Fun Below Deck

Chapter 9

Arabella.

Hurt flashes across his face, “We will make a bet then, you win I back off. I win your mine.” He kisses me softly, no hunger like our other kisses have been. “If need be, I’ll talk to the Captain. I think that’s the most stupid rule ever. If you feel an attraction, you should be allowed to find out what it is.”  

I would love for him to talk to Captain and tell him he wants to spend time with me, but this rule has only recently been brought in. I heard it stemmed from a few years back. A woman fell for a mafia king on one of these cruises and became besotted with him, when he turned her down, she spiked his drink. There’s a few more rumors about how that story ended up. The clean one was he threatened the Captain and the company.  

“Captain won't care, Dom. But just go you practice in the water. You know I do this stuff for a living. I’ll see you later.” I kiss him quickly and turn and walk up the steps. 

Dom.

I look forward to beating your ass later.  

As much as I don’t want to win this bet. 

It will be for the best and you would understand.  

If you were in my position.  

I might give you one last kiss.  

-A x 

I read the note and can’t help but smile, to know she doesn’t want this to end is amazing but hurts at the same time. She's right. I've only known her for two days but there’s a magnetic pull towards her. Something I never felt possible.  

But maybe with a bit of space between us might be for the best, as much as I don’t want it.  

I fold her note and put it into one of my wash bags. I can’t risk the other crew finding it and I want to keep her handwriting. Of course, she has cute handwriting.  

I drag my hand down my face, who the fuck finds handwriting cute.  

Oliver barges into my room when I've just thrown on my polo shirt, lunch will be served shortly so we have time. He’s someone I could talk to without judgement.  

“I seen you two together you know,” his blonde hair gelled to look messy, but I know that took him nearly an hour to perfect.  

Shit! No wonder Captain caught on if Oliver has. “I know we shouldn’t but Oliver, there’s just something about her. I don’t know what it is.”  

He sits on the edge of my bed, his ankle on top of his knee, “I know. But fuck Dom, what are you going to do? We are here for six months, and we are on day two.”  

He has a point; I can’t keep my distance for the next six months. “Make sure she doesn’t win the bet. That’s what.”  

He looks at me confused, so we take the next few minutes to talk it over. I fill him in on the bet we just made to see his reaction, but he just can’t help but laugh. 

“Always was a sucker for a pretty lady,” he pats me on the back.  

I would say it’s more than that but no matter how much I can talk to Oliver it sounds stupid because we are on day two. I’ll say it this time next month. 

We make our way up to the mid deck where lunch is being served. Zara has just finished setting the table, this time it’s laced with ribbon and netting to make it look like the ocean.  

They are bound to run out of ideas in these six months, that’s three table settings a day for 183 days. That’s a total of 549 table settings. Thank god I don’t work on this boat.  

Me and my friends sit just as Arabella walks through the double doors with the Captain.  

I cant help but stare at his hand on the small of Arabella’s back. Jealousy soars through every vein, I wish I could stand with her like that.  

“Gentlemen, Captain wanted to come and find out the activities for after lunch.”  

“Yes, Arabella has filled me in on what you wanted to do. It’s fine by me, the only problem is with my rules I don’t let staff run around in their swimwear with guests aboard except for their days off. That’s the days that you have trips booked on land. But we will make an exception for you gentlemen.” His eyes meet mine and I stare back. He wants a challenge to let go!  

“Captain, thanks for the hospitality but we have actually paid triple than asking price for this trip. We done that knowing we wanted to have a bit of fun with the crew involved. We know how hard they work. They deserve it.” I raise my eyebrows, “We also paid that amount as the company promised us whatever we asked for would be no trouble at all. You may want to give them a call to know what our ground rules were.”  

That’s my way of letting him know we could literally do anything with no repercussions. If I want Arabella and she wants me nothing will stop us. If he threatens Arabella’s job one more time, I’ll go to the company myself.  

“Gentlemen, we are going to be in each other’s spaces over the course of the next six months and I would appreciate it if we could just play by the rules. It keeps my yacht running smoother if I don’t have to deal with anybody’s drama’s.”  

Arabella just stands there with her eyes cast down she's afraid I'm going to spill our secret in front of the rest of the crew.  

“Let’s just agree to disagree and move on. We will play games Captain. We are a playful bunch but don’t worry we have limits.” I stand and extend my hand out and he reluctantly shakes it.  

Zara and Brianna both bring trays with our lunch, that’s when the Captain leaves us in peace.  

“Today for lunch you have a typical Caesar salad, pan smeared chicken and asparagus, along with home made cookies. Enjoy.” Arabella goes to walk away.  

“Drinks?” one of my boys practically shouts at her.  

She looks around the table, “Sorry I thought Zara had already fetched jugs of water for the table.”  

“Did we come to drink water or to get hammered on this trip?” he snaps back.  

Before I know it my fist hits the table, all eyes turn to me, “No, we came to enjoy ourselves. But she's not a fucking mind reader. Dare you speak to Arabella that way again on this trip and you will be off at our next stop. That goes for all of you. Any problems?”  

Murmured agreements are heard going around the table, along with a few people asking for different drinks with please and thank-you added on.