Chapter 6 #2
A man greeted us by motioning us to step inside.
“Senorita.” He bowed his head as he helped me up the first step.
While the outside of the boat was a bit battered, with dings and mismatched paint, the inside was far more welcoming.
Cushioned seats facing inward bordered the perimeter, and a trough of champagne and beer chilling on ice sat in the center.
Oh, thank god. My hangover cure was looking less like Advil, Gatorade, and coffee and more like hair of the dog.
As I stepped in, the boat rocked, and I looked up to see four faces peering at me, rooting me to the floor mid-step. My anxiety kicked up to an eleven, and all I could do was freeze.
“We don’t bite,” a male, accented voice announced from the head of the boat. I glanced at the two couples, and a man with leathery, tanned skin, wearing a tank top and a straw cowboy hat, winked at me. He and the woman next to him looked to be in their late forties.
The boat rocked beneath us again as Reed boarded and stepped next to me. He grabbed my waist, giving it a little squeeze, reminding me we were supposed to find a seat, then guided me to a spot on the bench.
“Come on back,” the man tried again. “We were just introducing ourselves and how we met.” Ugh, coupley stuff. The two couples introduced themselves. Floyd and Maren were an older married couple who met in high school and had been together ever since. Very sweet. They were actually kind of cute.
Next to them sat Ray and Baretta. I quickly learned Ray’s accent came from Australia, and he met Baretta during some sort of hippie retreat and returned home with her on a whim.
“We love couples events,” Ray said as he gave Baretta’s thigh a little squeeze.
“We are always down for sharing love with others.”
Oh? Oh… they don’t mean… do they?
Now, more than ever, I wanted to grab that brochure and check that “sharing love” wasn’t on the agenda.
Reed just smirked and braced his camera on his lap with one hand and held mine with the other. He inched down a little closer to the group, and I reluctantly followed.
“So how about you guys? Such a young, darling couple.”
Reed and I looked at each other. I’m sure it was a millisecond of a glance, but we had a full conversation in that time.
What do we tell them?
Fucking hell if I know.
Ray is creepy as hell.
If he winks at you again, I’m going to lose my shit.
Okay, you say something.
No, it’s all you.
Reed cleared his throat at the same time I mumbled, “Um…”
“Well, hello, beautiful people,” a raspy, feminine voice called from the boat’s entrance.
The vessel rocked with her steps, and a purse as large as my suitcase swung from her arm.
Holy shit. It was Cougar Lady, and slugging along behind her was a man in a wrinkled Hawaiian-print button-up, two sizes too big, cargo shorts, and flip-flops. The poor man looked haggard.
The woman, however, was dressed in a short silk dress—zebra print, of course—and I was sure I’d seen it at Victoria’s Secret before.
Honestly, the lady looked comfy as fuck in lingerie, and I might have had a twinge of envy at her body confidence because I’d love to be dressed in a nightie right now.
She strutted down the aisle, sat directly across from us, and grazed her foot against Reed’s calf when she crossed her legs.
My admiration of her quickly turned sour.
She leered at Reed, then darted her eyes back and forth between us.
Reed scooted over, and I instinctively leaned into him.
Cougar Lady greeted the rest of the bus as she held out a dainty hand, leaning over, her breasts nearly falling out.
Her skirt slipped, revealing her ass cheeks.
Her male companion showed no signs of noticing, but she definitely captivated the rest of the boat.
Ray’s eyeballs roamed all over her, almost making me uncomfortable for Baretta, but then I realized she was also gawking, practically licking her lips. Reed leaned into my ear and whispered, “Did the brochure say couples or ménage?”
I rolled my lips to hold in a giggle, drawing the attention back to us. Whoops.
“We were just doing introductions.” Ray stared our way, and I snapped back to the current predicament. Reed squeezed my hand, trying to calm me. Or maybe my hands were sweaty, and he was trying to squeeze the wet out like a sponge.
With another revealing reach toward the other couples, Cougar Lady introduced herself as Vivian and then glanced back at her significant other, who was giving a half smile and a bored wave.
Vivian patted his leg. “You’ll have to excuse Louis here.
” She placed her hand on his shoulder, almost endearingly.
“He got a horrible case of food poisoning last night and is still recovering.”
Louis gave another little nod, and I genuinely felt bad for the guy. He was clearly not in any condition for a bumpy, windy boat ride.
