Page 17 of Below the Deck

‘This is my third season now.’

Sam nodded. ‘And you enjoy it?’

‘I love it – it’s my dream job, honestly.’

‘I bet. You get to travel the world, sail the high seas … and you must see some pretty wild stuff sometimes too.’

Kai grinned. ‘Define wild.’

‘Ah, you know. Scandals. Secrets. Drama. It’s got to be a bit like that reality TV show – you know the one?’

The deckhand snorted. ‘Ah, I know it. But honestly, it’s mostly drunk bankers vomiting in the hot tub. Though we do catch the occasional husband sneaking around behind his wife’s back.’

Sam laughed, leaning back on his hands. ‘Now, that’s more like it. I bet you’ve got some good stories.’

‘Oh, we do,’ Kai said, nodding. ‘We’re just trained to keep them to ourselves.’ He tapped a finger to his nose; Sam laughed. Then he tilted his head, studying the gleam of a dome camera mounted at the edge of the garage.

‘You’ve got cameras everywhere on the boat, haven’t you? For security?’

‘Yeah,’ said Kai. ‘Well, except below deck. We had them upgraded recently, so now there’s even sound on some of them.’

Sam raised his eyebrows. ‘So technically you can see – and hear – pretty much anything that happens on board?’

Kai shrugged. ‘Well, only the captain and first officer have the logins. We don’t look unless something’s gone pretty badly wrong. And that doesn’t happen often.’

‘Ah, sure,’ Sam said. ‘That makes sense.’

‘Why do you ask?’ said Kai curiously. ‘Are you trying not to get caught on camera?’

Sam laughed in response, then looked away and back out at the water. Noah was approaching the swim platform now in the tender, having dropped his passengers at the beach. Sam watched as he steered the boat to a gentle stop at the side of theLussoand, with Kai’s help, attached it to the superyacht’s stern with a towing line.

‘You boys been all good?’ Noah asked as he clambered on board, nodding at Sam.

‘Ah, yeah,’ said Sam. ‘Kai’s been keeping me company. Filling me in on all the crew gossip.’

‘I should hope not,’ said Noah, raising his eyebrows as he glanced at Kai.

‘I’m just kidding,’ said Sam quickly. ‘I’ve actually been pestering him for the juicy details of what it’s like working on theLusso. He’s been nothing but a total professional.’

‘I see. Come on then, spill. Have you been pouring your heart out about Johanna again, mate?’ Noah gave Kai a playful thump on the arm. Kai looked embarrassed for a second, then grinned.

‘I hadn’t said a word.’

‘It’s true,’ said Sam, holding up his hands. ‘We didn’t even get onto the subject of women.’

‘You didn’t? Well, there’s still time to change that. There’s some stunners on this charter, all right,’ said Noah. ‘And I’m not just talking about the crew.’

Sam nodded. ‘Yeah. Talia’s something special, isn’t she?’

Kai looked surprised. ‘The primary’s wife?’

‘Uh-huh. I know she’s older, but she’s … you know, classy. A cut above.’

Noah laughed. ‘A cut above her husband, you mean?’

Is it that obvious I can’t stand Rory?Sam shrugged. ‘I didn’t say that, did I?’

Kai chuckled. ‘Of course not.’