All the Pretty Poses (14 page)

Amber raises her eyebrows at me. “She was in
my room. She offered to find another one so I helped her. No harm,
no foul. I didn’t
say
anything to her.”

“It’s not your place to change cabin
assignments,” I bite testily.

“I can see that now. I thought there had been
a misunderstanding. She was fine with it. It’s not like I kicked
her out.”

“Oh I’m sure she was fine with it.” My jaw
aches from clenching my teeth so hard. “What room is she in?”

“Four. Right beside the kitchen. I tried to
find her one she wouldn’t have to share and you know everyone hates
being right beside the kitchen.”

“And of course that’s where you put her.” I
squeeze my fingers into tight fists.

“It wasn’t like that. I was trying to help
her,” Amber defends. “Go find her if you’re so worried about
her.”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. And
from this point forward, you stay the hell away from her.”

Amber stares at me for several seconds before
she nods twice and, without another word, turns to walk away.

Furiously, I head for the stairs and, beyond
them, the crew quarters. When I reach room four, the door is shut.
I take a deep breath, doing my best to cool my temper before I
break the damn door down with one swift kick.

I knock and wait for an answer, but I get
none. That only makes me madder. I knock once more, but again there
is no answer. “Kennedy, I know you’re in there,” I snap. I knock a
third time, giving her one more chance. When she still doesn’t
answer, I twist the knob. It opens easily and I step inside, giving
my eyes a moment to adjust before I let loose. But any angry words
die on my tongue when I see Kennedy curled up on her side on the
bottom of the bunk bed to the left. Her eyes are closed and, even
in the low light, I can see that her brow is wrinkled and that
there is an unnatural pallor to her skin.

I cross to her, hovering over her where she
lies so eerily still on the bed. “Are you okay?” My voice is calm
and cool, but my insides are knotted in anxiety. Is she sick? Is
something wrong? She doesn’t look well…

“Go away,” comes her small voice.

“Kennedy, tell me what’s wrong.” I know my
tone is sharper than what I intend, but I want answers.

“I think I’m seasick,” she moans, still not
opening her eyes.

I didn’t even think that the onset of this
storm and the rough seas that resulted would bother her. She didn’t
have any problems up until now. Of course, we’ve had smooth sailing
until now, too.

“I’m sure we have something onboard that will
help. I’ll be right back.”

I go in search of Karesh, who I find in the
office, working. As usual.

“Don’t we have something for motion sickness
around here?”

“Yes, of course. Are you ill?” he asks,
rising immediately.

“No, not me. Kennedy.” My earlier pique
returns. “Why didn’t you tell me she was in a different room?”

“I didn’t realize she had moved. I sent word
to her room that she be on deck for dinner and Caesar said she
agreed.”

“Does Caesar even know what she looks like?
Didn’t he just board in Hawaii?”

“Yes, he did. I just assumed… My mistake,
sir. It won’t happen again.”

I grit my teeth again. “See that it doesn’t.
But right now I need something to give her.”

“I’ll take care of it, sir. What room is she
in?”

“Just tell me where it’s at. I’ll take it to
her.”

“Yes, sir,” Karesh replies, crossing the room
to unlock the second drawer in one of his three filing cabinets.
Karesh is a man of many talents. He has a medical background, so he
functions as our infirmary staff whenever needed until we can get
help from the closest island.

He takes out a small box and removes an
aluminum sleeve of pills to give to me. “She can take one every
four to six hours. She might want to keep them on hand for when the
sea gets rough. If she needs more, just let me know.”

“Okay,” I say, turning to leave.

“Again, sir, I apologize for the
confusion.”

“Just don’t let it happen again. Kennedy
is…she’s…she’s different. She’s not like the others. And I don’t
want her treated like she is.”

Karesh nods. “Yes, sir. Duly noted.”

I make my way back to Kennedy, still fuming
that she’s in a different room. I stop by the crew kitchen to take
a bottled water from the refrigerator. When I walk back into her
cabin, it’s empty.

