by Amie Denman
His guests smiled, laughed, and sipped their champagne. They probably thought he was joking and had been on hundreds of fabulous excursions. Only one guest looked at him with intelligent eyes filled with questions and, ironically, understanding. Did Autumn suspect how lonely he was? She alone knew something about him he would never dare share with anyone else.
Luke’s seat was at the opposite end of the table. He was next to Grady, but his gaze kept straying to Autumn. She was turned away from him for much of the meal, carefully supervising her child’s eating. He didn’t know anything about children, but he did know caring for the little boy appeared to be a full-time job. Autumn only glanced down at this end of the table a few times.
As the meal concluded, his personal assistant leaned down and whispered in his ear.
“One of your guests needs a personal item. Would it be acceptable for a crew member to take the tender into the harbor tonight?”
Luke cocked his head and frowned at Maria. “Don’t we have anything on board to help?”
“Not exactly. It’s a pair of women’s shoes.”
“Oh,” he said. “Is it really necessary?” Not that he objected to offering his guests any amenity. The tender could just as easily operate at night and he had qualified captains aboard his ship who never complained about being asked to do something extra. He would pay the man generously for the overtime.
“She forgot all her dress shoes, and she’s the bridesmaid.”
Autumn. He glanced down the table and caught her eye. Did she know they were talking about her?
“She’s barefoot under the table,” Maria whispered, obviously thinking this would seal the deal and persuade him to send the tender for a special trip before they left harbor early the next morning. Instead, all he could do was picture her feet curled with his in the sheets, skin on naked skin.
He tugged at his collar and swallowed. “I wouldn’t mind a trip into Athens one last time,” he said. “Maybe I’ll go along.”
Maria’s expression didn’t change, but he knew her level of professionalism. If he’d announced he was joining a crew of astronauts to go to Mars, she would probably nod and begin planning how she could assist him.
“Ask Hilton if he’ll get the tender ready, and I’ll meet him down there in about a half an hour.”
“Would you like me to tell Autumn to be ready to go with you?”
“I’ll ask her myself. And will you make a call to wherever women buy shoes and make sure they’re still open? Perhaps make a special request if you have to?”
Maria nodded, and Luke was sure there would be a boutique with the lights on by the time he and Autumn arrived for an impromptu shopping trip, and he was equally sure the directions would be sent to his phone.
The dinner guests picked up their drinks and wandered off to comfortable lounge seating, their cabins, or the harbor views from the balconies off the dining room. Luke took the vacated seat next to Autumn and leaned across her to smile and waggle two fingers at her son. He was a cute kid, and he had somehow managed to be cheerful and entertained during the three-course dinner.
The movement brought him close to Autumn and he smelled her fresh scent like flowers and fresh air. She’d always been fresh air and summer sunshine to him, a fact that it had taken him a long time to appreciate. And now?
“I understand you forgot something when you packed,” he said, speaking quietly to her so no one else would overhear.
A pink glow washed over her face and neck, but instead of answering, she moved her foot from under the table so he could see for himself.
He really wished she hadn’t done that. The image of those toes tangled with his made heat travel like a shot of bourbon through his body.
“I’ll be the barefoot bridesmaid,” she said with a smile and a slight shrug.
“Not if I can help it. Do you remember that time your brother and I got soaked in the rain and we raided the coat closet at your house?”
Autumn laughed. “You found an old pair of my dad’s shoes—the ones he usually used for mowing the lawn—and put them on. You looked so funny in huge grass-stained dad-sneakers.”
“So I repay the favor now,” he said. “One of my tender captains is getting the boat ready right now, and we can launch in less than thirty minutes.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth opened. “I can’t.”
“Why not? I’m sure there are shops open in Athens where you can find something perfect.”
“But…what about Carter?”
“Oh,” Luke said. Why hadn’t he thought of that? “He could…go along maybe?”
She shook her head. “Way past his bedtime.”
“Maybe your parents or one of your cousins would watch him?”
Autumn looked at her son who was beginning to squirm in his chair. She stroked his cheek.
“I don’t want to be a bother and cause all kinds of trouble and expense,” she said. “If I have to wear the one pair of sneakers I brought for the whole trip, believe me it won’t kill me.”
Luke dug through a long list of arguments and came upon the only one that he thought would hold water with her. She wouldn’t want to be a distraction…
“But what about the wedding photos?”
Her attention swung back to him.
“Unless your dress touches the floor.”
“It doesn’t.”
“Then either your bare feet or your sneakers will be in all their pictures,” Luke said. He felt the thrill of closing a business deal, knowing he held the winning card. “It could ruin the photos.”
Autumn bit her lower lip, and Luke wanted to reach out and stop her. If anyone was going to do that, he wanted it to be him.
“We’ll only be gone an hour or two,” he said. “And you’d be saving me from a lonely night staring at my laptop screen.”
“I’ve never done anything like this,” she said, but her tone was less protest than it was wonder at the strange possibility.
