Chapter 4
Theo was still kicking his ass the next morning as he strode out onto the main deck aft where the crew were seated enjoying their breakfast. They had their own dining area below deck but Theo was more than happy for his live-in staff to have full run of the boat when no guests were on board, which meant he usually ate with them too.
Not yesterday though. He’d eaten his lunch in the wheelhouse and gone into Hydra to dine at a taverna for his evening meal, trying to forget the fact that he’d been goaded into letting the goddamn devil herself stay on board.
He’d called Ari as soon as he was clear of the Nerida . His brother was apparently surprised by the news too but also utterly delighted, laughing his ass off.
Malakas .
‘This is perfect,’ Ari had said between peals of laughter.
‘You’ve had your tongue hanging out for her the moment you laid eyes on her in that blue bridesmaid’s dress.
And then you slept with her even though I warned you not to.
You know what this is?’ His brother had laughed again.
‘This is karma. Because there’s no way you’ll be able to resist Tiff walking around the boat, especially after two months of celibacy, and then you lose. ’
And that, along with Tiffany questioning his self-control, had made him even more determined to stay the course. Even if his balls were bluer than the fucking Aegean right now.
It seemed Ari and Tiffany wouldn’t be happy until he’d blown a nut, but he couldn’t hide away forever and he needed to go over the plans for the next few days with the crew. Also, Maria’s lobster benedict was one of the best things he’d ever put in his mouth.
One of the other things was sitting at the table, all sparkly fresh, her hair pulled back into a low ponytail cinched at the nape, her navy Nerida T-shirt pulled taut across her generous chest.
Perfect. Just fucking perfect.
At least she was in the same uniform as everyone else, which was a very visual reminder that Tiffany was staff . Crew. And he was on a goddamn fucking sexual hiatus thanks to his annoyingly arrogant brother.
He pulled out a chair next to Simon as the crew greeted him, including Tiffany, who echoed their ‘Morning, boss’ demure AF, and Theo’s stomach lurched at the word boss .
In line with everybody else, she’d started calling him that yesterday – when she called him anything at all – and he wondered if she knew how crazily his body reacted to the term.
It felt ridiculous calling him that given their deep carnal knowledge of each other, and he wanted to tell her to stop.
But another much darker part wanted to hear her say it when she was naked on her knees in front of him.
Yes, he was officially in hell.
Distracting himself with breakfast, Theo served himself two helpings of lobster benedict from the warming plate in the centre of the table and a mountain of perfectly cooked mushrooms, attacking the food with gusto.
After his call with Ari last night, he hadn’t had much of an appetite and was, consequently, starving.
‘Tiff tells us you two know each other,’ Kelly said conversationally.
Theo glanced swiftly at Tiffany. He hadn’t expected her to be candid about their prior relationship. In fact, he’d thought she’d probably not say anything, given the dynamics of a boat crew all living in such close quarters could sometimes get tricky.
But this way was better. He didn’t like lying to anyone, even by omission. And he didn’t want his crew to somehow find out another way. It would make it seem like he and Tiffany had colluded to keep it under wraps, which might lead them to wonder why.
‘Yes. My brother is married to Tiffany’s best friend.’
‘That’s an amazing coincidence,’ Maria said, looking between the two of them.
Tiffany raised her mug for a sip as she said, ‘It’s a small world.’
She was being very polite and circumspect.
Her polished cruise boat persona, he supposed.
Not the wickedly candid, exceptionally funny and surprisingly potty-mouthed woman he’d first met at the wedding.
Something she hadn’t apologised for at the time.
In fact, it had been almost like she was daring him to take exception to her rougher edges.
But if this last two months had proved anything, it was that Theo Callisthenes was always up for a dare.
Frankly, her take-me-or-leave-me act had been a novelty.
And a woman not bending over backwards, not hanging on his every word or laughing at all his jokes and actually having an opinion, had been the clincher.
Theo hadn’t even been aware he was after a novelty.
Until he woke to find the other side of the bed empty.
But there was definitely something about a woman who could say giant Greek dick in me – yeah, that had played on loop in his head ever since – without batting an eyelid.
