“Those definitely sound like more fun.”
He took her over to the glass elevator. “Just don’t keep freaking out on me,” he said as he pushed the button to take them down two decks. When it opened, he led her down to the far end toward the bow and stopped in front of a narrow metal door. “This is the safety room. If there should ever be any kind of attack on the ship, you and Aiden head here. The staff will head here too, except those with military training.”
“And you too, right?”
Warren looked at her steadily, knowing himself too well. “I can’t promise that. It depends on the situation.” He pushed open the door and showed her the comfortable benches around the perimeter, the food and water stores, first aid, radio, and weapons. “Don’t worry, the whole staff has the highest training for everything you see here. All you need to do is get here so you’ll be safe behind the locked door. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Her voice was small and tight, so he reached out and gripped her shoulders. “Good. With that out of the way, what do you say we go get settled into our stateroom?”
Kara shook her head. “You say that with this certain inflection in your voice that makes me think you don’t mind having to share.”
He smiled. “I don’t.”
Chapter Thirteen
After having all her illusions that they were one-hundred percent safe on the yacht shattered, Kara was glad to get back to Aiden. It was a strange and powerful drive that came from inside her. If she could just see that he was okay, the most frantic part of her worry would ease away.
One of the stewardesses had gotten him out of his carrier and was walking around the cabin with him, clearly trying to pacify him, since he had tear-filled eyes and red cheeks. “Oh, I’m so sorry we took so long,” Kara said, rushing over. “Thank you so much for taking care of him.”
The young lady only smiled and handed him over.
“Let’s go to our room so you can get him happy again,” Warren said, picking up the empty carrier for her.
As he did so, Kara saw the stewardess pause abruptly on her way to pick it up herself. It triggered an awareness in Kara’s mind that the staff here was prepared to do any little thing to spare Warren and his guests from any work or inconvenience. Warren, however, was not the sort to be waited on hand and foot. Since this was to be her life for a time, she hoped that it would be okay if she followed his lead, because there was no way she would be completely comfortable being catered to like that.
The master stateroom was enormous and surely took up the whole width of the boat. The bed was centered on the wall with a carved mahogany headboard. Everything else in the room, however, was light and airy with pristine white bedcovers, a seating area with light-aqua upholstery, more tropical flowers scattered about the room, and white curtains billowing in a doorway that opened out onto a private sundeck.
“I’ll leave you to get settled,” Warren said, setting the carrier down next to one of the chairs.
As he left, the stewardess stepped forward. She opened a door. “The bathroom is through here.”
Kara followed her, stopping in amazement at the sight of a bathroom in glittering, white marble with an enormous, glass walk-in shower, a deep soaker tub, and a double sink vanity. “I thought bathrooms on ships were supposed to be tiny.”
The stewardess smiled. “Wait till you see the closet.”
Following the young lady again, Kara walked into a closet that was surely luxe for any ship with more of the dark mahogany built-ins, backlit, glass shelving, and several racks of clothes. To her surprise, however, almost as many of the clothes were women’s clothes as men’s. She ran her fingers over the dresses hanging there, none of which she recognized. “Whose are these?”
“They’re for you, Mrs. Drake. We were asked to provide a wardrobe for you, since you had so little time to get ready to travel. We hope you’ll approve of our choices. Mr. Drake just said you liked the latest styles and that you were nursing.”
“He did?” Kara asked, intrigued—especially by the last part.
The stewardess moved forward and began showing her the dresses, all of which were fitted with zippers and secret panels to make nursing easy. Yet they were still trendy and beautiful. From the feel of the soft cottons and cashmere-like jersey fabrics, they would be just as comfortable to wear.
She hadn’t cared about her wardrobe since her divorce. Why should she? But now, with this before her, a curl of excitement shot through her. “I love them. In fact, I’m going to put one on now. Here, will you hold Aiden for a second?”
While Kara began sorting through the dresses, the stewardess bounced Aiden on her hip and continued to show her around the closet. “You’ll also find undergarments in these drawers, nightwear in this drawer, and swimsuits here.”
She was trying really, really hard not to freak out with excitement. “Okay, there’s just too much. I want to go through all of it and try everything on, so I’m going to wait to change and go feed Aiden instead.”
After the stewardess passed Aiden back, she went over to the other side of the closet and pulled out a few drawers that were identical to Kara’s. “You’ll find clothes for the baby as well. And diapers, swim diapers, and a selection of baby-care items. If we missed anything, we’ll make sure to get it at the next port.”
Watching as the stewardess continued to display the selection of things provided for them, Kara shook her head. “I’m not sure that’s possible. You’ve done great. Thank you.”
With a sharp but cheerful nod, the young lady left. Kara stood a moment in the closet, looking around. But then Aiden began to cry. “Sorry, sweetie. Mommy just got a little distracted. Okay, a lot distracted.”
Focusing on her motherly duties, Kara got him fed. Then, wanting to try one of the cute outfits on him in the closet, she realized that it had been days since he’d had a good bath with everything being so rushed. “What do you think, sweetie? You want to take a bath? Get smelling better?” Aiden, of course, smiled and made happy “gah” noises at her as he always did when she talked to him.
