Page 106 of Love Overboard
I pointed at her. “Now we’re talking.”
“I used to put these on with my brothers all the time in Alabama. I mean, we were usually playing with real money, but we can still make it fun for the guests. We’ll get chips and fake money and have prizes they can use their winnings to bid on. Oh! Maybe we also have a punishment for the biggest loser of the night, like…”
“They have to choose someone to cover in whipped cream and lick it off?” Bernard suggested.
A laugh barreled out of me. “Oh,thatwill be motivation for the girls to win for sure. Okay, this is perfect. I’ll call the provisioner. Leah, you said you’re tired of laundry, so let’s put you to work. You’ll help me serve dinner and set up the casino night after. Bernard, I can see you need a break from this lot, so hit laundry and cabins and then work on what the different prizes could be. See if Captain Gary is willing to help. Maybe he’ll let them use their fake money to buy their way into the Captain’s lounge or something.”
“Brilliant,” Bernard said, and then with a sigh, he hurried off to the cabins as Leah and I continued brainstorming — while making a sweet, sticky, frozen cocktail.
The blender was not helping my headache.
I was holding on by a thread — and it was fraying fast.
Finn walking around the boat like he hadn’t had his hand under my swim top two nights ago wasn’t helping things, either.
He’d been nothing but sunshine and easy smiles all day yesterday, like he’d received news that he’d won the lottery rather than that we would have to fight our way through a rainy charter. He was making jokes with the guys, humming in the galley as he sliced and diced, and throwing me looks I refused to catch.
And the more I ignored him, the more he turned up the heat.
It was maddening and alluring all at once. I willed myself to keep the image of him and Gisella front and center in my mind so I wouldn’t be fooled by his longing blue-green eyes or the way he seemed to be finding ways to touch me when there was no reason to — a hand at the small of my back as he passed me in the crew quarters, a firm grip steadying me when I slipped a little on the wet teak deck greeting the guests, a brush of his fingers as he plucked one of my freshly cut limes for the dish he was prepping.
I felt like he was even trying to speak to me through cooking when he prepared a glorious spread of Cuban food like ropa vieja and stewed plantains for the crew lunch, complete with the most amazing Key lime pie I’d ever had. It reminded me of South Florida, of home, and when I’d said so to Leah as we ate, I didn’t miss how Finn had smiled.
So far today, I’d done a decent job staying away from him. Other than relaying food requests from the guests for brunch, I hadn’t had contact. But as soon as I sent Leah off to serve Tempany her Miami Vice and get the other guests’ drink orders, my luck ran out.
I was about to hit dial on the provisioner’s number when I nearly ran into Finn in the pantry.
“Whoa, easy there,” he said, his smile charming and infuriating as his hands found my arms before I could fall. “Someone’s in a rush.”
My cheeks flushed, body betraying me in every way as it yearned for me to smile back and lean into his attention. “Yes, well, if you haven’t noticed, some of us are busting our asses to save this charter from being a complete disaster.”
I tried to move past him, but he side-stepped to block me. “And I’m not one of the ones pulling me weight, is it?”
I gritted my teeth. Of course he was. If anything, the food would be theonlything to save us. But I didn’t want to admit that to him.
The longer I stood there without answering, the more his smile slid into a frown. His eyebrows knitted together, hand reaching out to touch the side of my face.
“Hey, you need a break? I can call the provisioner and take that off your plate, make you some tea?”
I knew I was far past exhausted then because tears pricked my eyes, my throat closing in on the words I wanted to scream at him.
I shrugged away from his touch. “I don’t need anything from you.”
Shoving past him, I finished dialing the provisioner as I jogged down the stairs, but I only got one ring in before Finn reached over my shoulder and hit the “end call” button.
“Hey!” I spun to face him, the two of us caught in the cramped stairwell with not nearly enough space between us. I was one step below him, but I jutted my chin high in defiance. “Can you back off and let me do my job?”
“If you talk to me first.”
I laughed. “I can’t think of a single thing I’d like to talk to you about.”
“No?” he challenged.
“Nope.”
“Hmm, notonething, huh?”
He stepped down with that question, forcing me to do the same. My defiance melted a bit, heart picking up its pace inside my chest.
