Nat’s eyes sparkled at me. “Uh, Worth, did you maybe want to introduce everyone to Cal and this time include a bit more detail than you did last night?”
I suddenly fell in love with the smell of my coffee and held my face down toward my mug while clinging onto it tightly with both hands. Maybe he was going to wait until we were alone to kick me out. In the meantime, I was going to savor the flavor of his kiss and the memory of that hot mouth on mine.
Worth stepped next to me again and put his arm around my shoulder. “Of course. Everyone, this is Cal Wilde. He’ll be staying on board with us this week as my own personal guest. Cal, you’ve already met Natalia and hopefully our renowned chef, Julo, as well. This is my brother, Lucas, and his fiancé, Prescott.”
I shot laser eyes at Prescott and clinched my chest in mock surprise. “Fiancé? The two of you are engaged? To be married? How amazing! How absolutely thrilling.” I didn’t take my eyes off the little weasel, and I enjoyed every squirm of his discomfort. “You’ll have to tell me everything, like where you met and what made you fall in love. I can’t wait to hear—”
A muffled snort came from the direction of the chef while Nat’s eyebrows furrowed.
Worth lowered his hand and pinched my side to shut me up before continuing with his introductions. “Yes, we’re certainly planning on celebrating their… union… this week. Meanwhile, Nat’s husband, Jin, is probably still asleep. He was in California for work, so I’m sure he’s plenty jet-lagged. Have a seat at the table everyone. I’m sure Julo is going to take good care of us this morning before we hit the shops and pick up Nat’s friends.”
“Yes, sir,” Julo said with his easy smile.
We all took a spot at the big dining table. Just as I was about to take the seat farthest from Prescott to avoid any awkward conversation, Worth nudged me right between Pres and Lucas before taking his spot at the head of the table.
“Thanks, cupcake,” I said, plastering on a fake smile.
“I know you like to feel the sun on your skin. Besides, I’m just so happy you’re finally able to meet my family, darling,” he shot back with a real smile. “Remember, the reason you’re here? My family?”
Oh. Right.
I smiled at Lucas and completely ignored the asshole on the other side of me for now. Even though I was technically supposed to be working on him, I didn’t have the mental fortitude quite yet.
“So, Lucas, Jon tells me you like to—”
Natalia snickered. “He calls you Jon, that’s so sweet.”
I felt my face heat, and I refused to glance over at the man in question to see his response to her teasing. I wasn’t even sure why I’d called him that. The first time I’d done it, it had been to tease him, but then he’d seemed to soften a little, so I kind of wanted to do it again. “Worth tells me you like to dive. Do you have any specific sites you want to dive this week?”
Before Lucas could answer, Prescott jumped in. I’d been waiting for him to lose his patience.
“So, Cal… what do you do for a living?”
I turned to face him and steeled myself. “I discipline old men on boats.”
Worth choked on his eggs, and Nat stopped her coffee mug halfway to her lips. Prescott’s jaw dropped.
I laughed and shook my head. “Sorry. I haven’t had enough coffee yet this morning. I meant instruct. Not discipline. And, obviously they’re not all old men, but most of the people who charter the big sailboats down here are wealthy older guys. I think maybe they’ve always dreamed of being taken for a ride…” I took a sip of my coffee. “… on a nice big sailboat, and now they finally have enough money to do something about it. Depending on the client, I’m either an instructor or a charter captain. What about you? What do you do when you’re not spending time with your charming fiancé?” I lifted an eyebrow at him before taking another sip.
His nostrils flared. “I practice law at a firm that—”
“He’s a paralegal,” Worth inserted under his breath.
Lucas shushed him with a glare.
Pres shot Worth a look. “Paralegals practice law. Who do you think does all the actual work? Certainly not the attorneys. I practice at a firm that specializes in commercial real estate.”
I gave him my biggest smile and my most genuine support. “Hopefully all that practice will pay off one day and you’ll be able to do it for real. Good for you.”
I turned to Lucas without waiting to see Prescott’s reaction. “What about you, Lucas?”
Lucas’s eyes flicked to his older brother as if searching for permission or approval. I wondered what that was about.