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But for now, he wished they could stay here forever. Unaffected by old mistakes. Taking pleasure from each other. Not worrying about the separation that waited for them at the end of this journey if Alicia didn’t give him a second chance.
ChapterEight
“While the aftermath of the bet was admittedly fun, I still say you cheated.” Alicia speared a bite of her dinner as they sat at the table near the helm.
They were farther out to sea now, but Jack had headed for a string of tiny islands to set the anchor for a couple of hours so they could eat without worrying about navigating in the dark. There were no marinas or even development on the smattering of rocky outcroppings nearby, but the water was shallow enough for the long line anchor to hit bottom. He’d killed the engine and left the lights on for other boats to see. Not that there was traffic out here at this time of night. They hadn’t seen a boat since long before sunset.
Now, he savored a fork full of the silver hake she’d cooked for his dinner. Victory tasted sweet. Especially with the memories of everything else they’d shared tonight.
“A bet’s a bet,” he reminded her, adjusting the height of the flame on the hurricane lamp between them. “And you have to admit my fish dwarfed yours by a couple of hundred pounds.”
The sea gods had smiled on him early, sending a northern bluefin tuna his way almost as soon as their fishing competition got under way.
“But you didn’t technically catch it if you didn’t drag it on board,” she grumbled, lifting her wineglass to her lips.
Even in the candlelight he could see the high color in her cheeks from the day in the sun. A bleached blonde strand blew against her jaw and skimmed along her throat. She wore a lemon yellow hoodie over the layered tank tops she’d sported most of the day. No makeup and no jewelry in sight, Alicia required no decoration. There was a comfort in her skin, a strength and competence about her that drew his eyes to her like no other woman he’d ever met.
“Did you really want me to haul in a species that is seriously overfished?” He cut more bread from a baguette she’d warmed in the galley oven with some herbs and olive oil. “Because if I went to the trouble of pulling anOld Man and the Seawe would have had to sit at this table until we choked down all three hundred pounds of that sucker.”
He didn’t believe in catching fish you weren’t going to eat. And since Keith’s cushy corporate toy didn’t come equipped with a fish locker, that meant they could only catch whatever would fit in the galley’s refrigerator.
“Iamhungry, but maybe not that hungry,” she finally conceded, a hint of a smile curving her lips. “Plus, the cleaning would have taken forever.”
“Dinner is fantastic, by the way.” He lifted his glass in a toast, the white wine catching the candlelight and casting watery reflections on the table. “Cheers to the chef.”
“Thank you.” She clinked her glass to his. “We lucked out that Keith keeps the pantry nicely stocked.”
“Along with the wine fridge.” He’d found a temperature-controlled drawer in the galley that held ten bottles ranging from Pinot Grigio to Chianti. “So how often do you talk to Keith? I didn’t know you kept in touch with the family.”
“I didn’t for a long time. But Keith heard about my water sports business when I was first starting it up a couple of years ago and he asked me to take some clients out for a day of kite boarding lessons. It was a big job for me and it went so well that he recommended me to some other bigwig types who did the same thing. Those group sessions really boosted my income and grew my reputation in a hurry.”
He’d have to thank his brother for helping her out like that. Jack studied her in the candlelight for a long moment while the waves lapped the side of the boat, rocking them gently. The rhythm was slow and easy, kind of like the way he wanted to take her again tonight. He didn’t want to take one moment for granted.
“What are you going to do with all your loyal customers when you move to Bar Harbor?” He guessed she must have built quite a following if that was her only business and it had generated enough profit for the down payment on a bed & breakfast.
“They’ll get a discount coupon for a weekend at my new inn and a free lesson with me once I re-establish a water sports business up there.”
He nodded, seeing the benefit of that. No doubt she’d fill the rooms on her new property for at least a few nights with that deal. It would be a hell of a lot easier to be happy for her if she was planning all this for an inn on the Cape. He’d help her fill those rooms, damn it. In fact, he’d be sure he kept one on standby for all the nights he wanted to be with her.
“You don’t miss the event planning you used to do with my dad?” How could she walk away from everything – everyone – she knew? “I seem to recall you were having a great time at the charity golf event where I first asked you out.”
“Not really. I like to entertain people on a smaller scale than that. I was just having so much fun that night because you couldn’t take your eyes off me.” She pushed her plate aside and folded her arms on the table, fixing him with her dark gaze.
His heart thudded hard in his chest.
“I remember.” He’d fought the attraction for months. But that night, it seemed like she was everywhere and he couldn’t escape how much he wanted her. “You laughed during the follow-through of my drive and my shot sliced into the woods so deep I thought I’d never find the ball.”
He’d been off his game to say the least. She’d filled up every corner of his mind, not leaving room for anything else.
“You must have had bionic hearing,” she protested, the argument almost as old as their acquaintance. “I was on the eighth hole and you were on the ninth.”
“What can I say? Your laugh can turn me on from a mile away.” He’d hardly been able to finish his game, torn between thinking he ought to ditch the after-party in the clubhouse and thinking he should just get it over with and hit on Alicia.
“Then how come you needed the bet with Ryan before you even walked over to me that night?” She swirled her wine around her glass and avoided his gaze.
He’d confessed long ago that his older brother Ryan had egged him on that night- saying he’d never get a kiss from their dad’s sexy young intern. Jack hadn’t been able to let the jab slide, countering that he’d have a kiss in less than five minutes.
Alicia had never seemed to mind being the subject of a wager. But now, he wondered if he’d misunderstood her easy acceptance of that gamble. Her concentration on the wine in her stemware made him think his answer mattered more to her than she’d care to admit.
