by DRAYER, GINA
Peter shot him a mock salute. “Aye, aye, captain. I’ll tell the girls the plan.”
As Peter headed back to the stern of the boat, Simon unconsciously searched out Julia. She was crouched by the railing, snapping pictures of Megan leaning against the pushpit. Megan shoved a glass of wine in Peter’s hand and threw an arm around him and posed for a few more shots. Good thing Simon didn’t need any help with the sail.
It only took twenty minutes for Simon to find a secluded cove, lower the sails, and set the anchor, but by the time he joined the rest of the group, Megan and Peter were already on the second bottle and Julia was gone.
“About time you joined us,” Megan said, pouring him a glass.
“I think I’d better pass. Someone has to stay sober enough to get us home.” The boat rocked against the wind, and he frowned. The weather was moving in faster than he'd expected. Simon looked around. Julia’s camera bag was still on the deck, but she was nowhere to be found. “You didn’t let your friend fall overboard, did you?”
“She’s below, making food,” Megan said and grabbed the railing to steady herself. “It’s getting a little rough out here. Maybe we should head back.”
“We’ve got a few hours before it gets bad,” Simon said. “But I think you’re right. I’ll go give Julia the heads-up.”
He headed down to the cabin, and heard a soft hum coming from below. He smiled, remembering her in the kitchen, singing with abandon. His thoughts immediately turned carnal as he recalled that same abandon last night when she was in his arms. Simon pushed away the images. That wasn’t the reason he’d come down here.
He cleared his throat.
She jumped and swung around, startled. An apple fell off the narrow counter and rolled across the floor to come to rest at his feet.
“You’ve got to stop sneaking up on me,” she said.
Simon leaned down and snatched the apple off the floor. “I wasn’t sneaking.” He presented the apple to her and smiled. "You were distracted. Do you often get lost in your own little world?”
Julia blushed and looked away. Perhaps she was thinking about last night. Simon knew he was.
“I’m almost done in here. I’ll be up in a few minutes with the food,” she said, picking up the knife and chopping the apples into wedges. “I don’t really need any help.”
“I’m beginning to get that impression, but you know some things work better when you have some help,” Simon said, his voice low. He took another step into the small galley and was right behind her now. “I wanted to talk to you about last night.”
Her hands stilled, and she held the knife in a death grip. “I’m sorry. You’re more right than you know. I tend to get caught up in the moment and I forget myself."
“Julia, I’m not complaining. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
He was inches away from her now and he had to fight the urge to touch her. Simon knew that would be the wrong thing to do. He wanted her, but she needed to be the one to come to him.
“I know you never thought you’d see me again after that night, but I have to be honest. I’m glad we’ve met again.” He watched her, looking for any signs that she might be receptive to what he was about to say, but she wouldn’t look at him. “I know we agreed to pretend like that night never happened, but I can’t.”
Her breathing was slow and even. She was still facing away and Simon couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“I’m sorry,” she said on a long exhale. “I just can't. Especially knowing who you are.”
“Why should that matter?” He ran his hand up her arm, leaving a trail of gooseflesh in his wake. She wanted this as much as he did. Her response to him said as much. “If this is about Megan, I’ll talk with her.”
She chuckled and shook her head, still refusing to turn around. “Megan’s only part of the problem.” Julia raked the knife across the cutting board, digging the tip into a slice of apple. She raised the speared fruit to eye level and examined it. “Do you know why I asked you back to my room that night? It was because you seemed different than all the other stuffed shirts in that bar. You didn’t have that hungry look in your eye that some men have when they'll do anything to get ahead. Not only were you not like them, but you could see it too. Making fun of all those pharmacy people. That, honestly, was the most fun I’d had in months. Maybe years. You didn’t seem to belong with them and that’s the real reason why I wanted you.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“I shouldn’t have asked you up to my room.”
Simon had somehow lost control of the conversation and he wasn’t sure he liked where it was heading. Fuck. Maybe bringing up that night had been a mistake. “There's nothing wrong with what we did. As a matter of fact it was pretty fucking amazing.”
“But it wasn’t real. We were both playing a part. You were someone else. I was someone else.” She flicked the apple off the edge of the knife. "It was amazing and that’s how I’d like to leave it.”
“No. That’s not good enough.” He touched her shoulder to turn her around. He had to look at her. He needed to see those expressive eyes of hers. But just as she started to turn around, the boat lurched hard to one side and she lost her footing. Julia crashed against the wall and collapsed to the floor.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” She clutched her hand against her chest and a bright red stain soaked into her sun dress.
Simon flew to his knees, trying to asses her injuries. Blood was spreading in a wide circle from her chest and Simon was panicking. “What happened? Where are you bleeding?”
She sucked in a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s just my hand. I cut it when I fell. Tell me how bad it is. I can’t……I just can’t look.”
She held the injured hand clenched tight into a fist. Blood dripped in a steady stream onto the floor, forming a small puddle. Even without looking, Simon knew it was a serious cut.
