"He'll be just the thing to get you back on your feet, Cami. You couldn't have asked for better company. If you get a chance this weekend, you should spend some time with him. He is brilliant and delicious and he won't treat you like a piece of meat. You'll be safe with him." Colette grinned and shook her head slowly. "Every time I see him I wish I could talk him into my bed, but he's just not that kind of guy, unfortunately. He's so... bite-able." She raised one eyebrow mischievously.
Cami laughed at her and glanced back at the empty place where he had been standing. It made her wonder why he had left, rather than coming over to talk to her. Men often stared at her, but they looked at her hungrily, not with the hidden curiosity that she had seen in his eyes when she looked back at him. She hadn't felt as though she was standing there, undressed under his intense gaze, and she was surprised by that.
***
Roman walked the length of the deck and sat in a chair at the bow of the boat, glad for the shade. The Captain spoke over a loudspeaker for all to hear, "We're off!" and the boat began to move out of the harbor toward the vast and open sea. The plan was to sail south to Cabo San Lucas which would take a little over a day and a half, spend a day in Cabo on the beach, and then sail back up to Carmel. A beautiful, long, sun-kissed weekend that would last from Friday at noon until Monday evening if all went as planned.
He laid back in his chair, feeling the ocean air on his face, breathing it in, and he forgot about everything in the whole world except where he was at the moment. His soul was being revitalized, and he was at home in the splashing sea mist and the cool salty air.
His eyes were closed until he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see one of the stewards smiling down at him. "Sir, are you Mr. Bruce?" the young man asked pleasantly.
"I am,” he answered, wishing he hadn't been interrupted.
The steward smiled at him. "The Captain has invited you to come up to the bridge, sir. I'll be glad to escort you there." He waited as Roman rose up out of his chair. If there was one thing he didn't mind being pulled away from the front of the boat for, it was to see the bridge.
Roman followed the steward up two flights of stairs to the bridge and thanked the young man for escorting him up there. Jonathon looked over at him and grinned, raising his hand in the air.
"Roman! Welcome to the bridge. Have you ever seen such a beautiful and sophisticated bit of technology as this? Come over here and have a look at this." He clapped Roman on the shoulder and began pointing at the screens and dials laid out before them. There were three leather captain's chairs lined up before the control board, which looked as though it might have been made for NASA.
"This lady could practically sail herself. Here are the navigation charts and maps, here's the depth reader... you know, I bet I could find Atlantis with this thing, and here is the cherry on top." He looked at Roman a bit more seriously.
"These are the controls for the sails. They're free standing and free rotating. I can handle all of them from here and they produce up to sixty percent of the power behind this girl. It's really something else. Here," he said, standing Roman before the controls, "have a go at her, this trims the sails." Jonathon let Roman work them and Roman felt a thrill rush through him as he let the wind carry the boat faster across the waves. He grinned like a kid with a toy.
"That's pretty nice, isn't it?" Jonathon asked excitedly.
Roman angled his head and looked down at Jonathon, "It's very nice, Captain." He set everything as Jonathon had it, and then stepped back to let the Captain take over again.
"Have you had a chance to go down and look at your room yet?" Jonathon asked him with a grin.
Roman chuckled and shook his head. "No, not yet. I was just settling in on the deck when you called me up here. That's about all I've seen; the main deck and now the bridge. Nice toast, by the way."
Jonathon nodded and smiled beneath his salt and pepper beard. "Thanks. You are welcome to come up here anytime, Roman, but go have a look at your room when you get a chance. Your bags were taken in already, but you'll probably want to settle in soon. I want you to be relaxed and comfortable for this trip."
Roman took a long look at the wide-open view from the lofty bridge, and he sighed. "Alright, I'll go have a look. I'll come up here and have tea with you this afternoon, and we can trade fish tales, alright?" Roman asked with an impish smile.
"That sounds like a good afternoon to me!" Jonathon laughed, shaking his hand and holding the door for him.
