Chapter 28
Boundaries – Jack
B efore we get out of the car, I debate whether or not I should kiss her. Of course, I want to. But I also don’t want it to seem rushed or forced.
However, the moment passes before I know it.
So, we’re left just standing by each other in front of the hotel.
“Well, I’d better get going,” she says, pointing behind herself with her thumb.
“Of course. Me too.” We’re heading back to Safi early the next morning and then finishing our sail to Greece.
Her dazzling green eyes are staring up at me, and I want more than anything to embrace her in my arms.
But when Denver comes running up, I’m reminded just why I can’t do that.
“Where were you two all day?” he asks, hanging off of Kayla’s shoulder. Her body looks comically small next to him, and I assume he isn’t putting much of his weight on her. I don’t think she’d be standing upright if he did.
“Uh…” My mind is racing for an excuse.
“A botanical garden,” she answers honestly.
Kayla? What the hell?
“We both are really interested in cactuses. Right, Jack?”
Oh, okay. Now I see where she’s going. “Yep.”
“Cactuses?” Denver looks at me funny.
“Yeah,” I reply with a shrug. “Why not?”
He then shakes his head. “I’ve never heard you talk about a cactus in my life.”
“Well, now you have,” Kayla concludes.
I give her a grateful glance, and she nods.
“Anyway. Kay, you have to come up to Gwen’s room. We’re having one last rager before we have to get back to work. Um—Listen, Jack…”
I raise my hands. “No, no. I get it. You don’t want the big boss man encroaching on your fun.”
“It’s not that you aren’t fun. I just—”
I reach up and shake one of his shoulders. “I get it. Have fun. But not too much. We need to be on that train at six o’clock tomorrow.”
Denver winks at me. “You got it.” His attention then turns back to her. “Hey! Cool hat!” He grabs it from behind her back and places it on his own head.
Then, as he leads Kayla away, she looks back at me and mouths, “Sorry.”
I just wave. As much as I wish our night could continue, I can’t deny that she’s a part of the crew, and sometimes that means having to do things with my other employees. Even if the particular event would only be “brought down” by my presence. I’m truly not offended by that, and I understand. In general, most people can’t be as uninhibited as they could be without their boss watching them.
When she’s a tiny blob and then eventually disappears from my sight, I head back into the apartment I’m sharing with Bryant and Jenkins.
However, before I even step through the threshold of the door, I hear moaning and gasping.
“What the fuck, Jenkins?” I ask when I find him having sex with someone who most definitely is not his wife. I was afraid this was going to happen.
“Sir.” His face goes flush, and the woman, after getting up off his lap, scurries to get clothed and then brushes past me.
He covers himself with a nearby pillow.
“Jack—”
I meet him with the palm of my hand. “You don’t have any explaining to do to me. Save your energy up for your wife.”
Even though the writing was on the wall, I still hoped he was more of a respectable man than this.
I turn my back to him and simply ask, “Where is Bryant?”
“The hotel bar.”
Then that’s where I’ll be.
I go to walk out the door, but before I leave, I say, “After this trip, you’re fired Jenkins.”
“Sir—”
With that, I slam the door. I don’t want anyone like that around me.
“Well, Jenkins is fired,” I announce after plopping down next to Wesley.
“What? Jack…”
“You heard me correctly. He’s done after this trip.”
“You can’t be serious. He’s the best engineer—”
“I don’t care. I just walked in on him having sex with another woman.”
Bryant grunts. “What he does in his private life isn’t any of our concern.”
I shake my head. “Maybe not. But that also speaks to his character. I don’t trust cheaters.”
By the look in his eyes, I know he wants to fight me on this further, but he knows me better than to think he can change my mind. Once I’ve decided something like this, I very rarely go back on my word.
“Speaking of cheaters,” he says, pointing his drink at the corner of the bar.
It’s Harper, and she’s accepting two bottles of booze from one of the bartenders.
“Thank you,” I can hear her say in the mostly empty space.
I wonder what she had to do in order to get those.
“Ugh.”
“Still no leads on how she found out about us being here?” Bryant asks after taking a sip.