He grabbed a clean towel out of one of the drawers and slowly pried her fingers open. There was a four-inch gash across the meaty part of her palm. Simon dabbed it gently with the towel, causing Julia to hiss in pain. Fat tears escaped her closed eyes and she took deep breaths while he examined the cut more closely. It was deep enough that she was going to need stitches.
“I’m sorry.” Simon leaned in and kissed her temple. He covered the wound with the towel and folded her fingers back around it. "Apply pressure to help with the bleeding, but I’m afraid we’re going to have to get you to the emergency room.”
A soft whimper came from her, and her breath sped up. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Simon grabbed the bowl the apples were in and dumped them into the sink. “Here. Take some deep breaths. It’s not that bad. I promise. You’ll be right as rain by tonight."
She clutched the bowl with her good hand and buried her head in it. She was still breathing too fast, and Simon was worried she might pass out.
“Julia, I need to get the boat back to the house.” He smoothed her hair down and kissed the top of her head. He was no good at his. “Stay right here and I'll get Megan.”
He knew she wasn’t in any real danger, but her panic was contagious. He rushed to retrieve Megan and was back at her side within minutes. Megan helped Julia up off the floor and moved her back to the sleeping bunk.
“It’s going to be okay, sweetie. Just lie down. Simon will get us back home and we’ll see how your hand is when we get there. We might not need to go to the hospital. I think I have a Xanax in my purse. I’ll get it for you.”
Julia shook her head. “I’m fine. I’ll be okay. I just overreacted.” She took a deep breath and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She attempted a weak smile but the panic was still raw in her eyes. “Simon’s right. I need to have the cut looked at. By the time we get back to the house, I’ll be ready to go. Could you get my gear together? I left everything out on the deck.” She pointed to the hand. “I don’t want to get blood on my camera."
“Sure, babe,” Megan
said and squeezed Julia’s shoulder. “I'll take care of it.”
Megan disappeared down the hall, leaving Simon and Julia alone. She looked small and vulnerable sitting on the bunk with the bloody towel clutched against the stained top of her dress. Simon wanted gather her up in his arms and ease away her fears, but he had to get them home. Unfortunately that meant he had to go back on deck because Simon didn’t think Peter could manage the boat after all the wine he’d had.
“We should be back to the house in about an hour. I’ll have Peter come down and sit with you, if you’d like.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m going to take Megan’s advice and lie down. Just get us home.” Julia didn’t wait for him to respond. She crawled into the bunk and squeezed her eyes shut, breathing slow, shallow breaths.
Sure she wasn’t going to panic again, Simon left her and went after his sister. “What the hell was that about?”
“Julia doesn’t do hospitals. She almost died in an accident as a teenager. Her father did die and her mother…” Megan looked up from the camera bag and sighed. "Her mother never recovered.”
“Christ. I didn’t know.” How would he? But it still didn’t stop him from feeling guilty for causing her panic attack. He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated and worried. “When you're done, go down and sit with her. I think she could use the company.”
Simon and Peter set the sails and he managed to get them back to the house in less than forty minutes. After securing the boat, Simon went to help Julia to the house, but by the time he reached her, she was already stepping onto the dock. Still shaky, she almost fell.
Screw that. Simon swooped her up into his arms.
“I’m perfectly capable of walking. I’m not crippled. It was my hand, not my legs that got hurt.”
Simon ignored her protest and started up the stairs to the house.
“Really Simon. I was just a little unsteady getting off the boat. I can take the stairs.”
“I’ve got you.” He tightened his grip, unable to suppress his baser instinct to protect. Something about having her in his arms turned him into a caveman.
Megan already had her keys and purse when they reached the house. He pushed past her to the front door.
“I don’t think so, sis. There’s no way I’m letting you behind the wheel after the amount of wine you drank.”
“I’m fine. That was over an hour ago,” Megan tried to argue.
Simon turned and shot daggers at his sister. “No. I’m going to take her and that’s final.”
“Then I’m coming.”
“There’s not any reason for you to come,” he argued.
“Julia needs someone there with her,” Megan said, heading toward the door.
“I’ll be there. You should stay home.” Simon pushed past her, still holding Julia in his arms.
“Enough. Stop it, both of you,” Julia said with a huff. “You’d think I was dying. Megan, please stay here. I just need a few stitches and Simon can drive me. All this drama is just making it worse. I don’t want this to be a big issue.” Megan tried to argue, but Julia shook her head. “I appreciate your support, but having you there will make it harder for me.” She turned and looked up to Simon, still frowning. “Please put me down. I’m sorry I freaked out on the boat, but I’m better now. I don’t need you to carry me.”
Simon’s grip tightened. He didn’t want to let her go, but he relented and grudgingly set her back on her feet. After assuring himself she wasn’t going to hit the floor, he pulled the car around and they were on their way to the small hospital in the next town over.
She had asked him to stay through the whole thing. As the nurse took her history, he’d learned about the extent of her injuries from the accident. She’d had rods inserted in her back to stabilize a fracture. In addition, she broke her clavicle and left femur. After hearing the laundry list of procedures she’d undergone, he could understand her panic.
