27. Alana

TWENTY-SEVEN

Alana

There's nothing more beautiful

than the way the ocean refuses

to stop kissing the shoreline,

no matter how many times it's sent away.

~ Sarah Kay

I wake feeling groggy, but a smile blooms across my face before I even toss back the covers. I leave for LA in an hour. And I’ll be there for two days because of this premier event—the one I’m attending with Rex. None of that is the reason for the private smile that’s like the sun shining through clouds.

Stevens stayed for dinner and left when Brigitte called to tell me to get into bed. She heard Stevens in the background and literally squealed so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear. Of course, he found this utterly amusing. Then Brigitte started shouting, “Let me talk to him!” So I reluctantly put him on the phone. It’s not like they haven’t spoken before. She arranged all the details when he taxied me or ran for my groceries. This was different. I have no idea what she said, but Stevens smiled and laughed the whole minute I allowed them to chat before I grabbed my phone back and sent him packing for the night.

And, I lost at Scrabble. So I got to kiss him. And I did. Kissing Stevens is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. He’s so careful and passionate. Maybe it’s different because of all the emotions he brings up in me. Whatever it is, I feel like I never really kissed a man until I kissed him.

I shower, dress, drink my probiotic green drink and grab the garment bag and duffle I’m taking to LA with me. Then I meet my driver out front to be taxied to Joel’s boat. I consider texting Stevens, but the sun is just rising. He may be asleep. I’ll call him later.

The golf cart slows to a stop at the dock and I hop out, taking my bags from the young man who drove me. I make my way down the dock, and squint at the boat as I approach.

Is that … ? I blink. He steps out onto the dock and stands there looking at me with an impish grin on his gorgeous face and I break into a shameless run.

“What are you doing here?”

“I traded with Joel. I figured, he’s got an NDA, he can’t tell anyone. I didn’t say why. I just told him I needed to go to LA anyway so I’d relieve him. He’s happily getting paid to sleep in today.”

I drop my bags and throw my arms around Stevens’ neck.

“You’re amazing!” I breathe the words into his shirt and then inhale the now-familiar scent of him.

“I’m really not, but let’s keep that illusion going for a while … possibly indefinitely.”

“You are amazing. And I’m glad you don’t know it.”

I press a soft kiss to his lips and he tugs me to himself. The misty morning air surrounds us, seagulls and shorebirds call out across the water. The waves slosh under the pier. Stevens runs his hands down my back until they rest on my hips. He kisses me like a man welcoming his girlfriend home at the airport. It’s one of those kisses that says I missed you . And even though we’ve only been separated for a night, I get it. I’ve missed him forever. And we’ll be in forced separation regularly for the foreseeable future. This is the kiss of two people desperate for more of one another than they are allowed. We’re grabbing at crumbs, savoring the small samples of time we get and trying to make a meal out of them.

When we separate, he gently pushes my curls back from my face.

He stares into my eyes and murmurs. “I brought you a breakfast burrito.”

“I think that might be the hottest thing a man has ever said to me.”

He chuckles. “You need to get out more.”

“Maybe I just need to get out with you.”

“Definitely that.”

He releases me and bends to pick up my bags for me. “We’d better get going. You’re on a schedule, or so Joel informed me.”

“Yeah. I am.” I inhale a sweet breath of ocean air. “Tonight’s the premier with Rex—not our film, obviously. This other one.”

“Well, let’s get you to LA, then.” Stevens boards the boat and turns toward me to extend his hand. I take it—whether I need it or not, I just want to touch him.

He takes the helm and I sit next to him. Maybe if Joel were driving, I’d be in the back of the boat today, letting the breeze off the water still my nerves about pretending with Rex.

We’re about five minutes out when Stevens says, “Want to drive?”

“Drive the boat?”

He makes a show of looking around. “The boat seems to be the only thing you can drive out here.”

“Smarty. You know I don’t drive.”

“And that was the story of every single driver up until the day they learned.”

“I really can’t afford to wreck Joel’s boat.”

“I think you actually can afford to wreck his boat.” He winks at me. “But I won’t let you. I’ll be right beside you. Come here. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

I stand, assuming Stevens is going to take the seat I was in. He slows the engine so it’s nearly idling. He steps back and gestures for me to step in front of him. I do. And then he’s surrounding me, his arms coming around mine, my back flush against him.

“Oh, I like driving,” I coo.

He chuckles and I feel the rumble spread through me.

“Is this how you teach all the girls?” I tease, glancing over my shoulder at him.

His face is serious—kind, but intense. “Only you, Alana.”

That thrills me more than he could know. I’m aware he takes groups of women out regularly for lessons and tours of all sorts. But the way he says, Only you , feels possessive, proprietary.

Stevens’ tone turns all instructional while he reaches around, looping his arm past my waist to point to gauges, the key for the ignition, and the throttle. He runs through the basics while we sit idle. Then he tells me to turn the key since the engine is already dropped.

I turn the key and the engine starts, but we’re in neutral, so we don’t move.

