Page 50 of Forbidden Forward

Oh, mama! I want my hands all over that.

The sail flaps and snaps, and Colby hauls on the line, tautening it, taming it to his will. The wheel twitches, and I hang on. The power coiled in his body makes my tummy flip in unnatural ways, and when he turns his head toward me, he catches me gawking.

“Um, is that steady enough?” I squeak.

He bestows me with a white-toothed smile as he winds the rope around a cleat. “You’re doing great.”

A moment later, he’s beside me, behind me, one big hand on the throttle and the other one on the wheel. The helm, I mean. Heat radiates from him and warms that side of my body. He’s a wall of muscle pressed against my back, and his spicy, woodsy man smell fogs my brain.

He cuts the engine, and the only sound is the water lapping against the hull. Squeezing my fingers gently over the leather-wrapped steel, he leans close to my ear.

“You’ve got a natural feel for the wind, First Mate,” he murmurs, his breath a warm caress against my temple. “You’re doing great.”

Like an idiot, I’m frozen in place, enjoying the captain’s nearness more than is respectable. I could stand like this all day, maybe lean into him and—

“You can let go now,” he adds softly.

With an awkward jerk, I slip out of his cozy hold, and my body wants to cry.

His beautiful grin broadens. “Ready for your next assignment?”

Staring into those steel grays, I nod, incapable of forming words.

“Coil the extra halyard so we don’t trip over it.”

I look around myself. “Happy to, if you’ll tell me what an extra halyard is.”

He jerks his chin toward the cleat. “It’s the line attached to the sail.”

“On it.” I spring toward the loose length of line and coil it, then hang it where he tells me to. “Now what?”

“Sit back and relax.”

I plop back onto the bench and watch him. “What are you doing now?”

“Trimming the mainsail.” The boat shifts slightly, and the sail flutters. When he tugs on a different line, the canvas balloons as the wind fills it. Gail Force picks up speed, and my tummy tickles. I whoop like a kid on an amusement park ride. Colby bays like a wolf, and I burst into a fit of giggles.

A feeling of pure joy overtakes me. This, right here, flying over the water, takes my breath away. I tear my eyes from the ocean to look at Colby, his posture straight and confident. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t sexy as hell. He practically hums, an aura of peace surrounding him. With the wind slicking his hair back, he’s in his element as he deftly maneuvers Gail Force toward the horizon. Behind us, Beaufort shrinks in the distance.

“You should have been a pirate,” I tell him.

“Who says I’m not?” he tosses back.

We settle into a comfortable silence, and I’m mesmerized by the motion of the swells beneath us, lifting the bow, and by Colby’s movements as he guides the Gail. Occasionally, he glances over at me and smiles in a way that’s different from how he usually smiles. This one lights his eyes, revealing untold depth I haven’t seen until now.

I do believe this man could ask me to walk the plank when he smiles like that, and I’d do it. I’d do lots of other things for him too.

My mind wanders to our heated conversation a few weeks back, when I accused him of being a chameleon. I haven’t changed my mind, but I’m seeing him through a different lens now.

Sports is entertainment, I remind myself, and players are entertainers. Each one has his or her role to play, and Colby plays his well. He may come across like utter chaos, but it’s only a role. The real man is the one at helm right now—the quiet, thoughtful one very much in control of his emotions. The one who takes little kids for sailboat rides and changes a girl’s tires when she’s not looking. The one I suspect has buried his hurts deep inside a dank well and whose only escape is here, on the water, where he’s free to be Colby Chase.

I think I might be falling for this version.

Chapter 24

Chaos

Colby