“Let’s eat,” Nate said, unable to hide the grumbling of his stomach.
They feasted on the food that lined the large table. Nate filled a cup full of the richest smelling coffee Liberty had ever had the pleasure of inhaling and softened it with cream. As Liberty was tucking into her second helping of pancakes she felt the boat rock beneath her. She stood and walked to the stern, peering over the railings as the shore drew further away.
“Is she run on pedal power?” Liberty shouted back to Nate. “She’s almost silent.”
“One of the reasons I love her so much,” Nate replied through a mouthful of watermelon.
Liberty propped up the head of a sun lounger and lay down, watching the cove drift away. A flock of seagulls followed the boat, squawking loudly as they swooped over the tumbling waves.
“That is one reason I don’t love the boat. Probably the only reason,” Nate said, sitting on the sun lounger next to hers and glaring at the birds. “They’re so loud. And greedy. One stole a chip right out of my hand once. Scared the living daylights out of me.”
They squawked louder, as if they were laughing at him. Liberty shut her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face.
“I could stay here all day.”
“As lovely as that is to hear, we have a destination,” he said. “Maybe our next date could be a week on the water?”
Liberty turned on her side and watched Nate watching the ocean.
“Let’s get through this one first, shall we?”
He almost looked disappointed, and she laughed.
“Who am I kidding? I am going to have to come back. I want to try out the jacuzzi but I’ve not got my costume with me.”
Nate turned to look at her, a cheeky glint in his eyes.
“You don’t need your costume,” he said, smiling.
22
Nate felt time slow as he realized what he’d just said. He watched as Liberty’s expression turned wary and she darted a quick look at the edge of the yacht, probably to see if she’d survive the jump.
“I don’t mean go in your birthday suit,” he blurted out, blushing. “That’s not what I meant at all. I’m not that kind of guy. It just came out wrong.”
“Right…” she said. “Actually I was looking to see if there was any land near enough for people to see me naked… but…”
She winked at him and Nate felt a hot flush creep up his neck. He should have kept his mouth shut. He could barely control his excitement. It was all he could do not to bound around the fly-bridge like a cocker spaniel. He forced himself to sit still. Liberty had relaxed back into recline, her eyes shut against the warmth of the sun. Nate couldn’t take his eyes off her as her breathing started to slow. She looked so beautiful—like a goddess who’d just happened to share the day with him on his boat. He felt like the luckiest man alive right now.
The water was so calm, and the boat was so well engineered, it was hard to believe they were moving so fast on the water. Nate knew he’d have to hurry up otherwise they’d be at their destination before Liberty had a chance to try out the jacuzzi. He tore himself away from the view and darted down the stairs and into the room behind the glass doors on the main deck. It was just as elegant as the rest of the boat. The doors opened into a living room with three large sofas around a glass coffee table, carpeted throughout. The window shades were only open slightly, to keep out the sun, so the room felt deliciously cool on Nate’s skin. He walked through the living room and pushed against a wooden wall that held a hidden door.
Behind this was his favorite place in the whole boat. His master suite. It seemed strange that he loved spending time here when the fly-bridge offered so much, but the view was unparalleled. The whole of the front of his suite was glass, tinted so he could see out but the world couldn’t see in—just how he wished it could be all the time. There was a large master bath which he enjoyed lounging in when the sun was setting, watching as it fell below him and under the water. There was no time to linger today though, so he grabbed the bag from the closet and rushed back up to the sun loungers and a waiting Liberty.
“Where’d you go?” she asked sleepily. “I was just telling you the wonders of my staff at Pebble Cove and when I opened my eyes I realized I was talking to myself.”
“Sorry. I had to go and get this.”
He held out a large, well-wrapped box with a pink bow. Liberty laughed and took the box.
“Is it my birthday?”
Nate shook his head.
“No. But it certainly feels like mine.”
She took the present and Nate watched with eager anticipation as she slowly unwrapped it, starting with the bow.
“Are you always this slow at unwrapping gifts?” he asked, skipping from one foot to another.
She looked up at him, tearing the paper off the box so slowly it made him want to grab it from her and rip it open himself.
“Some of us have to savor our present opening because it doesn’t happen very often.” She looked down at the box. “Sometimes I like the element of excitement more than the gift itself.”
She folded the torn paper as she went, placing it delicately on the lounger beside her. He watched as she tucked it under her bottom, so the breeze from the boat wouldn’t blow it away. Little things like this made him more certain of his feelings. He tried to imagine his sisters-in-law caring enough to stop garbage from accidentally blowing into the water, they’d have the present opened and the wrapper thrown over their shoulders before he’d even let go of it. Liberty was something else, she cared about people, she cared about the world she lived in. But she was still savvy enough to look after herself.
At last, the few remaining scraps of paper were off the box and Liberty was lifting the lid. Nate watched her face as she did so, color flushing her cheeks. He wasn’t sure if that was from the sun or the excitement of the gift, and he hoped it was the latter.
“Oh…oh my,” she gasped as she placed the lid on the deck.
