“Really? This is a boat?” She swung her head back and forth, dark bedhead hair not moving from where it was stubbornly matted down from heavy sleep. “It’s nicer than my house, for God’s sake.”
I looked around the room again, trying to see things through her eyes. It definitely was a well-appointed vessel.
“Well, it’s a different kind of beautiful than your place, but I’m glad you like it.” I tried to infuse my words with the right amount of excitement. “Wait. You do like it, right?”
When Rio reached out far enough to clutch my fingertips with her own, my heart skipped a couple of beats. Seriously, like I was sixteen years old again. This woman—this fucking gorgeous woman—and her hold over me…
“I like it a lot,” she husked. “And thank you.” She looked down and picked nervously at the blanket. “I’m just not used to surroundings like this.”
“You’re going to love the rest of it, then, too. Do you want to get up and walk around? Might be nice to go up top and see the sunshine and ocean.” I stiffened though, worrying again about her unknown fears. The freak-out I’d witnessed in her private room at Clear Horizons would stay with me for life. I’d walk barefoot over hot coals before subjecting her to those kinds of emotions again.
“What is it?” This time she was the one to ask, tilting her head like a curious puppy. “You just got very worried about something.” She physically twitched, as though an answer balloon just popped right over her head. “Oh, Grant, this isn’t Sebastian’s boat, is it?”
She started pushing the covers down her thighs, until realizing she was only wearing one of my T-shirts, and then quickly pulled them back up.
The alarm that one thought conjured, however, never left her face. “He’s not here, is he?” Her voice rose with the same level of distress her movements had. Each word tumbled out atop the next, making it close to impossible to understand what she was asking.
“No,” I reassured her gently, but her eyes shot around the room as though she still expected my best friend to spring from one of the closets and yell Surprise!
“No.” My repetition was sterner. I dropped my voice by an octave, compelling her to re-center on me. Oh, hell yes. Just the way I liked it. Exactly the way I liked her.
I slid my hand over and placed my open palm on her blanket-covered leg. But the moment we both gazed at where our hands rested, I pulled back just as quickly as before.
You don’t get to do that, man.
I frowned. God, I wasn’t used to this kind of awkwardness. This sense of not knowing where I stood with a woman. The feeling was damned unsettling. “Sebastian doesn’t have anything to do with this,” I said with quiet reassurance. “I chartered this boat. For you. For us.”
“You did?” she asked, bewildered. After scrunching her forehead and looking around the stateroom again, she said, “But…why?”
I shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea. I don’t know, the right thing to do. Clearly you needed to get out of Los Angeles for a little while.”
I raised my gaze to meet hers head-on. Time to get really serious—and really honest. “Away from all the things that were pulling you under.”
She grinned and rubbed the top of her head, making her hair stick up like a baby bird’s new downy feathers. “Is that what you think was happening?”
“What?” I was more taken aback by her mischievous grin than her mocking tone. Unfortunately, I’d grown far too used to her sarcasm for that part to bother me. But her open amusement? That was new. And troubling.
When was I going to figure this woman out? And why did I keep trying?
Time for another tactic. “Let’s get some food in you.” I stood to get my cell phone off the table. “I’ll feel so much better if you eat something.”
“Isn’t that backwards?” she volleyed back, looking up at me with large, challenging eyes.
“For fuck’s sake, woman,” I answered in a rush of frustration. “Is it so hard to comprehend I’ve been worried about you?”
She continued her wordless glare.
“Is this what happens when you finally get some sleep? Everything becomes a damn battle?”
“I just thought it was funny. Normally people say, ‘You’ll feel better if you eat.’ But you said you’ll feel better if I eat.” She gave a careless shrug. “I don’t know, it just sounded backwards. You managed to make my eating about you.” She looked down to fiddle with the comforter that was tucked neatly around her legs.
Finally thinking a redirect was best, I said, “I’ll go get you something to eat.” I backed toward the door, thumbing over my shoulder to indicate the exit. “If you feel like a shower, there’s a fully stocked bathroom here.” I tapped on the door that led into the stateroom’s private head. “And there are some clothes that should fit you in…the…closet…”
I let my words trail off as her face twisted with discomfort. The look was stealing the damn oxygen from my lungs.
“Blaze, what is it?”
Are you cold? I’ll keep you warm. Scared? I’ll protect you. Lonely? I’ll hold you. Tell me, it’s yours. I’m yours.
“Did I have things…” She gave her head a little shake.
I waited a few beats, but she didn’t finish. “What is it? Ask me, baby,” I issued resolutely after watching her struggle with even the simplest question. “I’ll give you whatever truth I can, I promise.”
“Did I have personal things when you came for me?” She finally lifted her eyes to meet mine. “At the hospital? Or whatever that place was?” She swallowed so roughly after asking the question, I could see her throat process the entire movement from where I stood across the room.
My voice came out quieter than I expected. “I can’t be sure. If you did, they didn’t make it out with us. I just grabbed you, and we left. There wasn’t much time to think things through. I mean, with the fire, and…you…” I drifted off, leaving that subject to dangle in the all-too-quiet room. I was pretty sure neither of us was ready to have that conversation anyway. “But Reina, saint that she is, was able to bring some things for you before the boat left LA…so…” I awkwardly thumbed toward the bathroom again.
Jesus Christ, when did everything become so uncomfortable between us? I needed to get the hell out of this room, though, and breathe for a minute, so I powered through the last bit. “Why don’t you get a shower, and then we can talk more over breakfast? We have nothing but time now.”
“Uhh…okay.” She gave a little nod, and I was out the door without another word.
The two laps I took around the outside deck were exactly what I needed to get my head back in the game. Except when I got back to the stateroom about twenty minutes later, Rio was in the exact same spot in which I’d left her. The faraway look had returned to her face, and she visibly startled when I opened the door.
“That was fast,” she muttered, looking at me after a few beats.
“We’re not on a schedule. At all. If you want to sit right there in that same spot for three days, then that’s what you should do. I just need you to eat and drink and sleep. Would I love for you to go outside and see the sun while it’s up? Maybe let the fresh air blow over your skin?” I nodded soundly. “But I won’t force you to do anything.”