by Julie Cannon
“This is not a date, Lowe, and I’m all over this ship by myself all the time. This is no different. Go back inside and enjoy the party.”
Before I left her, I was determined to have one more kiss. I cupped her face in my hands, letting my fingers tangle into her hair. I tipped my head toward her and gently kissed the corners of her mouth. It was sweet, and I almost disregarded her words and whisked her into a dark corner. When I pulled away, we were both breathing heavily.
“This is much more than a date.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Day Sixteen
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
I woke the next morning in anticipation of spending the day with Faith. It was going to be a beautiful day of sun and snorkeling at one of the seven wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef. I hadn’t slept much last night, memories of Faith invading every sense as I walked away from her on the fantail. I’d had to clench my jaw so hard, I thought I’d break a tooth as I put more and more distance between us only because she asked me to. Her lips were as soft as the finest silk, her kiss sweeter than honey, but it held the promise of much, much more. Faith had piqued my interest unlike anyone had in a long time, if ever.
I pulled my tank top over my head, not even bothering to check if it messed up my hair. I rarely looked in a mirror, and when I did, it was never to fuss with my hair. Cutting it this short was one of the most liberating things I’d ever done. Sometimes I thought I did it because it was completely against the wishes of my mother and the disdain of Victoria, but I’d grown used to it and really liked it. More heads turned now than ever before, which was also quite okay with me.
I made my bed, even though I didn’t have to. Felice would be in later today to straighten up. Other than JulieAnn, who came in once a month for heavy cleaning at my house, I didn’t have anyone to clean up after me. Though my parents thought it was beneath them to perform such a menial chore, I didn’t.
During my last visit, Felice had fussed at me several times, telling me that making my bed was her job. Her argument didn’t sway me then, and it didn’t now, so I plumped the accent pillows before tossing them toward the headboard.
I slipped my feet into my deck shoes, grabbed my bag and checked that my towel, sunscreen, and snacks were inside, and headed to the kitchen. Victoria and my mother were sitting at the table, a delicate coffee cup on a saucer in front of each of them.
“Good morning,” I said, opening the cabinet and reaching in the back for a sturdy mug. I preferred them over the delicate cups and handles that my fingers barely fit in. I was waiting for one of them to mention my dancing with Faith last night.
“Where are you off to today?” Victoria asked.
It was one of Victoria’s more stupid questions. We were at the largest coral reef in the world with thousands of colorful tropical fish and beautiful beaches.
“Snorkeling.”
“Don’t you know all that sun will ruin your skin, Lowe?” my mother asked.
My back was to her, and I rolled my eyes as I poured my coffee. I replaced the carafe and sat down beside my sister. “Yes, Mother. I’m aware of that. I think I’ll be fine.” I knew it was a mother’s job to mother, but for crying out loud, enough already. Then again, Francis wasn’t being a mother. She was being controlling.
“Did you get a new suit?” Victoria asked.
“No.” I saw my mother look at my swim shorts with a critical eye, searching for a stray thread or any sign of fading.
“You know you really should stay on board and visit,” Victoria said.
I sipped my coffee, paying particular attention not to slurp. That would definitely garner a very unfavorable look from my mother.
“Visit with who?”
“Visit with whom.” My mother corrected me.
I wasn’t sure who was right.
“With your family,” Victoria replied, like I’d asked the dumbest question ever.
“We visit all the time,” I countered. “And when we do, we don’t have a lot to talk about. We don’t have similar interests, and we all have our own separate lives.”
“And that’s my point, Lowe,” Victoria said. “We see you only once a year, sometimes less. We want to be more involved in your life, and you should be more involved in Mother and Father’s.”
I kept my face expressionless. That was the second time the subject of my family wanting to know more about my life had come up on this trip. It was two times more than they had ever inquired about it. What was really going on?
“Well, you’ve asked some questions, and I answered them. But you didn’t like some of my answers,” I added, reminding them.