It didn’t take her long to lay out a new outfit for him—little khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt onesie with a little red sailboat on the left side. She put it all on the big bed with a bottle of lotion and a diaper. But when she went into the bathroom, she realized the tub was way too deep for him to go in alone because even with only an inch or two of water, it would be slippery and she wouldn’t be able to reach him. “I guess I’ll just have to get in with you!”
With two fluffy white towels next to the tub and the fancy bottle of baby wash and a washcloth handy, she went to lock the bathroom door. But there wasn’t a lock. That was a major problem. She had accepted sharing a bedroom with Warren, and even sharing a bathroom. It was really not much different than having a roommate, right? A really attractive, kind, considerate roommate that made her wish…
But there was no way she wanted him walking in on her, which could easily happen.
“A swimming suit,” she said to Aiden, who looked up at her from the bathroom rug upon which she’d set him down. Luckily, he had only just started to master sitting up alone and hadn’t yet started to crawl, so he wouldn’t move while she was gone. In seconds, she was back with a baby-pink one-piece with a spaghetti strap halter top. It was her least favorite of all the suits she’d found, so it was perfect for a bath.
She stripped out of her clothes, feeling awkward every second. This was his bathroom. But she relaxed as soon as she had the suit on and found that it fit her well enough. Really, Warren had to have had help from Mrs. Garth or something to figure out her size.
After she got the water running at a warm temperature that wouldn’t be too hot for Aiden, she took his diaper off and got into the tub with him, carefully sitting down. The surface of the tub was just as slick as she’d been afraid it would be. “I’m afraid we’re going to have fun getting back out.”
The next half hour was pure delight. Aiden loved the
water. She held him securely and washed him while he had a blast trying to grab the stream of water coming out of the faucet. With Warren busy at work, she didn’t feel the least need to hurry. It did amazing things for her stress levels to just luxuriate in the resplendent bathroom, getting farther and farther away from Derrick and letting Aiden have the time of his life.
When she finally had to turn the water off because it was up to her chest, she pulled her knees up and settled Aiden so that he was lying on her chest, resting back against her knees. She played with his hair—not that there was much of it—and talked all kinds of nonsense. He rewarded her by peeing on her.
She shrieked and grabbed for the washcloth to control the stream. “You little turkey!” she cried.
The door flew open, and she looked up to see Warren’s near-panic face. “What’s going on?” His gaze latched onto her, shifted to Aiden, and then seemed to sweep over her bare shoulders and legs. “Holy…” Then, without saying another word, he turned around. “I’m sorry. I saw the clothes laid out for Aiden on the bed and figured you were bathing him. I didn’t even think that you might be in the bath too.”
Kara laughed. “Warren, stop freaking out. When I couldn’t figure out how to lock the door, I put a swimsuit on. You can come in.”
He turned, looking dubious. Kara rolled her eyes and pulled up the halter strap of her suit so he could see it. Then his shoulders relaxed.
“Sorry, all I saw was bare shoulders and bubbles and bare legs. And as lovely as that sight was, I certainly wasn’t invited in to see it—or anything else.”
His words sent a tremulous shock through her. It almost sounded like he…wouldn’t have minded being invited to. But that was crazy. Maybe if she still had her pre-baby looks and no baggage and wasn’t—what had he said?—like a sister to him, but surely not considering all of those very real things.
Warren cleared his throat and took a few steps closer. “So, what was the scream about?”
Laughing, Kara pointed at Aiden. “This guy decided to turn on the waterworks and pee on me.”
She looked up in time to see his lips twitch. “I guess if he was going to do it, the bathtub is the place.”
Kara rolled her eyes. “Since you came in wanting to help, here.”
She held Aiden up to him, dripping wet with bubbles sliding off his legs and bare butt. Warren looked disconcerted for a couple of seconds, then he reached for one of the towels and unfolded it. “I’m not really good at this holding a baby thing yet. And he looks slippery.”
Laughing, Kara just waited patiently for Warren to figure out how to wrap him in the towel and take him from her, which he did very efficiently. “If you could just hold him for a minute while I rinse off, I’ll be right out to get him dressed.”
“Got it,” Warren said, walking out of the bathroom with Aiden bundled up in his arms.
As Kara rinsed off and got out, a funny, irrepressible smile kept spreading across her lips at the whole scene. There was just something adorable about Warren that melted her heart.
She wrapped the towel around her and tucked the corner in so that it would stay on while she got Aiden dressed. The last thing she wanted to do was drip all over the carpets that felt like silk beneath her feet. When she came into the room, she found Warren bent over the bed, trying to wrestle a diaper on Aiden.
“Having trouble?”
Warren looked up briefly. “How is someone so small so strong?”
“That’s what I’ve been wanting to know for months. Here, don’t worry about it.”
“I want to help, but I’ve only done this once and it took me forever. Teach me how you do it.”
Kara looked at him for a minute, completely taken by surprise. “Why?”
“When I said I wanted to help you, I meant it. And I didn’t just mean with Derrick.”
