“Oh, are we taking bets, because I’m totally in if we are,” Leona piped up.
“We only bet on Tuesdays,” Vaughn said sternly.
“Spoilsport,” Simone said, taking another swig of coffee as she stood up. “But I’m late, so I will see you all tonight for Friday night dinner.”
“We’re having your favorite roast beef tonight, Kyle, so why don’t you join us?” Miller said.
Kyle looked at Drea, unsure of how to answer. Friday night dinner was a big deal with the Quinlans. While most of the other family meals were a come-and-go deal and really open to anyone who happened to be hanging around at the time, Friday night dinner was by invite only.
“He’s making your favorite, you can’t say no,” she said, looking Kyle in the eye, a little twinkle in them saying more than she could out loud.
“Say no more! It’s a date.”
Chapter Fifteen
Drea stood behind the bar singing out loud to her playlist, mixing up the rum punch, and debating whether or not she should make it strong enough to drown a rhino. She poured in a good portion of the handle of rum before stopping herself; she didn’t want to have to deal with a man overboard situation.
She didn’t particularly like booze cruises. Even with the smaller crowd she always felt overwhelmingly outnumbered. There was rarely any activity other than hanging out on the boat and drinking, so she was generally locked behind the bar furiously mixing up some kind of drink, which at least gave her a barrier from hands that she was sure would have liked to wander if given the chance.
The type of guests who usually signed up for them tended to be demanding and snobbish when sober, often turning downright mean when drunk. None of them generally stopped to learn that she was part of the family that was in charge of the “family-owned-and-operated” resort they were so fond of. Dalton was much better at managing the booze cruisers than she was. That damn smile of his could melt the panties off a corpse.
“Why are you so tense?” Kyle said, coming up behind her. His hands went to her shoulders and he started to massage her tense muscles.
“I’m not. I just hate booze cruises.”
“Well, all we have to do is get through a few hours today and then, the next two days is just us.”
She sighed, leaning back into him as he continued to knead her muscles. His hands felt so good on her body, it didn’t seem to matter where they were.
“Two whole days to do whatever we want on this boat,” he said quietly, leaning down so his head was right next to hers.
Drea exhaled loudly, feeling a chill run through her at his sexy words. Good Lord, that man knew what to say to her. “And just what kind of things are you imagining here, sir?”
“Sweetness, if you only knew the things I have thought about doing to you on the trampoline, up in the captain’s chair, and on this very bar.”
“Hey kids!” Vaughn’s voice called out before Drea even had time to fully react to all the things Kyle’s words were making her feel. She looked up to see him and Grayson jumping on the boat, feeling Kyle pull away quickly. She felt the loss of his presence way down deep, and she hated it.
“What’s up, guys?” Drea asked, returning to the drink mixers on the bar.
“Just out taking a walk, thought we’d say hi,” Vaughn answered.
“We just had breakfast together a couple of hours ago, but hi!” she responded, a little confused.
“You can’t lie worth shit, Vaughn, ‘fess up. We wanted to make sure you were really okay taking the booze cruise out. I know how much you hate them. I can go with Kyle if you prefer,” Grayson said, coming around to stand across the bar from her.
She froze. As much as she disliked this part of the job, she didn’t want to be away from Kyle. She wanted to hear the rest of what he was saying before her uncles showed up.
“No, it’s fine. It’s just one of those weeks where you’re really ready for the guests to change over. I know you both know how that goes.”
Her uncles laughed. They knew exactly how she was feeling in that sense. The beauty of the resort was that no two weeks were alike. Certainly there was the bonfire on Tuesday and nightclub night on Fridays, and certain meals that only showed up on certain evenings, but week in and week out the feel of the resort changed with the waves of guests who came and went. Some weeks you never wanted the guests to leave and others, you’d pack their bags for them if it meant they were gone faster.
“I know you’ll be glad when that meathead is gone,” Grayson said.
“Oh shit, he’s gonna be back on here again today,” Kyle grumbled.
“Yup, both Brig and Staci with an i,” Drea said, forcing an overly large fake smile and a thumbs-up.
“Don’t toss him overboard,” Grayson commented, pointing at Kyle with a sarcastic smirk.
“If he hits on Drea again, I make no promises, sir.”
“Hits on Drea again? How many times has he hit on you? Does he need to be uninvited?” Vaughn cut in.
“No, Uncle Vaughn, it’s fine. Besides, I’m pretty sure Uncle Gray put the fear of God in him the other day.”
“Good man,” Vaughn said, holding out a fist for Grayson. The brothers bumped knuckles and nodded at each other solemnly.
Her uncles stayed a few more minutes, chatting with Kyle about some logistical things concerning the boat and upcoming schedules. She loved watching him in his element, taking control and ownership of the vessel even though most of those concerns should fall to Grayson. He knew his stuff when it came to the boats and sailing, but it was the business side of things that always managed to surprise her. It shouldn’t—he’d been a business major in college and had always talked about one day being his own boss—but seeing that side come through still made her feel all warm and fuzzy.
When her uncles finally made their exit, Drea was more than relieved to see them go. It wouldn’t be long before everyone arrived for them to set sail and she wanted some time alone with Kyle.
“Hey,” he said, coming up and leaning against the bar next to her. She grabbed the rag that was sitting near the sink and started to wipe down the counters, trying to keep her hands busy.
“Hey back.”
“This family dinner invite, you think it’s really because he’s making roast beef?”
“Yes,” she answered, confused.
“Well, he brought it up after the whole ‘you’re going away together?’ thing and after yesterday morning, I just wanted to make sure.”
“What does yesterday morning have to do with anything?”
“Well, after my little…”
“Tantrum?”
“I was going to say freak-out, but okay, after my little tantrum, I ended up in the kitchen. And he was there and kinda went all Yoda on me asking if it was about a girl. And I didn’t get into specifics, but I told him yes, and so now I wonder if he’s on to us.”
“Would it be so bad if he was? I mean, I’m not trying to put the cart and horse in the wrong order here or anything and presume…” she started to ramble.
“Presume? I think we’re past presuming, sweetness,” he said, turning so his right hip rested against the bar, reaching out and pulling her close. He kissed her temple. “You’re mine, and I’m yours. If you want to label that, great, if not, that’s fine too. But after last night, we are most certainly a thing.”