When Megan told him about her parents, he imagined a scared fourteen-year-old Julia alone in the hospital. Her father had died and her mom was fighting for her life. All that on top of not knowing if she’d ever walk again. Christ, just listening to her recount the injuries made him physically ill. But despite the panic that he clearly saw on her face, Julia joked and teased the hospital staff.
Four hours and twelve stitches later, she made it through like a trouper. They had just made it out the doors when Julia rushed to the trash can and puked. He pulled back her hair and smoothed a hand down her back, trying to lend support, but she pushed him away.
“Please just get the car. I need to get out of here,” she said between waves of retching.
He didn’t want to leave her alone, but knew getting her back home would be the best thing right now. It was pouring rain and Simon was soaked by the time he made it to the car. This wasn’t how he’d expected the day to end.
Chapter Nine
Modern Girl Tip #7: Wrap It Up—You should always, always practice safer sex when casually screwing; especially so with someone you’ve just met or don't know very well.
Emotionally drained from the trip to the ER, Julia just stared blankly out the window, watching the rain come down in sheets. They hadn’t spoken since leaving the hospital. She didn’t have the energy to put on a brave face any longer. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t as if she could make the situation with Simon any worse.
At least he would be leaving tomorrow, and Julia could put this whole weekend behind her. There were flashing emergency lights ahead, and her heart sped up. Please don’t let it be an accident. Not tonight. She couldn’t take any more reminders of the past.
Simon came to a stop and rolled down his window, letting in the rain.
“The road’s flooded ahead,” a sodden police officer said, leaning into the open window. “You’re going to have to turn back.”
“They were fine just a few hours ago,” Simon said.
“The spring thaw has the water table up. It doesn’t take much rain. You’re going to have to turn around, sir.”
“What about Chapel Road?” Simon asked hopefully.
“That’s closed too. You could try to circle back to Route 32, but I can’t guarantee it will be open when you get there. You can try again in the morning." The officer stepped away from the car and flagged them on.
Wonderful. When things in her life went bad, they went downhill in spectacular fashion.
“What are we going to do if we can’t get back to the house? Do we have to drive all the way back to town?” She couldn’t help the desperation in her voice, but fuck. It was almost six now and all she wanted to do was get something to eat, shower, and crawl into bed.
“Don’t worry. This happens a lot. The road will be clear by morning. There’s a little bed and breakfast not far from here. We can stay there for the night."
Simon was so nonchalant about the whole thing. As though it was just a minor inconvenience, and not that they were stranded for the night. Maybe she shouldn’t worry about it either. Everything was under control. They’d go back to the B&B and check in for the night. As long as there was a bed and running water, she’d be fine. Nothing else could possibly go wrong.
At least that’s what she thought.
“I’m sorry, we have a wedding party booked this weekend. We only have the one room available.” The young desk clerk apologized again. "Holland is not far…”
“I know where Holland is. We just came from the hospital there, and I don’t want to drive all the way back in this weather,” Simon said through clenched teeth.
With a deep sigh he turned and gave her an apologetic look. Julia was shivering in her rain-soaked sun dress and her hand was throbbing now. She smiled back and tried not to look desperate. But hell, at this point she didn’t care if they only had a maintenance closet available, as long as there was a hot shower involved.
“Are you sure you don’t have anything else?” he asked.
“No, sir. I’m sorry. The suite does have a sofa. I could
send in extra blankets and pillows.”
Simon raked his fingers through his damp mop of hair, causing it to spike in several directions, and Julia thought he was going to turn down the room.
There was no way she was going back out in the rain. “We’ll take the room,” Julia said, pulling out a credit card from her wallet.
Simon pushed her hand away before she could hand it to the clerk. “I’ve got this. If I had paid more attention to the weather, we could have stayed in Holland and saved us the headache.”
“If I hadn’t stabbed myself, we wouldn’t be here in the first place.”
Julia shoved her card at the clerk again, but Simon stepped in front of her. She could tell by the determined set of his jaw there would be no arguing the point. Besides, she had bigger worries. The only thing she had with her was the bloodstained, soaking wet sun dress she was wearing. If she were alone, Julia would just wash it out and let it dry overnight. But sharing a room with Simon was going to be awkward enough. She didn’t need to add nakedness into the mix. Especially since all she really wanted to do was strip out of her clothes and curl up next to his strong body with his arms wrapped tight around her.
“Are you okay? You look flushed.” Simon reached over and placed a cool hand against her forehead. “Do you need to sit down?"
“I’m fine,” Julia said too fast.
Crap. Simon sleeping just a few doors away had been torture enough. Now he was going to be in the same room. She wasn’t sure how she was going to make it through the night. She needed a change of clothes, and fast. Turning to the desk clerk, Julia asked, "Do you have a gift shop?”
The woman pointed to a small door next to the desk and Julia left Simon to take care of checking them in. She prayed they had a night shirt or a t-shirt—perhaps a chastity belt?
Luckily, she hit pay dirt. By the time Simon strolled in behind her, she’d just finished with her purchases.
