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“So romantic,” I said, smiling.
“So, what now?” he asked.
“Lunch?” I offered.
“We can do lunch, but that’s not what I meant,” he said.
“What did you mean?”
“I want to be with you, Macy Stiles,” he said firmly. “I don’t want to hide. I want to go out to dinner, and I want to be able to look at you without worrying someone is going to notice. I want this to be a real relationship. I won’t pretend to be an expert on the matter, but I know hiding it isn’t going to do anyone any good.”
“Do you mean the staff?” I asked.
“Yes. I know you don’t want them to know because it might make you look bad, but I don’t think so. I think it will be okay. I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks. The people that know you will know you’re a good woman. They aren’t going to think poorly of you. Besides, I think half of them suspect something is going on already.”
“You think?” I asked.
“No matter how hard I try not to look at you, it happens,” he said. “I can’t stop it.”
“You don’t think it will cause problems?” I asked.
“No.”
“Do you think I should quit?” I asked him. “I don’t want to break any company rules.”
“It’s my company,” he said, shrugging.
“You know what I mean,” I said. “I don’t want this to ruin what you have going with these people. They admire and respect you. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.”
“You think me falling in love with an amazing woman is going to make them lose respect for me?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I just—I don’t know.”
“I am pretty sure they will all be happy for us,” he said. “I guess we’ll find out soon.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to have dinner with you tonight. I’m not going to hide the way I feel for you. I guess we could do it like the celebrities do. We get seen together, but we never actually acknowledge we are together.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, that’ll work.”
We chilled in the room for a while longer. “We should probably go topside,” I said. “I’m sure with my dramatic return to the boat, people are probably thinking I died and you’re hanging out with my body.”
He grinned and kissed my cheek. “Iamhanging out with your body.”
“Stop. Besides, I could use a stiff drink. Doctor’s orders.”
“Alright, alright, let’s go. It’s probably close to dinner time anyway.”
“Should we dress?” I asked.
“Nah,” he answered. “Tonight is casual. It’s a big seafood night. There will be butter flying every which way.”
“Now that’s an image,” I said, laughing.
With his help, I managed to make it upstairs. He seated me at a table and left to go get us both trays of seafood.
“How are you?” Doris asked. “We were all so worried when we heard about the accident.”
