Uncomplicated Choices

by Cara Dee

  His lips parted. Then he swallowed and promptly closed his mouth before he looked away. Oh, holy shit, I'd managed to embarrass him. In a highly adorable way. His ears tinted red, and he cleared his throat.

  "We should get dinner started."

  I watched him stalk out and upstairs, my mouth twisting up. Don't poke the bear. If only that wasn’t so fun. Lord, what would happen if I flirted with him? Would he keel over?

  If I was going to brave the Canadian night in the middle of nowhere, I was going to need entertainment.

  *

  Ellis handled the grill. It was a portable one that he set up down on the bathing platform—at fucking sea level. I stayed up on the deck, in the lounge area where I made sure the sunroof and all windows were closed, and maybe I located a few blankets, too.

  I'd enjoyed several sleepovers with Haley and Lyn in a blanket fort. Fuck anyone who said they were only for kids.

  It got dark quickly once the sun set, and only a reddish glow was left where the sun had disappeared. The night sky was taking over, black inch by black inch, star by star. Not even sexy black inches.

  I stole Ellis's previous spot on the sofa too, because there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to turn my back on the darkness. Only a mosquito net separated us from the rabid wilderness.

  I couldn’t see Ellis, which bothered me, but I saw the thin pillar of smoke from the grill, smelled the delicious burgers, and heard the fizzle and pop of the fire. My T-shirt was still on the sunbed, on the other side of the net. Beyond saving.

  Was I a loser or what?

  This morning, I remembered holding my stomach and vowing never to drink again. Empty words, of course. I was chugging beer already.

  When Ellis trailed up the steps along the side of the boat, I was ready for my second beer. He unzipped the mosquito screen and appeared with a plate of burgers. The tray on the low table was full of condiments and vegetables, and my stomach rumbled. I'd have to repay him somehow for the awesome meals. Maybe I could make my famous pancake breakfast tomorrow.

  "Is it that cold?" Ellis sat down next to me and eyed the blanket covering my legs.

  "Don't be silly. This is my armor." I leaned forward and plated a burger, ignoring his amused expression. Then he did something stupid. He reached for the magic remote, and instead of turning the table into a cooler, he dimmed the lights a lot. "What're you doing?"

  "You do know the light attracts the insects, yes?"

  We had the net…

  Then again, a million moths smashed up against the netted screen didn’t sound appealing.

  "Okay, I'll allow it," I muttered.

  Why were people so fucking fascinated with the outdoors? I enjoyed a good hike here and there, and the trails above Ponderosa and Westslope up to Coho Pass were spectacular for a long run. Then when darkness loomed ahead, you went home. Fuck tents. And rock-star yachts.

  "What plans am I ruining tomorrow when you take me back to Camassia?" I wondered.

  "That's the thing about vacations. I haven't made many plans." There was visible discomfort at the notion of going home tomorrow, yet he spoke with ease and even managed a somewhat casual shrug. "I get back to work on September fourth. Until then, I'm going to take it easy. Do some fishing, hiking, reading…thinking." Sucking some mayo off the side of his thumb, he used his free hand to retrieve a folded-up brochure from one of his many pockets. "After dropping you off, I'm going here."

  I took a bite of my burger and leaned in to see better in the shitty light. "Oh, wow. That's beautiful." The pictures showed thick forest, a suspension bridge across a narrow canyon, and an impressive waterfall. "Where's this?"

  Ellis gestured toward the river that brought us to this cove. "There's a smaller river a couple miles north. I thought I'd take the tender and get there in half the time it would if I hiked."

  "Tender—I know that word. It's a small boat." If you lived in a coastal town, you picked up on these things. For a Detroit kid, it was something.

  "Very good," he chuckled. "Yes, there's a tender in the storage under that sunbed." He nodded at the home of my discarded T-shirt. "Hopefully, I'll bring back dinner at the end of the day."

  I nodded. So he was going fishing on a tiny motorboat. Upriver. Mountains and forest everywhere, and little springs with waterfalls for swimming. Why the hell was I feeling jealous? Because it sounded fun. It would be during the day.

  "You'll have fun." I smiled.

