Billionaire At Sea

17

Mia

We went back to our cabins. I spent a few minutes unpacking and then slipped my new white and purple bikini on. Grabbing my flip-flops, some sunscreen, and a towel, I headed over to Ridley’s cabin.

“Nice,” she said, staring down at my bathing suit. “Damian is going to drool if he sees you in that.”

“I wouldn’t talk,” I said, feeling a little self-conscious now. “You’re going to distract the crew if they see you in that tiny thing.”

Which was true. Ridley had on a red bikini that left little to the imagination. She was much more voluptuous than I was and I knew if Marshall saw her, he’d probably trip over his own tongue.

She grabbed a cover-up and slipped it over her head. “I’m not here to distract anyone. Let’s go.”

We left her cabin and made our way to the pool, where we hung out for the next couple of hours, mostly by ourselves. Once in a while, a crew member would stop by and ask if we needed anything. Other than that, it was a very relaxing afternoon.

“I wonder where Marshall is?” murmured Ridley, who’d just gotten out of the pool again. “He’s the only one who hasn’t been over to offer us a refreshment or help applying sunscreen.”

I chuckled. “Missing him already?”

“No,” she said firmly. “I’m just surprised he hasn’t popped up recently.”

“What do you think of Marshall?” I asked, watching as she began applying more sunscreen to her legs.

She shrugged. “He’s nice.”

“He’s cute, too.”

Ridley looked over at me. “Yeah. So?”

“I’m just saying…”

“You’re getting as bad as me,” she said, smirking.

I smiled.

At around five o’clock, just as we were getting ready to go back to our cabins, Damian made an appearance.

“How was swimming?” he asked, staring at us behind his sunglasses.

“Fabulous,” said Ridley, pulling on her cover-up. “We were just about to head back to our rooms.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying the pool. By the way, dinner will be here around seven. I hope that’s not too late,” he said.

“Not at all,” I replied.

“It’s perfect,” said Ridley.

“Great. I’ll see you then,” he said and then left us.

Ridley and I went back to our rooms. I took a shower and then changed into a pair of white shorts, a dressy, black, silk tank top, and sandals. I put my hair up, applied a touch of makeup, and finished it off with a spritz of perfume. With a final glance in the mirror, I picked up my cell phone and left the cabin.

“I’m so hungry I’m not even going to care how many carbs he’s feeding us tonight,” said Ridley, who had on a pair of blue cut-off shorts and a paisley printed peasant blouse.

At the mention of food, my stomach growled.

“I know what you mean,” I said, as we headed toward the dining room.

When we arrived, it was just turning seven and the crew had set up the food, buffet style.

“I hope you don’t mind serving yourselves,” said Damian, walking toward us. “This way everyone can come and go as they please.”

“Of course not,” I said, thinking that he looked very handsome in a light blue polo shirt, which set off both his eyes and tan.

“I like it because we don’t have to wait. I’m starving,” said Ridley.

“There’s a lot of food,” he said as Marshall approached us. Damian noticed him coming and smirked. “You’d better get some of it, however, before the ‘bottomless pit’ makes it to the line. Let me tell you, he’ll leave no crumb untouched.”

“It’s true,” admitted Marshall. “I’ve got a hearty appetite but that’s my only vice.”

“Besides women,” added Damian.

“How dare you give away my secrets,” Marshall joked. “Now they know all of my weaknesses.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s too hard to figure out,” Damian said, his lip twitching.

“You two,” said Ridley, sounding amused, “are obviously related.”

Damian smiled.

My stomach growled loud enough to make me blush.

“Excuse me,” I said, embarrassed. “I guess I’d better do something about that.”

“We both should,” said Ridley. “The food smells wonderful. Thanks for ordering out.”

“No problem. Like I said, Anthony owed me and it looks like he’s done a great job of returning the favor. Go and help yourselves,” replied Damian.

“Gladly. Let’s go, Mia,” said Ridley, pulling me over toward the food.

We got into the line, which was short, and filled our plates with pasta, salad, and fresh baked bread. We then went and sat down at one of the tables. A few minutes later, Marshall and Damian joined us.

“You don’t mind if we sit with you?” asked Damian, holding a heaping plate of food.

“Of course not,” said Ridley.

“Your company is always welcome,” I said between bites of food.

Damian sat across from me. “Oh, I bet you’ll be sick of me before the week is over.”

“I’m sure they are already but are too nice to say anything,” said Marshall.

“They’re probably sick of both of us,” said Damian.

“No. Just you. Women love me,” he said and then looked behind us. “In fact, here’s one reason why.”

Aaron walked around and placed a bucket of ice containing two bottles of wine onto our table. “I hope this is the type of wine you were looking for,” he said to Marshall, handing him a bottle opener.

“Yes. Thank you,” Marshall said, taking it. He pulled out a bottle of red wine. “A good year, too. Excellent.”

“I’ll go and grab some wine glasses,” said Aaron.

“Thank you,” said Marshall.

“Wait a minute. Did you just insinuate that women like you because of wine?” asked Ridley, looking amused.

“I think it was more along the lines of – he has to get them drunk to like him,” said Damian.

“Very funny. No, what I meant was that I’m not one to forget the little things. Here, check this out,” he said, showing her the bottle. “A little birdie told me that you tried this once and loved it.”

Ridley’s eyes widened and she smiled. “Oh, my God, yes!” She looked at me. “This is that wine I was telling you about. The one my brother gave to me on my birthday. It’s heavenly.”

I remembered how she’d been raving about it but because it was expensive, Ridley hadn’t had it since.

“That was very kind of you,” I said. “I think you’ve won a friend for life.”

“Oh, hell yes,” she said.

“There is more of that in the wine cooler, by the way.” Marshall pulled out the other bottle, which was a light pink. “And, Mia, I heard you really enjoy Moscato, so I did a little research and purchased a few different bottles. This one has actually won many awards. I hope you enjoy it.”

“You are so sweet,” I replied, smiling at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Anything for you two,” he said.

“Oh, here we go,” said Damian dryly. “I can just see his head swelling by the second.”

“We have to keep our chefs happy,” Marshall said. “After all… they are the ones feeding us this weekend.”

“I couldn’t agree more, which is why I hired each of them a personal masseuse. Jacque and Phillipe. They’ll be here on Monday to work out any stress you might acquire over the weekend,” said Damian.

“Oh, my God, really?” gasped Ridley.

“Really,” he replied.

I grinned. “Thank you. I haven’t been to a masseuse in forever.”

“No problem. I figured you’d need some pampering after this busy weekend,” Damian said.

“You just had to outdo me, didn’t you?” said Marshall dryly.

“Of course not. I want them happy. Just like you do,” he said, smiling.

“You are both so… I could just kiss you,” Ridley said, standing up. She leaned over and gave both of them a kiss on the cheek.

“Wow, if I would have seen that coming, I’d have added chocolate and flowers,” said Marshall, looking pleased.

“Add that next time, and I might even let you kiss me back,” joked Ridley.

Marshall pulled out a small notebook and a pen. “I’m adding that to my bucket list. Chocolate and flowers equal a kiss from Ridley,” he said out loud as he wrote it down.

It was a joke but I could tell from the way Ridley was looking at Marshall, she was very flattered.

“Speaking of a bucket, can I get one over here? I feel like I’m going to throw up,” joked Damian.

“You’re just jealous because you’ve done almost everything on your bucket list and now there aren’t any challenges left for you to conquer,” said Marshall.

Damian suddenly looked serious. “That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “I find new ones every day.”

Our eyes met and I instinctively knew that I was one of them.