In the Caribbean, at the port in Gustavia on St Barthelemy, known for catering to the wealthy elite, three figures walked down the dock to one of the largest boats in the marina, Burton's Pride. The two women were leading the way, with the man behind them talking on his cell phone. Small waves lapped at the dock, buffered from the large swells of the open ocean. Gulls circled overhead, calling to each other. The salt smell of the ocean sat heavy around them.
One of the women, with long blonde hair secured by a white headband, was walking with the controlled steps and grace of a woman of high society. Her flowing blue sundress matched the vibrant color of her eyes as it caught the wind and hugged her curves. Tails of a green bikini top peaked out at the top, and she wore a pair of white flats, suitable for being on the dock and the boat.
The other woman was slightly taller and had shoulder length red hair that blew in her face and covered her beautiful but sharp features and piercing green eyes. Her sheer white slip dress barely covered her upper thighs, and did nothing to hide the black bikini she wore underneath. The dress was tight enough that the wind did nothing to pull at it, but it caused all the men she passed to stare. She wore a pair of red flip flops that slapped the dock as she practically skipped beside the blonde woman, her excitement evident in every quick, bouncing step.
The man behind them had slicked back short dark hair. His piercing blue eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, but his model like cheekbones and jaw were clear on his face. He was clean shaven with not a speck of stubble visible. He wore a dark suit jacket that flapped wildly in the wind over a white pressed shirt. He tried to hold the jacket in place with one hand while his other hand held his phone to his ear. A pair of buffed leather shoes poked out from under his full length black slacks. He lagged slightly behind the two women as he engaged loudly in his phone call that the two women were ignoring.
The redhead, Carina, was animated as she talked to the more reserved blonde, Sarah. "This is going to be so great Blondie, four weeks on your dad's boat in the Caribbean! Thank you so much for inviting me!" Carina's eyes sparkled, her voice bubbling with excitement.
"I'm really glad you could come, Red. I can finally introduce you to Casey, he heard so much about you last summer he probably knows all of your secrets already." Sarah smiled as she thought of the man that she thought of as an uncle.
Casey had been the captain of Burton's Pride since her father bought it eight years ago, and had been a surrogate uncle to her as she navigated her early college years. He had helped shape her into the woman she was today while her father was more engaged with boardrooms and her mother was focused on her responsibilities as a socialite in Manhattan.
"And you said he hired two crewmen to help on the ship while we're on board? Do you know if they're cute? I don't want to be trapped on a boat with you and Bryce getting snuggled up with only two ugly boys and your creepy stand-in uncle to keep me company." Carina grinned wickedly at Sarah. Carina had always been a bit wild since Sarah had met her, but it was part of what Sarah loved about her best friend.
"Bryce and I both need this vacation so badly, but he's in the middle of working out that merger deal. It doesn't sound like he's going to have much time off. Maybe if the new guys are cute enough Bryce will take some time off to spend with me." Sarah smiled coyly as she glanced back at her boyfriend. He caught her eye and flashed her a distracted smile before he continued his call. Carina nudged Sarah with her shoulder and brought her attention back to their conversation.
"I'm telling you Blondie, I can see why you'd go for a guy like Bryce who is so hot and driven, but you really deserve a guy who's there for you too. Bryce is a solid ten out of ten, but you're an eleven out of ten and you deserve the best."
Sarah's smile slipped a fraction as she weighed her own doubts about her future with Bryce. This wasn't the first time Carina had said something to this effect, but she didn't see everything with Bryce. Sarah had dated guys that were just after her money or her looks, but Bryce matched her in both, so their relationship could be built on something more real. Bryce was driven, just like her. Yet, as she watched him, engrossed in his call, she couldn't help but wonder if something was missing.
After being groomed for most of her youth and young adult years, Sarah was poised to start taking formal responsibility of Burton Enterprises. Even though she was the daughter of Jack Burton, Sarah still didn't feel she was fully prepared to be taking control, and she had made a deal with him to let her have four weeks with Carina and Bryce on the yacht before she joined him in the company.
As Burton's Pride came into view, two men could be seen in an animated discussion as they moved luggage and supplies from a cart onto the boat. From this distance she couldn't make out too many features other than their significant height difference and the shorter one's impressive beard, but they were both wearing the white collared short sleeved shirts, black shorts, and white shoes that were the uniform used by her family for the crewmen on the yacht. Their body language indicated a fairly intense disagreement, but the few words Sarah caught about some sort of death star fighting a borg cube made absolutely no sense.