His words were gentle, warm, and most of all, sincere. And his eyes…
No. She couldn’t read anything more into this but a friendly gesture. Stepping up to stand beside him, she said, “Okay. You have to be fast. Get one side fastened even if it’s not where you want it. Then the other side will be easier and you can readjust the first.”
With Warren determined to do everything himself, it took longer than usual to get Aiden dressed. But it was fun. And she certainly didn’t hate it when their sides and hands brushed against each other. When Warren held Aiden up to admire his handiwork with so much pride in his eyes, saying, “There. He looks good, huh?”, the last little piece of her heart that she’d managed to keep from falling for him crumbled to pieces.
Her whole heart seemed to tighten, stricken with the realization of it.
What happened if you fell in love with your husband, but he wasn’t yours to keep?
Chapter Fourteen
The first day at sea brought nothing but clear blue skies with only a scattering of clouds dotting the western horizon. The water was relatively calm with a five-foot swell, so the ship made good time. With Aiden seated in a highchair, playing with toys after being fed some baby cereal, Warren and Kara enjoyed a leisurely lunch of grilled shrimp, couscous salad, and perfectly ripened watermelon.
“That was delicious,” Kara said. “I’m going to get so spoiled before this is over.”
Warren frowned down at his plate. Her words had deflated his good mood.
A voice called out from nearby, “Dolphins on the starboard side.”
Kara gasped. “Dolphins! I want to see them.”
Warren stood immediately, nodding to one of the stewardesses to watch Aiden. “Then let’s go.”
He led her to the right side of the ship and stood at the rail with her. It was only seconds before the sleek grey body of a dolphin broke through the sapphire-blue waters and dove again into the foaming wake made by the ship. It quickly became apparent that this was a huge pod of dolphins. Kara was clearly mesmerized.
As she stood watching them, he stood watching her.
Her pale-yellow dress fluttered in the breeze, which sculpted it to her body, revealing every alluring curve. Her red hair danced in the wind, the red a vivid contrast against her yellow dress, the white ship, and the blue sky. He didn’t think he’d ever seen a more beautiful sight. And more than that, his chest ached at how right it felt to have her here—at how insanely affected he was by having her close. But clearly it was not affecting her the same way.
He’d been so sure that he just needed to help her, to be there for her. This was surely the worst time to try for anything romantic. She was dealing with so much trauma and stress that it couldn’t help but affect her emotional response to everything. He couldn’t make her feel pressured or take advantage of her when she was vulnerable.
But at the same time, maybe she needed someone to be there emotionally. To comfort her and distract her from the sting of her recent heartbreak. Not to mention, he’d lost his chance with her once by standing back.
More confused than ever on what the right thing to do was, he decided to test the waters just a little. Stepping closer, he eased his hand around her waist, sliding it slowly down until it rested on the curve of her hip. He felt her body tighten, but she didn’t pull away. A second later, she turned toward him, staying in the circle of his arm, and looked up at him. There was a definite question in her eyes, along with a spark that made him hopeful.
“I need to work again for a bit,” he said. “Does Aiden take a nap in the afternoon?”
She nodded. “Yeah, usually for a couple of hours.”
“Want to join me in the pool?”
Her smile washed away any doubt he had that this was a bad idea. “I’d love to. When?”
“Just send me word when you’re ready.” Then, daring one step further, he ran his hand caressingly up and down the curve of her waist before stepping away.
His heart pounded like a deep drum, and his breath came too quickly. Had he gone too far? Would it scare her off or just let her know that he wanted more from this than just a temporary and legally convenien
t marriage?
The question burned like an angry flame in his head while he tried to concentrate on his work. At last, nearly an hour later, he got word through one of the stewardesses that Kara was waiting for him on the deck of the master stateroom. Feeling very much as if he was a kid in school going on a first date, Warren put away his laptop in his top deck office and stood up. But before he could leave, Captain Fitch came in with a note in his hand.
“We received this communication over the radio.”
Warren took it and read it in growing dismay.
My informants report that a hacker was hired to breach your ship’s systems so they can monitor your GPS coordinates. They know exactly where you are - G
He looked at the captain. “Do you know if this is true?”
“We have no way of knowing, sir. Does this mean there is a possible threat against the ship?”
Looking out through the windows to the blue water stretching from horizon to horizon around the ship, he nodded. “We can’t ignore the possibility.”
The captain nodded. “I’ll take appropriate action.”
Warren nodded. “Include Abe and Ronin as you see fit.”
The captain nodded and left. Warren took a moment to sift through the possible ways Derrick might try to get access to Aiden. It seemed to him that the most likely place for such an attempt would be made on land if they decided to go ashore at any point in the journey. It would be disappointing to not take Kara to some of the more famous beaches and let her explore along their route, but he knew she would agree with him that it was too risky.
Not that he was going to tell her anything about this for now. It would destroy any chance she had to relax, and there was nothing she could do anyway—no more than he could. All his trust was in his crew and his bodyguards. It would be a cold day in hell when Derrick Fenton took Aiden from them by force.
Saved by the Billionaire Page 8
