I want You Deeper

The weather was perfect for sailing.

Derek got up early and took his dinghy over to the boat. With the help of Captain Jake, he prepared the boat to sail so they could get started as soon as his new team arrived.

Team. He already had a team. He smiled to himself, realizing this dream of his was finally becoming real. His chief operating officer, bound under the contract they’d signed, would continue to make sure his company ran smoothly and money kept flowing to his bank account. A bank account that was conveniently set up under David Humphreys. On paper, he was David Humphreys. Derek Hughes had always been and would always be an alias he used only for business purposes.

That made going off-grid easier than ever, he’d found.

At the designated time-the end of April’s shift-he headed back to shore. April’s plan was to email her boss and let her know that she was taking another job, but she’d finish out her shift. Not the best situation, but when a yacht owner offered you a job traveling to Hawaii, you didn’t always have advance notice.

Surprisingly, both women were waiting at the dock when he arrived. They had their suitcases stacked around them. Multiple suitcases. So many suitcases, he wondered if they’d all fit into the dinghy as he pulled up next to where they stood.

“I see you packed for two weeks,” he commented, mostly to April. Renee had already been packed for vacation, so this was just bringing her luggage with her-three suitcases and some sort of small tote, along with the laptop bag she had hanging from her shoulder.

Yeah. This wasn’t going to work.

“I’ll have to make multiple trips.” He started to hop out, but the women were already loading suitcases in the back of the dinghy. “First the luggage, then I’ll come back and get the two of you.”

It wasn’t ideal, but dinghies weren’t really built for transporting large groups of people. Fortunately, it would only take minutes for him to make the round trip, plus a little time to hand the luggage off to Captain Jake. He radioed ahead to make sure Jake was at the back of the boat waiting when he arrived.

By the time Derek returned, they were seated on the dock, feet in the water. He saw their shoes resting next to them. He had to force his gaze away from Renee, who looked even better than he remembered. She wore a simple tank top and shorts, but somehow, she made it look like something you’d see in a magazine.

“No lifejackets?” Renee asked as they approached.

Crud. He’d forgotten the lifejackets. He tried to wear one every time he used the dinghy, but today, he’d been distracted with getting the boat ready so they wouldn’t be delayed even further. It was a short ride, so he just hoped they weren’t busted in the time it took to get there.

“This is so exciting!” April yelled over the sound of the motor as they neared the yacht.This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

Derek figured that was meant for Renee’s ears only, so he just kept his focus forward, slowing to a stop near the boat. Captain Jake was waiting for them, boat hook in hand.

“We need lifejackets!” Derek said into the radio as they approached.

He saw Captain Jake reach for his radio on his belt, then nod and disappear. The last thing they needed was to try to unload without the proper safety equipment. He’d do his best to keep his passengers out of the water, but he always practiced proper safety procedures.

Except when he forgot lifejackets.

Captain Jake returned seconds later, tossing the lifejackets to Derek. He managed to catch all three of them. He demonstrated how to put them on, and both April and Renee followed through without issue.

Derek had custom-designed this yacht himself, adding in all the features he wished he’d had over the years. The railing on the back made it easy to step onto the toe rail, which then made it easy to get to the small platform, then climb up the stairs. It was elaborate, and not meant to be performed in high-heeled sandals, but he noticed Renee was still gripping hers by the straps in one hand as she waited for April to transfer first.

Again, he was surprised by how both women jumped in and seemed completely fearless. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but both had said they had zero boating experience. Any novice would be a little hesitant, but April didn’t even take the help he offered her. She just went straight for the handrails and pulled herself up and onto the boat.

Then it was Renee’s turn. She stood slowly, pausing to balance her weight as the dinghy started moving. That was when that cool confidence she’d shown so far began to wane. Derek couldn’t see her eyes behind those sunglasses, but he was pretty sure they were filled with fear.

He held his hand out, leaning as forward as he dared. “Take my hand.”

Her head lifted slightly, and he felt her looking at him. She slowly, tentatively extended her own hand as though terrified that even the slightest move might completely disturb the balance and tip the dinghy over.

As her soft, dainty hand slid into his much larger, rougher one, the chemistry he’d been sensing between them intensified. It definitely was the wrong time to be feeling anything like that, but he’d be darned if he could help it. He directed all his effort on getting her from the dinghy to the sun deck.

With every step she took, the dinghy swayed. It hadn’t had time to do that with April, she’d moved so quickly. He knew the dinghy wouldn’t tip because… gravity, but he couldn’t expect her to have his level of confidence. So, he tightened his hand around hers and did his best to distribute his weight in a way that steadied it.

“I think- Oh!”

Whatever she’d been about to say was cut off when she took a bold step and the boat started shaking again. At that point, she was close enough that he could reach for her, and that was exactly what he did. He closed the distance between them and put one arm around her. His free hand went to her upper arm. It was instinct, but it seemed to work. The boat gradually stilled.