  The smile faltered as it dawned on me how much I felt like staying. Fuck the yacht and the water and the hiking; I wanted Ellis's company. I liked being around him. There was a warmth to him that I wanted to soak up. At the same time, I wanted to ease his aches. There were constant traces of sadness and weariness in his eyes. I hated that part.

  Ellis shifted a little on the couch. "I don't suppose I can convince you to stay an extra day?" At that, my heart rate picked up. "Problem is, I wouldn't be able to get you back in time for work on Monday—"

  "That's fine," I said quickly. 'Cause, fuck yes, this was happening. "I can call in sick. I'm pretty tight with the boss." This meant another night on a boat, and I didn’t even care. "Does that mean we can do the waterfall swimming tomorrow?"

  "Sure." For one moment, the sadness was gone from his eyes.

  It flooded me with contentment and stupid longing.

  "I thought you wanted to be alone," I said, side-eyeing him.

  "So did I."

  *

  The next morning, I faced a big dilemma about what to wear—until Ellis introduced me to the Starboard Crew Cabin. It was a small extra space designed to be whatever you needed. There was a bed you could flip down from the wall. There was a utility closet, and there was a goddamn washing machine. I could wash my Friday night clothes.

  "I packed to stay away for a month, so there's my closet, too," he said.

  I ended up borrowing a pair of black trunks and a long-sleeved army-green tee.

  When I reemerged from my bedroom after changing clothes, he was waiting in the kitchen.

  "How did you sleep last night?" he asked.

  "Let's not talk about it, okay?" I tightened the drawstrings of the trunks. Ellis was a size or two larger than me. Maybe three. "By the way, I'm making breakfast."

  "Have at it." He stepped aside with a faint smirk playing on his lips. "You weren't attacked by any sea monsters?"

  Oh, you.

  It was quite possible I'd slept like a freaking baby, but he didn’t need to know that. I focused on breakfast instead. "Don't you have something to do?" I pulled a carton of eggs and some other shit from the fridge. "Maybe get the little raft out of the big one?"

  "We're going to Port Renfrew first," he replied. "One of the battery chargers is acting up."

  I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I measured what I needed for the pancakes. "Every cabin has a charger." One of the few things I'd noticed. It'd be a travesty if my phone died.

  "Ah, for the boat—not a phone charger."

  Right. Duh.

  "So we'll be parked there for the day while we're out?" I questioned. "Or, um, docked. Whatever."

  His mouth twitched, and he nodded once.

  All right, then.

  "But I guess I can start driving if you're making breakfast." He pushed off the wall he'd been leaning against. "Let me know if you need any help."

  Hell no. He'd done too much for me already. Besides, a breakfast tasted better if it was a surprise, and he hadn't tried my main act.

  We were only an hour or so outside of Port Renfrew, and in that time, I prepared everything for a quick breakfast as well as food to bring on our outing today. A couple rolls were getting stale on the counter, so I sliced them thin and threw them in a pan with butter and cheddar.

  I added some extra salt to the pancake batter after taste-testing the first one.

  Orange wedges, water, pops, a couple apples, and a handful of candy bars went into a cooler. I'd been around boat people enough to know that the cooler would jus
t be lowered into the water when we stopped for a break. The cheesy bread followed once I'd gotten rid of excessive grease and bagged them. There were also some leftovers from lunch yesterday that we could finish off.

  While I waited for the pancakes to cool off, I prepared four sandwich wraps we could eat before we took off.

  Then, magic. My famous pancakes and the toppings.

  *

  Watching Ellis secure the yacht in the Port Renfrew tourist marina was going to become spank-bank material. He radiated masculinity and concentration. Ray-Bans on, another pair of cargo shorts, and a tee that stretched across his chest, the white fabric a contrast to his subtle tan. Goddamn those Hayes men. They didn’t turn lobster red in the sun.

  "Can you open the tender garage, Casey?" He climbed up on the dock with a thick rope. "We should be out of here in ten."

  "Okay." I rose from the sofa and trailed down to the bathing platform. Opening the storage, my eyebrows shot up at the sight of what was inside. Yacht architects needed more recognition. What they did to utilize every nook and cranny was nothing short of amazing.

