Kim grumbles in the room next to me. “Dammit, I was hoping this dress would work. My ass is too big.”
I roll my eyes. “You wear a size four, crazy woman. There’s nothing big about your ass.” That’s one of the things I’m happy about with my body. I love having curves.
“All right, I’m going back out to find more clothes to try on.”
“Okay,” I call out. “I still have a couple of dresses left.”
She rustles around in her room and then the door slams shut when she leaves. I slide one of the dresses off the hanger and hold it up to my body. It’s form-fitting and royal blue; very classy. A knock sounds on the door and I turn the knob, thinking it’s Kim on the other side. My eyes widen when I see it’s not her.
Max rushes in and holds a finger to my lips. “Shh, it’s just me.”
My heart races. It’s hard not to feel light-headed when he stares at me with those sea green eyes of his. Max slowly slides his finger off my lips. “What are you doing here?” I whisper.
His lips pull back into a devilish grin. “I was walking by and saw you in the store. Figured I’d come in and say hey.”
“Stalker much.”
He winks and takes the dress away from me, hanging it on the hook. “I call it being at the right place at the right time.” His gaze roams down my bare body. “You are so damn beautiful.” He steps closer and there’s nowhere for me to go. Who am I kidding? I don’t want to go anywhere, but we can’t keep being reckless. Max lifts my bra and cups my breast, his lips closing over my nipple. I suck in a breath and bite my lip to keep from moaning. “I want you, London.”
He slides a hand down my stomach, but I stop him before he can go any further. “We can’t repeat what we did in here yesterday, Max,” I hiss quietly. “I can’t be seen with you.” Normally, I don’t play games with men, but with Max, I have no choice. In a way, I’m not lying; I can’t be seen with him because of my job. It’s in the employment contract you can’t get involved with the yacht club members. But also, I want the upper hand. That way, I don’t feel as bad with him not wanting to be seen with me.
Slowly, he steps back and looks at me. “Why not? You told me that first night that you weren’t dating anyone.”
“I’m not. It’s just for the best.”
His hands wrap around my waist and he smiles. “Okay. Then I guess a date is out of the question?”
He pulls me in closer to his body, his hardness pressing into my stomach. “What did you have in mind?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Don’t know. Maybe a date on my boat? That is, if you don’t have to work tonight.”
I shake my head. “I’m off, but there are too many of your buddies around the docks. They’ll see us.”
“Not if you meet me at a different marina.” His eyes light up and he kisses me. “Dawson’s Marina. Seven o’clock. Meet me there.” When I don’t answer, he kisses me again, this time deepening it. “Promise me you’ll be there.”
Dawson’s Marina is forty-five minutes away and in an obscure town. The chances of any of his people seeing us is slim. The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them. “I promise.”
“Good. You won’t regret it.” He sneaks out of the dressing room and I look at myself in the mirror. My lips are red and there’s another red mark on my breast from where he sucked too hard. The man is going to drive me insane.I decide to wear the new royal blue dress I bought at the store. When I get to Dawson’s Marina, it’s not hard to find Max’s boat. It’s the nicest one around. I walk over to it and Max emerges from below deck, dressed in a white button-down shirt and khaki pants. The smell of food wafts past my nose and my stomach growls.
Max chuckles and holds out his hand to help me board. “Hungry?”
I take his hand. “Starving.”
He doesn’t let go of my hand as he leads me onto the deck. “Good. I have tons of food. Let me get us out onto the water and then we can eat. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.” There’s a large cushion with blankets and pillows on the deck and that’s where I go. I watch Max in fascination as he readies the boat. When we get out onto the water, the sun starts its slow decent below the horizon.
Max drops the anchor and sits next to me, his gaze focused on the horizon. “If I could live out here, I would. I’d sail around the world and never look back.”