For some reason, I got the distinct impression he hadn’t slept. That my blasé comment had hit a nerve. What did he get up to yesterday after I overhead his conversation? I hadn’t heard his cello, but that didn’t mean he didn’t play.
After I’d locked my door, I’d slept surprisingly well. I didn’t know what that said about my state of mind, but for the first time, I wasn’t on high alert waiting for someone—friend or foe—to come through the door uninvited.
“Double coffee.” I pointed at the two cups.
He shook his head, dispelling whatever he’d been thinking. “One of them is for you.” Coming toward me, he held out the cup.
I took it gently, careful not to spill the creamy flower design made from the milk on top. “You knew I’d be here?”
“I saw you from the bridge.” He pointed at the highest point of the yacht where the shadows of staff and captain hinted that just because we weren’t looking where we were sailing didn’t mean countless other people weren’t.
Taking a sip of his coffee, he added, “I went to see Jolfer this morning. Wanted to confirm the route to England. I spotted you sitting on the lifeboat and figured I owed you an apology.”
“Back to the apology.”
He nodded. “Back to that.” He took another sip. “I’m sorry for abandoning you the past two days, and I’m sorry if I made you feel anything but welcome. I...I love having you here with me and haven’t done a very good job of showing that.”
I didn’t want to tell him I’d been reading between the lines long enough that I understood more than I should. That he loved me being here but cursed himself for not being able to take advantage. That he loved spending time with me but didn’t trust himself to keep it purely platonic.
If that kiss was anything to go by, I’d say his worries were founded upon fact. Not that I would tell him that as I didn’t want such boundaries or fears to remain between us.
I joined him in drinking the perfectly brewed caffeine. “What way did you tell him?”
“Hmm?” He licked his lips free from frothy coffee, making my stomach twitch with a carnal hunger I’d only just begun to understand.
“With your captain? How many ways are there to sail to England from here?”
His face lit up, grateful for a neutral topic where innuendoes and sexual undercurrents couldn’t dwell. “Two technically.”
When I continued to drink, waiting for him to elaborate, he said, “Basically, we can go through the Strait of Gibraltar or down past the Cape of Good Hope.”
“Which is better?”
He shrugged. “Both are great journeys, but one is approximately six to seven days, and the other is over a month.”
“Oh, wow.”
He smiled. “I’m guessing you’d like to get home faster than a month, and we have a function to attend, so I have no choice but to go the shorter route.”
I didn’t mention that returning home wasn’t a draw card anymore. In fact, England was rather the opposite. I didn’t want to go back. My mother was locked up and untouchable while bad memories were free and rampant. If Elder hadn’t just mentioned a function, I would suggest turning around and going somewhere else.
Curiosity built inside me. “We have a function? What is it?”
He scowled. “A masquerade in a drab English estate called Hawksridge.”
Hawksridge...that name sounded familiar, but I didn’t know why.
Elder noticed my kernel of enlightenment. “The Hawk family deal in diamonds. They supply most of the jewellers in London and far beyond. You might’ve heard of them.”
“I’ve heard of Hawk diamonds. Yes.”
“There you go.” He finished his coffee with a disgusted look. “We’re to attend because their clientele are often my clientele. The rich demographic normally likes the same things. Yachts, horses, diamonds...”
“So...this is a business meeting?”
“Something like that.”
“Why do I have to attend?”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re my plus one. However, if you’d rather not go...”
I held up my hand. “No, I’m honoured to accompany you.” Even as I said it, I wondered if I would be up to mingling in a crowd. The last time I’d been at a function with finely dressed gentleman and prettily gowned women, I’d been strangled and abducted.
This might be even worse because everyone would be wearing masks.
Just like the auction at the QMB.
Oh, God.
My heart kicked into a canter, but I hid my trepidation.
I wouldn’t give Elder any reason to suspect I couldn’t handle whatever it was he needed me to handle—including him.
“We’ll only be there an hour. Two at the most.” He finished his coffee. “I’m reluctant to go, but I have an oath to keep, and that oath means earning money until I reach my target.”
I hid my surprised laugh. “You have a target to amass more money?”
He cringed a little as if noticing how it sounded. How the idea of Elder—who had wealth far beyond what I could conceive—admitted he had the drive for more.
What could he possibly need that he couldn’t afford with his current financial position?
I shook my head a little, trying to understand. He didn’t come across as superficial or someone who spent a great deal on things just for flash and recognition. Sure, the Phantom was beyond luxurious, and he owned helicopters and Maybachs and whatever other expensive brands the rich and famous had, but he still retained an aura of someone who wasn’t used to wealth.
Someone who had somehow stumbled into it and still wasn’t comfortable spending unless it was to lavish a lifestyle on his family.
A family who never shows up to enjoy his generosity.
“It’s hot today. Perhaps we should go inside out of the sun.” Taking my empty cup, Elder kept his voice level, but something ate at him—something relating to money and secrets and reasons why he was the way he was.
I desperately wanted to know those reasons and was finally ready to give him any part of my past for a tiny fraction of his.
“El...” I moved toward him, placing my hand on his forearm.
He jolted at my touch but didn’t jerk away. His gaze locked with mine, and everything I was about to suggest flew out of my head. I’d had envisions of inviting him to my suite. Ordering a quiet breakfast and doing something we’d never done before.
Talk.
Truly talk like two strangers who didn’t know a thing about each other but had one thing in common: a sexual attraction—a mutual fascination and hearts that’d whispered the same message the moment we’d met.
I liked Elder far too much. I loved Elder far too deep for logical reasoning. And I still knew nothing about him.
My tongue slid over my bottom lip while I did my best to coerce my thoughts into orderly sentences and not the tumbling acrobats they’d become.
Only, an excited voice rang on the warm sea breeze, breaking the heavy spell and snapping our eyes to the bow of the ship.
“What on earth is she pointing at?” I asked as a staff member with blonde pigtails bounced up and down. Her face was luminous with excitement. Her finger pointed at the water below.
Elder smiled. “Dolphins probably. I don’t know why staff continue to get so excited. It’s not like they’re a rare occurrence.” He said it so matter-of-factly, as if dolphins were as common as house flies.