The Ruthless Gentleman(61)

Except Avery wouldn’t be in London with me. She’d be on another charter with other guests who would make ridiculous demands of her and treat her like the help. My jaw clenched. Would she visit me in London? I could fly in, but she rarely got time off. However ready I was to get back to London, I knew that Avery Walker would be difficult to walk away from. Impossible to forget. Women like Avery came along once in a lifetime and I needed to figure something out before my cruise around the Mediterranean was over.



I checked my watch. It was past midnight and it had been hours since Avery had gone to speak to Skylar. I was growing impatient. I wanted to see her.

From what I could make out, most of the crew seemed to finish up around eleven and I’d expected Avery to come down to tell me what had happened with Skylar. I was about to go back up to the main deck when a rap on my office door jolted me upright. I strode across the space and yanked the door open. Avery slid inside, and I closed and locked the door.

Reading people’s body language had been invaluable to me during the course of my career. I could tell when people were bluffing, when they were under pressure, when I’d surprised them. It was part of the reason I’d found it so difficult to believe I had a leak in my top team. They were people I knew well, people I thought I could read.

But a blind man would have understood that Avery was unhappy as she leaned against my office door, her arms folded, her eyes downcast.

Shit.

“I’m sorry,” I said, stuffing my hands into my pockets. “What did Skylar say?”

She shook her head. “No. I need to tell you something that happened today. This morning after I left the hotel. I’ve not had a chance—”

“Are you okay? Is this about Skylar?”

“Please just listen to me. This weird guy approached me. He was asking about you.”

I didn’t understand what this had to do with Skylar and me getting Avery into trouble. “What guy?”

“I don’t know. Some British guy. He asked me lots of questions about the boat and you. Offered me money to tell him stuff.”

“Tell him what?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I mean, sometimes we get paps offering us money to confirm which celebrity’s on our boat but this guy wanted to know about your work. And he said I’d confirmed to him you were on the boat and if I did, Hayden, I’m sorry. I got a little freaked out and he was telling me I knew more than I said I did and I was confused and trying to get away from him.”

Her words were tumbling out and her voice was getting higher and higher.

“Shhh,” I said and moved toward her, but she put her hand out, her palm facing me to stop me. Fuck, I hated that. I wanted to comfort her, to make things better. “Seriously, don’t worry. This boat was booked in my name. It wouldn’t be difficult for someone to find out where I was. I’m on holiday. That’s how it’s meant to look if anyone sees me or finds out where I am.”

“I didn’t ruin it for you? I don’t think I told him but maybe I did.”

She was so fucking worried about me when she was the one who was potentially going to lose her job. “You didn’t ruin anything.” I’d mention this encounter to my brother. Maybe it was Cannon sneaking around. But Cannon was the least of my worries right at that moment. “Tell me about Skylar, Avery. What happened? Do I need to go and speak to Captain Moss?”

“She said she hadn’t told anyone. That she wouldn’t.”

I took a half step toward her, but she slid along the wall and out of my reach. “She’s covering for me. And I hate that she’s had to,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not right. Last night was . . .” Her words faded as if she was sinking into the memories of the previous evening. Then she pulled in a breath. “But enough. There’s too much at stake for me. This is where it ends.”

Shit. I should have prepared better for this, worked up arguments. I needed to convince her that . . . What? We were meant to date? Fuck? What was I offering her?

“We slept together. That’s all,” she said. “I’m not trying to make more of this—”

I’d had enough of the distance between us. I caged her against the wall, my hands braced on either side of her head.

Her gaze shot up to meet mine and then hit the floor.

“Look at me,” I growled.

She lifted her face and focused on my jaw.

“Yes, we slept together but don’t dismiss last night as if it’s something that happens to you a lot. You know it was . . .” I clenched my teeth, remembering how she’d felt around my cock, how her hair had slithered over her body like water—how we’d connected, mind, body and soul. “It wasn’t a one-night stand.”

Not only was Avery the only woman I’d known I’d want to fuck more than once before I’d touched her, she was the only woman I’d thought about after I’d come. She was the only one I’d had to convince to come to my bed and the only one I wanted there again.

Her gaze darted to my mouth, then up to meet my eyes and back down again. “It can’t be anything else. I need this job. You know that.”

“You’re not going to lose this job.” Fuck, I had no right to make promises I couldn’t keep. “Not if Skylar doesn’t say anything. We’ll be more careful. I’ll be more careful.” Last night we’d existed in some kind of suspended space and time, and I’d been lazy and selfish thinking that could continue back on the yacht.