Chapter Forty-Three
GREY SMILED TO herself as she looked over the group piled into the dinghy with her, pleased to see that they were enjoying themselves.
They had left Saint Frances right after breakfast and headed over to Jost Van Dyke to clear-in with British customs. The group spent the middle part of the day enjoying a lazy lunch and drinks at Foxy’s, and had ended up sleeping off their midday cocktails on the quick jump from Jost to Cane Garden Bay on Tortola.
As a general rule, there was not a lot of ‘nightlife’ to be found in the islands, where a fun night out usually meant drinking the night away at one of the many beachside bars that dotted the shores.
But Quito’s Gazebo on Tortola was one of the few exceptions to that particular rule, especially on Friday and Saturday nights when he played with his reggae band, Quito and The Edge.
She angled the dinghy toward the strip of beach in front of the restaurant and tapped Harrison, who was sitting closest to her, on the shoulder. “That’s Quito’s.”
Harrison looked at the bright yellow two-story building on the beach that Grey was pointing at, and then back at her with a wide grin. “Cool.”
“Yeah.” Grey bumped the engine into neutral and let the dinghy coast toward the sand. Once she felt the bottom of the bow scrape against the bottom, she killed the engine and let the boat’s momentum carry it forward until it stopped. “All ashore that’s going ashore.”
Julie, who had been seated in the bow, gathered her sandals in her hand and leapt from the boat to the sand with a dancer’s grace.
Grey waited until the rest of the group had made the jump before she followed, and she looked at Julie as she ran a hand through her hair. “You have that cell I gave you?”
“Right here,” Julie said, patting her purse.
“Excellent.” Grey nodded. The walkie worked well enough in areas where cell service was sometimes sketchy, but Tortola had towers everywhere and the small cell phone was much easier for guests to manage on trips ashore like this one.
“So, if I don’t hear from you, I’ll be back here at midnight to pick you up.
” She ran a hand through her hair and shrugged.
“Otherwise, just give me a call and I’ll come when you need me. Sound good?”
“Perfect.” David said. “Do you need help pushing off?”
Grey smiled her thanks and shook her head. “I got it. There’s no reason for any of you guys to get wet before dinner.”
“You’re sure?” Harrison asked. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Positive.” Grey waved him off. “I got this.”
She waited by the bow until they had started toward the restaurant, and then turned and gave the dinghy a good shove to work it free.
Once it finally began sliding from its temporary berth, she hopped back in and quickly turned the engine over, revving it in reverse until she was sure it was safe to whip the dinghy around without the outboard’s prop digging into the bottom.
As she skipped across the bay toward the Veritas, Grey’s thoughts turned to Lauren and the fact that, once again, their time together seemed to be passing far too quickly.
Despite the fact that they never talked about Lauren leaving at the end of the cruise, she was keenly aware that the few precious moments they had left together were slipping through their fingers.
She knew that Lauren was feeling it too, because every hug they shared lasted a little too long, and every kiss simmered with an unmistakable desperation to not think too hard about the future.
It blew her mind to think that, just fourteen days ago, she had longed for the end of Lauren’s term aboard the Veritas.
She remembered how she had struggled those first few days to come to terms with Lauren’s uncanny resemblance to Emily.
How she had run from her time and again, terrified of her attraction to the beautiful redhead and what it meant.
She remembered how she had fought to hang on to the pain of Emily’s loss that she had grown to cherish, only to find that, once she did let go, she was left with even sweeter memories, free of the shadow of death that had haunted her for so long.
Lauren was like a beautiful ray of sunlight breaking through the dark clouds that hung low over storm-tossed seas.
She was everything that had been missing in Grey’s life over the last three years.
Hope. Happiness. A warm smile and a gentle hug that Grey felt safe enough to break down in.
Every moment Grey spent with Lauren made her feel alive.
She just wished there were more moments left available to them.
The sight of Lauren standing at the stern of the Veritas waiting for her as she approached drew Grey’s thoughts back to the present, and her heart leapt into her throat at the view.
Lauren’s hair was blowing lightly in the breeze, tickling her face and shoulders and glowing like fire in the evening sun.
Her smile was soft and warm and just a little bit sad, and Grey found herself mirroring the expression as she killed the engine and hurried to the bow to grab onto the railing beside the dive platform.
She tied the dinghy off quickly and hopped onto the platform with a practiced ease honed by years of repetition, and hurried up the stairs to where Lauren was waiting for her.
Grey was aware of nothing but Lauren’s golden-hued eyes watching her as she closed those final steps separating them, and her heart, which had begun racing for some reason as she climbed the stairs, beat once, heavily, as she pulled Lauren into her arms, and then skipped what felt like the next six beats.
She buried her face in the crook of Lauren’s neck as she held her tight, and she let out a shuddering breath when Lauren’s arms wrapped around her just as fiercely.
They lingered in the embrace, drawing strength from the other’s presence, until Grey pulled back just far enough to press a soft kiss to Lauren’s lips. “Hi.”
Lauren smiled and kissed Grey again. “Hi.”
“That was quite the welcome,” Grey murmured as she nuzzled Lauren’s cheek with her nose.
“I’ll say.” Lauren huffed a quiet laugh and leaned her foreheads against Grey’s. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably at the sadness in Grey’s gaze, and she sighed as she closed her eyes to block out the sight. “Grey…”
“I know,” Grey whispered. She reached up to tuck Lauren’s hair behind her ears as she kissed her again.
Her eyes fluttered shut as she lost herself in the sweet taste of Lauren’s lips and the feeling of Lauren’s hands fisting her shirt at her waist, tugging her closer as the futility of their situation threatened to overwhelm them both.
She kissed Lauren harder, pouring herself into the caress as her eyes stung with tears she refused to shed. “What do you need, sweetie?”
“You.” Lauren used her hold on Grey’s shirt to tug her toward the salon.
“You have me,” Grey whispered. She fused their mouths together again as they stumbled backward step-by-step, the promise of physical contact a balm to their slowly breaking hearts.
The irony of the situation did not escape Grey as they stripped each other down in her cabin, fingers skimming over soft skin in a desperate bid to forget.
To pretend that everything was okay. She had lost herself in this particular dance too many times to not recognize it.
“God, Grey, please,” Lauren breathed as Grey settled on top of her.
“I know,” Grey whispered. She nipped at Lauren’s throat as their hands moved in concert down each other’s bodies in a blind search for the softness and heat that would chase away their demons, if only for a little while.