Chapter 17
Pearl scrunches up her face when I pull my truck into a spot at the Cape Simon Marina. She looks out of the sea, where expensive yachts and priceless sport boats bob gently in the water.
“You have a slip here?” she asks.
I nod, opening my truck door. The salty sea air hits me and I grin. ”This is my favorite place in the world.”
She gets out of the truck, clapping her hand against her oversized sun hat to keep it from blowing away. I grab a large knapsack, my tackle box, and the rolling cooler. ”Got everything?” I ask.
She pats her large woven bag. ”I think so. Like I said earlier, I don”t really know what I need. I haven”t spent that much time on boats.”
”Oh, darlin’.” I point her in the direction of the pier and we start to walk. ”That changes today. I fucking love being on the water.”
We trundle down to the boat. Pearl keeps a watchful eye on the water, as if she doesn”t fully trust it. I walk to my prized possession, eager to show it off to her.
”Here she is,” I say, dropping the cooler next to my luxury fishing boat. It”s thirty-seven feet long, and it has an enclosed cabin with a roof that overhangs the back deck. Below the main deck is a smaller cabin with a leather couch and a lavatory.
If I could be on the sea every damn day, I would. I love my real estate business, but it”s really only a distraction from boating all day.
Pearl shades her eyes, her sunglasses making her face hard to read. ”Uh, cool.”
I give my head a tiny shake and hustle her on board. Setting the cooler down in the large upper cabin, I unload my knapsack and tackle box. Pearl stands, gripping the side of the boat, swaying slightly.
I turn to look at her. ”Are you okay?”
Pearl lifts her chin, swallowing. ”I”m fine. I haven”t ever been on a boat like this before.”
I walk back to her and offer my arm. ”Come on. Lean on me. You”ll appreciate sitting in the cabin.”
She clings to me, stepping uncertainly. I don”t really understand what is going through her head, because the boat isn”t listing or anything. We are in the marina and there isn”t much wake at all. I help her into the cabin and sit her down. She flops into the leather bucket seat and clutches both sides. I give her a look as I move around to the captain”s chair.
”Have you been on a boat before?” Pearl glares at me. ”Of course I have. Just not this big. My cousin has a catamaran and we”ve been out in that a few times.”
I touch her arm, trying to reassure her. ”This boat is a lot safer than a catamaran. Nothing bad will happen to you. I promise. You can stop gripping the seat like that.”
Pearl gulps. ”I”ll stay right here, thanks.”
”Suit yourself. I”m going to start the engine.” I screw up my face. ”It”s going to be loud.”
Pearl sits back, looking straight ahead, and nods her head somberly. ”Do what you have to.”
If I didn”t think she was really scared of this boat, I”d laugh at her. But honestly, I feel really protective of Pearl and concerned for her right now. I am starting to be able to read her mood; that quick scan tells me that a joke is not what is needed right now.
I caress her thigh and give her an encouraging smile. I need to play this one differently.
”I”ll cast off. Be right back.” I duck out of the cabin, untie the boat from its moorings, and do a quick check that everything is in order. Then I head back to my seat and start the motor.
Pearl doesn”t flinch, but I can tell that she struggles to keep her face blank and expressionless. I back out of the dock and turn us toward the open sea.
Pearl seems to relax more as we pick up speed. At this velocity, there is less rolling of the waves under the boat, and more of the constant whirr of the engine against the water underneath. When we make it past the marina and I ease the throttle up to full speed, I glance over at Pearl.
Her eyes are glued on the sea ahead of us. But she has loosened her death grip on her seat. The color is incrementally returning to her face.
”Are you doing okay?” I ask. I brush a strand of her hair back behind her ear.
I feel a little useless in the face of her seasickness. I want her to be comfortable, yet just being on this boat makes her ill.
”Yep.” She flashes me a quick smile. ”I think I just needed to adjust.”
”Fair enough. We”re not going far. My plan was to go up to Wolf”s Head Island. There are a few deep pockets near there where I always have a lot of luck fishing.”
She frowns and glances behind us. ”This is probably a stupid question. But... you have fishing rods, right?”
”Yup. I keep my rods in a storage case just downstairs. Don”t worry about that part. I”ll bait your rod. You just have to hold it.”
