He nods.
“You say the word person as if you didn’t mind if it were a male or female?”
“Would it bother you if it didn’t matter to me?” he replies.
I shrug. “Not really.”
He smiles sexily as his eyes drop to my lips. “I like women, if that was the hidden question. But, you already know that.”
“And you haven’t met her? Your person.”
His eyes hold mine and he shrugs. “I had a serious girlfriend in college and then when I went into the marines it got too hard to be faithful. I was young, dumb, and full of come on different continents of the world, away from her. The stopovers became…” He pauses as he thinks of the wording. “Complicated.”
“You broke her heart?”
He nods once and I can see the remorse in his eyes.
“You haven’t been in a relationship since?”
“No.”
The waiter walks over with a huge entrée platter of grilled seafood and Stace quickly reshuffles the table so it can fit.
“Oh, wow.” I smile.
“Thank you.” He nods as the waiter leaves.
“And you? You have had five boyfriends?” he asks.
My mouth drops open and I slap his hand on the table. “What? How do you know that?” I pick up the huge spoon and start to dish out my prawns. “Oh, this looks so good.”
He laughs. “Yes, the ship food leaves a lot to be desired, and I told you I checked you out.”
“Dick Tracey, now?” I smirk as I hand the platter to him.
His face falls serious. “Are you going to contact your boyfriend?”
I screw up my face. “Hell, no. He’s a twat.”
“Did you love him?”
I drop my head and he picks up my hand over the table. I shrug sadly. “I kind of thought I did.”
“Just thought?” he repeats.
“He was my first serious boyfriend.”
“The others?”
“They were nothing really. Just kid stuff.”
He waits for my answer.
“We had fun, but it wasn’t until I met…” I stop myself. Fuck. I load my mouth full of food to shut myself up.
“Until you met who?”
I shake my head and drink my champagne and then refill my glass. Oh God, stop talking you big mouthed jabber jaws.
“Until you met who?” His eyes tell me that he already knows what I was going to say.
I frown. How do I put this? “Let’s just say that you have taught me that there is more to a relationship than someone making you feel safe.”
He frowns as he takes his first mouthful of seafood. “Is that what he did? Made you feel safe.”
I nod.
“Is that what you need from a man?”
I shake my head. “No…” My voice trails off.
“What have I taught you?”
I laugh. “Why are you so serious? Can we change the subject, please?”
He shakes his head, picks up my hand, and cups it around his face. “Tell me. Please.”
I get goosebumps seeing my hand cup his beautiful face. “You taught me what it was like to be unable to…” I frown as I swallow the lump in my throat.
“To what?” He rolls my hand over and kisses the inside of my wrist, his tongue gently caressing my skin.
If I was a cat I would be purring. “To defy all logic. To want someone so bad that you don’t care about the consequences,” I whisper.
Our eyes lock and the look he gives me feels like it could get me pregnant. I’m not even joking. Get here, straddle me, and ride my fucking cock are its precise words.
Well, that’s what it says to me anyway.
As if reading my mind, he rolls his lips to hide his smile. “I think I know how that feels,” he mutters under his breath.
I drain my glass in one gulp. Stop drinking, fool.
“How did you…?” I hesitate. “How did you go from a marine to working on that ship?” I ask.
He blows out a deep breath as if knowing this question was coming. “I took a two-year gap from the Navy and was looking to pick up some casual work.”
I frown. “So, you just thought oh fuck it, I will go and work on a drug ship.”
He looks at me deadpan.
I bite my bottom lip to stop my champagne guzzling mouth up.
You really need to stop talking now, stupid.
“I was offered a job to fly a Japanese businessman on and off his ship on his private chopper. The pay was good and it was casual. Just the type of thing I was looking for. I didn’t want to be locked into a position because I was eventually going back to the Navy, and I could live in my home town while I did it.”
I sip my champagne as I listen. “Where is home to you?” I ask.
“New York.”
I smile. New York… who knew? I clink my glass with his to celebrate my new found information.
He smirks and sips his drink.
“What then?”
He shrugs. “I did that for about twelve months and it was the perfect job. I worked three days a week with no hassles.”
I frown, feeling like this story isn’t adding up.
“I got to know the guy I was working for and he seemed alright. Anyway, one day I was waiting at the helipad for him to arrive in his limo and I was approached by another man. His private pilot had recently become ill and he needed someone he could trust to take him to his ship urgently.”
I sit back in my seat, disturbed.
“He offered me fifty thousand dollars.”
I frown. “F-for one trip?” I stammer.
He nods.
“So you did it.”
He nods. “I was getting three grand a trip from the other guy.”
My heart sinks.
He shakes his head in disgust in himself. “I knew for him to offer me that kind of money he had to be into some pretty heavy stuff.” He pauses.
“But you did it anyway.”
He nods. “I was saving for a house and that would be the final deposit that I needed.”
I smile in surprise. “You own a house?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Manhattan.”
I clink our glasses together again in celebration. “Well done.” I smirk. “How amazing. Go you.”
He smiles proudly.
“Anyway,” I say as I continue eating.
“Anyway.” He pauses. “On the way to the ship, we got to talking and he asked me what I did and I told him I was a marine engineer. He seemed like an okay guy.”
I sit still, unsure if I want to hear the rest of it. It’s like I am hearing the story of his life unravelling.
“I took him to his ship the next day and I sat in the chopper for two hours while he did whatever he did and then I flew him home. He paid me fifty grand cash.”
I frown.
He shakes his head. “I was gone from home for a total of six hours and I made fifty thousand dollars.”
“God,” I whisper.
“Anyway, I did the job and that was that. No strings, no questions asked, and I went back to working with the other guy and bought my house.”
I smile. “What an achievement.”
He smiles sadly into his glass and I know there is more of the story to come.
“Three months later he called me again.”