As she relaxed, she could hear Derek’s chair squeak as he moved. He must be restless, which was crazy, because how could anyone be restless while lying in the sun on the beach? But a tiny part of her felt guilty because he’d said he didn’t love the ocean. This was her thing. And she was forcing him to be outside with her. Still, the fresh air and sunlight would do him some good, right? He was never outdoors. He needed some Vitamin D.
Derek took in a breath, like he was going to say something, but then didn’t speak. Nara almost turned to look at him, but decided she was too relaxed to move. A minute later, he finally spoke.
“So, I have an awkward question, and you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to. I’m just curious.” Derek’s voice had an underlying stress which made it sound strained.
She turned and studied his face. “I’ll answer it. What is it?”
He swallowed. “Well, I was surprised when you agreed to get married because I thought you were still dating that one guy. What was his name?”
Nara groaned and closed her eyes. Why had Derek brought him up? She could have gone the rest of her lifetime without thinking about Cameron again. “You mean Fathead. That’s his name.”
Derek sucked in a breath. “Well, I think that answers my question.”
“Yeah, we broke up. And by that, I mean that he broke up with me the night before our one-year anniversary, after I had already bought surprise tickets for us to go see Hamilton. I was out a boyfriend and a buttload of money.”
“Ouch.”
Nara ran her hand through the sand, still amazed at how soft it was. “I went by myself. Cried the entire time. It was miserable.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, he did me a favor. The guy was self-absorbed.”
And now she was craving a Diet Coke like nothing else. She brushed the sand off her hand and stood. “I’m going to go in search of some sweet life-giving nectar. Did you see any soda vending machines around as we came in last night? I was too tired to look.”
“Check our room fridge. I had them stock it before we came.” Derek stood as well and draped his towel around his neck.
Nara couldn’t believe it. “You did?”
“Yeah. They asked what accommodations we’d like.”
“And you thought to mention my Diet Coke? I could kiss you right now.” Nara sprinted toward the deck. She was now officially in love with Derek Marshall. A few precious seconds later she had an ice-cold twelve-ounce bottle of her favorite drug of choice in her hands.
Derek entered the room and slid the glass door shut. She had half the bottle drained before he shut the door to the bathroom so he could change. It might have bugged her that he was giving up on the beach so quickly, but he did give it a good college try. And she appreciated that he wasn’t complaining.
Maybe being stuck with Emperor Derek wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Chapter 6
Derek gripped the railing and looked down at the ocean water, begging his stomach to settle down. He’d only been on a boat once before, and that had ended in disaster. He didn’t want to think about it. Not when he was barely holding it together. Why weren’t those motion sickness pills working? He’d taken two before they’d boarded. Had it not been long enough yet?
Nara sighed as the wind blew her hair in a way that made her look like she was a fashion model on a shoot. If he wasn’t so queasy, he would have snapped a photograph. As it was, he was too concerned about ruining her evening to enjoy anything.
“Isn’t this peaceful?” she said, her arms resting on the railing.
“Yeah.” He tried to sound upbeat. It came out more like a grunt.
She gazed out at the setting sun. “I love how the sunlight reflects off the water. This is the best, isn’t it?”
He nodded, and tried not to think about the gentle rocking of the ship, and how it was making his stomach feel. He was not going to have another horrifying experience. If he had to clamp his mouth shut the entire time, he was going to get through this without incident.
Nara glanced at him, and then did a double take. “Hey, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine,” he said through clenched teeth.
She squinted at him. “Are you seasick? Do you need anything?”
The boat lurched and he stumbled a bit, trying to regain his balance. His head began to spin. Nara grabbed his arm. “Come here. Let’s sit down.”
Derek followed her to a bench and obediently sat next to her. Nara took his hands in hers. “Is this your first time on a yacht?”
“No.”
“Really? When have you been on one before?”
Derek swallowed back the nausea. “Senior year. Prom. Took my date out to dinner. On a yacht.” Why was he talking like Yoda? There was definitely something wrong with him.
Nara squeezed his hands. “So, you knew before we boarded that you might get seasick?”
He nodded, then swallowed again. “Took some pills. Hoped that would help.”
“Sit here a second. I’ll be right back.”
Derek watched Nara rush off to go talk to someone. Maybe she was going to find more motion sickness pills. He didn’t much care, all he could do was watch her skirt swaying back and forth as she hurried, her sandals slapping on the wooden deck. Even though he was nauseous, he still thought she was beautiful.
He closed his eyes and tried to imagine he was on land, which didn’t work well because the swaying back and forth motion was too strong to imagine away. He never should have agreed to this. Why had he not just told Nara he didn’t want to do the yacht? It would have been simple. Except, she would have called him grumpy-pants or something, and he hadn’t wanted to be a downer. Well, if he threw up on her it would definitely worse than being a downer.
Nara came back on the deck with a glass of something. She hurried over and handed it to him. “Sip this. It might settle your stomach.”
He took the glass from her and put it to his lips. It tasted like ginger ale. “Thanks.”
“They’re turning the boat around. We’ll be back in just a few minutes.”
Derek sat up straight. “Wait, what? You won’t get your sunset meal.”
Nara frowned at him. “You’re miserable. Why would I want to stay on here while you’re feeling like this? Let’s just go find a place to eat somewhere on the island.”
“But I’ve ruined your evening.”
“Stop that. You have not. I’m fine.” She brushed her hair over her shoulder. “This is a vacation for both of us. We shouldn’t be doing just what I want to do. What are you hungry for?”
The yacht shifted and he clamped his mouth shut, gripping the glass of ginger ale like it was a lifesaver. His knuckles turned white.
“Never mind. You probably don’t want to be thinking about food right now. You’re kind of green. Let’s talk about something else.” Nara tapped the bench seat as she thought. “I know. Let’s talk about your favorite subject. Work.”
He gave her a weird look. “Work?”
“Yeah. That’s what you like most, right? Working at the company?”