She cranes her neck toward the rear deck. ”I”m guessing that we”ll sit back there in those two chairs?”
You got it.” I grin at her. ”It”s just about a ten-minute ride up the coast.”
Pearl pushes out a long breath. ”Okay. I”ll be fine.”
I don”t know if she”s trying to reassure herself or me, but I can”t help the little grin that blooms on my face. ”I believe you, darlin’.”
As I drive the boat, I keep looking over at her to make sure she”s okay. Her posture seems less rigid than it was before, but her eyes are still cemented on the sea. I guess I”ll take what I can get.
I get a text and I pull my phone from my pocket. It”s my mom.
Be a dear and pick a date for your official engagement party. Also if you could find out what Pearl”s dietary restrictions are, that would be amazing. Oh, and ask her for a date that works for her family, too!
”Yes!” I cheer. I put my phone away and look at Pearl. ”My mom just texted, asking to throw us an engagement party. This is a really good sign. If my mom gets behind us, Sam”s not far behind.”
Pearl frowns. ”And you need Sam”s approval, right?”
”Less his approval and more my trust fund. I”m not supposed to get it until I”m forty. But I want access to it now.”
”Right. To invest in some real estate venture, I think you said. It’s got to be hard to lie to your mom, though…”
My eyebrows fly up. “I’m not lying to her.”
There is a moment of silence. “Do we have a fundamental misunderstanding of what you have told your family?” Pearl bites out. “Because I was under the impression that you were telling them that I was your fiancée.”
“Well, I am.” My face grows hot. “I don’t see it as lying to my mom. When I get the project funded and finished, then I can turn my focus to dating and procreation. So I see it more as delaying the truth by a few years. I might say that it’s embroidering the authenticity of my life.”
“Hah!” She laughs, but there is no humor in her tone. “That is straight up crazy. You know that, right?”
I direct my glare straight ahead. “It’s my life.”
Pearl’s tone softens. “You’re right. It is. I just don’t want you to ever ‘embroider the authenticity’ of the facts you tell me. With me, I want you to shoot straight.”
“Of course.” I feel tongue-tied, as if she actually caught me in a lie. “I am only misleading my parents because they have this old-fashioned mindset. They think that being married equates to being settled down in life. If they hadn’t tied my trust to a sham institution, none of this would be happening.”
A flicker of some emotion passes over Pearl’s face, there and gone before I can even name it. But I think it might have been disappointment.
I feel a hollow pang in my stomach. She”s right to feel disappointed in me. More right than she realizes. But of course, she has no idea that the real estate venture I want to invest in is her family’s property.
Guilt fills the hollow pit of my stomach. Her face is so expressive; I know the exact face she’s going to make when she realizes what I’ve done. And it’s not one I want to see from her.
Deftly pushing that aside in my head, I steer the conversation neatly away from that topic. ”Right. My mom is asking if you have any dietary needs. She”s probably planning a big celebration.”
“None that I can think of.” She sighs. ”My family will probably throw us a barbecue.” She goes quiet, looking off as though lost in thought.
My tone is reassuring. ”My mom will invite your family to whatever she decides on. Don”t worry about that.”
Pearl”s brow furrows. ”I”m not worried exactly. I just feel bad. I didn”t realize that you were going to propose so publicly. I thought... I thought that I could keep my family out of this. Now my family is deeply involved. It”s gonna be a whole thing when we break up.”
”What do you mean?” I slow the boat down a little, looking at the shoreline. We”re almost there.
”My family is not going to take you leaving very well. Even if I say it”s my decision, they”re probably going to ice you out.”
I look at her, confused. ”What does that mean?”
”My cousin Ashley broke up with her fiancé a couple of years ago. My aunt Glory denied him a permit when he applied for a liquor license in downtown South Shore. My mom told everybody with ears what a bad guy he was. Aunt Delta put a hex on him.” She shivers. ”He got so fed up with the badmouthing that he moved to Savannah.”
I snort. ”Don”t worry about that with me. I’m unhexable. I”ll be okay.”
She makes a noncommittal little ‘hmm’ and looks away. I feel another pang. Our engagement was perfect from my standpoint. But I guess I didn”t really take Pearl”s feelings into consideration. ”I”m sorry,” I say at last. ”I guess I didn”t think it through.”
