Mara POV
The sailboat tilts hard to starboard, and I grab the rigging before I can think.
"Good instinct." Lucien adjusts the mainsail, muscles flexing under his white linen shirt. "Now pull that line when I say."
I don't answer, just grip the rope and wait.
We're forty minutes into couples' sailing, and already I hate every second. The other couples work their boats with practiced ease—Victoria and James moving in perfect sync, the Pattersons actually laughing together despite their supposed arrangement.
"Now," Lucien commands.
I pull. The sail catches wind. The boat surges forward.
"Perfect." His hand covers mine on the rope, adjusting my grip. "Hold it steady."
His touch burns through the cotton. I focus on the horizon instead, on the endless blue that stretches in every directi
