When she was a little older and Grayson agreed to teach her how to sail, she took every opportunity to be out there with him, learning everything she could. She’d spent hours and hours shadowing her uncle, going out on guest tours with him and even sneaking in a few solo trips here and there when she could convince her uncles it would be fine. When she was eighteen and Grayson had asked her if she wanted to work with him on the boats full time, it was an easy answer. Only briefly did she feel bad that she didn’t want to follow in Miller’s culinary footsteps. But he understood that she didn’t share the same passion for food that he did, and he didn’t want anyone running his kitchen who wasn't going to treat it like it was anything other than a sacred place.
She stood by the portside railing watching the coastline of the island as they cruised along, soaking in the sun. It not only felt fantastic to be up on this deck hanging onto the railing, rather than down at the bar, but the quiet that came from it just being the two of them was relaxing in itself. She turned to look up at Kyle who was concentrating fully on driving the boat to whatever destination he had in mind. She hadn’t questioned him this morning after they got everything ready and headed out of the marina—she truly didn’t care where they ended up. She was so excited to have time to themselves without the watchful eyes of her family or even the curious gazes of their friends on them.
Weekends were a weird time at the resort. Most guests either arrived or departed on Saturday or Sunday, so there was lots of coming and going. It could be a bit of organized chaos trying to get guests out of rooms in time for them to be flipped for whoever was to occupy them next. But there was always a small contingent who was there just for the weekend, so they still ran a limited number of excursions, only adding to the logistical nightmare. Leona never failed to have some kind of story during the changeover about rooms getting mixed up or items left behind (it was a top ten list for a reason) and Drea looked forward to hearing all about it Monday. But right now all that mattered was being alone with Kyle.
She looked up at him again and her insides got all squishy. She thought about all the times she’d watched him up there piloting the boat, and all the times she’d wished that it could be just the two of them. On the occasions they did get to go out by themselves, whether it just be over to Turtle Cove or on a longer trip, how she’d dreamt of him kissing her, holding her in his arms as they felt the waves move under them. She had even let her mind wander further down the rabbit hole, picturing the two of them splayed out on the trampolines exploring each other’s bodies. It had always been a fantasy, something that was so far out of reach it was all she could do to hold on to the idea. At least until today. Today she was hoping to make some of those fantasies come true.
She walked up to the very front of the catamaran and pulled off her sundress. She was wearing the bikini that Dalton had left for her this morning, and she felt incredibly sexy. Normally something this flimsy would have made her feel so self-conscious that she wouldn’t have dreamed of wearing it alone in her cottage, much less out on the boat, but watching Kyle’s eyes darken this morning when she’d held it up for him gave her the courage to put it on and try to flaunt it for him. She couldn’t deny that the top made her breasts look fantastic, even if the tiny triangles didn’t fully cover them. One tug of the strings that tied up at the base of her neck or behind her back would have sent the top wayward, easily revealing herself. Just as the two strings on either hip would easily reveal south of the border should they meet the same fate.
Yet somehow, the idea of this happening lit a fire in her. She wanted to show off for Kyle. Wanted to feel his gaze on her and know that she lit him up the same way he did her. They had the friendship part of this whole relationship thing down—they’d been close since he agreed to come work for her uncles. But it was the “more” part of it she wanted to make sure she got right. To finally experience all those feelings she had read about, and to act on so many of her fantasies.
Folding up a towel to use as a pillow, she lay down on the trampoline and got herself comfortable. The warm sun felt so good on her exposed skin, she thought that maybe she should consider wearing a bikini to work more often—just maybe one with a little support to it. She grabbed her book, opened it up to where she had dog-eared the page, and held it up to start reading. There wasn’t anything particularly sexy about this pose, but she figured as long as he was driving, he wasn’t going to be paying much attention to her anyway.
Kyle looked down from the captain’s chair to find Drea sprawled out on the trampoline reading a book. She looked stunning just lying there, relaxed, focused on whatever was happening on those pages. She had no idea just how damn sexy she was when she was just being herself. That little itty-bitty bikini wasn’t hurting the situation either.
Kyle wasn’t sure if he wanted to smack Dalton upside the head or buy him a beer for leaving such a thing on her door. After Thursday morning in the alleyway, Dalton had helped Kyle figure out how to apologize to Drea so that she would hear him out and not tell him to go fuck off after what a jackass he’d been. He’d known exactly what Drea needed to hear and made sure that Kyle was prepped with a couple of different layers of apologies in case she wasn’t having it. Thankfully for Kyle, Drea listened the first time and he didn’t need everything his first mate had equipped him with.
He shouldn’t have been surprised that Dalton had more tricks up his sleeves other than groveling, or that he had Kyle’s back in all this. Kyle should have known better than to think that story of the blondes going au naturel on the booze cruise, and how said event left Drea feeling a little self-conscious, wouldn’t inspire him to try and play fairy godfather behind the scenes. What he didn’t quite understand was how he had obtained a string bikini so quickly, or known exactly what would fit Drea. Either way, he was incredibly grateful in this moment.
He killed the engine and let the boat slow down on its own until they were simply moving along with the water and not in any specific direction. He slowly made his way down to the deck Drea was lying on, trying to be as quiet as possible to not disturb her. She looked so relaxed, and it made him smile. After last night’s family dinner had gone a little sideways, he just wanted to make sure she was happy and not focused on all the stress that came with working for the family business. An overwhelming urge to protect her and keep her safe was growing inside him, leaving him wondering if this was how her uncles felt. The only difference was that they were the ones he wanted to stand up to in her defense, not just the outside world.
Watching her like this was almost enough to make him forget that he had a personal mission—that he was saving so that one day he could be his own boss, own his own boat, and maybe find a way to provide for her the way the three men he admired so much had all these years. He also had his mom and her medical concerns to think about. How he’d find a way to support both women, at least initially, was beyond him, but he couldn’t worry about that right now. The much more pressing concern was the next two days with the beauty before him in a red string bikini.
“Hello, beautiful,” he said in a low, husky voice, strolling over to the end of the trampoline. She put her book down and raised her arm to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked over to him.