“Here, put your weight on me,” he said as he shifted slightly, grabbing the handrail with the hand that had been on her upper arm.

She did just that, and he let part of his mind wander to just how nice it felt to have her in his arms. Her warmth against his upper chest tempted him to pull her even closer, but he resisted that temptation.

And somehow that was the thought that occupied him the rest of the way. Her hand grasped the handrail, and together, they shifted her until her feet were on the toe rail. She was so eager to be on solid ground she nearly whacked him in the head with the sandals still dangling from her right hand, but at least she was safe.

“Welcome aboard!” he heard Captain Jake say as he climbed his own way up.

Derek never got that level of enthusiasm, but then he did owe his captain a big thanks for staying on the boat. It was the captain’s personal rule that he never, ever left the boat, even if it was dangerous. Sounded like a bad policy to Derek, but the captain was somehow both young and experienced with sailing at the same time.

“So, you drive this ship?” Renee asked.

“Sailboats don’t need too much driving, ma’am.” Captain Jake gave Derek a smile. “But, yes, I make sure she stays afloat and going in the right direction.”

“I help out sometimes.” Derek had no idea why he’d felt the need to add that little factoid in. It sounded like he was bragging, and maybe that was what it was.

“I keep an eye on things at night so everyone can sleep,” Captain Jake explained. “Let’s give you the grand tour.”

Renee wasn’t finished with the questioning, though. She sounded like she’d been hired to learn everything she could about the ship. It made sense. If she was going to be confined to this boat for the next couple of weeks, she should want to know a little more about how everything worked.

“Everything’s as secure as secure can be,” Captain Jake explained as they entered a seating area toward the back of the boat. Appearing to be in awe, both Renee and April looked around at areas he never used because he’d only ever sailed this vessel by himself.

“Is there a pool?” April asked.

“Hot tub,” Derek said. The word came out sounding more clipped than he’d intended.

When he’d decided, halfway through designing this, that he was going to keep it for himself, he’d scrapped the idea of putting a swimming pool aboard. He pretty much always included swimming pools on his yachts these days unless the client specified otherwise. Yachts were for entertaining.

Derek didn’t entertain.

It had been an ongoing point of contention between him and his exgirlfriend. She wanted to have a weekend where they hosted some of the bigwigs in town, but that wasn’t Derek. The last thing he wanted was to pack one of his boats full of people who were only there because he had money and a fancy boat. He had this unshakable need to only surround himself with people who genuinely wanted to be around him.

And since he couldn’t trust that anyone genuinely wanted to be around him, that meant he spent a lot of time alone.

“Do we have provisions?” Renee asked as they entered the kitchen area. It was set up for a team of people to cook for the guests onboard. For guests, there was a refrigerator in the lounge area near the master bedroom.

“I brought some over this morning to add to what we already have.” Derek nodded at the refrigerator. “Take a look.”

Renee stepped over to it and opened the door. Sure enough, the refrigerator was packed with meat, cheese, and perishables like vegetables. There was a produce cabinet off to the side, as well as a pantry filled with seasonings and canned foods.

“The fresh produce will be the toughest,” Renee said as she closed the door and looked around. “You said it takes two weeks.”

“Roughly.” He shrugged. Captain Jake had taken off to get the boat going. He’d be able to give a more accurate estimate.

“Then we need to utilize the produce while we can, while still conserving it. I’ll come up with some menus.” Renee pulled out her phone and started tapping on the screen. She then began typing frantically with both thumbs.

“Hallmark of a professional chef,” April explained to Derek. “People don’t realize how much goes into planning.”

“Especially on a ship,” Renee commented, still typing.

Derek nodded to himself. April had been an impulse hire, mostly to make Renee feel a little safer about stepping onto a boat with two strangers. But he was starting to suspect she’d been a good choice, as well. She’d already proven herself to be a hard worker and now she seemed like a pretty sharp cookie. He needed that around here.

“I’ll show you the laundry room.”

Derek had meant that solely for April since it would fall on her as the sole steward to take care of that. There were only four people aboard-for now, anyway-so laundry shouldn’t be too overwhelming.

“There’s a laundry room?” Renee asked, trailing along after them.

Derek kept walking, closing open cabinets as he went. He’d been a bit less than organized and neat when it had been just him and Captain Jake aboard. Now that there was someone taking care of things, he’d be much more conscientious about it.

“Laundry falls under the steward’s duties,” he heard April say to Renee.

“Oh, I can do my own. And help you out. When I’m not making meals, that is.”

Derek felt a little tug at his heart at the offer. How long had it been since he’d been attracted to a woman who didn’t expect things to just fall in her lap? He felt like the past eight years of his life had been spent trying to impress women with the things he owned, rather than the person he was. He’d blamed the women for that, but maybe it was his fault. Maybe the fact that he prioritized his own financial status when he was meeting a new woman attracted the type of woman who cared about that.

Although he’d just met her, he could already tell Renee was different from every woman he’d met in recent years.