By Sea

by Carly Fall

  Katie stepped forward with a brown box lined in black velvet. Rayna laid her phone in it, and Margarita did the same.

  “She also has a laptop,” Rayna said.

  “Rayna!” Margarita screeched, and Rayna ignored her.

  Brody nodded. “Thanks for letting us know. After we’re done here, Katie will collect it. We’ll keep everything in a locked cabinet.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Margarita pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. “This is just ridiculous.”

  “No, it’s not,” Rayna countered. “It’s about keeping you safe.”

  “Lastly, I highly recommend you take a seasickness pill every morning,” Brody continued, also ignoring Margarita. “We supply them, and they’re kept in that basket right over there.” Brody pointed to a brown basket sitting on the counter. “If you don’t have any questions, that’s about it. We’re here to make sure your stay with us is enjoyable, but also to keep you safe. We’ll be leaving in just a few minutes.”

  Brody walked from the room, Jason right behind him. The rest of the crew scurried about, pulling plants from their shelves and securing them to the floor.

  “Why are you doing that?” Rayna asked Heidi, who ignored her.

  Katie turned to her and smiled. “We need to have everything on the floor before we set sail so that nothing falls and breaks if we run into choppy waters.”

  Rayna nodded and watched them for another moment, then turned to Margarita. “Let’s take a look around, then we’ll unpack,” Rayna said, standing and stretching. Margarita hadn’t been the only one who had a trying day, and frankly, a Rum Punch and some sun sounded good to her as well, but first, she wanted to get a good layout of the boat.

  “I think the crew should unpack my bags,” Margarita sulked.

  Rayna turned to her. “Quit acting like such a brat, Margarita. You’re perfectly capable of unpacking your own suitcase.”

  “I know, but this is a yacht. We are in the lap of luxury. Someone should wait on us at all times.”

  Rayna rolled her eyes, “Come on, Princess. Let’s go.”

  As the engine came to life, Rayna checked out Margarita’s stateroom, which was gorgeous. The big white bed definitely looked inviting, as did the shower. Rayna had never seen a shower stall with five separate shower fixtures: one above and four that sprayed water directly out of the wall. Katie came in and collected Margarita’s laptop.

  They went upstairs to the Sky Lounge and heard Jason and Brody talking in low tones on the Bridge. Rayna opened the sliding glass door leading to the gleaming, white deck that housed the jet skis and other water toys, and turned to the stairway to her left. When they reached the top of the yacht, Margarita finally smiled.

  “This is beautiful,” she murmured.

  “Yes, it is,” Rayna agreed.

  The big, blue hot tub stood on the bow, empty. Rayna guessed they kept it dry for travel so water didn’t slosh out if they hit choppy waters. On each side of the hot tub and across the back of the deck were raised, large white cushions and pillows perfect for lounging in the sun.

  The yacht rumbled beneath them as Rayna inhaled the warm, salty air, and they left the dock. Seabirds flew next to the boat as they passed other yachts, fishing boats and sailboats while pulling out of the St Thomas Marina. Margarita and Rayna watched in silence as the marina faded away in the distance, and glorious islands of green foliage appeared before them, the bright blue ocean kissing their shores.

  “I think it’s bikini time!” Margarita exclaimed as she headed for the stairs.

  Rayna laughed, following her sister, completely agreeing with her for the first time that day.

  Chapter 22

  “Good God, look at that ass,” Jason mumbled as he stared at the security camera feed. Brody was looking at an ass, but he didn’t think it was the same one Jason had his eye on.

  “Man, that thing is like a small mountain,” Jason said.

  Nope, definitely not the same one Brody was checking out.

  Brody glanced ahead and made sure he wasn’t about to run over a sailboat or run ashore on an island, and then turned his attention back to the screen at the two sisters lying on their stomachs sipping Rum Punch on the top deck, their faces away from the camera, but he could see them in profile.

  Margarita’s ass definitely looked like a small mountain, and it was nice. However, it didn’t hold a candle to Rayna’s tight, athletic butt tapering down into long, taunt legs.

