by Harlow Layne
“Do you need anything?” Kylie, one of the stewardesses, asked as I walked past her.
“No, thank you. I was just trying to get away from the girls and decided to take the long way to my room. I hope that’s okay,” I tried to explain. There was no way I was going to say how I was on the lookout for Remy. It made sense he was working. It wasn’t like he was sitting idle all of the time.
“Of course, it’s okay. If you need anything, just let me or anyone else know, and we’ll get it right away.” She smiled, and it seemed genuine. I was sure it couldn’t be easy waiting on spoiled rich people day in and day out, but Kylie seemed like she genuinely enjoyed her job.
Back in my room, I threw myself down on my bed and groaned. How had I thought vacationing with these ladies would be fun and relaxing? Actually, if it wasn’t for Reagan, it would be, or at least it mostly would be. Even though Zelda could be a bit much, she was fun.
I needed to find a way to ignore Reagan without her trying to ruin what was left of our vacation. I wasn’t sure how that was possible, but I was going to try.
A knock sounded on my door, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Miss Stella, it’s time for dinner if you’re ready,” a soft voice said.
Already? How long had I been down here?
Standing from the bed, I smoothed the wrinkles out of my sundress before I answered the door. Standing there in all her cuteness was Jolene. She had these round cheeks that made you want to squeeze them with sparkling green eyes. But it was her soft-spoken voice that instantly put me at ease. From the moment I heard her speak, I wanted to pick her up and tuck her away to keep with me forever.
Stepping outside the door, I turned to Jolene. “Time must have slipped away from me. I didn’t realize it was time for dinner already.”
“It happens if you’re not too careful. The lull of the ship can make you fall asleep even when you don’t mean to.”
Had I fallen asleep, or did she just assume that going by my now frumpy state? As we walked up to the top deck, I ran my fingers through my hair that I’d curled earlier after we’d gotten back. I’d tried to look my best without making it look like I was trying too hard for when I saw Remy later tonight. At the time, I had no idea he’d be joining us for dinner.
My skin broke out into goosebumps, just thinking about seeing him again. Damn, what was that boy doing to me? The way my body reacted to him was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
I was shocked to find all the guys from the crew as well as the Captain standing on deck with their hands on the top of the chairs I assumed they would be sitting in.
One look out at the horizon, and I knew I’d been downstairs for longer than I thought. The sun was setting, and I’d almost messed up dinner. I stood for a minute, taking in the pink and purples of the sky as the sun slowly set.
“I hope you weren’t waiting on me,” I said as I went to sit at the only chair unoccupied. Remy moved around and pulled it out for me and then pushed it in before he went back to where he’d been previously standing.
Heat ran up from my chest to my cheeks and then to my ears. “Thank you. It’s hard to find a true gentleman nowadays,” I said quietly.
Remy nodded but kept stoically quiet. As one, all the guys sat down and placed their napkins in their laps.
It was so in sync it made me wonder if they trained for that very scenario.
Captain Dan cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Thank you for inviting us to have dinner with you. It’s an honor. I do have some bad news to share with you, though.”
“Oh, no! What is it?” Reagan swayed in her seat, being overly dramatic as usual. As if the unknown news was going to make her faint. I wanted to roll my eyes at her, but I also didn’t want to start a fight in front of the Captain. Unfortunately, the crew had already heard and seen what happened earlier.
“I’ll only be able to join you for the dinner portion of the evening. We are unfortunately going to have to dock tonight because a storm front is moving in and will hit early in the morning. It will be unsafe for us to be out on the water. Don’t worry, though. There’s plenty to do onboard, but you can always go into town to eat and shop or do whatever you’d like.”
“Well, that’s no fun,” Zelda pouted. “Can we have the guys escort us if we go into town?”
“Of course. Whatever you’d like. They’ll be at your beck and call from the moment we dock. We normally have someone go with you in case you need something.” Captain Dan seemed to love saying that, going by the smirk that crossed his face before he hid it with a cough.
I swore I heard one of the guys groan, but I didn’t catch who it was. My eyes were only on Remy as he sat across from me in his dress blacks, looking good enough to eat. What was it about a man in uniform? Whatever it was, I’d take him over food any day of the week.
Remy broke eye contact with me so he could speak to the rest of the table. “Let us know whatever we can do for you to make your stay on the Seas the Day more pleasant.”
Was sleeping with the guests part of making the trip more satisfying?
“Oh, we most definitely will,” Zelda purred, her eyes on Scout. The poor guy. I saw his smile falter for a moment before he put it back into place. I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to be on Zelda’s radar either. She screamed man-eater.
One by one, the stewardesses appeared, balancing three plates on their arms. I had no idea how they did that. I was always grateful when carrying my own food to not drop it, let alone have three plates to have to keep steady.
With a grace I’d never know, they set our plates down in front of us. It didn’t go unnoticed the way Ophelia’s eyes narrowed, and her nostrils flared when she set Remy’s plate down in front of him.
Ophelia moved off to the side and announced. “Tonight, the chef wanted to give you a taste of Spain, so for the main course, we have paella with seasonal vegetables. Enjoy.”