“No idea. But I don’t care. Tomorrow, it’s back to Safi and then off to Greece. She can’t follow us there.”
“Unless she does.” He takes a napkin off of the bar and blots at his mustache.
“She’s desperate. But not that desperate.”
His eyebrows raise. “No? If I recall correctly, she tried to convince you she was pregnant, even though you know that isn’t possible.”
After a moment, we both howl with laughter.
“Touché.”
When the bartender approaches and asks what I want, Bryant looks at me out of the corner of his eyes.
“Just a water, please.”
I see his body relax, and I pat him on the back. “Don’t worry. I’m taking it easy for the foreseeable future.”
“Good.”
With that, I know that I owe him an apology.
“I apologize for the way I acted last night. Thank you for having my back.”
He nods. “Of course. I always will. I just wish you would’ve told me about Kayla before.”
I sit back and fold my arms. “Need I remind you that you stole a note you found on my bedroom floor?”
“I—I assumed it was an unrequited thing. That’s why I increased the cleaning duties… I wanted whoever she was to be too busy to interact with you again. I mean, girls aboard are always having their little crushes on you.”
“And you.” He seems to always forget that.
“Agh.” He flicks his wrist at me. “I don’t know about that.”
I roll my eyes. “Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of my drunk ass, and I’m sorry that you needed to.”
“It’s okay, bud. We all have our nights.”
“Just seeing her dance with all of those buff and attractive Moroccan guys really did a number on me.” Then, I realize she could be doing the same thing in Gwen’s room, for all I knew. Sure, we admitted to liking each other, but we didn’t have any talk about boundaries.
“Will you excuse me?” I suddenly ask.
“Sure.”
I’m not sure which room is Gwen’s, but I do my best to listen as I walk down the hallway to discern where the party is. Fortunately, booming music soon leads me right to her door. It’s called the Pierre.
After knocking a few times, she sticks her head out.
“Oh!” It’s clear she’s surprised it’s me. “Jack…” She comes out and shuts the door behind her almost all of the way. “Um. Sorry, were we being too loud?”
I look down at my watch and see that it’s only seven o’clock. Jesus. How old do you think I am? “No, no. It’s not that. I was just wondering if I could talk to Kayla?” As soon as I say her name, I realize I don’t have a back story for why I need to speak with her specifically.
“Kayla? Kayla Allen?”
“Yes.” I’m not sure why she felt the need to use her last name. There’s only one Kayla who works for me.
“Why?”
“Um—”
When I fail to answer, she shakes her head and widens her eyes.
“She volunteered to shop for me before we leave tomorrow.” I’m proud of myself. That’s a reasonable and believable lie. Although I do need to go before we take off, I note.
“Oh, okay. Sure. I’ll go get her.”
Soon, Kayla’s body replaces Gwen’s in the doorway. She’s sweaty and out of breath, and her hair is a little tousled. The thought of another man’s hand doing that makes me clench my own.
“Oh! Hey, Jack. What’s up?” She’s slurring her words a little.
“So sorry to bug you.”
“No, it’s okay. I was just dancing with Callie.”
Thank god.
Her face then falls. “Is everything okay. Or?”
I reach behind her and close the door. Then, after looking around to make sure the coast is clear, I take her into my arms—one hand cupping her face while the other falls on her hip—and I kiss her.
“Oh!” Her eyes remain big before she closes them, and I do the same.
Her lips feel like velvet against mine.
When I finally release her, she takes a minute to come back to reality. But when she does, she wipes at her mouth with her finger.
“Um.” She laughs. “That was… unexpected.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just needed to do that.”
Her nose crinkles up. “Because?”
“Because I don’t want you to hook up with anyone tonight.” It felt like word vomit, but now that it’s out, I’m glad.
She grins. “Oh. I see.”
“I mean, I get that it might not be fair but—”
Before I can finish my sentence, she perches up on her tippy toes and kisses me again.
“I won’t.”
“Okay, good,” I respond breathlessly.
“But I probably should get back.”
“Yes. Yes, of course.”
She opens the door again but has a glimmer in her eye as she bites down on her lip and starts to close it. “Good night, Jack.”
“Good night, Kayla.”