AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But this is different. Kiernan admitted he’s into you.
Was he? Or was he mistaking friendship for something more? What if we took that step and fucked around and then he decided, nope, he didn’t want me after all?
What then?
My gut churned as different scenarios ran through my brain.
“Charlie?” George interrupted my musings.
My timing couldn’t be worse, but my personal angst would have to wait. I had a ship to get out to sea and a boss that was now staring at me with concern on his face.
“Are you ready?”
“Just replaying the steps in my mind.”
George’s confused expression cleared, and he nodded. “The swells are low today, which will make for smooth traveling. Still, the winds are starting to pick up. The sooner we get underway, the better.”
“Agreed.”
George would often remind me that yachting required balance. A confident drive and a calm head. Ships were all about the journey, but careful planning and preparation was no small part of what made successful crews.
I tapped on the radio. “Deck crew, deck crew, we’re a go. Pull in the lines and fenders. Over.”
“Copy.”
My team was ready.
Me? Only one way to find out.
Nerves simmered below the surface. It finally hit me that I was the one responsible for this twenty-five-million-dollar yacht and all her passengers and crew aboard.
Everyone was counting on me, and I was not going to let them down.
“Fenders up, lines up. Over,” Derrick confirmed.
“Copy. Rear thrusters engaged,” I announced.
As I went about my checkpoints, my nerves eased.
“Two metres from the dock.”
I almost forgot that George was standing in the same room, watching everything unfold. I had to back out of the berth and then turn the ship around to leave port. Not easy for any vessel, let alone one this size.
It took a good ten minutes, but before I knew it, I had turned us safely and we were moving through the buoys in the marina.
“You have five metres on the starboard side,” Pat’s voice crackled through the radio.
“Four metres on port,” Derrick added.
We passed the final buoys with ease and headed for open water.
George moved up beside me and picked up the radio mic. “Well done, everyone, and a special thank you to Charlie for that impressive exit from port.”
I could hear claps echoing in the background and I saw Rafe and Rowan waving at me from the sun deck.
I finally stepped aside and let George take over.
“So, how do you feel?” he asked me.
