ROYAL ROCK(104)

Things had been strained between the two of us ever since we’d gotten off the yacht. The image of his naked body, his huge, hard cock standing erect in front of me, kept coming back over and over. As soon as I’d gotten back into my room, breathless and soaking wet, I’d had to touch myself until I came. I’d had to get that image out of my head.

But that didn’t help. Most of the time, Nate was either lying around drinking beer by the pool or going for long, crazy runs. He was practically never wearing a shirt, which made it so much harder than it had to be. He was my stepbrother and that was all there was to it.

Besides, my dad was stepping up his dating pressure. I didn’t know why, but he really wanted me to meet a bunch of young, eligible men he knew, probably because he didn’t think that I was capable of meeting and marrying the proper guy.

I was sick of him pushing the same lame investment banker onto me over and over. Okay, it wasn’t literally the same guy, but I had used the wrong name more than once, to everyone’s embarrassment. They were all named Chet or Michael, and they all loved boats as much as my dad did, and they all loved cocaine most of all.

That was pretty much all you needed to know.

And yet, despite Dad bringing around eligible men all the time, the only guy I couldn’t get off my mind was so supremely not-eligible that it made my skin crawl. He was rude and crude and muscular and serious and loved to make fun of me, and he was also my stepbrother.

Nate began to slow the boat down and brought it to a stop.

“Why are we stopping?” I asked him.

“Map says to.”

“Okay, any clue why the map says to?”

He shrugged. “Nope. We should probably go down and help Tommy out, though.”

I stood up and rolled my eyes at him while he dropped the anchor. I walked down onto the deck and leaned up against the railing as Tommy began to pass out fishing rods. He showed everyone where the bait was and where the beer was and basically stepped back to let the men cast out and teach their women how to do it. It was all pretty old fashioned, but I didn’t mind.

“Does it usually go like this?” I asked Tommy once he joined me.

“More or less. It’s an easy job.”

“Ever have any problems?”

He sighed and looked off into the distance. “No, but I’ve heard rumors.”

“Rumors about what?”

“Pirates.”

I stared at him for a second and then burst out laughing. “Like with eye patches and peg legs?”

“No. Pirates with speedboats and machine guns.”

“You’re serious?”

“They’re rumors, but sometimes rumors are true. Apparently, there are some pirates that patrol these waters and like to board boats and steal everything they have.” He paused, looking away. “Sometimes they steal the women, too.”

I gaped at him. “There’s no way that’s true. What about the coast guard?”

“It’s a big coast. They can’t be everywhere.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but suddenly I heard my name called out.

I looked over and spotted two guys in their mid- to late twenties. One was smiling at me and the other was busy casting his line out over the edge.

“Friends?” Tommy asked me.

“Never met them before in my life.”

The one guy waved me over, and I reluctantly pushed off the railing and walked over to him.

“Hi,” I said. “Do I know you?”

“No, you don’t know me.”

“How do you know my name then?”

“Well, this is a little awkward, but your father invited us out on this trip. He said you’d be here. I assumed that was you based on his description.”

I nodded and smiled at him. That made sense. These were probably two more of his young business associates, and he probably thought I’d like to meet them. Maybe have their babies.

“Well, I’m Claire, but you know that already.”

“Claire, I’m Joshua.” He held out his hand and we shook. I noticed a small red tattoo on his wrist in the shape of a broken heart with a dagger in the top. It was tiny, barely noticeable, and it disappeared under the sleeve of his dress shirt as soon as he pulled his hand away.

“So what brings you out here?” I asked him.

“We’re investing in your father’s new club.” Joshua looked at his friend. “My rude business partner here is Alfonse.”

Alfonse glanced at me. “Call me Al.”

“Okay, Al. Nice to meet you.”

He nodded once and went back to fishing.

“Sorry, he’s not very friendly,” Joshua said, wearing a winning smile.

I was taken aback at how straight his teeth were. He was handsome in a conventional way, like every guy Dad brought around. And like every guy, I wasn’t really interested in him at all, but I knew I had to play nice, otherwise I’d get a stern lecture.