“Yes,” Jules said, stretching her arms over her head. “How are you feeling?” She turned and looked at him.
“Much better,” he answered truthfully.
Jules’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t look any better.” She reached up and touched his eye and then his lip.
“Is it bad?” he asked.
“It’s not good.” She tilted her head.
“But you’re still handsome as ever,” Brett joked as he climbed aboard. “Now how about you point this colossus towards home?”
“You don’t want to say for the sunset?” he asked.
“We can watch it from closer to home and somewhere less crowded,” Liam answered as he wrapped a towel around himself.
The guys helped him pull up the two anchors, and he carefully maneuvered the massive sailboat through the few other boats that had anchored behind them. When they hit open water, he decided the winds were too rough to let the sails out and he’d just use the motor to get them home instead, which would take a little longer.
No one complained. Several of the women had gone downstairs and changed into drier clothes, while the guys pulled on shirts or hoodies. The wind had kicked up and even he reached for the hoodie he had.
Jules made her way back to him and handed him another brownie.
“A little pick-me-up.” She leaned against him. He nudged her to sit on his knee and steer while he enjoyed the brownie.
“I’ve never driven a sailboat before.” She laughed as he placed her hands on the wheel.
“A sailboat isn’t a lot different than a regular boat when you’re using the motor. Steer into the waves and aim for where we’re heading,” he said between bites.
“How is it you know where we’re going?” she asked, glancing around. “Everything looks so small out here. Right now, I couldn’t tell you where I am, and I’ve lived here my entire life.”
He pointed. “Do you see that house there.” He pointed to a massive mansion. The pristine green yard was lined with palm trees. “We’ll go past it and then take a left.”
“You can’t always navigate by sight though.” She glanced back at him.
“Nope, that’s what this baby is for.” He patted his GPS computer screen. “Right now, it’s off, but if I’m going on longer trips, it’s on, navigating for me the entire way. When you’ve been out on the water as much as I have around here, you remember a few landmarks.”
She was quiet for a moment then asked, “Has anything like today ever happened to you before?”
“It’s not the first time someone has gotten violent,” he answered. “It is the first time I was almost drowned by a three-hundred-pound drunk guy.”
“I’m really glad you’re okay.” She leaned back into his chest.
He’d finished the brownie and wrapped his arms around her.
“Want to take over?” she asked.
“Naw, you got this.” He was enjoying letting her steer them home.
He killed the motor just outside the small inlet to their beach area so everyone could watch the sunset and sip champagne. He wanted more than anything to kiss Jules as the sun disappeared, but not with all of their coworkers and friends around them. He wasn’t sure just how public she wanted what was between them to be.
He was determined to ask her before the night ended. Navigating back to the camp in the dark wasn’t hard. He could probably do it with one eye shut. Once they docked, the gang quickly gathered their items while he closed up the sailboat and made sure everything was secure.
When Jules tried to head off down the path with the rest, he took her hand and stopped her.
“Hang back for a minute, if you will?” he asked her.
She glanced back at the group of their friends, who were too busy chatting amongst themselves to notice his request.
“Sure,” she said, setting her bag down. “Did you need some help cleaning up?” She looked around.