As they got closer, the shorter one noticed them first and started nudging the taller one to get him to turn around and Sarah could hear him saying "Vicki Vale, dude it's Vicki Vale!"The taller one started doing some odd attempt at beat boxing repeating Vicki Vale before he turned his head and all the noises he was making stopped as he locked eyes with her. Then, with a splash, a suitcase slipped from his hands into the water.
The splash brought the man out of his trance and his eyes widened and shot down to the water and the suitcase that was taking on water and starting to sink. He immediately jumped in after it feet first and resurfaced, sputtering water as he rounded one of his long limbs around the suitcase and tread water. "Morgan -" he spat out some water. "- ladder."
Sarah jumped into action with Morgan as Carina watched on with concern. Bryce covered his microphone as he laughed at the absurdity of the situation. The swimmer was able to reach the ladder with relative ease, dragging the waterlogged case. He passed it up to the bearded man and Sarah offered him her hand to help him up which he looked quite grateful to accept.
His large hand folded over hers and she braced as they both pulled to heave him out of the water. His soaked uniform clung tightly to him in a haphazard array as he drew to his full height in front of her. Looking up into his swirling brown eyes, she realized how tall he was, and the curls noq soaked and plastered to his head weren't as free as before, but the funny shapes they made were now locked in place.
Carina's laughter snapped Sarah out of her trance and she released his hand. "Oh my god! That was amazing!" Carina got out through her laughter. She sauntered up to Chuck, adding a flirty sashay to her hips. As she came along side them, she reached up and ran her fingers through Chuck's hair as she stood on her tip toes and planted a light kiss on Chuck's cheek. "I hope we can expect more like that from you, Curls."
With a wink, Carina was stepping onto the yacht, leaving Chuck gaping after her. Sarah noticed the way his cheeks flushed at the playful nickname and felt a twinge of amusement and pity for the man who had no experience with Carina. "Don't mind Carina." Sarah reassured him. "I'd tell you she's harmless, but I don't want you to think I'm a liar."
Chuck let out a small, restrained giggle that was one of the most adorable sounds Sarah had heard. "I've known her for all of ten seconds and I can tell she's not harmless." His eyes widened as he processed who he was talking to. He looked back at her in panic. "I mean – I – Not that…"
A booming voice from the deck of the yacht cut him off, a voice Sarah knew all too well. "Bartowski, Grimes, are you done loading yet?" As John Casey stepped into view, she could see he was more weathered than the last time she had seen him, with bits of grey in his short hair showing his age. He was clean shaven as always, a habit from his days in the military. His captain's uniform was tight over his broad frame and muscled arms. When he saw Sarah, one of his rare smiles threatened to break over his face, but he quickly got it under control and regarded her with his standard stern expression, but she could see the happiness in his eyes. "Miss Walker, I didn't know you were here."
"Now Casey, we've been through this too many times. If you call me Miss Walker, I'm going to start calling you Mr. Casey. We agreed on last names and I expect you to honor your end of the agreement." She knew it grated on him to not be formal, but she refused to go back to the days of him calling her Miss again.
"Of course, Walker," He said it firmly in his gravelly tone, as though remembering how to use her name. He stepped off the boat to join them on the dock. "The two men in front of you are the new crewmen. This is Morgan Grimes," He said, slapping the back of the shorter bearded man, almost knocking him off the dock too. "And the drowned rat beside you is Chuck Bartowski. Boys, this is Miss Walker." Sarah glared at him and he put his hands up defensively. "You might be Walker to me, but I'll be damned if I introduce you to anyone as anything but Miss Walker."
Sarah released him from her glare and turned back to Chuck, "Call me Sarah, please."
She could see him swallow before answering. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sarah."
She could almost feel herself falling into his eyes when an arm curled around her waist, securing her dress from the breeze and settling around her abdomen. She felt Bryce's firm chest press against her back and Chuck looked over her shoulder at her boyfriend as he spoke. "Chuck, was it? I'm Bryce. I hope that wasn't one of our cases?" Bryce asked as he pointed at the suitcase at Morgan's feet, still leaking water out the sides.
"Uh, no sir. That's mine." Sarah caught Chuck's eyes glancing between her and Bryce and Bryce's arm.
"Bartowski, is there anything else to load?" Casey interjected.
"No, Colonel Casey, Sir! This is the last of it."
"Then get our guests on board and settled, it's time to push off." He ordered, disappearing from sight.
"And when you're ready, I'll be on the top deck looking for a mojito." Bryce added. He leaned over Sarah's shoulder and pressed a kiss into her cheek. "This was such a great idea, babe." As he released her waist and stepped onto the boat, his eyes were already scanning an email in his phone. Sarah sighed internally, wishing he would disconnect, even for a moment.
