I smile. “It’s alright. You don’t have to pretend to be thrilled by the idea of two weeks on a boat with your dad’s friend. This isn’t exactly a place for young people to find adventure, but I’m glad you came too. You’re…you’re different from what I expected.”
Tara twirls her hair around her finger, looking a little nervous.
“Different?” she asks.
“From your dad, I mean,” I say.
It’s impossible to even see the family resemblance between them. She’s so damn beautiful that it’s like she was crafted by the Gods themselves. A real woman with curves, not like those sickly stick-thin models modern society calls the perfect. A real man wants a woman he can grab hold of and not be afraid to break her. Just like Tara, a real woman.
I guess she takes after her late mother. I can see now why her dad is so protective of her, though. He knows that a woman this beautiful attracts all the wrong kinds of attention from the wrong kinds of men…
Except, maybe, myself.
“How are we different?” Tara pushes, looking me directly in the eyes now. Her gaze would be enough to make most men squirm, but I’m not most men. I stare back at her, looking deep into her beautiful pale blue eyes.
“You’re full of spark and clearly desperate to get out into the world. He was never really that way, but I understand it. I understand why you would want more from life.”
She raises her eyebrow ever so slightly like she’s surprised that I’ve sussed her out.
“Yeah, my dad has kind of kept me grounded most of my life. He never liked me going out and about…I think he thought I’d get myself in trouble.”
“He was probably right,” I say. Just thinking of her out in the world where any other man could fall for her has my blood boiling.
Yep, she’s got trouble written all over her.
She may seem like an angel from the outside, and I’ll bet that she is, but just looking at her could make a man like me do something he shouldn’t. She’s half my age and my friend’s only daughter. I need to behave.
And yet doing so right now seems like the hardest thing in the world.
“Anyway, I hope you feel at home on my boat,” I add, my eyes never leaving her. “I tend to have a lot to do around the place, being the Captain and all, but I hope we can spend more time together during your trip. That is if you’re not running off on your own little adventures.”
She smiles at me, her cheeks flushed. “It would be nice to have someone to share those adventures with. Thank you for the tour.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll leave you to explore. Come and find me if you need anything at all.”
“I will,” she whispers, looking a little flustered. Then she walks away, glancing back at me over her shoulder shyly.
I watch her go, her ass swaying.
Fuck, she’s enough to drive a grown man crazy.
I run a hand through my hair, trying to compose myself. How am I going to play this? Two weeks on a boat with her. There’s no chance I can resist her for that long. I only sent her away now as a feeble attempt to stop myself from pouncing on her, but it only feels like I’m prolonging the inevitable.
I can’t go the rest of my life without knowing what it’s like to have. To touch her, to fuck her hard and deep. It feels like she was brought here to me for a reason.
She’s shifted the ground beneath my feet, and finding her in my arms is the only way to regain my balance.
I turn and walk in the opposite direction to where she came from. I have to try and be good, for my sake, for hers, and for her dad’s.
She’s off-limits.
I knew that from the second I saw her, and I can’t do anything about it. I just have to accept that I’m fighting a losing battle.
But what am I willing to lose?
Am I willing to lose everything to have her? It certainly feels that way. If it’s a choice between everything and her, it feels like she is always going to be the choice.
Now, I just need to know if she feels the same.
CHAPTER THREE
Tara
I don’t know what to do with myself today. I’m meant to be enjoying myself, relaxing on the boat, and having a good time. But the problem is that I have too much energy. And since I met Nate yesterday, everything has changed. Nothing except him really interests me anymore.
I feel breathless just at the thought of him roaming around the ship. It’s so alluring that he’s the captain, that he owns this entire business. But it makes me wonder how much of him I’m actually likely to see.