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The captain proudly showed us around. There was a full kitchen, where I sniffed something delicious waiting for us when we got hungry later, a bathroom that rivaled any luxury hotel I’d ever stayed in, and a master bedroom with a giant, inviting bed and beautiful seascapes on the walls, in gilded frames to match the golden fixtures everywhere. I giggled at the overkill as I checked out the paintings. The real ocean was right outside a big window, and refused to be outdone by any artist.
I was brimming with energy and feeling mischievous, so I challenged Aleksei to a game of hide and seek. He grinned and lunged for me as I took off.
“I’ll always find you,” he called.
I dashed past the kitchen, giggling as a solemn crewmember who had taken up a post by the door to the main deck jumped out of my way. I paused at the bow of the ship to take in the view as we cut through the water, heading toward the limitless horizon. Aleksei’s footsteps slapped the boards behind me and, with a shriek, I took off again.
Doubling around the ship, I edged past the same serious crew member and skipped down the stairs to the bedroom again. Aleksei would never think to look for me in the room we started out in. I shut myself in and pressed myself behind the door. Did I really want to win this game, or was I counting the seconds until he found me?
It barely took a minute of biting back laughter until the door eased slowly open. I bit my lip when his head peeked around, smiling devilishly at me.
“Is this the best you could do?”
I jumped into his open arms and kissed him hard. He tightened his grip around me, running his hands down my back and under the hem of my skirt. With a sigh of contentment, I melted into his arms.
“It’s your turn,” I said.
He shook his head, his hands coming to a stop at my bottom. “I want to lie in the sun and look at you in this bikini,” he said. “The thought of it was distracting me all morning.”
“Well, let’s go, then,” I said, taking his hand and tugging him back upstairs. Since he was always on my mind, it was gratifying that I shared equal space in his, as long as he didn’t get hurt because of it.
Once we were further out on the open ocean and dropped anchor, the crew seemed to disappear into the background unless our glasses started getting too empty, and then someone would scamper out and refill them.
“Go ahead and drink whatever you want,” I said, when Aleksei insisted on drinking lemonade with me. “I don’t mind if you get a little tipsy.”
“I don’t get tipsy,” he said with a mock scowl, but he glanced over the vast sea before looking back at me with a smile. “And if my woman isn’t drinking alcohol, then neither am I.”
“You know I’m not actually legally able to drink, right?” I had a playful tone, but our age difference had been gnawing at me.
He took my hand and kissed it, sending shivers up my arm. His deep blue eyes caught mine and held them. “Do you care that I’m so much older than you?” He scrunched up his face. “If I’d started young, I could be your father.”
I made a pretend gagging noise but crawled from my lounge chair onto his, nudging him aside to make room for me. He put his arm around me, and I nestled into his side, looking up at him. “Maybe a daddy,” I said, sliding my hand up his washboard stomach. “I don’t care at all about our age difference. I just wonder sometimes if I’m sophisticated or worldly enough for you.”
He tugged on my hair. “You fascinate me, Theresa. And what you don’t know, I want to be the one to teach you. I want to show you everything, little one.”
I looked out over the gentle waves, the tiny breakers winking white in the bright sun. I wouldn’t have had my first yacht trip with anyone else. I only wanted Aleksei for all the future firsts in my life. We lay contentedly together enjoying the breeze and the heat of the sun and, every time I glanced up at him, he smiled widely, or playfully tapped my nose.
He kept up a light conversation about some of the things he and his brothers got up to when they were kids, asking about my life as an only child. I admitted I couldn’t imagine having three rowdy brothers, but it might have been nice not to be the star of the show, so to speak. When I confessed I could never live up to my mother’s expectations, he pulled me closer.
“Your mother has her own demons she battles, I’m sure,” he said. “But she’s blind to not see how amazing you are, Theresa.”
I couldn’t hide my blush, even under the sunburn I could feel simmering on my skin. He slathered me up with more sunscreen and was in such a jubilant mood, I almost thought he might propose on this perfect day trip of ours. After a long time just lying together in silence, I couldn’t stop myself.
“Is it really just us, Aleksei?” I asked, about to break our unspoken pact to not mention the Pavlovs. I didn’t really want a fantasy though, I wanted to be sure about our future together. “Is it finished with Sofia?”
He sat up and settled me, so I had to look straight in his eyes. “Everything’s finished. That was what the meeting was about this morning. All of us confronted Roman and told him in no uncertain terms that we’d be changing the marriage contract. He’ll still have a way to align with our family, but it won’t be through me marrying his daughter.”
I didn’t even know how worried I’d been until he uttered those words. The sky seemed bluer, the sun shined brighter, and relieved tears filled my eyes. “Your brothers went with you? For me?”
“Of course,” he said. “You’re family now. You and the baby.”
He seemed so confident, I let go of my fears and reached for him. His kiss was sweet and tender, but he stopped suddenly, turning his head to the side.
“What?” I asked.
He nodded vaguely toward the water and then I heard it. A soft, distant hum that slowly grew to a more insistent buzz. He jumped up and scanned the horizon with a pair of binoculars, finally focusing on something. I patted his arm, and he handed them to me. Two speedboats off in the distance seemed to be racing straight toward us. Lowering the binoculars, I tried to make a joke.
“You think it’s pirates?” It came out shaky, and he didn’t even smile.