Sarah and Chuck continued to assess each other as she furrowed her brow and mouthed 'Colonel' in confusion. She felt a rush of joy as she watched his face split into the most endearing full faced grin she had ever seen.
Chuck lowered his head and spoke to her in a near whisper, just above the sound of the waves "It's the rank he retired from the military. He hates that we know but I think he secretly loves it when we call him it."
Sarah felt her own lips tug upwards at his silly response. She was certain Casey would both hate and love it too.
o-o-o-o-o
On the upper deck, Sarah was reclined in a chaise longue in her green bikini, having discarded her sundress in her stateroom. Carina was beside her in her black bikini, laying on her front with the chair reclined to lay flat. The warm sun beat down on them, the oppressive heat kept at bay by the wind and salt spray from the sea. A small metallic table between them held two mojitos in tall glasses with metal straws, the magnets in the base of the glasses holding them in place as the yacht rolled through the calm swells.
Bryce was seated nearby at a coffee table underneath a fabric cover, shielding his computer screen from the sun so he could continue to work. His mojito was in his hand, nearly empty and he was swirling the ice in his glass. Chuck had disappeared to empty his soaked suitcase, and Morgan was left on standby at the bar with them, making himself busy with cleaning and sorting the glassware. Casey was in the cockpit manning the helm.
Sarah looked over at Bryce, who was furiously typing, probably into excel again. The deal he was working on was an acquisition of Barker Technologies by Burton Enterprises, and it would be one of the largest acquisitions ever done by her father. Bryce had been given the lead role in the negotiation, which had rubbed a lot of the more senior finance executives the wrong way. He was good at what he did, Sarah knew from working with him on a few smaller deals, but she had no doubt that her father gave him this opportunity because of his connection to her.
Watching him clatter away made her think of her own position in her father's company. Currently an Executive Vice President of Operations, she would be jumping over a number of other people with longer resumes if she took her father's offer to become the CEO while he remained as President and started to step back into retirement. Some of the men that reported directly to her father were discreetly critical of her current position, and would become more boisterous and difficult to deal with if she took the new role. She knew it was nepotism that gave her the opportunity, but as a private company her father didn't answer to a board of directors or shareholders. She wanted the opportunity and was already thinking of ways to help innovate Burton Enterprises from the brand it currently was into a company of the future. Lost in thoughts of her future, Sarah was jolted back to reality by Carina's mischievous tone.
"Are you sure you don't want to just disappear into the life of a wealthy heiress? I'd be more than happy to accompany you on all your trips." Carina supported herself on an elbow and grabbed her drink, taking a long sip.
Sarah laughed at her friend and picked up her own drink, tonguing a mint leaf into her mouth and chewing on it, savoring the flavor of the herb soaked in the alcohol. She ran the cool glass along her neck, letting the water trail down her warm skin. "Honestly, I think I'd get too bored if this was all I did."
Carina looked at Sarah and raised an eyebrow "Well, you could always pick up new crewmen every couple of ports. If they're all as cute as Chuckles you wouldn't get bored." Sarah dramatically rolled her eyes at her friend. "What? I saw the way you looked at each other! He couldn't even hold onto a suitcase with you looking at him."
"Carina…" Sarah said in a warning tone.
"I know, I know, you have Bryce. If you aren't planning to sample either of our hosts, I might see what the bearded one is about at least." Carina bounced her eyebrows and shot a look over at Morgan as she started to stand. "If he's no fun, then maybe Chuckles will be worth a spin."
Carina stuck out her tongue at Sarah and Sarah chuckled as she watched her friend walk over to the bar. Carina's hips moved in a wider range than seemed possible, and she could see Morgan's eyes bugging out of his head as he tried to look around the bar area for something to do instead of watching her. Sarah bounced the straw in her drink and continued to sip on the mojito as she enjoyed the spectacle of Carina shamelessly flirting with Morgan and Morgan clearly struggling to keep himself together under the attention.
"She's going to kill him if she's not careful." Chuck's voice startled her as he approached her from behind. She looked over her shoulder at him, seeing him freshly dried off from a shower with a few beads of water trickling from his hair down his neck. He was wearing identical clothes to before, he would have a number of changes of his work uniform. He was carrying Bryce's empty glass. "Can I get you another drink, Sarah?"
Her name from his lips sent a warm rush down her spine and she decided the first drink must have been stronger than she thought. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Maybe just a water for now please." She said.
"You sure I can't get you something else? I make a nice lemonade if you'd prefer." She wet her lips with her tongue at the thought. She saw his eyes dart to her lips at the movement.
