Page 7 of Kraken the Seal

It was hard, but I kept my eyes on his face.

“What happened?” I asked after he didn't answer my first question.

“I have good news, bad news, and, uh, news-news,” he said, dropping his gaze back down to me.

“I guess we should start with the good news,” I said, fighting not to smile at his boyishly abashed expression.

“Janice is fine, and she left the party,” he said.

“You’re right, that's good news,” I said. “What's the bad news?”

“Zak broke up with Carrie, and Janice is taking her home to cry it out,” he said.

“That is also good news,” I said. “I know Carrie's hurting, but Zak wasn't a good boyfriend.”

Delmar nodded. “I’m not surprised. I don’t know him well, but I don’t like him.”

“So what's the news-news?” I asked.

His expression shuttered. “I think Zak's yacht is sinking.”

Those words were so unexpected that it took me a moment to process them. Then I had to fight a smile.

“Really?” I asked. “Did someone leave a plug open or something?”

He shrugged, his boyish grin coming back. “It sounded like a mechanical failure. He probably missed some routine maintenance or something.”

I looked in the direction of the yacht. I couldn't see it out the small panel of windows from where I was standing, but that's when I realized there were a lot of people walking by on the dock and talking loudly about Zak's sinking yacht.

I didn't want any of them to see me. Moving behind Delmar, I put my hands on his back and pushed him into the cabin. As soon as we were both hidden inside, I shut the door. Turning around, I found Delmar standing right there.

Still naked and gorgeous as fuck.

Keep your damn eyes up!I told myself.

“How are you so pretty?” he whispered.

His words shocked me. “I'm average. You're the pretty one.”

Shaking his head, he gave me that adorable half smile. “I promise, out of the two of us, you're way more beautiful.”

He was smooth, probably from flirting and using those dimples to get plenty of women into bed. Part of me wanted to turn around and leave because I wasn’t going to be another conquest.

Except, another louder part insisted on staying. How long would he talk before making it obvious all he wanted was sex?

“Aren’t you cold?” I asked. I thought he’d say something sexy to get me to look down at his muscled physique. To my shock, he blushed and moved further into the cabin in a clumsy rush.

“Shit, sorry!” he said, and lifted the bench seat to reveal storage. Pulling out a pair of blue board shorts, he struggled to pull them on, hampered by the fact that he was still wet. When he was done, he turned back, and his smile was gone.

“That was really rude of me,” he said. “I live alone, and I spend a lot of time out at sea by myself. I sometimes forget that walking around naked isn’t everyone's default. Sorry about that. Should I put a shirt on? I have pants somewhere. I might have to dig around though.”

I wasn’t prepared for him to be so sincere, and it made me want to make him comfortable. “You’re fine, no need to hunt down pants. Can I have another water?”

My request helped him relax, and he was quick to smile and grab me another water. I sipped at this one.

“I could brew up some coffee or tea,” he said, nodding his head at the single burner.

I liked that he wasn’t pushing me to drink. Every once in a while, I’d have a little wine or beer, but I had to be careful because my body didn’t always handle alcohol well.