  “Can you imagine getting your hands on that one?” Jason asked. “That’s so much more than a handful.”

  Yes, it was, but Rayna’s cheeks looked like they’d fit in the palms of his hands just fine.

  He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “Knock it off, Jason. They’re our clients, not women to ogle.”

  “I’m not ogling,” Jason argued, never taking his eyes from the screen. “I’m appreciating. There’s a difference.”

  Brody rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Get your ass up and down to the engine room and check that pump for me.”

  Jason sighed, but did as he was told.

  Finally alone, Brody opened up the side window and inhaled the fresh air, feeling invigorated. He loved this job, and he would do anything to protect himself and his livelihood.

  He checked out the women on his screen, trying hard to ignore their butts. Margarita laughed at something Rayna said, and the smile on Rayna’s face indicated she was having a good time with her sister. Those two were so different; he didn’t understand how they were related.

  Margarita seemed to be an entitled, spoiled brat. However, according to Jason, she earned her own millions through her music, but that still didn’t give someone the right to act like a complete and utter bitch. Yes, she was gorgeous, but as far as Brody was concerned, the second she opened her mouth, she lost about ninety percent of her beauty. No one liked a pretty a face with an ugly, entitled mouth. Rayna, on the other hand, seemed to be quiet and unassuming, except when she wanted answers. As he stared at Margarita and Rayna on the screen, they continued to laugh and talk. Not only were they vastly different on a physical level, but their personalities seemed to be on the opposite ends of the spectrum as well.

  His phone call with Joe had eased his worries about Rayna. Joe had been monitoring the government, and although they looked for Brody, there wasn’t any indication they had found him. If Joe were to be trusted, which he was, it was just a huge, strange coincidence that Rayna ended up on the yacht.

  Katie delivered another round of Rum Punches to them, and Margarita said something to Katie. Whatever it was, Rayna’s hung her head while shaking it back and forth. Katie laughed, and Brody could tell Rayna giggled as well from the quiver in her shoulders.

  Brody had no worries about protecting Margarita. Her threat was a crazed fan, and a crazed fan couldn’t have followed her to the Virgin Islands. The guy was a psychopath, probably some thirty-something year old living in his parent’s basement jacking off Margarita’s videos all day long. Besides, how would he even know she was here?

  Glancing at the ocean ahead, he tried to fully trust Rayna, but still found it a little difficult. He did, however, have full faith in Joe, and if Joe said everything was cool, he had to believe him. He reminded himself if the government wanted him, they had ample opportunity at the dock.

  He hadn’t been lying when he told Rayna about the crew and its abilities. However, he hadn’t told her of the stash of weapons underneath the plush, white leather couches in the Main Salon, nor had he told her of the small room in the crew’s quarters holding another set of guns. Then there was the small arsenal under the bench in the Bridge he had also failed to mention. She had no idea about the true potential of the boat or its crew.

  As he looked back at the screen again, Margarita was on her knees pulling the bikini string at her back and then laid back down, tossing her top to the side. He didn’t see anything, but her girls were definitely floating free in the breeze. Rayna laughed again, and he waited
for her to do the same.

  She never did, and Brody was happy Jason wasn’t around to see Margarita’s disrobing. The poor guy may have broken down in tears of ‘appreciation.’

  He decided his main goal was to keep Ms. Hot CIA Agent at arms’ length this trip. He would sail the sisters around, show them the sights of the Virgin Islands, and when Joe Smith called and told him everything was taken care of, he’d schlep them back to St Thomas and dump them at the dock. After that, he’d move on to his next assignment.

  Deep down, though, he couldn’t ignore the feeling that it wasn’t going to quite work out that way.

  Chapter 23

  As Rayna and Margarita sat down to dinner at the dining room table in the Main Salon, Rayna giggled again, not remembering the last time she’d been this tipsy, even though she’d only had two rounds of Rum Punch.