I go back out into the hall, my testy temper
flaring again as I contemplate where she might’ve gone.
Even
sick
she’s trying to get away from me!

But then I hear the door to one of the hall
bathrooms open. I turn around just as Kennedy staggers out, nearly
losing her balance as the ship dips. She leans up against the wall
and closes her eyes, her face turning a pale shade of green.

“What the hell are you doing up?”

“I thought I was going to be sick again, but
there’s nothing left in my stomach. Just dry heaves.”

I stuff the bottle of water in one jacket
pocket and the pills in the other before I bend and sweep Kennedy
up into my arms. I turn back toward her room, but I pause there,
imagining her getting up and possibly falling on her way to the
bathroom again. For that reason alone, I bypass it.

“Where are you going? That was my room?”

“Not tonight, it isn’t.”

“Reese, put me down. I can walk. And I can
stay in my room.”

“I’m sure you can,” I say, tightening my grip
on her.

“Reese, I’m serious. I don’t need special
treatment. I don’t want it. I know why you’re doing this and it
won’t work. I’m not going to sleep with you.”

I stop in my tracks and look down into the
now-dull pools of Kennedy’s green eyes. “I’m not doing this so
you’ll sleep with me. But I’m not going to leave you down here when
you’re sick. Can’t you just let me take care of you?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m your employee. You wouldn’t do
this for the others, so I don’t want you doing it for me.”

I want to squeeze her and shake her and kiss
her all at once. “You’re more than just an employee to me, Kennedy.
You’re just going to have to get used to that.”

“I’m sure Amber was at some point, too,
wasn’t she?”

The ship lurches again. Out of habit, I brace
my legs to steady myself. Kennedy turns her face into my chest and
makes a gurgling sound. I hate seeing her this way. And I hate that
she doesn’t want me to take care of her. But I hate it even more
that she thinks she means the same thing to me that Amber does. Or
ever did.

I pull her in closer and carry her in silence
to other end of the yacht. I know she would never agree to stay in
my room for the night, so I stop just short of my door, at the
empty stateroom beside mine. Karesh knows that when I’m onboard,
that room is to stay empty. I don’t like having anyone sleeping
beside me. Not even the women I’m having sex with.

But tonight I can make an exception. For
Kennedy. Because I want her close. For her comfort and mine. I want
to be able to keep an eye on her.

I open the door and carry her to the bed,
laying her gently on the cream colored duvet. Immediately, she
turns onto her side, curling into the fetal position.

“Here,” I say, taking the water and pills
from my pockets. “These should help.”

I unscrew the cap on the water and punch one
pill through the silver packet before handing them both to her. She
takes them, pops the pill in her mouth and chases it with a gulp of
water. She shivers and hands me the bottle. “Thank you.”

“You should be feeling better soon.”

I set the water on the bedside table. Neither
of us says anything for a few minutes.

“You don’t have to stay, Reese. I’ll be
fine.”

“I won’t leave until I know you’re okay.”

“I’m already okay. I’m just a little
seasick.”

“Regardless, I’m staying.”

I hear her sigh, but she doesn’t argue. I
walk to the chair that occupies one corner and I sit down, watching
Kennedy’s face slowly relax as her breathing deepens. I feel
helpless, but I know I’ve done the only thing that can be done for
motion sickness. She’s right. I really could probably leave and
she’d be fine. The problem is that I don’t want to. And for me,
that really
is
a problem.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR- Kennedy

I feel drugged when I crack my eyelids to
look around. Something is shaking my shoulder. Gently.

It’s Reese, speaking to me, urging me to take
another pill with a sip of water. Dizzily, I comply and then lay my
head back down. Sleep comes quickly.

Some unknown amount of time later, I stir
again, groggy and confused. I see Reese watching me from the chair.
A million things go through my head and through my heart, but I
don’t want to think about any of them. I don’t have the energy.

Comforted that I’m being cared for, that
Reese is close and not upstairs or down the hall with Amber, I
relax and go right back to sleep.

********

I’m awake again. I don’t know how much time
has passed. My head feels heavy and my vision is fuzzy, but at
least the room seems a bit more stable. That or my stomach has
learned not to care.