“Grab the throttle, Alana.”

This is entirely too much fun already. My nerves are buzzing. Every inch of me is aware of Stevens.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” I warn.

Then I grab the throttle and push it up to accelerate, keeping one hand on the wheel. Stevens places his warm palm over the back of my hand and presses lightly on the throttle. His other hand covers mine to help me steer.

I push the throttle up and we take off.

I squeal.

If Stevens’ hand weren’t over mine on the steering wheel, I’d have surely veered us all over .

“You’ve got this,” he says, bending over so his words and warm breath hit my ear.

“Not if you keep that up, I don’t!” I shout over the sound of the engine and water.

“Easy, easy,” he guides me to back off the throttle.

He steps back just a little, lifting the hand that’s covering mine on the throttle. I look at him and then back at the water, as if I’m about to hit something when we’re in the middle of the open ocean.

“You’ve got this,” he says, lifting his other hand off mine.

He’s standing just behind me, but we’re not touching anymore.

I steer like that for a few minutes. Then I see something in the water. A shadow or a lump. I jerk the steering wheel hard to the left to veer around whatever it is.

The boat responds. Oh my gosh, it does!

We jerk hard, Stevens staggering and tipping behind me and then grabbing for the wheel as I stumble into his arm and nearly pitch overboard. Stevens has me pinned between his arms in no time, both of his hands on the wheel as he maneuvers it to right the boat.

I’m breathing fast, my heart near my throat, beating so hard I can feel it.

“Oh my gosh!” I shout once Stevens has the throttle lowered and we’re back on a straight course at a moderate speed.

“Hey.” His voice is calm and his eyes are soft when I do a one-eighty to face him. “You gave a whole new meaning to learning curve.”

He’s trying not to laugh, I can tell.

I bust into laughter, half-fueled by nerves, and he joins me.

“I could have killed us!” I shake my head.

“Not on my watch. You’re fine. Now, turn around so you can have another go at it.”

“What?” I look into his eyes. He’s smiling down at me with a combination of amusement and affection. That expression is my new favorite cocktail. “Are you out of your mind? You want me to drive again ?”

“I definitely want you to drive again. What made you jerk the wheel?”

“I saw a thing.”

He chuckles. “A thing?”

“Yeah. A shadowy blackish thing.”

“In the ocean?”

“Yes. In the ocean.” I pop my hands on my hips.

“Alana, you know there are dark shadowy things all over down there: sea otters, sea lions, dolphins, whales even. We have octopi, giant squid, and all types of fish.”

“See! And I didn’t want to hit it.”

His grin is so big it pops both his dimples and scrunches up those adorable lines next to his eyes.

“These animals navigate in the water. They will swim around you.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. You won’t hit one. Not unless it’s already so sick it’s dying.”

“It would have been nice if you had told me before placing me behind a wheel.”

“Point taken.” He smiles again.

My belly literally flutters, like little happy fairies waking up and flitting around. They’re the Stevens fan club of fairies and there must be hundreds of them.

“Okay, so …” He gestures toward the steering wheel.

“Okay. Let’s do this,” I agree.

The second time behind the wheel, I do much better. Stevens lets me drive for a good fifteen or twenty minutes, and then he takes over.

“Joel has never had me in a life jacket because his boat is over twenty feet long,” I tell him as we switch places so he can drive .

“I never saw the need before today.” He winks again. Cheeky man.

We ride along in silence for a little while as the shoreline comes into view, breaking the spell. Only, unlike Cinderella, I apparently prefer my life of pumpkins, mice, and simple living. I’m in no hurry to resume princess status.

I look over at Stevens, he’s got this peaceful resting face, scanning the horizon, one hand loosely controlling the steering wheel. He catches me staring and smiles over at me.

“What’s on your mind?” he asks.

“I hate that you have to keep our relationship a secret.”

“I don’t know,” he glances at the water and then back at me. “I think there are perks to this arrangement.”

“Such as?”

“Stand up and I’ll show you.”

I make a show of deliberating, but then I’m at his side in less than two beats. He pulls me into an unexpected kiss, glances back at the water and then bends so his mouth is right up against my neck. “I get to date you.”

I giggle when his morning stubble grazes my skin. “And I get to date you.”

He pulls back and fixes his attention on the water ahead of us. “I’m pretty sure you drew the short stick on that one.”

“I am completely sure you’re wrong. And I love that you don’t know it.”

I stand next to him the rest of the ride into the harbor, stepping back when the dock is in view. We don’t kiss goodbye. This harbor is far busier than the private one on Marbella where there were plenty of boats, but we were nearly the only two people moving around at sunrise.

I step off the boat, only glancing back once to commit the image of Stevens standing there watching me to memory. Then I make my way down the dock to Tank who has a weirdly knowing look in his eyes despite the fact that his face is essentially as neutral as ever .

Two days.

I’ll be in LA for two whole days and then I can see Stevens again. In the meantime, I have to fake being in a relationship with Rex.

What is my life?