“It’s a bit cool tonight,” he said, relying on practicality. “You could put on something warmer.” He hated even suggesting she cover up her beautiful shoulders and arms that her black halter-style dress was showing off so nicely. But he didn’t want her to be cold…even though that would give him more reason to sit close to her on the tender. “And I’ll come by your cabin in fifteen minutes. Will that give you enough time to find a babysitter?”
She nodded, taking a glance at her parents who appeared to be saying goodnight and edging toward the door. She pushed her chair back and stood before moving her son’s chair back from the table. Luke stood immediately and watched her swiftly unbuckle the boy and lift him.
“Do you need help?” he asked.
She shook her head and laughed.
“Right,” he said, smiling and feeling very out of his league with the whole kid thing. “See you soon.”
Chapter Three
Autumn took one last look at her sleeping child as she heard a soft knock at her cabin’s door.
“Go,” her mother said. “I’m more than happy to sit here with a book until you get back. Your father is probably already asleep on the bed with the TV remote in his hand.”
“I feel bad,” Autumn whispered.
Her mother put one hand on each of Autumn’s cheeks. “Take my advice and go have some fun. You’ve hardly spent five minutes on yourself since Carter was born.”
Nancy Benedict strode to the door and opened it, and Autumn saw Luke in the dimly lit hallway. He wore the same white shirt he’d worn at dinner, but he’d removed his tie and added a jacket that was casual but obviously expensive. She grabbed a navy blue and white striped sweater and breathed a “thank you” to her mother as she stepped into the hallway.
“We’ve known each other for over twenty years, but have we ever gone shopping together?” Luke asked, his tone reminding her of the boy she’d grown up with, not the billionaire who owned huge companies and a massive yacht. Somehow, going back to their youth made her feel bette
r, as if their trip into a foreign city to buy shoes was just like an adventure to the playground after dark.
“I would have sent you by yourself,” she said playfully, “but I don’t think I can trust a man to buy women’s shoes. Especially for a special occasion.”
“I would have bought red velvet ones,” he said with a deadpan expression. “They go with everything.”
Autumn laughed as she followed him through the dining room and then down a curved flight of steps. She caught her breath when they paused on the low sundeck of the yacht. The water was so black she couldn’t see it, but the lights on the shoreline sparkled. Her heart raced.
“Athens is so beautiful,” she said. The ocean breeze was cool, but she felt Luke’s warmth next to her.
“That’s the Port of Piraeus you’re seeing. You flew into Athens which is about six or seven miles from the coast.”
“Will there be shoe stores in the Port of Piraeus?” she asked, already worrying about the cost. She hadn’t changed any of her money into euros because she hadn’t planned to leave the yacht. And her bank account had about five hundred dollars in it that had to last until her first paycheck of the new school year.
“Probably, but we’re going just a little bit along the coast and docking in Pasalimani. That’s where the nightlife and fashion scene are.”
The way he said it casually as if telling her there was a fast food restaurant on the next corner reminded her what different worlds they lived in. He continued talking, listing off some of the places he’d been to in that port, but she was thinking about how she could use a credit card in a foreign country without incurring some charge that would scare her to death when she opened her bill in a few weeks.
The lights on the shore sparkled and seemed to ease her worries, and she realized this was going to be one of the most incredible evenings of her life, even if she felt like retreating to a nice safe place by her son’s crib.
“What?” Luke asked. “Is something wrong?”
She shook her head. “I’m just taking a moment to appreciate how unbelievable this all is.”
Luke traced a finger down the side of her face and brushed a lock of her long hair back. “Everything you see is real.”
Autumn wished she knew if everything she felt was real, but that was a direction she would not and could not allow her heart to go. She reached out and squeezed his hand, but then she let it go. Nothing good could come of renewing that one wild night of passion that should never have happened.
Lights appeared on the tender and the boat was a gleaming patch of light in the dark ocean.
“Captain Hilton is letting us know he’s ready,” Luke said. “Are we?”
Autumn laughed. “This is your expedition, so I’m following you.”
“Red velvet shoes, here we come,” Luke said. He took her hand and helped her onto the boat. They paused while he gave directions to the captain and Autumn heard the magical-sounding word Pasalimani in the conversation. Had Luke dined, shopped, taken a date there before? How did he know these amazing places around the world? He’d gone so far from their middle-class houses in Detroit, would he ever be able to go back if he had to?
She had to go back, that was clear. When this wedding trip was over, she would go back to her apartment where the kitchen counter was clean but chipped, and she’d go back to being a mom and a school secretary. It was her choice. For just one night, though, she was living in Luke’s world. As she sat on a cushioned seat on the back of the boat, the captain turned off the interior lights and she felt rather than saw Luke sit right next to her, his heat radiating to graze her skin.
His world was pretty fantastic, even just for one night.
As the small boat sped toward the shore and then cruised along it until they came to a harbor inlet, Autumn tried to imprint every sensation on her mind and heart. The smell of the ocean and the hint of spray tossed up by the moving boat, the lights dancing on the shore, the sexy man next to her who insisted on helping her even though he was already doing so much for her family.
“We’ll dock near the harbor wall, and then we’ll find plenty of places within walking distance,” Luke said into her ear. She felt his lips brush the curve of her ear and wanted to pull away from the sensation that was too hot, too sinfully thrilling.
