Wyatt couldn’t blame the kid. Hell, he probably shouldn’t even think of him as a kid, as he was no doubt closer to Kelsey’s age than Wyatt was. He laid a hand on Johan’s shoulder. “You can look all you want, but touch her and I’ll throw you off the side of the boat.”
Johan gave an uneasy laugh. “May be worth it, sir. I’m a good swimmer. But I promise to keep my hands on the wheel.”
Wyatt smiled and headed back down toward Kelsey. She held her hand over her eyes, shielding the sunlight and watching him walk toward her. Lord, she was beautiful, all sun-kissed and windblown. Her grin was a bright ray of light even amongst all the tropical beauty surrounding them. To think she’d been through so much darkness in her life, so much hurt . . . The knowledge was like a lead weight pressing against his chest. It didn’t seem fair that he’d been gifted with so much in his life when someone like Kelsey had been given so little.
Yet, here she was, a survivor, a fighter. And even though he knew she had mixed feelings about him giving her money, and would probably lose her shit when she actually opened the envelope and saw how much, the move had been pure selfishness on his part. He couldn’t give her what she deserved—love, a relationship, a soft place to fall. But he could make sure she never had to ask anyone for anything again.
It wasn’t money for her time here. But it was a thank you. Because even though this was going to be brief, he knew already that this week was going to be one of the best of his life. The old fears would still rumble in the back of his brain, but he wasn’t going to waste another minute ruminating. Not when he had something so precious waiting for him.
“Does Abercrombie know what he’s doing?” Kelsey asked as Wyatt lowered himself to the deck cushions.
“Abercrombie?”
She smirked. “Never mind. I’m guessing you don’t get that catalog.”
He glanced over at Johan. “You’re telling me you think our young captain looks like a catalog model. Should I be jealous? He is closer to your age, after all.”
She shoved his thigh with her bare foot. “First off, why go for cute, when I have six feet of gorgeous man right in front of me? And, second of all, that kid wouldn’t know what to do with me.”r: Roni Loren
The driver gave her an amused smile and tipped his hat at her before turning his attention to Wyatt. Wyatt climbed out of the limo, his open collar flapping in the breeze, and paid the driver. Even in the casual chinos and an untucked shirt, the man reeked of power and money. How the hell was she going to pull off that same kind of image for this trip?
The driver pulled their bags from the trunk and set them on the ground. “Would you like me to get these to the boat for you, sir?”
“I’ve got this one.” Wyatt grabbed a small duffel bag from the pile. “But yes, please take the rest.”
He tipped the driver and turned to her, pulling a pair of aviators from the outside pocket of his bag and replacing his eyeglasses. The arch of his eyebrow was pure sexual promise. He set his bag down, and his arm snaked around her waist, tugging her against him. “It’s fucking cruel that we’re going to have to share this island with other people this week. We should just get a hotel room here and not leave the bed until next Saturday. Why waste time kissing their asses when I could be kissing much more tasty things?”
He pressed his mouth to the curve of her shoulder, sending ripples of hot sensation straight south. And she was tempted to say, Yes! Let’s do that. But before she could respond, another voice cut in from behind her.
“Wyatt?”
Wyatt’s forearms stiffened against her back, and he lifted his head, looking in the direction of the woman’s voice. An oh-fuck glimmer went across his features, but he quickly covered it with the implacable mask of politeness. He released Kelsey and stepped back. “Hello, Gwen.”
Kelsey turned around, the tension from Wyatt leaking into her system as she took in the pretty brunette. Her brown eyes flicked over Kelsey’s way, annoyance in her gaze despite the prim smile. The woman looked back to Wyatt. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Wyatt cleared his throat and pressed a hand to the small of Kelsey’s back, a statement. “My dad couldn’t make it, so I’m here in his place. You never mentioned you attend this event.”
“I’m accompanying Mr. Weller since his wife had other obligations. He thought the trip would be a nice reward for my performance this quarter.”
“Hmm,” Wyatt said in a bland tone, one that could’ve been read as complete and total disinterest or complete and total judgment.
Gwen’s spine starched, so Kelsey guessed the woman didn’t like either option, but she maintained a tight little smile that cooled further as she turned to Kelsey. “And who is this?”
Wyatt’s thumb caressed the base of Kelsey’s spine. “This is Kelsey Adams. Kelsey, Gwen Harrison. She’s an attorney in the building next to mine.”
And had some kind of history with Wyatt. Whether that was in the bedroom or in the boardroom, Kelsey couldn’t quite tell. She stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Gwen.”
“Charmed.” The handshake was about as warm as her tone. “And what do you do, Kelsey?”
Her inner bitch wanted to say, Him. Just to see the look on this woman’s face. But she held her tongue and retracted her claws. It’s not like Wyatt was really hers anyway.
“Kelsey’s planning to open up her own bakery,” Wyatt said smoothly, a tinge of pride in his voice.
“How lovely for you,” Gwen said, the condescension not quite fully masked. “Are you one of Wyatt’s pet projects, then?”
Kelsey coughed. “Excuse me?”
“You know, those silly little investments he likes to entertain himself with.” She slid her sunglasses from atop her head down to her eyes.