“Since when do we have to ask?”
“Since you’ve never been interested before,” I said without thinking. I looked at my clunky waterproof watch. I had ten minutes to get to the main deck.
“Lowe, you know that is not true,” my mother said, soundlessly setting her cup on the matching saucer.
“As much as I’d like to discuss this, I have to go. We can pick it up later this afternoon when I get back. Or this evening over dinner?” I suggested, dumping the remnants of my cup into the sink. Then I put it in the dishwasher—another of Felice’s jobs.
“I should be back around four. What are you two going to do today?” I asked out of polite habit. It wasn’t that I didn’t care what they did. It was just that their interests were so diametrically different than mine, I’d learned from my mother how to fake interest.
“We have an appointment in the nail salon, and I need to get my hair touched up.” Victoria patted her hair as if I had no idea where it was.
I looked at it critically and didn’t see anything that needed “touched up,” but then again, what did I know about hair? Mine was the same color as when I was born, and when the gray started coming in, it stayed.
“Okay. Have a good time. See you this afternoon.” I grabbed the bag I’d dropped by the front door and headed out, imagining my mother and sister shaking their heads. They had no idea about me just as I had none about them. How three people could be related and be so different always amazed me.
Arriving on the main deck, I carefully opened the stairway door. Several people in swimwear were milling around, and Shirley was struggling with her beach bag. She lost, its contents spilling onto the tile floor.
I stepped forward, my foot stopping a container of sunscreen rolling toward me. I picked it up and walked toward her. “Let me help you with that.” I scooped up a few other items and handed them to her.
“Thank you,” she replied, sounding truly grateful. “I don’t know why I always bring more stuff than I could possible need.”
“That’s because you have everything anyone else could need,” I replied, hopefully putting Shirley at ease at the numerous contents of her bag.
“My husband would always shake his head at the size of my bag. But when he needed something, he always turned to me.”
We chatted a few more minutes, and I kept one eye on Shirley, with the other watching for Faith. I was excited about seeing her in a swimsuit. I didn’t care if it was a string bikini or a skin-tight wet suit. Each offered a different view of what had to be a dynamite body. When it came to clothing, I liked more rather than less, giving my imagination the chance to work on what was hidden underneath. Half the fun was the discovery.
“There’s Faith,” Shirley said, looking over my left shoulder. “She looks so cute in that outfit.”
Cute was not the adjective I would use to describe her as she walked toward us. A bright-orange sarong was tied around her waist, the top of her suit peeking out from under a white tank top. Matching orange flip-flops with some sort of geometric design on the top straps were on her feet, her toenails painted to match. Her hair was up in a tight bun, accentuating her high cheekbones and dark eyes, a bright-green beach bag with a yellow sunflower on the side hanging from her shoulder.
Faith hesitated for a moment when she spotted me. Obviously, she too remembe
red last night. I felt the warmth of her eyes as they traversed up and down my body. I worked out when I could and needed to, but I wasn’t going to starve myself to look like what other people thought I should. Sure, I could probably look better if I tried harder, spent more time at the gym, and ate better. But I was comfortable, and that’s all that mattered. Especially when I saw Faith’s appreciative look.
“Faith.” Shirley waved, motioning Faith to join us.
“Good morning,” Faith said, more to Shirley than to me.
“I was just telling Lowe, my bag is always overstuffed with more things than I could possible need. Are you working today?” Shirley asked.
Faith shot a quick glance at me before answering. “No. Actually, I have the day off.”
“Wonderful,” the woman said, clapping her hands together. “Then you can simply enjoy yourself.”
“Yes, well, I’m never really off duty.” Faith shot me another glance.
“Well then, let’s get going,” Shirley said, taking Faith’s arm and turning her toward the door.
The dock was busy, people scampering here and there trying to find their boat. I was the first to see the sign for slip 52. The vessel was sparkling white, with a royal-blue mast, Windstream stenciled in big black letters on the bow. Several people were in line to board, a member of the crew checking paperwork as they stepped forward.