  She stared out the windows as the yacht gently rocked back and forth. Brody had anchored in a place called Magens Bay, and it was beautiful. To the bow of the boat, light greenish-blue water lapped at a white sandy beach. On each side of them, stood mountains of green trees with houses interspersed among them. To the back of the boat was Turtle Island, an uninhabited rock that really did look like the outline of a turtle. The sun was setting, casting the sky in gorgeous pinks and oranges.

  She realized for the first time since she started at the CIA, she was relaxed. The self-imposed pressure to succeed had tied her up in knots and drained her. As her body loosened, she seemed to become more and more tired.

  Margarita smiled at her, and Rayna noticed her droopy eyes, indicating Margarita was feeling the rum as well.

  “Danny has prepared filet mignon with scalloped potatoes in a Béarnaise sauce, and for dessert you’re having strawberry shortcake,” Heidi announced.

  “I can see we’re going to put on a few pounds this week,” Rayna grumbled.

  “Don’t worry, Ray-Ray!” Margarita exclaimed. “You’re far too skinny anyway!”

  Jason and Brody came down the steps from the Bridge, talking in low tones.

  “Jason! Brody! Join us!” Margarita commanded.

  “Uh, no thanks. We have things we need to take care of,” Brody said, brushing past her.

  “But I always like to dine with fine men,” Margarita complained. “Please join us? Don’t you think they should, Ray-Ray?”

  Jason glanced at Brody, and Rayna could see the pleading in his eyes. If she wasn’t mistaken, Jason had a thing for Margarita, which was a cause for concern. Margarita went through men faster than crap through a goose. She’d take him, use him, and leave him wondering what the hell just happened. Jason seemed like a nice guy, and she’d hate to see him get crushed by the likes of her sister.

  “It’s not part of the protocol on a yacht,” Brody said.

  Margarita shrugged. “This isn’t a normal voyage, Captain,” she answered, her voice dripping with sticky sweetness as she batted her eyelashes.

  Brody glanced over at Rayna, and she nodded. She didn’t care one way or the other whether the two men joined them for dinner. It seemed the heated words between her and Brody had lessened a little, and maybe he finally trusted her that her being on the boat had nothing to do with him. She was here for her sister.

  “Well, I guess that would be okay,” Brody said as Jason grinned. “Are you okay with it, Katie?”

  “Sure! Let me set up a couple other place settings!” Katie said.

  A moment later, two table settings were laid out; Jason took a seat next to Margarita, while Brody sat next to Rayna.

  “Ray-Ray?” he teased under his breath. “Isn’t that cute.”

  Rayna wanted to smack him as she hated her sister’s nickname, but then Margarita said, “So Brody, tell me about yourself.”

  Rayna picked at her salad as she listened to him talk, her curiosity piqued. A son of a fisherman and a housewife, he’d been an only child. She studied his strong jaw and chiseled cheekbones with a dark five o’clock shadow. His black-as-night hair gleamed in the overhead lamplight, and soft curls kissed the nape of his neck. Once again, she couldn’t deny the man was gorgeous, and a shiver went down her spine as goose bumps pricked her arms.

  Allowing her gaze to travel over his thick shoulders covered in the white button down crew shirt, she studied his strong arms and hands, and noticed the way he delicately held the fork and knife as he cut a tomato into small pieces. He chewed with his mouth closed and wiped his lips with the napkin on his lap. His mom had obviously hammered good manners into him as a child, and they hadn’t been lost in the dust of Afghanistan or deep jungles of Guatemala.

  “We share the same father, but different mothers,” Margarita was saying when Rayna tuned back into the conversation. She shifted in her seat, hoping that Margarita would leave out the part about what exactly their father did for a living. “I live in Mexico, and Rayna resides in Virginia.”

  Brody looked over at Rayna. “How’s work been going?” he asked.

  Rayna shrugged. “Fine.”

  “No great stories of espionage and intrigue?”

  She glanced over at him, his dark eyes boring into her, bringing on not only another round of goose bumps, but a jolt of warmth to her belly. She hated that this man who had been so rude to her caused such a visceral reaction within her.

  “No,” she said.

  “Maybe when you get back home,” he murmured.

  Rayna cleared her throat, not bothering to tell him she was a paper-pusher. “Maybe.”

