Caribbean Christmas (9 page)

His gut twisted as his mind moved to his own situation, captivated by a woman set to leave in a few days. His heart was already making plans for when she came home next, but he knew better than to expect her to return. After all, she hadn’t been back in eight years.

He could see Blowing Point Harbor in the distance. “Do you want to keep sailing or head in?”

She wrinkled her nose as she smiled up at him. “I’m hungry.”

“You’re kidding.” Though, come to think of it, he could eat. He placed a hand on the muscles of his stomach, realizing they’d had more of a workout than he’d expected.

“I’m starving. Had a long swim and then this guy told me he was going to give me a ride on his boat, but he didn’t mean a boat, if you know what I’m saying.” She waggled her brows and then bubbled up with laughter.

“You have to watch out for those sailors. They are always looking for a place to dock.” He grinned, but her amusement faded.

“But only until the wind shifts.”

He turned his head to face her, though she stared at the sea. “That’s not fair. I’d love for you to stay. And so would Dutch.”

She shook her head. “I have to finish my portfolio for next year’s designs. And there will be so many meetings in New York, Holly thinks we should move there.”

“I did prep school in New York.” He waited a beat, hoping she’d encourage him to visit, but her words never came. She was as content to leave him behind as her mother had been to leave Dutch all those years ago.

Maybe he’d been alone in what he felt in the stateroom. Making love to Sass had been just that, making love. At first he’d been completely ruled by his cock, but as their bodies joined, a fit so perfect he’d never thought to dream it, something had shifted. Like a vase that fell from a shelf and shattered in a million pieces, he knew he’d never be the same again.

He’d known there was something different about her, instinct warning him that she could upend his life. And she just might, because as he gripped the wheel, he realized why he’d struggled to keep his distance. It had little to do with her being Dutch’s daughter and everything to do with the way he could lose himself in her.

Where he was hard and invasive, she was soft and accommodating. What she wanted to do, he wanted to join in with. Where she wanted to go, he wanted to follow. Even to New York. He kept his mouth shut on that front, choosing to hold on to what little self-preservation he had left.

“How long do you think we have until we arrive?” She lifted her crocheted white suit from the bench, checking it for dryness before draping it over one arm.

“We’re sailing faster than the wind, maybe ten minutes.”

“Damn, I don’t think we can do it that fast.”

He raised a brow in question, which only served to dissolve her into a pile of giggles. He wasn’t sure what to make of her or her comment, so he changed the subject. “You should put your suit back on before we get to town.”

“Why?” She settled her yellow shorts lower on her hips and tied the crocheted purple tee to one side, baring the smooth skin of her toned belly. Her belly ring glinted in the sun.

“Because your shirt is like lace and I’m not okay with other people seeing your tits.”

She looked down at her chest and back up at him, her face the picture of innocence. “I look fine.”

“You look more than fine, and you know it.” He reached out a finger and teased the material around her nipple until the ring started to show through her shirt.

“You really do have sex on the brain, don’t you?” She stepped away and tugged her top until her secrets were hidden again. “No one is going to do that.”

He sighed in relief as she went below deck. He really didn’t think he’d be able to handle himself if he caught someone staring a bit too hard at her. A passing level of appreciation he expected, but he knew how guys thought, especially on this island.

After lowering the sails to slow the boat, he fired up the motor to make maneuvering into the dock easier. He expected Sass to come back up top to tease him about using the crutch, but she stayed below as he guided Lola into her berth.

He was even more careful than usual, not wanting to hear it if he happened to bump the dock too hard. In fact, the only thing he wanted to do was finish the rest of her shopping list so he could get her home and in his bed. She’d been able to take a short nap after their bout on the mattress, but he’d had to climb the stairs with leaden legs to get the boat moving again.

“Hannes!” his brother’s voice bellowed. “Hannes, where the hell did you go, man?” His elder brother jumped onto the boat without waiting for an invitation. “What is this about Sassy? Why didn’t you tell me Dutch’s brat decided to drop in unannounced? What the hell does she want?”

“Mannus, I don’t have to tell you my every move.” He knew his boat well enough to know Saskia heard every word Harm said. He willed her to stay below deck until he could get rid of his brother, and hoped he could do it without revealing anything that would be better she heard from her father.

“The island is buzzing with it. Everyone wants to know why she’s back. Am I supposed to tell them it’s to get money for her mother? I don’t want to embarrass Dutch, but we both know it’s no coincidence the kid shows up a few weeks after he had to tell her no.”

“Let Dutch explain why she’s here. It’s not our place.”

“Like hell. He’s our family. If you won’t ask the troublemaker what she’s up to, I will. Would have already, but I can’t find her.” Harm scratched at the dark stubble on his face. “And I couldn’t find you all day either.”

“How did you know where to find me?”

“You know anyone else using the Netherlands flag for a sail? I saw the red, white and blue stripes and came over. Come on now, what’s going on? I made friends with a little lovely vacationing with her friend. I know how you like blondes, so I said we’d take them out to see the sunset.”

“You’ll have to handle them yourself.” He killed the engine and finished tying up the boat. Harm’s gaze felt heavy on his back as he made the rounds.

“Since when do you turn down tourist pussy? I’m serving it up to you on a silver platter here. Why are you being so fucking shady?”

Joe turned just as Sassy ascended the stairs. She hadn’t put on the suit beneath her top, damn it.

“Harmannus, classy as ever I see.” Her hair was done up in an elaborate bun made from braids and there was a pink tinge to her skin. “You really ought to do something about that hair, unless you are trying to look like a gigolo.”

