When she arrived, almost everyone was already on the sailboat getting settled. She was slightly surprised to see Isaac and his wife Isabella carting containers into the lower deck of the sailboat. The pair were dressed for a day on the water.
“Wow, who let you off work today?” Jules joked with Isaac.
The man glanced at her and laughed. “Our boss,” he answered with a wink. “I think she figured that if she gave me the day off, I’d arrange for the meals.”
“We have been needing a day like this,” Isabella said, touching her husband’s arm. “My husband throws himself too much into his work and forgets that we moved to paradise to enjoy ourselves.” She patted his arm.
“Well, I for one am very thankful you’re here. And not just because of the wonderful food I know we’re going to enjoy later.”
“Thanks,” Isabella said before Isaac could chime in.
Over the past five years, she’d come to know Isabella better than she knew Isaac. Mainly because the woman came in and used the facilities more than her husband, who was always stuck in the kitchens. She’d had more long chats with Isabella than she had with most of her friends.
“Here, let me grab that from you.” Damion stepped up from the lower deck to grab the container from Isaac. For the first time since last night, she got a look at Damion. She felt her face heat as her eyes ran over his face and his bare chest.
He normally wore a camp shirt when he captained for guests, but since this was a group of friends, he’d removed his shirt. And she was very thankful he had.
She knew perfectly well where he’d gotten all those delicious muscles. Damion, Carter, and a few of the other full-time employees met at least three times a week and headed to the camp’s gym together. On more than one occasion, she had rearranged her schedule and hit the gym while he was working out.
When his eyes met hers, his smile grew. God, he had such a great smile. She felt her knees go weak and had to actually turn away from him before she fell down.
She set her bag down next to Zoey and sat down, trying not to feel awkward while everyone else rushed around to prepare everything for the day’s journey.
By the time they headed out, it was half an hour past eight. Everyone was so excited, and no one seemed to mind that it was crowded on the sailboat. Normally, for guest sails they limited it to six couples and two staff. Now, there was double that. It didn’t feel overly crowded, but she was thankful she’d picked a seat near the back where Damion stood at the wheel.
Some people sitting in the front ended up getting sprayed with water when they were heading out into the Gulf because the water was a little choppy. But the closer they got to Crab Island, the clearer and calmer the water got.
She’d been to the underwater sandbar area so many times in her life that she couldn’t count. Most of the time it had been with her family on the Fourth of July. But since her father’s health was failing, she had spent the last couple years celebrating at the camp instead.
It took almost a full hour for them to get from the camp to Crab Island. By then, it had heated up and a dip in the cool crystal-clear water sounded very appealing.
A few of the guys helped Damion make sure the two anchors were settled and the massive sailboat was clear from all the other smaller boats that surrounded them.
“I know better than to pick a spot in the middle,” Damion said to her as a couple of people started to climb down the ladder into the water or jump off the sides of the boat. “My first year captaining, I got trapped in the middle of this mess.” He motioned around them.
This early in the morning, there were only a couple dozen boats anchored off the sandbar. But any local knew that during the height of the day there could easily be hundreds of boats crowding in, blocking anyone’s exit.
“This is perfect,” she responded with a sigh. “My dad used to want to be in the heart of it all. Then when my mom would want to leave, we’d be stuck.” She chuckled. “I think he did it on purpose because my mom would always want to leave after lunch and my dad likes hanging around until sunset.”
Damion smiled. “Yeah, my parents are sort of the same way, but opposite. My mom likes to hang around and watch the sunset and wait for the crowds to leave while my dad usually complains about missing a game on the set.” Then he nodded to the water. “Heading in?”
She glanced around and realized that everyone was now in the waist-deep water. Most of them had drinks, and Elle and Hannah had settled on a large floating mat that someone had brought along.
“Sure.” She peeled off her cover-up and set it on her bag. When she turned around, she realized Damion was watching her. “What?” She instantly feared that something was wrong, but then that sexy slow smile he got made her realize he was checking her out.
“Girl,” he said as he stuck his hand over his heart and banged his fist against his chest a couple times. “Had to restart my heart,” he joked, and she smiled.
“Okay.” She nodded. “I think you need…” She walked towards him slowly and finished her sentence as she pushed him overboard into the water. “To cool off.”
He landed in the clear water and came up laughing and caught her as she jumped in next to him.
Feeling his hands on her skin had her body heating even more. It took almost half an hour before she finally felt cooled off. By then, she had a drink in her hands and was talking to Lea about her and Brett’s wedding plans, while Damion was tossing around a football with a few of the guys.
It had taken a few months for Lea to heal from the attack she’d suffered last year. Jules still couldn’t believe how crazy people were, how full of hate they could be for someone they didn’t know. Enough so that they would damage their own careers and lives just to punish someone they thought shouldn’t exist.
Robbie Dixon Jr. was dead. Lea had shot the man who had terrorized and kidnapped her. Could Jules ever take someone else’s life? She didn’t know what she was capable of, having never been kidnapped and tortured like Lea had been last year.
To look at the woman now, you would never suspect that she’d gone through anything as crazy as that.