  As the main course was served, Rayna tried to talk herself out of the desire she felt for Brody. It had been there the first time she’d met him in his apartment, but it had been quickly extinguished by his brash behavior. Now, as he as next to her with his perfect manners, his sexy smile, and her nose tingling with the faint smell of his aftershave, it bloomed. This wasn’t the time or place to spark up a romance, or even indulge in sex. Her sister’s life was in danger. She needed to focus on that, not the sudden needs of her long-ignored libido.

  Margarita peppered Jason with questions, and the guy stammered and blushed his way through the answers as Margarita laughed and flirted with him. By the time dessert was served, Rayna decided she needed to get up from the table and move around, her inner pep talk about no sex failing miserably. Brody’s closeness made her extremely uncomfortable. She was here on a professional capacity, and the salacious thoughts going through her mind needed to stop.

  “Excuse me, please,” she said, setting her napkin on the table.

  “Is everything okay?” Katie asked, obviously concerned. “Can I save the dessert so you can have it later?”

  Rayna shook her head. “No thank you, everything was delicious. I’d love a glass of Merlot, though.”

  Katie nodded, and Rayna felt the heat of Brody’s gaze on her. She turned and headed for the bow of the boat. “I’ll be out here, Katie!” she called, the need to put space between her and Brody absolutely crucial.

  Chapter 24

  Brody watched Rayna flee as if her ass was on fire. The sway of her hips under her light blue cover-up caught his eye, reminding him of that perfect ass he’d been admiring earlier.

  Katie stood at the bar and opened a bottle of Merlot. Brody got to his feet and set his napkin down on the table. “I’ll take it out to her, Katie,” he murmured.

  “Sure. Thanks, Brody. I’ll get everything cleaned up in here.”

  Brody took the glass and glanced over at Jason and Margarita, who were still talking. Well, Jason looked like a puppy waiting to be pet by its master, and Margarita gazed at him like she wanted to eat him for dessert. Brody had the distinct feeling Margarita was far more than Jason could handle.

  He pushed open the door leading to the bow, the moon coming up over St. Thomas as the sun set behind him. Rayna stood at the side of the boat, her arms resting on the teak railing.

  “Here you go,” he said as he approached.

  She turned to him, startled. “I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I was expecting Kati
e.”

  “She had things she needed to get done, so I volunteered to bring it out to you.”

  Rayna took the glass and gave him a small smile. “Thank you,” she murmured, turning back to the bay. Brody stood next to her, leaning his arms on the railing, leaving just a few inches between them.

  “This is beautiful,” she said, taking a sip of wine.

  Brody studied her in the moonlight. He saw a little bit of Margarita in her features, but he wouldn’t know they were related unless he’d been told so. While Margarita’s features were strong and hard—just like her personality— Rayna’s were softer, more feminine. She tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, and Brody had the urge to take the lobe into his mouth and suckle it. “Yes, you’re right,” he said, hearing the gravel in his voice. “It is beautiful.”

  She glanced over at him her grey eyes glimmering in the deck light. “I take it you talked to your boss and now trust me that me being here is all a coincidence,” she said.

  Brody sighed and looked out over the dark water. “I guess I have to,” he said, “because nothing else makes sense. If the government wanted me back, they would have taken me at the dock. There’s no reason for them to send you here to go cruising on a yacht. Besides that, I do trust my boss. It’s after this trip I worry about.”

  “Why?”

  Brody shrugged. “Who’s to say that you won’t go running to your supervisor with information on where I am? What if there is some type of reward on my head, and you can cash in? Turning in a fugitive would definitely help you move up the ladder, right?”

  “Brody, I would never do that,” Rayna said, placing her hand on his arm. “You have my word that your location is safe with me.”

  He stared at her for a long time, and she never looked away. He’d learned that people who lied usually needed to break eye contact. Those who could hold the stare while telling a lie usually gave their deception away with something else, like a tapping foot or quivering lip. As she looked up at him, he knew he had to listen to his gut, and it was telling him she told the truth.