And she was on his goddamn boat for the next two months.
‘So, what’s the plan, boss?’ Ivan asked, turning his attention to Theo, who could have kissed the man’s fuzzy Scottish face even if it did take him a second or two to decipher the accent. He was getting better at it but sometimes Theo only got every second word.
‘We’ll head straight to Mykonos after breakfast. That’s about six hours. There are no berths available in the harbour so we’ll anchor offshore, and Simon, you can take the tender tomorrow morning to pick up my guests.’
Simon nodded. ‘Can do, boss.’ His Canadian accent was a stark contrast to Ivan’s and much easier to understand. Although the way he kept smiling at Tiffany was really fucking irritating.
‘They’re old friends from London who’ve been at some kind of international financial forum in Mykonos.’
Theo had attended university with them and he’d been working his ass off for two months to clear the decks for this week. Of course, he was still contactable if needed.
He was always contactable.
‘And yes,’ he said with a grin, ‘by that I mean they’re all pasty white English bankers.’
The crew, including Tiffany, laughed.
‘So sunshine and island-hopping is definitely required. I’m keeping the schedule loose and making up my mind where we go at the start of each day depending on the weather.
It’ll be a start-stop journey, just dropping the anchor wherever looks good.
They’ll probably want to use the slide and jet skis I imagine during the days, probably tender over to whatever island is the nearest. Then at night?—’
Theo finally glanced at Tiffany, who was regarding him over the rim of her mug. Just the sight of her across the table from him thrummed through his blood. It was hard to believe that after months of thinking and dreaming and fantasising about her, he could literally lean over and touch her.
He wouldn’t have to shut his eyes any more – she was just there.
Hell, he could call her over the radio at his whim if he wanted.
Not that he would because already that thought was conjuring all kinds of very unhelpful images about how she might obey – or disobey – captain’s orders and what kind of punishment he might have to mete out for flagrant disregard of his instruction.
Which was not only highly inappropriate, but the last thing he needed was a raging hard-on while talking schedules with his crew.
‘That’s where you come in. My friends, who seriously should know better given how much they know about money, like to gamble. So, I’m taking on a blackjack table and a roulette wheel as well and a tonne of chips in Mykonos. The saloon will become a makeshift casino for the week.’
One magnificently arched eyebrow lifted. ‘Are they playing for sheep stations, as we’d say back home, or for bragging rights?’
‘Bragging rights. Trust me, none of them need the money.’
‘Thanks.’ She nodded. ‘Good to know.’
Theo swore he could see her calibrating her expectations as he watched.
It didn’t surprise him that she was taking everything in her stride.
He’d pulled her personnel file at three o’clock this morning – no, he didn’t care how dodgy it was – and found nothing but high praise for her work ethic and her ability to keep a cool head when things got tense around a table.
Not that she’d have to worry about that this next week.
Dragging his attention from her, Theo continued to outlay the plan.
‘At the end of the week we’ll be dropping them back at Piraeus and probably staying on in Athens for a bit while I attend to business.
Then I think we’ll head for Crete.’ He looked around the table at each of his crew. ‘That work for everyone?’
Technically, as boss, the opinion of his crew wasn’t actually a factor in his decision-making.
He was certainly nowhere near as egalitarian in the boardroom.
But this wasn’t a commercial charter situation which happened regularly throughout the tourist season when Theo wasn’t on board and for which the crew were trained.
This was the owner entertaining friends, which meant it would be a more informal, relaxed trip for everybody. And, in his experience, a happy crew made for smooth sailing.
There was a round of nods as well as a wink from Simon in Tiffany’s direction, which made her smile and made Theo’s blood boil.
Standing abruptly, he reached for a pastry off the central platter.
It was light and flaky and he knew Maria would have cooked it fresh this morning, and it was a better choice than jabbing his elbow hard into Simon’s ribs.
Addressing Ivan, he said, ‘Departure in thirty?’
‘Aye.’
And then, forcing himself not to look at Tiffany, Theo left them to it.