  The tender looked like one of those inflatable rescue boats. Of course, since this belonged to a man who pissed liquid gold, it had to be fancy. Leather seats for two near the back, and an open surface at the front for two people to stretch out and have a merry time. More than that, there was a fucking jet-ski behind the tender.

  Well, the garage was open. I didn’t wanna make a wrong move, so I returned to the lower deck to grab the cooler. Better safe than sorry, I opened the fridge to grab another couple of pops. I could inhale those suckers.

  I closed the fridge, then frowned when I spotted two receipts stuck under a magnet.

  "Un-fucking-real," I blurted out. Fuel receipts. In the span of twenty-four hours, Ellis had spent nearly a grand on diesel. I couldn’t believe it. Yachts were a menace. And he was going to make a ridiculous detour to take me all the way back and spend that amount again? Guilt slammed into me with enough force to knock the air out of my lungs.

  How would I pay him back? I did all right these days. I could even set some money aside every month, but vacations that were literally a thousand dollars a night were way out of my price range.

  I was going to blame Lincoln for this. Fucking rock stars.

  I left the lower deck, feeling glum, and reached the bottom platform just as Ellis came back. Someone was going to look at the battery charger, he told me.

  "I wish you'd told me how pricey this water castle was in fuel consumption," I muttered. At his look of confusion, I added, "I saw the receipts on the fridge."

  That didn’t make him any less confused. "What about them?"

  "Oh, boy. Never mind." I blew out a breath, understanding now he was one of those people. The saying went, "If you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it," and he was one of those who didn't ask. "Just…let me know if there's anything I can do to pay back—" Shit. My eyes widened. "I didn’t mean for that to sound sexual. Although…it's certainly not off the table."

  He coughed and glared for a second, though he couldn’t hold it. Not when I blasted him with my megawatt, lopsided grin.

  That's when he sighed. "You're something else, Casey Teague."

  Yup. I was complicated, right?

  The tender boat was featherlight in comparison to what I expected, and between Ellis's strength and direction skills and my…being here, we got the little boat in the water in a jiffy.

  It looked like I was gonna poke him with some flirting, after all, because when he had one foot in the tender and the other on the yacht, I couldn’t resist. "Has anyone ever told you how delicious you look with your legs spread?"

  He grabbed the cooler from me. "No, you'd be the first. Thank you for being gentle."

  Sad day for me; he'd figured out my game and didn’t let it ruffle his feathers this time. On the other hand, now I could add witty to the list. I loved witty comebacks.

  "In fact…" He pointed at a duffel on the platform, which I handed over. "I barely felt anything."

  "What the—" I stared at him, incredulous. Did he really go there? Oh, he did. That sexy, sly son of a bitch. "You actually… Wow."

  He laughed, and the rich, heartfelt sound was fucking gorgeous. He needed to laugh more often.

  "Just get in the damn boat, Casey."

  Yes, sir.

  *

  Ellis liked to go fast.

  Fuck it, so did I. If this little boat capsized, I wouldn’t worry about getting a Titanic over me. I'd just swim to the closest shore, which in this case was a minute or two away on either side. The seats were comfortable, the excitement in my stomach was constant, and the sun was shining. It was the beginning of an awesome day.

  I'd finished eating, so I offered to take over. He'd only had a couple bites of his wrap.

  "Are you sure?" he asked over the wind. "I'd like to get there sometime today."

  "Oh, you're real funny." I scowled as he grinned.

  It was a beautiful grin. Someone's spirits were getting higher.

  He did eventually concede, and it was time for me to reclaim some of my coolness. I could go fast as hell, dammit. When he rose from his seat, I slid into the one he left, and he pulled the cooler closer to get his food.

  To be a dick, I reached over and stole his shades. If I'd known I was going to get kidnapped, I would've brought my own.

  "You don't ask first?" He raised a brow.

  "You didn't ask before you kidnapped me," I pointed out.

  The rumbling of the motor cut him off before he could argue, and then I stepped on it. I absolutely loved to drive, and this almost topped being in a car. Flying over the bumpy water turned it into a ride that belonged in an amusement park.