Harm pounded a fist on the edge of the boat. “You’re hiding the brat? What the hell, man?”

“You should have put on more sunscreen,” he told her, the wicked look in her honey-blue gaze worrying him. If she started in on Harm, he’d wind up giving it right back to her, and with more information than she needed to hear.

“Or kept my clothes on.” She winked, her naughty smile growing wider.

“Dude!” Harm held up both hands. “What the fuck? She’s like twelve.”

“Twenty-four.” Joe wrinkled his brow, not liking at all where Harm was going with this. Or that Saskia had just revealed something he’d been hoping to keep between them. The fewer people that knew, the fewer that would think he was a fool when she left.

“I guess you never did learn your maths, did you, Harm? Too busy dipping your stick in everything that held still long enough, I guess.”

Harm pointed a finger at her. “Listen, you little brat—”

“Hey, both of you, stop. Sass, don’t poke the bear. Go get your stuff.”

“Really?” She put her hands on her hips and damn-it-all-to-hell, he could see her nipple rings.

“I need to talk to my brother.”

She rolled her eyes, but thankfully went after her bag and the groceries.

“You talk to her like that again, and we’re going to have trouble.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You cannot be serious about bagging Dutch’s daughter.”

“That’s one. Get off my boat, Harm.” With everything secured, he took the keys out of the ignition and pocketed them.

“Oh, no. I’m not going to just stand by and let her do to you what her mother did to Dutch. She’s here because she wants something, probably a load of cash since she heard you—”

His fist connected with Harm’s jaw, the force shooting up to his shoulder before boomeranging back down to his knuckles as pain. He shook the ache from his fingers and stared down his brother’s dark, brooding gaze.

Harm rubbed his jaw and spit, right on Lola’s teak deck. “That was your one and only freebie in this lifetime, little brother. And only because you have lost your mind. You’re stupid as fuck if you think this is going to end any other way except badly. You know, I ought to pummel you right now. Because where are you going to escape to when this one blows up in your face? I have too much invested in this place to leave because you let someone use you. Again.”

The anxiety in his gut twisted and rolled. Harm was right, completely right. And yet it changed nothing. “Get off my boat.”

Chapter Thirteen

“I know you said you didn’t want to talk about it, but I think we should.” Saskia kept her hands busy by putting away the groceries, keeping the new packages at the front of the cupboards so they looked full. Everything was empty, unused. Like no one had actually decided to move back in after the remodel.

“We’re not going to talk about it.” He reached into the fridge and pulled out a beer. He set the top of the bottle against the stone countertop and then hit it with his fist. The cap popped off and scattered under the table in the dining room.

“Well, I’m going to apologize then. Harm has always been so mean it was just natural for me to start in on him. He was being rude to you, and about my mother, and I couldn’t help myself. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. I really didn’t mean to make you two fight.”

“Forget it. You weren’t what we were fighting about.” He walked out the back door as if the conversation were over.

Hardly. She followed him outside, finding him in her hammock. Perfect. If they both got in he’d be good as trapped. She faced him, then started to climb in by his feet.

He gripped the sides, careful not to spill his beer. “What the hell?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle. We’ll both fit if you stay still.”

“I don’t think we will.” But they did, barely. The strain on the ropes made them cinch tighter, but nothing was going to break.

“When you fall on your ass getting out of this, I’m going to laugh.” He smiled, then took a long pull from his beer.

“Likewise. But you can’t get away from me so easily now.”

“If I was trying to get away from you, I’d be gone.” His pale gaze held an intensity that she hadn’t experienced before. As if somehow, by only looking at her, he could communicate buckets of emotions. Frustration and sadness, anticipation and worry, excitement and fear. She recognized it all because she felt the same.

It was a twisted feeling of right guy, wrong place, wrong time. She’d never felt so safe, so comfortable with a man, with anyone really. Somehow they fit together like two same-colored pieces in the middle of a jigsaw puzzle sky. If they didn’t stay together, they might never match up again.

But then, if they truly fit, shouldn’t they be able to find each other at a better time? Maybe when a few more of the pieces around them had been filled in?

He reached out his free hand and she took it in hers with a smile. He got it, and he would never do anything to hurt her, at least not on purpose. And that included asking her to stay when she couldn’t.

“I’ll come back.” She spoke quietly, more to herself than to him.

“I’ll be here.” He squeezed her hand and she squeezed her eyes shut. They ached, suddenly heavy, her chest tight at the thought of being back in Florida. Alone.

“Neither of us saw this coming, Sass. Not in a million years. Before you stepped onto this island we were just childhood memories to each other, and not very good ones at that.”

She blinked open her eyes, loving the way his handsome features had softened as he played with her hand. “You were my first crush. You might not remember, but you always saved me. When I fell off my surfboard and hit my head, when Harm trapped me on the roof, when that pelican dove at me thinking I was a fish.”

The hammock shook as he laughed. “I’d forgotten about the pelican. I thought your mom was going to kill us when I carried you up to her chair. That bird came at you a half dozen times.”

“I saw you naked once. Or twice.”

“Okay, what? Are you telling me you were a peeping Tom as a kid?”

“You were showering, and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. All the girls were twittering on about the Prinsen brothers, so I was curious.”

“I should feel violated, but I watched you working out this morning and I didn’t have any scientific reason for it.”

“You also broke my heart.” His hand stilled against hers. “Dad and I were in Holland, and you suggested we go to the Efteling, and then you didn’t come with us.”

He choked out another laugh. “I was probably the same age you are now. And you were what, twelve? It would have been pretty pervy for me to have seen anything in you but ginger hair and braces back then. An amusement park would have better entertained you than I would.”