* * *
At ten thirty that night, Theo found himself on the main deck aft in nothing but a pair of shorts, a beer in hand, which he’d swiped from the bar fridge on the way through. It was a warm night and he was in holiday mode.
The crew had returned in the tender around eight after exploring Mykonos.
He’d just stepped out of the shower but, even muffled, their happy, relaxed chatter told him they’d enjoyed their afternoon off.
He hadn’t gone out to greet them or check on them, staying in his suite, but he had heard the occasional noises as the deck crew had run all their usual night-time checks as well as Maria puttering around in the galley, which was not far from his suite.
Trying to distract himself from thinking about what Tiffany was doing, he’d caught up on some non-urgent emails and read through several files Ari had sent him for his signature until the noises stopped and silence had descended an hour or so later.
The crew had obviously decided to turn in early given it would be their last chance for a week.
Theo knew he should probably sleep too – English bankers apparently turned into party animals on a Greek superyacht – but he wasn’t sleepy.
In fact, he was back to feeling restless, again.
Preferring not to identify the reasons for this continued discombobulation, Theo had tried to channel it into work but had only been mildly successful when he’d given up an hour later.
And so here he was, standing at the back rail instead, drinking beer and wondering yet again why he’d taken the bait and let Ari goad him into this ridiculous dare.
He sure as shit wouldn’t be alone right now if he hadn’t.
Although nor would he be on the Nerida , which he had enjoyed immensely these past two months.
For the life of him he couldn’t think why he hadn’t opted for a floating office before.
God knew there were all the bells and whistles he needed to run the company, and he was never far from shore in case he needed to get to the mainland for a meeting or an emergency.
Or a booty call.
Faint music from a nightclub on the promenade carried across on a light breeze, which ruffled his hair as Theo took in the lights of Mykonos. They shimmered across the water, popping from the shoreline and the hills behind as well as from the multitude of boats at anchor.
He knew the island well having spent many memorable times here as a kid.
So fond were his memories of Mykonos that, when the Konstantinides controversy had hit the fan, he’d purchased one of the whitewashed villas that adorned the hillside behind the old town and holed away from a while.
Ari had also lived in it for a time when he’d needed to shut the world out and wallow in his grief.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get to visit it as often as he’d like but he loved that it had become the go-to place for family gatherings.
Several times a year, the Callisthenes clan would crowd onto the large terrace overlooking the Aegean, marvelling at the view and taking advantage of the infinity-edged pool that cantilevered out from the hill.
There’d been many a good time over the years and Theo’s long-term plan was to retire here. One day…
Apart from the distant music and the gentle lap of the sea against the hull, it was absolutely silent on the water, which Theo always found soothing.
There was just something about being surrounded by an ocean.
Its resilience was comforting. Civilisations had risen and fallen but it had always been here.
And then, at night, there were the stars.
Turning his back on the light pollution from Mykonos and the surrounding boats, he looked up to find them punctuating the inky night like strings of luminescent pearls nestled in black velvet. The sky had always been here too, and it wasn’t going anywhere, either.
A clunk sounding overhead interrupted Theo’s thoughts and he frowned. It had come from the sundeck. Something must have fallen because the crew had all retired to their cabins. Taking another swig of his beer, he pushed away from the railing and took the stairs to the sundeck two at a time.
It was dark up here too except for the low glow of strip lighting and the starlight. But Theo’s eyes were adjusted to the night and he could easily make out the shape of a woman bending over, mopping something off the decking with a towel and cursing in a loud whisper.
‘Fuckity, fuck, fuck.’
Tiffany . Of course. It had to be Tiffany.
Theo pulled up short as he stared at her ass which, given her current stance, was only just covered by a baggy T-shirt.
He’d held that ass in his hands as he’d driven inside her, and God help him as he stood here staring like a fucking teenager, he remembered every soft, round contour.
Hell, he still dreamed about how good it had felt in his palms.
Two things happened then. His cock, predictable as ever, did its thing and he was very pleased for the shadows of the night. But quite unpredictably, the nagging, twitchy feeling that had driven him outside evaporated.
Poof! Gone. Just like that.