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“You don’t have to come back if you don’t want to. If you need privacy, put something on the door handle.”

Stella sent a murderous glare to her friend, making Penelope laugh. She fell over and leaned on Scarlett’s shoulder.

“Let’s get out of here,” Stella huffed.

Her warm hand wrapped around my bicep, and she leaned into me. She smelled of the sun and coconut. “Thank you, and I’m sorry for Pen grilling you and her insinuation. She loves to embarrass me.”

“Really, I didn’t mind. If she had asked anything too personal, I wouldn’t have answered.” I tried to reassure her. It had been cute watching Stella get all flushed and embarrassed because of her friend.

“Still, she doesn’t know when to stop, so if you ever get cornered again by her, you can tell her to mind her own shit.”

I probably wouldn’t use those words.

“I might just do that,” I said to placate her.

We stepped inside, and the air instantly felt stale compared to the ocean breeze that was continuous on the aft deck.

Her hand moved up my arm and back down again. “You look very handsome in your uniform.”

Women did like a man in uniform. I wondered what she’d think of me in my dress blues.

“Thank you.”

“You guys seem to change an awful lot. Why is that?” She looked up at me with her big brown eyes, and I wanted to drown in them.

“We have different uniforms for different activities. You probably won’t see as many changes for the rest of your stay.”

“Mmm.” She hummed and let me lead her toward her room.

“How are you liking your stay on the Seas the Day?” I asked to make small talk.

“It’s over the top. I’m not used to this kind of luxury. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving every minute of it except for the incident earlier and you having to save me. Well,” she hummed as we rounded the corner to her room. “You saving me wasn’t bad. That probably makes me sound desperate, doesn’t it?”

We stopped in front of her door, but she didn’t seem to realize where we were. Instead, Stella continued to hold on to my arm and leaned into me, warming up the left side of my body.

“Why would it make you sound desperate?” I asked to spend a little extra time with only her.

“Because it’s the most action I’ve gotten in almost two years. That’s a long time to go without a man’s touch.”

It was a hell of a long time. It had been five months for me, and I felt like a walking hard-on most times when I was around a good-looking woman. I shifted my stance to hide the semi I was sporting due to Stella’s proximity.

“I find it hard to believe there exists a guy who wouldn’t want to touch you.” It took everything in me not to growl the last part of my sentence. I didn’t like the idea of others touching her.

“Well, the one man I had didn’t want me,” she said sadly. “But it doesn’t matter now; I’m a free woman.”

I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but I did like the idea that she wasn’t with anyone.

Standing up straight, Stella looked up at me and blinked with wonder in her eyes. “Thank you for helping me down here.” Lifting up on her toes, I thought she was going to kiss me on the cheek, but at the last moment, Stella turned her head and brushed her lips to mine.

It was such a simple gesture, yet it set an electric current through my body. I stood stunned for a moment before my wits came back to me. “You’re welcome. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.”

Her eyes lit up, and I realized how what I said sounded.

“Goodnight, Remy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Or in my fantasies, because there was no way I wouldn’t be thinking about her tonight while I beat off in the shower.

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