Roman took his time going down the stairs, admiring the view and the boat, and when he reached the main deck, he hadn't gone two steps when one of the stewards was at his side.
"May I help you find anything, sir?" he asked hopefully.
Roman gave him a friendly nod. "Certainly, thank you. I'm looking for the Master Stateroom."
The steward brightened and stood up a little straighter. "Mr. Bruce! Certainly! I'll take you right there." He grinned and led Roman through a private door and down a flight of stairs. "You have your own entrance from the main deck, or you can go out of the other door in your room to the hallway which leads into the lower dining room and entertainment room. The other guest staterooms are down that way." The steward reached the bottom of the stairs and opened his door for him, and as Roman entered, he couldn't help but smile.
The steward disappeared, closing the door behind him and Roman looked with satisfaction at the enormous room around him. The walls, ceiling and carpet were all white, and everything was trimmed with hand carved mahogany. The room was arced in a half circle and the full length of the rounded area was filled with windows that reached from well above the water, to several feet below the water.
It was an open room of two levels; the upper portion of it looked out over the sea and featured a desk area and a mini-bar, and it had sliding glass doors that led out to a private deck with a canopied table, deeply cushioned benches, and a Jacuzzi tub. There was a flight of arced stairs that echoed the curve of the room itself. They widened from moderate at the top step, to a grand curve at the bottom step, and were covered in thick carpet.
In the lower level at the bottom of the staircase, he found the sunken bedroom featured a king sized mahogany sleigh bed adorned with several overstuffed pillows, and capped off on both sides with bedside tables and bookcases. A huge mirror hung on the wall at the head of the bed. In the area around the corner and behind the bed on one side, there was a lavishly appointed full bathroom with double sinks, and on the other side, there was a full walk-in closet and a reading area with a built-in mahogany chaise lounge and a floor to ceiling bookcase.
The bed faced the back of the boat, and looked out underneath the sea. Roman saw that there was a movie screen that lowered electronically from the narrow ceiling and faced the bed, offering digital entertainment. The ceiling in the sunken bedroom was a narrow ring that encircled the room, and except for that ring, the remaining area was open to the second floor where a partial sunroof, hidden from the slightly overhanging deck above, let light into the room.
It was undeniably the best stateroom he'd ever seen, and he walked all through it, examining every part of it. He wound up on his private deck, looking out to sea, and relaxing again, only to have his cell phone buzz in his pocket. He frowned and pulled it out to look at it, and answered it.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Roman! Where are you?" It was Allen. "I've been all over the boat, I think, and I can't find you!"
Roman chuckled. "I'm just sitting out on the deck,” he answered slyly.
Allen stumbled over his words for a moment. "You... you are? I'm on the deck. I didn't see you. Maybe I missed you. It's a big deck. Are you at the front or the back?"
Roman looked around him at nothing but ocean. "I'm at the back of the boat."
He could hear Allen's confusion. "I'm at the back. I don't see you."
Roman stood up. "Stay there. I'll come find you." He sighed and hung up, taking one last look at his private little world before going back up his private staircase to the main deck of the boat. He tapped Allen on the shoulder and Allen turned to him in surprise and then smiled.
"Hey! Did you see the rooms? Aren't they amazing?" he asked, not even trying to hide the delight on his face.
Roman nodded and smiled. "Come on Allen, show me your room."
Allen walked him into the inside of the boat on the main deck. There was a dining area, a bar, a piano, a lounging area and a library. All of it was white, save for the hand carved mahogany, just like his room. Allen led him down the wide white carpeted staircase to the level below. There was an entertainment room with a horseshoe shaped sofa filled with thick white cushions and set about with several pillows.
There was another bar and a smaller dining area, more of a galley than the dining room upstairs, there was a small fitness room with several machines, free weights a sauna and a steam room, and there were two hallways that led down either side of the boat. Allen took him down the left side.
They passed three doors and at the last door, Allen turned and smiled at Roman. "There are four guest staterooms on either side of the boat, and this one is mine." He opened the door and stood back to let Roman enter the room.