"That sounds wonderful, Chuck. I'd love one of those." She said, feeling tension starting to build.
He swallowed thickly, his eyes darting nervously under her steady gaze. "Be right back." He reached out to take her glass from her hands, just barely brushing her fingers and leaving a faint tingle.
Sarah kept her eyes on him as he walked to the bar, able to fully look at him now that his eyes weren't holding hers. She had noticed how tall he was before, but now she saw how lanky he was too. He had broad shoulders like a swimmer, but had relatively little muscle. Not weak per se, but certainly not a regular at the gym. She found herself wondering what it would feel like to run her hands across his back when he rounded the bar and was able to look back at her, breaking the spell. She schooled her face into a calm expression, hiding the embarrassment of being caught objectifying him.
She continued to watch as he started to mix new drinks, talking with Carina who had grown bored of Morgan's responses and wanted a new victim of her particular brand of bawdy conversation. She could hear Carina banter wickedly at him as he tried to steer the conversation, trying to engage Morgan who had all but stopped speaking as he leered at Carina. Carina pushed her breasts together as she stood to reach across the bar for a cherry and popped it into her mouth seductively. Chuck awkwardly tried to keep space between himself and Carina by placing glasses for their drinks on the bar between them. His lack of engaging actions quickly set Carina off, who stomped back to her chair beside Sarah and threw herself down in annoyance.
"One of them enjoys it but can barely put two syllables together, and the other can speak but won't flirt back! At this rate I'll be down to flirting with Casey by tomorrow and he's old enough to be your dad!" Carina huffed.
"Younger uncle, you mean." Casey's voice preceded him as he climbed the stairs to the upper deck, steadying himself with the railing against the sway of the boat. "Sorry to interrupt, just wanted to let you know we have about three hours to the bay we'll be anchoring in tonight. Lucia says dinner will be two hours after that. Any questions?"
Sarah smiled at him. "Sounds great, Casey. Is there good snorkeling in this bay?"
"Not this bay, there's a strong current and some pretty murky water around the reef. It's fine for swimming if you want, or the island has a nice shorter hiking trail near the beach. I've got us scheduled to stay in a great bay for snorkeling for two days next week. I'll make sure the boys have the gear ready. You catch that, Chuck?"
Chuck was walking up with a tray of drinks in one hand, a napkin over the arm with the tray. The magnets in the bottom of the glasses were able to hold tight to the metal tray, and Chuck was trying to sway with the boat to keep all the drinks on the tray. "Sure did Casey. We'll check the snorkeling gear tomorrow morning. Ok Carina, I have your gin and tonic, and Sarah I have your lemonade." He took each drink off as he spoke and handed them to the women. "And I'll just take Bryce's-"
He was interrupted by a large swell dropping the boat sideways, causing the tray to fly out of his hands. The drink upended onto Sarah's chest and sent a shock through her at the sudden change from the warmth of the sun to the icy liquor as it seeped beneath her bikini top.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Chuck was immediately rushing forward with his napkin, spreading it out over her chest. "I knew I should have taken two trips. The boat was so smooth a few minutes ago. Oh, and it's soaking in, that's no good." He was talking too fast for Sarah to interrupt, and she was stunned as his hands were roaming over her, wiping the liquor and picking off mint leaves with no regard for where he was touching.
Sarah felt a shiver of warmth travel down to her navel from her chest and felt a redness rising in her cheeks. "Um… Chuck?" She interrupted him. He looked up at her, then down to his hands and threw his hands back like they were burnt as his eyes widened in shock.
Everyone on the boat was quiet and all that could be heard was the water lapping against the hull and the creak of the boat as it moved through the water. The quiet was ended by a powerful laugh coming from somewhere deep inside of Sarah, quickly joined in by Carina and Bryce. Chuck flushed quickly, a deep red rising from his neck into his cheeks and spreading to his ears. Sarah lifted the napkin from her chest and used it to hide her laughter as well as her own deepening blush.
"Chuck, next time Sarah needs someone to feel her up, let me know and I can come over for that!" Bryce called out from his chair. Sarah's eyes stayed locked with Chuck's and she could see him somehow go a deeper shade of red.
"Oh Curls, I'm so glad we have you for this trip! You make it so much better!" Carina gasped out between her laughs. As Carina threw her arms around him a cheerful embrace, Chuck's eyes plead his apology to Sarah. She lowered the napkin just enough so he could see her smile and the twinkle of amusement in her eyes, and took the opportunity of the movement to hide the blush spreading across her chest where she could still feel the sensation of his wandering hands.