Pearl shrugs a shoulder. ”What”s done is done.”
I slow the boat down further, drifting closer to shore before cutting the engine completely. All the while, I”m kicking myself. Also wondering what other things Pearl might not be thrilled about, but won’t complain about.
I drop anchor and stand up. Now that we”re not moving, the boat is very much at the mercy of the rolling waves once more.
I offer her my hand. ”Come on. Walk to the back of the boat with me. If you decide you hate it, we can head back.”
She forces a small smile to her lips. ”You”re very chivalrous.”
I bow to her. ”My lady.”
That earns me a laugh. I help her up and she clings to my arm as I walk her back toward the rear-facing stationary chairs. As soon as Pearl grabs onto the seat, she collapses into it. Her face has gone eerily bloodless again.
I stand right beside her, wordlessly supporting her. She breathes in and out a few times, gulping. Just when I”m about to throw in the towel and ask if she wants me to take her home, she waves me down. ”I think I”m fine.” She turns around and casts an angry glare at the deck. ”As long as I”m not walking, I guess.”
”Can you wait here while I fetch the rods?”
She nods quickly. ”Yeah.”
I practically race down to the cabin to fetch the rods. I’m feeling like a complete tool for not even bothering to ask her if she liked boats or got seasick. What kind of idiot plans a date on a boat and doesn’t think about an alternative just in case their date doesn’t like boats? I’m a fuckhead.
Shaking my head at myself, I grab the cooler, the tacklebox, and my knapsack. Armed with everything we need, I return to the end of the boat.
Pearl”s color has returned. She offers me a weak smile. ”I think... I think I can stand up and move around.”
Before I can stop her, she pushes out of her seat. She doesn”t walk anywhere, but stands in the same spot, swaying with the gentle movement of the boat. In her pink floral sundress and oversized straw hat, she looks like summer incarnate. She looks at me, pleased with herself. ”I stood up!” She laughs. ”That sounds incredibly stupid, doesn”t it?”
Abandoning the rods, I move over to her, shaking my head. ”It doesn”t sound stupid.”
Her good attitude about my terrible date is amazing. She laughs again, throwing her head back. God, she is radiant. Not to mention sexy.
I want to kiss her. But she has only just found her feet. I don”t want to interfere with anything. I jerk my head toward the fishing rods instead. ”How about I set up our lines?”
She nods. ”You”ll have to. I don”t know the first thing about catching fish.”
It”s the work of a couple of minutes for me to set up her fishing pole and attach a live cricket to the hook. She watches with interest, but she makes a face when I slide the barb of the hook through the cricket”s body.
”Gross,” she sniffs.
”Fishing is pretty gross. Just wait until you actually catch a fish.”
She makes a gagging expression. ”If I catch a fish, you”d better believe I”m not touching it. I like my fish one way, and that is breaded and deep fried. That”s the extent of it.”
”You only have to touch it with one finger. Just to know what it”s like. I”ll do the rest,” I promise.
She raises a brow. ”We”ll see.”
I hand her the rod. Then I quickly step in behind her, putting my arms around her shoulders and my hands over hers. She looks at me, pausing. It”s hard for me to tell because of her dark sunglasses, but I think she”s remembering how well our bodies fit together.
I move my hands down to her hips. ”Spread your legs to give yourself a nice, strong base.”
She complies, giggling. I put my hands back over hers and start to explain the very basics of casting. I only get a few steps in before she pulls her glasses down with a finger. “Are you being serious right now? Why don’t you just show me? I can learn about the ins and outs later.”
I shake my head, but a grin bursts across my face. ”Was I mansplaining too much for you?”
”A little,” she admits. She pushes her sunglasses back on.
I help her cast. She laughs when her first attempt falls in the water only feet from the boat.
As a guy that”s had a boat for a long time, Pearl is definitely not the first woman I brought on board. Heck, she”s not even the first girl I”ve brought to Wolf”s Head Island to fish.
But hearing her laugh, feeling her warm body press against me, watching the way she looks to me for feedback... I have to admit that it feels different.
Special, somehow.
I know that I”m not exactly her ideal man. Not for dating purposes, anyway. But it does feel nice being so intimate with her. Not exactly sexual, but... deeper than that.
Pearl Brown might just have me hooked and be reeling the line in without even realizing it.