She’d better find shoes in the first store and plunk down her credit card. The only way she would survive the evening in Pasalimani was if she kept a purpose in mind and executed it swiftly. Otherwise, the temptation to linger along the harbor with the only man she had ever loved would be disastrously great. She should have invited one of her cousins to go along on the shopping trip. Julie and Jessica would have loved a shopping trip in an international city, and it wouldn’t have felt like a date. Because it wasn’t a date.
“I hope that’s okay,” Luke said when she didn’t answer.
“Better than okay,” she said, carefully keeping her hands twisted together in her lap. “Really terrific.”
After the captain tied up to a floating dock where dozens of expensive-looking boats bobbed in the quiet harbor, Autumn heard Luke exchange a few words with their boat’s captain. She thought she heard the words an hour and resolved that she would make this quick. She didn’t want the captain to have to wait that long. It was probably his evening off after a long day. Was he the same person who drove the giant yacht? Autumn realized how little she knew about the lives of the wealthy, even though she knew a lot about Luke’s life. Or she used to, anyway.
Luke got out first and reached a hand to her, and then they walked along the dock to a slanted platform that deposited them on a wide sidewalk along the water. Lights danced from the trees and light posts, and dozens of people walked along the shore. Autumn heard cars, horns, and music on the summer night.
“Pasalimani has quite a reputation for its nightlife,” Luke said.
“And you know this firsthand?”
“I’ve been here before,” he said. “But I had Maria text me the name and address of a shop that I think you’ll like.” He tapped his phone’s screen, and when it lit up he pointed ahead of them to a street lined with shops. “It’s this way.”
Despite her resolve to get her shoe-shopping over with as fast as she could, Autumn wanted to linger along the waterfront where palms swayed, people laughed and talked, and the city seemed to be alive with romance and excitement. Luke walked slowly, too. Was he enjoying the night out or would he rather be in his pajamas having a drink in his stateroom? Autumn could only imagine how fancy his private room was. She glanced at him in the glow of the lights from shops and restaurants and he looked down at her at the same time.
“You look as if you’re thinking about something very important,” he said.
Autumn laughed. “I was wondering about your stateroom on the ship.” It had seemed like an innocent admission until the words were out of her mouth and she realized it sounded…a little naughty. What was she doing thinking about his bedroom? Geez louise, she didn’t want him to think she was angling for an invitation.
“I sleep in one of the empty lifeboats most of the time,” he said.
“You do?”
He smiled, and Autumn swatted his arm. “I’m not gullible anymore, you know.”
“I can see that,” he said.
“Really. I’ll always be seven years younger than you are, but you can’t make me believe you can speak French or my dog can read lips. I’m much wiser now.”
“I speak a little French now,” he said.
“You do?”
He smiled again, and Autumn laughed. “You know, I wondered about our German Shepherd for a long time and watched what I said around him, just in case.”
They were silent for a moment as they walked along the lively city street. “I used to tell those big stories because I wanted to believe I was something more than I was,” Luke said.
Autumn’s heart constricted. She knew how hard it was for him not to have a dad, even though his mother and aunt worked hard to
keep a roof over his head and give him all the love they could. Luke’s mother and aunt had their own service where they would clean offices and homes on an alternating schedule to make sure one of them was around for Luke until he was old enough to stay home alone. Even then, he usually made his way three doors down to the Benedict house where there was always someone to talk to.
A cold and terrible fear washed through her for her own son. Would she be enough for him? He would have grandparents, a wonderful uncle and aunt, maybe cousins someday. But would he always long for a father he didn’t know?
Autumn stopped and turned toward the ocean, wishing she could rush back to the yacht and hold Carter close.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked, his arm coming around her protectively.
“Fine,” she said, forcing herself to sound rational. “I was just wondering if I could see your yacht from here.”
“It’s hidden around a bend in the coastline, but trust me, it’s still there.”
She nodded.
“And your son is just fine, but we can hurry up and finish our shopping if you’d feel better.”
Autumn turned toward him, still in the half-circle of his arm. His scent and warmth were so close she almost lost her resolve to keep the secret she’d carried for more than two years.
“We’re here,” he said, his voice husky. He pointed with his free hand. “The boutique my assistant recommended.”
Autumn breathed a sigh of relief. She needed to think about something practical, and the bright windows of the shop seemed to be offering her a reprieve.
****
Luke tried to give her space inside the shop, but it wasn’t a large store and it was crowded with merchandise and other shoppers. He watched Autumn gravitate toward a pair of silver high heels and turn them over to look for a price tag. Luke knew there wouldn’t be price tags on anything in the store, and he could guess that if there were it would frighten Autumn away. He’d been in boutiques just like this one with his former wife, and he knew they catered to the kind of customers who didn’t care how much a pair of shoes or a purse cost.
He exchanged a few words with the clerk at the desk while Autumn asked for a size from another clerk. When Autumn sat on a loveseat to wait for her requested shoe, Luke sat next to her and crossed one leg over the other. “Long day,” he said. “And I didn’t even fly halfway around the world like you did.”