  "I didn’t think you had it in you," he said with a smirk.

  I flashed him a lazy smile and a wink, then slid on his shades.

  Chapter 8

  I hissed at the cold, gently rubbing the sunscreen across my neck. Clutching the bottle, I stepped over to the front of the boat and sat down on the floor. Here, I could stretch out my legs and, most of all, not have the sun grilling my neck.

  "How are you feeling?" Ellis returned to the driver's seat and eyed me in concern.

  "Crispy." I blamed the fast driving. Slicing through the air at high speed meant I didn’t feel the onslaught of the sun. Then when we took a break and I twisted my body to unpack our lunch—holy fuck. I sure felt it now. "Sometimes, I think I was made to be a pasty gamer who lives permanently in a basement."

  Ellis's mouth twisted up. "There's still time."

  "I don't like gaming." So I was shit out of luck.

  He winced. "Lost cause, then."

  I liked this new development. We were touching on bantering territory. My favorite.

  Removing my shirt, I hung it around my neck to give it a shadowed break—a well-deserved one. "When will we be at the waterfall, you think?" I asked, pouring more lotion in my hand. No need for the rest of me to get burned, so I began applying the sunscreen on my chest, abs, and arms. They were pretty abs. I'd worked hard for them.

  Ellis cleared his throat and stared into the forest. "Shouldn’t be long. According to the map, it was a couple miles past the suspension bridge."

  We just drove under that. I would've missed it if Ellis hadn't pointed it out. It was high up.

  He told me if we had time, we should hike up there and cross the bridge. I laughed at the sexy lunatic. If I didn’t like deep waters, I sure as fuck didn't like dangling above air on a bridge made of rope and rickety boards. Crazy talk.

  Done with the lotion, I sighed contentedly and leaned back against the edge of the tender. "You can drive. I think I've found my sweet spot."

  He let out a chuckle. "I thought the point of this break was lunch."

  "Oh, right." I sat up straight again and reached for the cooler. "Are you ready to taste my magic, Skipper?"

  I realized how dirty that sounded.

  So did he, and he sno
rted and shook his head. "I know how this works. I say yes, you drop a pun filled with innuendo. I say no, I don’t get lunch."

  "Win-win for me," I laughed. I dug around the cooler and found the box I was looking for. "Okay, so these are my awesome pancake sandwiches. We've got cream cheese, sundried tomatoes, and bacon as crispy as I am. And we've got sausage, eggs, and mushrooms in the other. Which one do you want to start with?"

  "Good lord in heaven," he muttered. "Am I having a side of diabetes with that?"

  "Possibly two."

  "Bacon, please."

  "Can't go wrong with bacon." I tossed him a wrapped sandwich and told him there were enough to get some clogged arteries, too.

  He unwrapped it carefully and gave it a sniff before he tried it.

  Then everything shot straight to hell. He closed his eyes and let out a low, gruff groan, and I zoned out for a while. That sound… I shuddered violently and swallowed dryly. I'd need to hear that sound again.

  "Fuck, Casey."

  I gusted out a long breath and adjusted my trunks.

  *

  I did get to hear that sound again. Ellis devoured two-and-a-half pancake sandwiches and didn't hold back any sounds of pleasure, so by the time we arrived at the waterfall, I was strung tight and in serious need of a cold shower. I had no funny comeback to anything. Whenever I as much as glanced at him, my only thought was to pounce.

  Damn them straight men.

  Once Ellis steered us to the rocks, I was out of the boat, and I helped him secure it before I looked up at the waterfall. It offered a break from my other musings. The fall was beautiful—smaller than I expected. I estimated it was about thirty feet high, and with the river so narrow and forest so close, the area looked like a well-hidden secret.

  Leaving the boat behind, we climbed up the ten or so feet of rocks and boulders to get to the waterfall's pool. A smile played on my lips, because despite my thoughts on overnight adventures in the wilderness with beasts and otherworldly savages, I absolutely loved nature. It was my biggest inspiration at work. I always wanted gardens and backyards to be functioning, much like nature. We lived on a planet full of natural resources. Everything had a purpose and a job. Perfect harmony.