One whiff of the food and I had to close my eyes. It smelled absolutely heavenly. My stomach rumbled at the aroma. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to eat without looking like I’d been starved for a week straight.
“Oh my god,” Zelda moaned as she took her first bite. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I might steal your chef, and after tasting this Paella, I’m going to offer him to come back to the States with us and cook for me every night. I don’t even care if I gain a hundred pounds. It would be worth it.”
The Captain smiled, and his eyes crinkled at the corners. It lit his entire face, making him seem more youthful. “You’d leave me without a chef?” he asked, his tone light.
Zelda tapped her index finger to her chin for a moment. “I guess I could let you have him until the end of the season. I’m not a heartless bitch.”
The Captain laughed and then took a drink of his water. “We’d very much appreciate it if you left us our chef until the end of the season. It would be next to impossible for us to find another one that’s as good as Dean in the middle of a season.”
If the chef was smart, he’d stay working on the boat and stay far away from Zelda. I couldn’t imagine working for her demanding ass.
A smirk came across her face. “I’m still going to offer him a job before we depart.”
Scarlett jumped in her seat and shouted as she pointed. “Is that a dolphin?”
All heads turned to see if there was a dolphin swimming by our boat.
“Or a shark?” Reagan’s face paled.
Pen tensed beside me. “Are there sharks in the water?”
“There are sharks pretty much everywhere there’s water,” Owen said.
“Well, I’m not getting in the water ever again,” Pen stated. I knew it was a lie because she loved being in the water and was in it every chance she got.
“If we weren’t stuck at the dock tomorrow, I’d bet you’d be in it tomorrow,” Reagan said while still looking out into the water.
“I don’t see anything,” I finally added. The sky had turned into a darker shade
of pink with it reflecting off the water, making it the perfect sunset dinner. I only wished there were a few less people here. Okay, who was I kidding? In an ideal world, it would only be Remy and me, and not a table full of half-friends and his crew.
Pen stood and pulled me over to the railing with her. “I want to see a damn dolphin. It will be the highlight of the day.”
I could think of something else that would be the highlight of my day, night, and week. Hell, it might be the highlight of the year if Remy knew what he was doing, and I got a chance to be alone with him tonight.
6
Remy
“I can’t believe Captain told them we’d pretty much be their manservants for the day,” Scout groaned. “What do you think they’ll have us do?”
Internally I groaned at the thought. “With these ladies?” He nodded for me to continue. “A whole lot of stuff we don’t want to do. I think we’ll be getting off lucky if we only have to escort them around town.”
“We should have slept in then,” he said before taking a sip of his coffee.
“You know that couldn’t happen.” Looking over my own cup of coffee, I spoke. “Maybe you’ll get lucky, and they won’t request you.”
Scout and I both knew that wouldn’t be the case, though. It would be Owen who’d be working with the Captain today. While the women seemed to like him just fine, they didn’t flirt with him the way they did with us.
Setting his cup down, he sighed. “I’m sure O will be pushing for them to get off the boat at some point.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” My jaw tensed, remembering last night. It was like Ophelia had a sixth sense about her and knew I was going to hook up with Stella. She was around every corner last night cleaning and pretending to do whatever to keep us away from each other. If it wasn’t O, then it was Stella’s friends.
At around two in the morning, I gave up trying to find some alone time with Stella. Now that I thought about it, maybe she changed her mind and told them to keep me at bay.
Scout stood with his plate in hand. “Well, if you don’t need me, I’m going to hide out in my room until they request our presence.”
“Enjoy, beating off,” I laughed at the scowl he sent my way. It wasn’t uncommon for Owen to walk into their room to find Scout jacking off. I’d heard Owen complain about it enough times to know.
“Fuck you, asshole. I’m going to think of you next time I do it.”
I cringed back against the booth’s seating at the thought before I shot back. “Whatever floats your boat.”
An hour later, while I was scrubbing the deck clean, O’s voice came through my earpiece. “Remy, Remy, Ophelia. Can you please meet me in the salon?”
Placing the mop back into the bucket, I sighed. It was about to begin.
“Remy, here. I’ll be there in five.” I walked as slowly as possible to put my cleaning gear away and then to the salon, where I found O with her hands on her hips and her foot tapping. She was pissed, and I secretly loved it.
“Captain Dan said you were to help us with the guests today and do whatever they want. I’m not sure how you got so lucky, but whatever.” The last word was said with so much disdain in it I had to chuckle.
“I wouldn’t call us lucky. He basically fed us to the sharks. And you know it wouldn’t be this way if we weren’t docked. In fact, you should be grateful we’re taking some of the load off of you guys. It’s not like we’re going to be enjoying ourselves.”
“Oh, I think you will,” O laughed humorlessly. “I saw the way you were looking at Stella. What were you thinking? Do you want to lose your job?”
She was jealous because I wasn’t looking at her the way I had looked at Stella even though I’d tried to hide it. “Jealous?” I taunted.
“You…” Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red as she stomped in place. For a moment there, I thought steam might actually come out of her ears; O was so pissed off.
