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My eyes drifted past the board of instruments to the woman on the deck below. Noemi leaned against the railing, looking lost and forlorn. I wanted to build her back up, give her the strength she needed. I didn’t have an idea of how to begin just like I had no idea how to ask Burrowes for his help. I never fucking needed anybody’shelp. A favor, maybe. A debt. I’d owe him if he could just give me a fucking clue what a woman wanted when she wanted romance.
What the fuck had she done to me?
My fists clenched at my side as I watched the light breeze blow her hair around her face. She tipped her head up and let it coast over her skin, the fabric of her dress blowing out behind her.
Why the hell was I trying to be someone I wasn’t? I didn’t do romance. She’d just have to live with it. If she didn’t like who I was, to hell with her.
“Fuck it,” I growled, yanking open the wheelhouse door.
“Fifteen minutes,” Burrowes said behind me.
“What?”
“Give me fifteen minutes, then take her to the black cabin.”
My head wanted to explode at the idea that he knew my weakness.
“Ten,” I grumbled. I didn’t even know what the hell I could do to keep her busy for ten minutes, but I still needed that drink.
***
IGAVE CAPTAIN BURROWEShis time then when Noemi finished nervously drinking her champagne, I took her hand and practically dragged her away. Noemi gasped as she looked around the black cabin, named so because everything in the room was made of black lacquer or covered in black fabric.
I didn’t know what Burrowes had planned, but Noemi’s face lit up when she saw the dozens of candles that illuminated the dark interior. The curtains had been pulled back to let the moonlight shine in. Someone had the same thought I did; a bottle of champagne sat chilling in an ice bucket. I didn’t understand the point of the rose petals that were scattered on the bed.
I closed the door behind us.
“Did you do this?” Noemi asked with a shy smile and a hopeful expression.
“No,” I admitted as I reached for her waist. “I’m not a magician,bambina. I was with you.” It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but it was the truth. She told me not to lie to her. This hardly seemed like a scenario that required going back on my word.
Her smile started to fall. “Did you ask someone to do it?”
“Does it matter?” Fuck. Why would that possibly matter?
“I guess not,” she sighed. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
She said it as if I’d just gifted her a damn sweater for Christmas.
I should have felt something. Stung by her disappointment? Confused by her indifference? I wanted to please her, but to the part of me that didn’t give a damn, none of this mattered.
She told me what she wanted, and I promised I’d give it to her. Did the execution really matter? I didn’t know how to do all the sentimental stuff, but I knew how to be honest.
“I don’t know how to do this, baby girl.”
She tilted her head and looked up at me. I couldn’t help it. I reached for her ponytail again, wrapping the conveniently bundled locks around my fist.
“Do what?”
“Romance.” I tugged and she moved forward. “Flowers. Chocolates. Candles. Sweet words. That’s not me, baby girl. Never has been. Never will be.”
“You could try... a little?” she suggested as she leaned into my arms.
“I did.” I nodded towards the array of candles on the bureau. “I didn’t do this, but I set it in motion, and you’re still disappointed, aren’t you?”
“No,” she denied.
I put a finger over her lips. “Don’t lie,bambina. I can’t trust you if you lie.”