“He missed so much fun on the first night”—she aimed a not-so-discreet wink at Reed—“so he insisted he come today. He knows the trouble I get into when left unsupervised.” This time, her wink was for Ray or Baretta, not sure, but she luckily had the attention of the entire boat, giving Reed and me another reprieve.
Reed grabbed a glass, filled it with champagne, then handed it to me with a knowing glance. Then he poured himself one and discreetly tucked the half-full bottle between us.
He cleared his throat, to my horror, and scooted forward in his seat, commanding everyone’s attention. “Well, it’s lovely to meet you all. I’m Reed, and this is Cienna.” He linked our hands and lifted them. “We’re looking forward to this little adventure today.”
Everyone hummed in agreement as he slid back in his seat and rested our hands on his thigh. The slick feel of his board shorts against the back of my hand melted my anxiety a few notches, replacing the nerves with pure arousal.
“How’d you sweethearts meet?” Maren asked in a gentle voice. I wanted to hate her for putting the spotlight on us, but she reminded me of a sweet fairy godmother. Reed took over again, this time bringing his arm across the back of the seat and pulling me into him for a squeeze.
“Well, we met at a bar, actually. She was with a rowdy group of ladies who dared her to come talk to me.”
I could have sworn a little grunt sounded across from us where Vivian sat, arms crossed, accentuating her cleavage.
“Honestly, when she approached me, it was love at first sight. She didn’t even have to speak. I knew she was mine, and I haven’t let her go since.”
The look he gave me next unleashed a fit of butterflies in my stomach.
It’s fake. It’s fake. It’s fake. My brain jumped in then, reminding me that the key to lying was to say the closest thing to the truth. That was his strategy. Bravo, Reed. Standing ovation. Meanwhile, my heart was Jell-O.
We received an aww of approval from Maren, and she gave her husband a little squeeze as well.
“Howdy, cozy couples,” an over-the-top, chipper voice boomed from the front of the bus, hammering my skull, and I gulped down half my champagne flute to ease the pain. “I’m Jasper, and I’ll be your host for this romantic adventure today. Are we excited?”
A few hoots reverberated from the passengers, and Reed poured more champagne into my glass, then tucked the bottle back.
The motor started, emitting sounds of splashing and rumbling under our seats—a welcomed noise. Maybe now we wouldn’t have to talk. Baretta gave a cute little clap of excitement as Jasper hollered, “Let’s roll,” then the boat drifted forward, and we were on our way.
The conversation fizzled while we traveled adjacent to the port, taking in every bit of the view.
People climbing in and out of water taxis, rows of yachts parked in harbors, blocks of sand-colored buildings, with pops of color and a hillside backdrop.
As we traveled farther, beaches spanned the boat’s port side.
Taking a deep breath of the ocean air, I relaxed, muscles I hadn’t realized were flexing finally loosening.
Reed was the perfect picture of vacation, his arms strewn behind me, shades on, curls dancing in the wind.
Those more-than-kissable lips looked even plumper and poutier with all of his features placid.
The smell of his sunscreen, sweet and citrusy, had me drifting toward him, and his hand grazed my shoulder as he leaned down to speak into my ear.
“How are you feeling?” Whether he was referencing my hangover or my nerves, his question made my chest swell.
I turned to answer, my nose nearly touching his. “I’m great. I had no idea we could see all of this today.”
A puff of his breath warmed my ear. “Just wait. This is nothing.”
Tingles buzzed through my body when his thumb stroked the exposed skin of my shoulder.
I simultaneously wanted to lean into his touch and throw myself off the boat, embarrassed by how much my body reacted to him.
It was surely evident in the red-hot blush coloring my face.
He barely had to look my way to affect me.
Reed moved his hand away and shuffled around, pulling his camera out of his bag.
He held it up and looked through the lens.
Then, in a flash, he turned it to me, and an audible click echoed around us.
I laughed and covered my face. With a lens like that, being so close, he probably just snapped a picture of my nose hairs.
He turned his body around, knees on the seat, facing the shore. More clicks sounded as he moved the camera, looking in and out of the lens. His face shifted from focused to soft and appreciative. It was mesmerizing. I could watch this beautiful man and his impressive camera all day long.
“Oh, a photographer,” Vivian purred, still seated across from us. I gave her a polite smile, while Reed nodded out of the corner of my eye. “Mmm, an artist.” This time, her comment was directed straight at him.
“Indeed,” he said, unaffected.