I know exactly where I am. And that the chair
Reese was sitting in when I drifted off the last time is now empty.
I’m both relieved and disappointed, if that’s even possible. He
said he’d stay. I’m relieved that he didn’t because it’s totally
humiliating to have
anyone
see me this way, much less
someone I’m trying to remind that I’m stronger than he might
recall. But at the same time, I’m disappointed. His quick retreat
simply tells me that Reese is every bit the liar that I’ve always
known him to be, and that he doesn’t even care enough about me to
tell me the truth when I’m sick, much less when I’m well.

I reach for the bottle of water, taking a big
swig to rinse my mouth before swallowing. Then gingerly, taking
great care to move slowly in case that horrific nausea hasn’t
completely abated, I roll onto my back. I can’t help but notice how
much more plush and comfortable this mattress is when compared to
the ones in the crew cabins. And how much warmer.

In the blink of an eye, I realize that the
toasty temperature doesn’t arise from beneath me, but from
beside
me. I turn my head just enough to see that Reese is
lying to my right, his breath tickling my cheek and his body heat
radiating toward me like a furnace. As much as I try to steel
myself against the pleasure of finding him here, it’s useless. My
heart melts a little anyway.

He stayed.

Just like he said he would.

His eyes are closed and his breathing is deep
and even. Normally those aqua orbs feel like my undoing. I can’t
risk looking at him for very long. But now, with Reese relaxed in
sleep, I can study him as much as I want.

And I want.

He looks more like the boy I used to know
when he’s like this. Softer. Sweeter. Falling in love with nineteen
year old Reese was effortless. On top of being drop dead gorgeous,
even if in a more boyish way, he was strong and smart and funny,
and he treated me like I wasn’t the adopted foster child of the
help. For those few weeks that summer so long ago, I was just a
girl and he was just a boy. Two people who met in the woods to
escape their respective worlds and find solace in each other’s
company then, eventually, in each other’s arms.

I inch my way a little closer to Reese’s
warmth and close my eyes, letting my mind wander back to the last
time I saw him in childhood. Back when I didn’t know that there was
no one
I could trust.

********

Summer, 14 years ago

I push back the last pine limb that hangs
between me and the clearing, catching and holding my breath as I
move it. It leaves my lungs in a long hiss like a deflated balloon
when I see that the meadow before me is empty. The lush, dappled
grass is here. The tiny purple flowers are here. The heavenly quiet
is even here. Everything is as it should be, only I’m alone. There
is no Reese awaiting me.

I step into the opening, biting my trembling
lip as I remind myself that I knew there was a chance he wouldn’t
show. I knew Reese’s father was here and I knew he was afraid of
what that meant for him and his future, but he promised me that
he’d come, that nothing and no one would keep him from me. And I
believed him.

Dejected, I walk around the little hidden
clearing, mourning each tiny flower that I crush under my foot.
Each one feels like a broken dream, a broken promise. A broken
heart.

The snap of a twig draws my attention. I cock
my head to listen. No one has ever accidentally stumbled upon this
haven before. I say a silent prayer that this won’t be the first
time.

Another twig snaps and I hear the rustle of
leaves crunching and limbs moving. Someone is definitely
coming.

I hold my breath and watch in the general
direction from which the sound seems to arise. My heart is a
swollen ball inside my chest, filled with the sudden hope that it
might still be Reese.

And then he steps into the meadow, the sun
sparkling in the dark golden highlights of his hair, streaks that
he’s earned while working outdoors here at Bellano with his uncle.
His stunning blue-green eyes crinkle at the edges when he smiles at
me and, as always, my heart melts.

“You came,” he says simply.

“I told you I would. I thought maybe
you…”

Reese’s footsteps are muted by the thick
grass as he crosses the tiny field to me. “I told you nothing would
keep me from you.”

“I know you did, but I knew your dad was
here.”

“He still hasn’t arrived. Malcolm says he’s
supposed to be getting in this afternoon.”