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We kissed once more and embraced and I knew then what I had known all along, somewhere in the back of my consciousness.
She was the one – the one who could bring me back to the world I once believed in and which I feared would never be mine again.
Chapter 23
Alexa
* * *
I spent two weeks with Luke at the beach house while the Chatter sale was finalized and police tracked down Blaine. When they found him, they charged him with first degree aggravated harassment due to the threats he made to Candy and the damage to the apartment. Because he was on full parole, he didn’t have to go back to Oregon and could stay in New York while his case was being prosecuted. The District Attorney's office drew up an order of protection on him.
It was great to know he couldn't come within one hundred yards of me or the apartment, so
Candace could move back in. I'd keep paying my share of the rent while Luke and I were gone, in case I wanted to return early. I had no idea if sailing was my thing, being more of a landlubber, as Luke called me, so I wanted to have a place to land.
I didn't think I'd need it, but it was a second home for me if and when I needed or wanted it. At that point in our relationship, I didn’t want to imagine us separating, but I had to be realistic – we had only known each other for a very short time. Although we both felt the same – that we wanted to be together – there was no way to know for sure we would for the long term.
When we got to the beach house, Luke sent the cook home and we had the entire place to ourselves. The only staff were the groundskeeper who mowed the lawn and tended the pool, and the housekeeper, who came every other day to do various cleaning jobs. It was amazing to spend time in the huge house, having it all to ourselves.
We christened every room in the place, making love wherever and whenever the mood struck, which it did – often. When we weren't having sex, we spent most of our time in the living room at night, or on the porch or beach during the day.
Candy came out to the beach house for the weekend before we set sail for our first big stop – Miami and then south to Key West and on to Havana. After a short stay in Cuba, we'd sail farther south to Panama and go through the Canal before heading out to the Galapagos and the South Pacific.
I still couldn't believe it, and often stopped to mentally pinch myself, especially when I woke up in the morning with Luke naked beside me in bed, his arm thrown over his eyes, his glorious body on display for me and me alone.
My mom and dad were planning to fly to Miami and spend a few days there with us so we could visit and they could meet this 'new man,' as my father called him, before we left the US. My father was happy that I had someone new, and the fact that Luke was one of the wealthiest men under thirty in the country didn't hurt. Fathers always worry about their daughters being taken care of, or so he said, so the fact that Luke could most definitely take care of me – if I needed it – was a relief to him. I told him that was terribly sexist, and that he wouldn't be worried about his son's girlfriend being able to look after him.
"Yeah, I'm a dinosaur, I admit it," my father said on the phone when we made plans. "You're my little girl and there's nothing that can change that. I don't want to think the guy you're with can't support you if you needed it."
"He can more than support her, dear," my mother said in the background. “And she can more than look after herself without him, and has for the past two years.”
My mother understood how important it was for me to be independent. I could still be independent, because I could always come back at any time. My scholarship would still be there. I could delay my PhD for a couple of years if I needed, so I had a cushion of time in which to finish. That gave me the freedom to decide to go with Luke on the trip, but even if I didn't have that leeway, I knew if I got a scholarship to Columbia, I could go to most any university in the country and work on a PhD.
* * *
The day before the Phoenix was finished, we drove to the Alpha Yachts and took a tour of the cat and I got to see exactly where I'd spend my next six months to a year. The cat was large enough for four passengers comfortably with the ability to sleep six in a pinch on a fold down bed.
I'd thrown a monkey wrench in the plans for the trip but Luke would not stand any grumbling from the guys about my presence. I think they must have understood that Luke was serious about it and so if they resented my presence on the trip, they were quiet about it.
In fact, we all spent the weekend before the trip getting to know one another, spending time around a bonfire on the beach, or sitting at the large al fresco table on the beach house's porch, running through the trip itinerary, and what we would be responsible for. I offered to do all the cooking and cleaning, with the exception of any specialized meals the other guys were expert at preparing. Each of the four guys would do a six-hour watch so that the entire day was covered. Luke and I would do a watch together, only because I didn't trust myself to do a watch on my own.
I wasn't a seasoned sailor like the others.
The day of the big launch came, and we were all really excited. The guys spent the night at the beach house and even Candy came out for the launch. We woke early that morning, the sunlight streaming in, waking us up at five o’clock.
I glanced over at Luke and marveled at how intense our relationship had become so quickly. Since we decided to be a couple, I couldn't get enough of him and it seemed he of me. On the trip, we wouldn't have the freedom we had at the beach house, but we'd find a way. I thought it would make our encounters, such as they were, even more special since we would have to wait until we were alone and things were quiet or the guys were off on some excursion on land. We did have a bedroom on the cat that had a door so we could fool around if we wanted, but we'd have to be discreet, and quiet.
“If they hear us, neither of us will hear the end of it. They’ll be merciless, so keep that in mind when I drive you wild with passion,” Luke said with a grin.
I'd become so used to being able to say and do whatever we both felt like, it would be restrictive, but at this point, I couldn't imagine saying goodbye to Luke while he went away for a year at this point.
That last morning, Luke rolled over on top of me, and took my hands in his, his ‘morning wood,’ as he liked to call it, a pleasant hardness against my groin.
"Are you ready for this?" he asked, a gleam in his eye.
I pretended to act innocent. "For the trip?"
"You know what I mean," he said and began kissing my neck and throat, his scruff making me giggle.