“Good morning, ladies, welcome aboard.” A grizzled, fifty-something man with long gray hair greeted us. His teeth were far too white to be original, his skin leathery. I knew he hadn’t listened to his mother about sunscreen. He put a checkmark by our names on the clipboard he held and introduced himself as Captain Nate.
Faith boarded first, and from my vantage point, I could watch her butt sway with each step, one of the most arousing and quintessential elements of femaleness. She had a small geometric tattoo just below her hairline on the back of her neck. I’d have to ask if it held any special significance. I took a leap and thought it probably did. Faith didn’t seem the type to do anything on a whim. Maybe I could change that.
“You two go on,” Shirley said. “I’m going to sit with Joyce.”
“On top okay with you?” Faith asked, pointing to the top deck.
“Absolutely.” I replied to the same question but with a
very different meaning. Top, bottom, front, back—it all worked for me.
Her butt was right at eye level as we ascended the stairs. It was as firm and perfect as any I’d seen in years, and I was tempted to take a bite, or a lick. I quickly glanced around to judge the likelihood of being observed. All I needed to do was reach up and…
“Stop looking at my ass,” Faith said without ever turning around.
How did she know that was exactly what I was doing? Did she have eyes in the back of her head? The thought was intriguing. What would I see in them as I rode her ass to climax?
“Shit.” I knocked my shin on the step in front of me. It was covered in thick rubber for slip resistance, but the blow hurt nonetheless.
Pay attention, Lowe, and stop slobbering over her like a sex-starved teenager, I told myself. The teenager was more than two decades ago, though the sex-starved hadn’t been that long ago. But just looking at Faith made that stage of my life seem like much, much longer.
As I hit the top step, the early morning sun blinded me from any more innocent but very arousing views of her backside. I shielded my eyes and followed her to two empty chairs in the first row.
I dropped my bag, but when Faith leaned over to set hers on the deck, I caught more than a glimpse of smooth, brown curves. I knew I shouldn’t stare, but I’d lost my manners somewhere after we boarded.
“Are you a good swimmer?”
“Excuse me?” I said, catching only the last few words of Faith’s question.
“Are you a good swimmer? You’d better be, because if you don’t start paying attention to what you’re doing, you might fall overboard and drown.” She cocked her head in that cute get-a grip-I-know-what-you’re-doing way.
“I’d rather pay attention to what you’re doing.”
“That’s pretty obvious,” she said, shaking her head but not able to hide a small smile.
Every woman is beautiful in her own way, and ego aside, it just feels good to know someone thinks you are. I was sure Faith had no shortage in that area. Her dark hair was made to slide fingers through, her bare skin to float across like a caress begging to be kissed. Expressive eyes that saw everything and could read into your soul needed to be ablaze with passion and desire. “Whoa there,” Faith said, snapping her fingers in front of my face. “Cut it out. You’re starting to embarrass me.”
“Sorry,” I said, but really wasn’t. “I’ll behave.”
“I doubt it, but I’d appreciate it if you’d try.”
“No, really, I can,” I said quickly. Yeah, who am I kidding? “Can I get you something to drink?” I had to change the subject. The more you try not to think about something, the more you do.
“Water would be nice, thanks.”
“I’ll be right back.” Without the distraction of Faith’s ass, I smoothly scampered down the steps I’d stumbled up a few minutes ago.
A continental breakfast was laid out on large trays across a counter, and I filled one plate with an assortment of fruit, the other with pastries. Tucking two bottles of water under my arm, I hurried back to the top deck.
Faith had removed her tank top and added a pair of sunglasses, and now she was pulling her hair through the back of a white cap. Believing she couldn’t see me, I stood silently and watched as she secured her hair, the movement raising and lowering her perfect breasts.
“I know you’re there.”
