-flops she wears and the rim of the sunglasses propped up on her head, pushing back her beautiful blond locks. Her wavy blond hair sways as she comes close to the boat on the dock.
It takes a subtle kick from Griffin to get me moving to help her board.
“Twenty footer?” Magnolia asks casually, slipping her glasses down and pushing her hair out of her face. A white straw sun hat is in her right hand with a purse in her left, but she’s quick to slip that to her elbow so she has a spare hand.
“Twenty-two,” I tell her and hold out my hand for her to take. The second her soft hand reaches mine, heat travels through me. Small sparks ignite and judging by how quick she is to board and let go, and how her bottom lip drops before a simper appears on her beautiful expression, she felt it too.
A moment passes with her glancing at my hand, avoiding my gaze, and looking past me at the sunrise. “It’s beautiful.” I almost miss her comment altogether, the wind picking up and carrying away the words.
“Look at you, Miss Southern Belle.” I hadn’t noticed Griffin standing in the cockpit. “Welcome aboard,” he says, greeting her with the charm I typically have.
Running a hand over my hair, I watch him help Magnolia down to sit across from him before eyeing me with a look that says, “What the hell, man?”
Yeah, I know. She’s got me off my game.
I don’t know what it is about her. Maybe the chase, maybe the memories of that night and the fact that the chemistry is all still there. I don’t know, but whatever it is, I need to shake it off.
Griffin’s not exactly the best when it comes to charm, so the fact that he’s one-upping me is a sign that things are bound to go wrong.
“Just to be clear, I plan on getting a little sunbathing in.” I don’t miss how Magnolia’s gaze drops to my chest, then my abs, as I prepare the boat. “If that’s all right with you,” she adds and her voice is lowered, once again her gaze refusing to meet mine.
“Me too,” Griffin says, taking his shirt off and grabbing the sunscreen.
With the two of them getting comfortable, I go through the motions and Griffin joins me, doing his part and leaving the sunscreen with Magnolia.
It’s only once we’re out, the waves lapping at the sides of the boat that Magnolia speaks up. “You weren’t kidding,” she calls out above the sounds of the ocean that surrounds us.
“What’s that?” I yell back against the wind, still manning the steering wheel. We’re not heading out far, just a bit of privacy and open air is all we want.
When she stands to make her way to me, she slips off the cover-up, tossing it on top of her clutch and hat that now sit beside the cooler in the cockpit.
“You’re pretty darn good,” she says and this time there’s no sound at all except for the sweet compliment that comes from those lips. She stands closer than she needs to, her arm brushing against mine and with a slight rock of the boat against stubborn waves, she braces herself against me, but quickly rights herself. I’m grateful for the contact, though, and the fact that she wants to be here next to me.
“Well thanks. I’m glad you came to see me in action.” I smile and try to think of something to say, something charismatic, but not a damn thing comes to me. She’s breathtaking, she’s sweet … but she already knows that. Our gaze is locked and I know she’s waiting on something else as the salty air whips by us and she leans closer to me, her fingers brushing against the wooden helm although she doesn’t try to take it over. She’s just feeling her way.
“Does everyone call you Mags?” Griffin interrupts the moment and thank God he does. I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding when she nods a yes and she and Griffin joke about something. I can’t even hear what; I’m too busy giving myself a pep talk to get my shit together.
Something about her has me tongue tied. Could be the fact that I’m hard as a rock for her and it’s a bit difficult to hide in these shorts. I think of everything and anything to rectify that situation.
Other than my lack of a brain when she’s around me, everything is easygoing. The conversation flows and I was right to think Griffin would only put Magnolia at ease.
Something’s still off, though. Every so often she looks at me from the corner of her eye and I don’t know what she’s searching for, but whatever it is, she isn’t finding it if the look on her gorgeous face is anything to go by.
“You all right?” I ask her when I catch her doing it again.
“Yeah, it’s just …”
I don’t speak up when she hesitates. I wait for her to get whatever it is off her chest. She didn’t tell me the other night whatever it was that bothered her. Might as well get it over with now that the awkwardness is gone. Well, her awkwardness. I’m obviously still working on mine.
“It looked like just from a distance, you know … like you might be having a hard morning or something?”