Liberty lifted the first item from the top of the box. She held it up to the sun and gasped. It was beautiful. A silken kimono in colors as bright as the sunset over Pebble Cove— oranges, pinks, reds, all swirling together. She held it against her body and saw it was going to be a perfect fit.
Unable to continue being so restrained when she knew there were more clothes inside the box, Liberty draped the kimono over her knee and dived right in. There were bikinis, flip flops, deck shoes, a couple of throw over dresses, and the piece de resistance was shimmering at the bottom of the box. Liberty stood from the lounger and placed the box down so she had both hands. Picking up the dress that had been so lovingly folded, she held it by the straps and lifted it up. It unraveled and draped to the floor, rippling like water.
It was a dress. But not just any dress. The elegance of it took Liberty’s breath away. Simple in design, which made it more beautiful than ever. The small straps led to an effortless one piece, floor length dress, with the tiniest of tapers where it would sit on her waist. But it was the material that had caused Liberty’s reaction. It was gray, almost exactly the same color as her eyes, but with a shimmer that made it look as though it was alive. It was ethereal.
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, sitting back down. “Except, of course, thank you.”
Clothes were strewn around her. She picked up one of the bikinis again and held it up to Nate. It was a navy blue with a white Breton stripe, high waisted bottoms with a belt, and a halter neck top. It was almost as if he’d plucked her Pinterest ‘clothing wish list’ board out of her head and delivered it to her feet, wrapped up in a bow.
“How did you know what size to get?” she asked, her brow furrowed.
Nate chuckled and sat back down on his lounger.
“You can thank Tilly for that. I chose all the clothes, she just told me what size to order.”
“Tilly?”
“Yes, you met her when…” Nate stopped talking. He didn’t even want to think about the disaster that h
ad been the funeral gathering.
“I know, I remember her. She must have a good eye.” Liberty remembered the petite prim brunette. “She told me you were a good guy. Maybe she was right.”
They held each other’s eyes until Liberty smiled and nodded towards the bikini.
“So, where can I get changed?”
She grabbed the kimono and followed Nate as he led her down the stairs and through to the main cabin. It was all getting a bit too much, she felt as though she was in a movie and any minute now a director would yell ‘cut’ and the wonderful scenery around her would be pulled down, revealing Pebble Cove and its broken floorboards and leaky showers.
“Make yourself at home,” Nate said, pulling the door shut as he left her alone in the master suite.
It would probably be frowned upon by all of her family and friends, yet Liberty couldn’t help but snoop. There were books in the nightstand, proper books, and they looked as though they had been well read. The one on the top of the pile had a bookmark shaped like an owl poking its ginormous eyes from the middle of the pages. A tub of hand cream and an eye mask lay on top of the book. Liberty shut the cabinet and moved over to the closet, which was the only other place to snoop as the room was so immaculate. Opening the door, expecting a small closet, Liberty couldn’t believe her eyes when the room opened out into a bathroom that was bigger than the annex she was living in. Probably. A bath sat in the middle of the room, facing the panoramic windows that took up the whole of the bow of the boat. A separate shower stall was to the left, and the sink and toilet to the right, but even the shiny faucets and the perfect tiling couldn’t draw her eyes away from the view over the bath.
It was something else.
The ocean stretched all around her. Bluest of blues. With the sky a perfect hue above. She noticed a small stretch of sand, littered with a few palm trees a long way ahead. Like a perfect fairy tale island to be stranded on. A knock at the bedroom door startled her and she dragged herself away from the view.
Peeking around the door she saw Nate looking at his cellphone, his face a picture of concentration. This view was almost as good as the one from the bathroom. Maybe even better. Her stomach did a little flip as he looked up at her, a smile automatically spreading over his lips.
“You having difficulty?” he laughed.
Liberty realized she hadn’t made any attempt to get changed into the bikini she still gripped tightly in her hand.
“Sorry. I just found the bathroom,” she shrugged apologetically.
“Well in that case, no excuses needed. It’s my favorite place to go and think. I could get lost in there for hours.”
“Me too,” she whispered.
They caught each other’s eyes again, each of them holding the gaze, neither wanting to relinquish.
Both thinking that they could lose a lot of time in there together.
23
Liberty felt the boat slowing.
Until then she had barely even noticed the movement, and the sensation made her turn her head and drop her eyes from Nate’s. This was probably a good thing, as she wasn’t sure being alone with such a wonderful man in such a beautiful surrounding was such a sensible idea. The longer she spent looking into his eyes, the less she was able to resist thinking about them having a future together, and then she’d have no chance of resisting his advances.
Not that he’d tried anything. He was being the perfect gentleman.
Nate moved his head to look past Liberty, through the open bathroom door and out the front of the boat. He squinted and then raised his eyebrows.
“Wow, that went quickly,” he said, walking back into the living area. “We’re nearly at our destination, you’d best stop snooping and get yourself changed.”
Liberty blushed at his words and quickly shut the door to the master suite, running back to the bathroom. She hoped he didn’t have some sort of surveillance equipment installed in here to monitor people doing exactly what she had just been doing, rummaging around his personal belongings. The idea was ludicrous, but that didn’t stop Liberty from feeling a bit awkward as she stripped silently and quickly and pulled on the bikini.
