Willow blushed and fluffed her hair. “Perhaps.”
“And I take it you are off to see him now?”
“As a matter of fact, I am,” Willow said. “You should probably do the same. I’ve seen a lot of good looking men out here.”
“Mom!” Claire exclaimed with a laugh. It was embarrassing talking about men with her mom.
“Just have some fun, Claire. Please? For me.” Willow kissed her on the cheek. “See you later.”
“Bye, Mom,” Claire replied. She turned to Amy’s door and knocked. There was no answer. “Amy!” She could hear shuffling inside, so she placed her ears at the door to discern what was happening. “Amy!” she called again and pounded on the door.
“Hold on,” she heard a muffled voice say from the inside before the lock clicked and Amy stuck her head out the crack.
“Yep!” she said, clearing her throat. “What?”
Claire narrowed her eyes and tried to look around Amy. She shifted to her right to prevent Claire from seeing inside. Realization hit Claire and her mouth fell open. “Is there a man in there?” she asked in shock.
“Uh-huh,” Amy giggled.
“Oh, my God.” Claire tried to look again.
“Get back,” Amy said and gave her a little shove into the hallway. “So, I need to…um…get back,” she whispered.
“Okay,” Claire laughed. When Amy went back inside, pangs of loneliness hit her, and she was suddenly eager to see Chance. It seemed as if her mom and Amy had deliberately set her up with Chance, but she knew that wasn’t possible. She headed downstairs to get breakfast.
“Ready?” she heard a voice say on her left. When she looked, he dodged her and came up on her right.
“Chance, you can be such a kid,” she smiled to ease the sting of her words. “Have you already eaten breakfast?”
“We can do that elsewhere,” he told her and took her hand.
“Where are we going?” she asked him.
“You’ll see,” he told her with a wink.
He led her to a limo waiting for them and ushered her into the back. He followed after and told the driver to take them to the marina. Her eyes widened when she saw the boats and yachts lined up there, and she looked at Chance expectantly.
He helped her from the car. “Let’s go see St. Lucia in style.” Claire gripped his hand nervously as she followed him.
They got on a yacht named Rosie, and he whispered something to a man standing on the boardwalk. The man nodded and walked away, and Chance signaled for her to follow him. When Claire stepped onto the main deck of the yacht, she felt as if she had been transported to a different world. If she had been blindfolded before boarding, she would have mistaken the place for a five-star hotel.
“Wow,” she whispered as she looked around and followed him to the lower deck. “Where did you get this? And how much did you pay to rent this? Chance, this is too much,” she started, feeling guilty he might be spending that much money for her when they would separate in a matter of days.
“It’s not rented,” he explained as he walked to the bar in the corner and poured himself a drink.
Claire’s eyes widened at his announcement. “This…it’s…” she stammered as she struggled to find words.
Chance smiled at her. “This belonged to my mother. Dad gave it to her for her birthday some years ago. She willed it to me.” He turned to her with a smile and offered her a drink.
“What happened to your mom?” Claire asked.
“She died. Years ago.”
“I’m so sorry, Chance.”
“Thanks, it’s okay. But yeah, she wanted me to own the boat, so now it’s mine.”
“She must have been amazing.”
“Yes, she was. But Dad needs to move on and find happiness soon. He’s long overdue,” Chance said. “But come on, take off your shoes and kick back.”
Claire laughed. “So your mom got this for her birthday? Wow. The best gift I ever got was a trip to the spa.”
Chance laughed as well and sputtered in his drink. “Now you made me mess up my good shirt.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that is the best one you have,” she replied sarcastically.
“It was. I wore it especially for you.”
“I can imagine,” Claire said. Then the vessel shook as it moved onto open waters. She tried to hold on to a nearby railing.
“You okay?” Chance asked, moving close to her and holding her.
Claire felt her throat dry out as a sudden heat surged through her body and ended between her legs. This would never do! She hoped he didn’t notice her reaction to his touch. She tried to distract him by talking. “I hope I don’t get seasick.”
“You won’t; Chris is one of the best sailors I know. You want to go back up top?”
“Sure,” she said, wondering what he had in store for her up there.
Chance held her hands and led her up the one flight of stairs and onto the main deck again. There she found breakfast ready and waiting. She turned to him and smiled.