“I’m what? I’m a warm-blooded male who can’t help but notice a beautiful woman. I haven’t acted on it, so what does it matter?” I lied.
“It’s unprofessional to look at paying customers that way. It could affect our tip. That’s money you’re taking away from all of us.”
Or it could give us more of a tip. I didn’t say it, though, because I didn’t want to argue with O. She could do it until the end of time if she wanted to.
“Have the guests requested one of the other crew or me?” I asked instead of fighting.
“They want you without your shirt serving them drinks upstairs in the sky lounge. Later I think they’re planning on having lunch in town and then shopping if it stops raining.”
I hoped they weren’t planning on me making said drinks because all I could do was pull the cap off a beer.
Turning on my heel, I made it to the stairs before I looked over my shoulder at O. “I’ll be upstairs for the foreseeable future if you need me.”
O narrowed her eyes but didn’t utter a word before I walked up the circular staircase to the sky lounge, where I found the women all doing exactly what the name said, lounging around with their phones and chatting amongst themselves.
Walking to the middle of the room, I lifted my shirt over my head. “I heard you’d like for me to serve you drinks this morning.”
“Oh yes,” Zelda said with a clap. “I’m thinking now that we’ve got you in front of us with all that skin showing, we should oil you up.”
I looked at Stella to see her reaction, but there was none. Last night, I never told her I couldn’t make it to her room or meet her anywhere else, and she had every right to be mad. She probably thought I stood her up.
“I’m sure I can find some oil around here,” Kylie said with a giggle from behind the bar.
“That would be perfect,” Stella exclaimed. “Do that after you make my Bloody Mary.”
“Of course,” Kylie tipped her head.
I was happy to see it wasn’t O making their drinks today. Otherwise, they’d be drunk and unruly before lunch.
Making my way to the bar, I rested my arms on it and leaned toward Kylie. “I hope you have a light hand.”
Her cheeks pinked up, and she ducked her head. What was this? I’d talked to her plenty of times over the course of the season and never once had Kylie blushed around me.
“Very light. Especially this morning. While a couple of them are more laid back, there are a few of them that are a lot to handle after they’ve been drinking.”
I knew exactly who she was talking about: Zelda and Reagan. They were a handful without drinking, so I didn’t want to imagine having to deal with them drunk for the day. Especially if I couldn’t be drinking.
“They’ve been coming up with all kinds of things for you to do today.” Kylie leaned closer and dropped her voice. “Did the Captain say you were to be their manservant?”
“Not in those exact words, but yeah, we’re to do anything they want today.”
“I bet you’re hoping this weather system moves through quickly then, huh?”
She had no idea. If we were docked, I could spend time with Stella if O wasn’t trying to prevent it from happening. Now I only needed to get Stella alone for a few minutes, so I could explain to her what happened.
Kylie set two drinks on the bar. “For Reagan and Zelda. I’ll be back after I find that oil.”
“Thanks,” I said in a tone that let her know I wasn’t thankful at all. I didn’t mind the ladies having fun, but lubing me up wasn’t my idea of fun. The water pressure in our cabins wasn’t the greatest, and it would take me forever to get it off, but I’d do whatever they wanted with the hope it would bring us a bigger tip.
It wasn’t until then that I realized I was basically whoring myself out for money.
“Here’s your drink.” I handed Zelda hers first since she was the primary and then Reagan’s.
“Did Kylie go to find the oil?” Zelda asked as her green eyes took in every inch of my chest.
“Yes, she did.”
“Good, good. Can you radio for some fruit to be delivered? Things that are easily fed to others.”
“Sure,” I said with my best fake smile.
Hitting the button for my earpiece, I said. “Dean, Dean, Remy.”
“Oh, how very double-oh-seven,” Reagan purred.
Every instinct in my body told me to back away from her, but I knew if I did, it would be seen as a slight toward her. Instead, I stayed where I stood and waited for Dean to answer me back.
“Dean here,” he called.
“The guests would like some fruit.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
“And they also request that it be fruit that can be fed to others.” I held back my groan. Maybe they’d ask Scout to join in on the feeding.
“Okay,” he drew the word out. “I’ll see what I can come up with, and have fun with that,” he added with a laugh. “I’ll have someone bring it in a few minutes.”
“Thanks.” Putting on my best smile, I looked at the women. “He said it will be a few minutes. Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime?”
“Oh, I think we can think of something.” Zelda clasped her hands underneath her chin and tapped her fingernails together. “For now, why don’t you go talk to our Stella. She looks lonely over there all by herself.”
Stella was now sitting off by herself with a glass of orange juice in her tiny hands. She was holding onto it so tight, the knuckles of her fingers were white.
“Really, I’m fine.”
“I insist. Maybe Remy here can give you a foot massage.”
Oh God, would they all want foot massages?
“No feet,” Reagan yelled and tucked her feet under herself on one of the couches.
As if I wanted to touch her feet or any feet.
“Maybe we could get a couple of people on the boat to do massages. Wouldn’t that be nice? After we get back from shopping and lunch.”
“That does sound nice. Especially if we’re stuck here,” Scarlett agreed.