It fit her like a glove, accentuating all the right areas. Pulling the kimono on over her shoulders, she gave a small squeal as she spun to look in the full-length mirror by the bath. The bikini made her look like she’d lost a few pounds and gained them again in just the right places, and with the kimono over the top she felt like a million dollars. No, scrap that. A billion dollars.
She turned the faucet and ran cold water over her hands, running her fingers through her hair to separate her bouncy curls. The boat was almost at a standstill now, bobbing ever so gently in the water. Liberty took one last look in the mirror before heading out of the suite and back up the stairs to where Nate was waiting for her.
The sight of Liberty climbing the stairs was almost too much for Nate. He had to hold his breath to avoid gasping out loud. She was perfection. That bikini made him want to forget all about his plans for the day and just spend the rest of his life right here in this moment. He whistled, expelling the breath he’d held for longer than he’d realized.
“Wow,” he said. “Wow.”
“You picked the clothes well.”
She smiled sweetly at him. Nate thought she looked more confident than she had the first time he’d met her. Her back was straight and her wonderful hair was tucked behind her ears, showing off her exquisite face.
“Is it okay if I just check my phone quickly, make sure there’s nothing from the hospital?” she asked, her brow darkening just for a brief moment.
“Of course,” he nodded. “But I’m not sure you’ll get a signal out here. That’s why we have the satellite radios in control. There aren’t any masts this far out.”
“Oh.” Liberty slapped her forehead with her palm. “Of course. Silly me.”
Nate could see the worry etched in her face, and he understood her pain.
“If you’re really worried, I’m happy to call with the radio for an update.”
He watched as she stared out to sea, rubbing her face with her hands, making her cheeks turn pink. Eventually she answered.
“No, it’s okay. I’m sure everything will be fine for a few hours without me there. He’s in capable hands.”
Nate walked over to her and threw his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close.
“He’ll be okay,” he whispered, hugging her as tight as he could. Her hair smelt like coconuts, yet there was still that afterthought of tarragon. It was comforting Nate as he was comforting Liberty. “He’s a strong man, from everything you’ve told me.”
She wriggled free of his chest with her head so she could look up at him. Nate felt something inside him stir. He unwrapped his arms from around her shoulders and cupped her face. Then, before he even knew what was happening, she’d stepped up on to her tiptoes and kissed him. Her lips felt so soft for the brief moment they touched his.
“Ahem.”
They both spun around to see Tom stood at the top of the stairs.
“Not wanting to interrupt you, but we’ve dropped anchor and your dinghy awaits.”
The captain grinned as the pair of lovebirds blushed from their heads to their toes.
As soon as Tom had disappeared back down the stairs, they both burst out laughing, the tension dissipating. It was just so easy being with her, Nate thought, as he took her hand and led her down to the main deck and the passarelle. A small inflatable dinghy bobbed behind the yacht. Nate held Liberty’s hand as she climbed in, then jumped in behind her, trying not to laugh as she squealed at the rocking boat. He hadn’t been trying to scare her, he knew she was doing amazingly well even getting into the boat knowing that she would never venture into the water. He tried to pick up the oars as gently as he could, shoving the little boat away from the yacht.
“The Leonora?” she asked as he rowed past the hull and the hand painted name on the side.
Nate didn’t say anything,
he concentrated on rowing, powering the craft toward their destination. Liberty leaned to the side ever so carefully so she could watch where they were going.
“Is that…” She looked back at him. Nate smiled at her expression.
“Yep.”
It didn’t take long to cross to the island. Nate began turning the boat and gave one huge surge with the oars. The sand under the dinghy slowed them down and grounded the little boat. Liberty started to stand so Nate rushed up and jumped out of the boat.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll carry you over.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, he just scooped her up, lifted her with ease over the small stretch of water between the boat and the island, and placed her gently back on her feet on the soft sand. He hadn’t wanted her to feel she had no choice over the matter, but he realized by now that she wouldn’t want him to feel inconvenienced by having to lift her. So he got there first and she was safe and secure and hadn’t once had to step in the ocean.
The island looked as though it had been plucked from the pages of a story book and dropped right here off the coast of Little Norwich. White sand rose from aquamarine blue waters, and two perfect palm trees sat in the middle. It was about the same footprint as the yacht, which was bobbing gently on the water waiting for them to return. Nate had been here first thing that morning, he’d set out a hammock, strung between the palm trees, and laid a picnic under the shade. It had been a very early start for him when he’d taken his motor boat out, but the look on Liberty’s face as she took it all in was more than worth the effort.
“Do you bring all your dates here?” she asked him, kicking off her new flip flops and digging her toes into the sand. “Was Leonora your first?”
Nate walked over to the picnic blanket and pulled a bottle of Champagne out of the cooler. He popped the cork and poured two glasses, the bubbles racing to the rim of each glass before stopping just in time. He offered one to Liberty, who took it and sipped carefully.
My Bereaved Billionaire: A Clean Billionaire Romance (My Billionaire A-Z Book 2) Page 11