Shit, busted. It must have been my heart pounding that gave me away.
“Breakfast is served,” I said, pretending I’d just stepped onto the deck and hadn’t been gawking again.
I placed the overflowing plates on a small table in front of us. When I handed Faith a bottle of water, our fingers touched. A line from the Tina Turner song What’s Love Got to Do with It played in my head. It was something about how the touch of her hand makes my pulse react. That and other things as well.
I had it bad. I either needed a cold shower or a hot woman. Unfortunately, for the next six hours, my options involved lots of strenuous activity, and I didn’t mean for two.
“Who are you feeding?” Faith asked, pointing to the plates.
“I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a little bit of everything.” I named off the fruit and muffins like she’d never seen either. Anything to keep my mind off imagining a very different breakfast—one in bed after a night of passionate sex. I kept my face innocent, my thoughts anything but.
“Thank you. That was very thoughtful.”
I wanted to say I always aim to please a beautiful woman, but “you’re welcome” came out of my very dry mouth.
For the next thirty minutes, others joined us on the top deck, and one very attractive, very attentive deckhand hovered nearby. She looked barely out of her teens, but there was nothing girlie about the way she filled out her bikini. I couldn’t help but think about what her mother would say about all that delicate skin exposed to the harsh rays of the sun. She introduced herself as Bethany and said she was here to help make our trip as enjoyable as possible. I glanced around and saw several of the men had their eyes glued to the girl. I could only imagine what was going through their heads minutes later as they watched Bethany bend over and untie the line that secured the boat to the dock.
Captain Nate’s voice boomed over the speakers, introducing himself again, along with his crew. After giving a brief safety talk, including the location of the lifejackets and instructions on what to do if someone fell overboard, we were on the way. Captain Nate skillfully maneuvered the boat through the crowded channel out to the open water.
We’d been underway about thirty minutes when Faith tilted her head toward Bethany. “She seems very concerned that you have a goo
d time today.”
“It’s her job. I suppose they work for tips.” Bethany had been flitting around every few minutes asking if I needed anything and making small talk.
“Well, she’s working for something else.”
I turned to Faith, expecting to see a green cloud of jealousy over her head. Obviously, there wasn’t one, but I certainly heard it in her words. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Maybe she wasn’t as disinterested as she seemed.
“She’s not going to find it here,” I said honestly. Sure, I was aware of the girl’s clichéd drop-dead gorgeous body and her obvious willingness to hook up, but I wasn’t interested. I would probably spend the rest of this trip celibate and have Faith only in my dreams. As much as I needed release caused by a pair of hands other than my own, I don’t think of someone else when I’m with someone. Faith slid her sunglasses down her nose and appraised me over the top of them. I could sustain her scrutiny because what I’d said was true.
We weren’t traveling very fast, and I sat back and simply enjoyed the view with Faith beside me. The hum of the engine and the rhythm of the boat through the water was relaxing.
My dark sunglasses were perfect for girl-watching, and I took full advantage of gazing at Faith stretched out across from me. I knew she’d caught me staring more than once, and I was sure she knew I was watching her, but I didn’t care. There was no point in hiding my attraction to her. We were well past that.
A very tall, very thin woman approached and introduced herself as “Anne with an e.” Anne had spent way too much time in the sun and way too little at the dinner table. She stopped beside Faith.
“Good morning, ladies.” She had an Irish accent. “Are any of you interested in doing SNUBA today?”
I’d read about the opportunity yesterday in the brochure next to the sign-up sheet. SNUBA is a cross between snorkeling and scuba diving yet requires no previous diving experience or certification. The diver uses fins, mask, and a weight belt to explore underwater. Instead of air tanks attached to the diver’s back, the tanks are on a small raft that remains on the surface. The air hose is twenty feet long, allowing the diver to move around underwater freely but not go any deeper. I looked to Faith to decide for us. It sounded interesting, but I wasn’t going to leave Faith alone for a minute.
