Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Joel squeezed my knee. “I tell her that all the time,” he said to Theo. “Every picture she takes is amazing, but in her eyes, they’re never good enough.”
Theo chuckled. “Sounds like true entrepreneurial spirit.” He sipped from his glass, his eyes on me again. “You said you’ll be finding work? Do you mean internships?”
“Oh, no,” I said hurriedly, shaking my head. “I just mean house sitting or pet sitting, working on grape harvests or picking up a nanny gig, whatever I can to have a place to stay and not go through my savings too soon. I’ve already found a place to pet sit in Valence, which will be my next stop after I leave Barcelona.”
Theo smiled, and there was something in his eyes I couldn’t quite place… something like curiosity, or amusement, or respect. I tried to figure out which it was, but he looked away too quickly, diving into his dessert again. And when he did, the conversation shifted, one of the stewardesses taking over. It was the same one from earlier, the one who didn’t seem thrilled that I was coming to the crew dinner. I learned that her name was Ivy, and that she and Joel had worked together the past two summers. In fact, she was the reason Joel was selected for this job. Apparently, her uncle did business with Theo.
She was beautiful, and charming, and sweet and kind.
And now, she was the center of attention again.
I blew out a breath of gratitude and went back to eating my dessert quietly, but then Theo interrupted, dropping his spoon suddenly before folding his hands together in front of him, elbows on the table.
“You should come with us.”
The silence of the table was deafening in that moment, and I had a mouthful of crème brûlée as I glanced around the table, wondering who he was talking to.
His eyes were hard on me.
“It makes sense, after all. You want to travel, to take photographs all over Europe, and while we won’t be going inland to some of the countries you mentioned, we’ll be cruising along some of the most beautiful and interesting places in the world. And you wouldn’t need to stay in hostels or house sit for strangers.” His eyes flicked to the table before he lifted his glass toward Joel. “You’d be with your man.”
I was sure my jaw was on the table. In fact, I was slightly surprised to not find a goop of creme on my chin when I dabbed it with my napkin, placing it gingerly in my lap again as I tried to process. “Mr. Whitman — er, Theo — that… that’s unbelievably kind of you to offer. But I couldn’t impose. Surely, there isn’t room for—”
He laughed at that, gesturing around him with his large hands wide and open. “No room? Aspen, look around you. There is nothing but room.”
“I believe she means in the crew cabins, sir,” Captain Chuck offered.
But Theo waved him off. “There are thirteen staterooms on this yacht, and four of them are on the lower deck just above where the crew quarters are. We could easily arrange a room for you and Joel to share there.”
I didn’t miss the way the crew shifted uncomfortably at that, and once again there was a murmuring down the table. It didn’t take a genius or yacht junkie to figure out that him offering us a stateroom was extremely rare and entirely confusing.
“I’m sorry, I just don’t think that—”
“Please,” he said earnestly. “I insist.”
Our eyes connected in the warm light from the chandelier, and all at once I was aware of every sense — the way the linen napkin felt bunched in my fists under the table, the cool breeze off the sea, the smell of the salt and the sweet dessert, the soft sound of the water lapping the side of the boat.
“Babe,” Joel said, grabbing my hand under the table as he turned to me. His dark eyes were bright and hopeful. “This is an amazing opportunity, and a very generous offer. You wouldn’t have to worry about the cost of travel or accommodations, you’d get to see amazing sights and build up your portfolio, just like you wanted.” He shrugged. “And we’d be together. We wouldn’t have to be apart this summer.”
My heart squeezed at the way he pleaded with me, and I couldn’t deny that it sounded incredible — but that was part of the problem. It was too good of an offer to be true, and I had no feasible logic to guide me through why a billionaire yacht owner would offer such a thing to a jobless college graduate.
Theo let out another chuckle, fingers trailing the rim of his glass. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re uncomfortable with having a free ride, aren’t you?”