“Thank you. You’re right. It would have been better if I hadn’t gone with you that night. It was foolish.”
Paul snapped his gaze back to her. “That’s not what I meant. I wouldn’t undo the night, just the morning after. But I promise you that you won’t have anything else to fear from me again. I promise you there’ll be no more inappropriate touching. You deserve better.”
Holly’s eyes suddenly shone with warmth, and it looked as though she wanted to say something, then changed her mind. Finally, two words crossed her lips. “Thank you.”
He opened one of the hanging cabinets and pulled two mugs from the shelf. “Do you want to go sailing later? Zach has invited everybody on his yacht. There’ll be lunch. Several of the guys are gonna be there. I think he was calling Daniel to see if he and Sabrina wanted to join us. I can find out for sure if they’re coming. But you don’t have to come, if you’d rather stay here on your own. I don’t mind. It’s up to—”
“I’d like to come,” Holly interrupted his waffling. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
Paul smiled at her, relieved that she’d been gracious enough to forgive him his misstep. “Thank you.” Maybe they could at least be friends.
Two hours later, Paul brought his Porsche to a stop outside Zach’s beach house and turned off the engine. He motioned to another sports car parked next to several other cars, and turned to Holly. “Looks like Daniel and Sabrina are already here.”
“Great!” she answered and hopped out of the car.
He followed and pointed toward a walkway that led along the left side of the cottage. “That’s the shortest way to the dock.” Paul waited for her to walk around the car, then together they took the wooden walkway. “There’s something else.”
She turned her head to look at him. “Yes?”
“Last night, when I was out with Jay and Zach, your name came up.”
“In what way?”
Was she worried that in his drunken state, he’d told them that she was an escort? He couldn’t let her think that. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell them the truth. I told them we’re dating.”
Holly nodded. “Okay.”
“So that means it might be a good thing if I held your hand so it looks realistic.” Paul glanced at her. “But don’t worry, we won’t have to kiss. The guys know I’m not very affectionate in public, so they won’t find it strange if they don’t see us all lovey-dovey.”
“Sure.” Then she stopped, making him stop too. “Since we’re being open, you should also know that I told Sabrina about our arrangement. I really didn’t have a choice.”
“Well, I guess she knows what you do for a living anyway.”
“She won’t judge,” Holly confirmed. “But Daniel walked in on us while I was telling her. I mean, he’s always known about my, uh . . . profession. But now he knows you hired me.”
“Crap!” Paul cursed.
Would his friend judge him now? When the question surfaced in his mind, he shook his head, suddenly realizing that he didn’t give a damn what any of his friends would think about the situation if they found out. It surprised him, because for his entire life he’d been conditioned to care about what other people thought of him: his parents, his colleagues, his friends, and even his enemies. Suddenly, that whole notion felt unimportant. Because all that mattered was what he thought—and what Holly thought.
“Never mind,” Paul assured himself and Holly. “Daniel won’t say anything to the others. Not to protect my reputation, but to protect yours. I know he thinks highly of you.”
“He’s a good guy. I like him.”
They continued down the path and reached the dock a few moments later. A shiny white sailboat was moored there, and several people were already aboard. Zach was busy loosening the ties that fastened the mainsail to the mast, so that it could be pulled up later when they were out on the water. Jay was doing the same at the jib at the bow.
At the stern, where the helm was located, Daniel stood behind Sabrina, who had her hands on the steering wheel, apparently showing her how to steer a boat.
Paul took Holly’s hand and waved at them just as Hunter’s head popped out from the cabin. He was the first to see them and waved back.
“Hey, guys, look who’s finally made it!” Hunter called out, and made the rest of the gang turn to look. Behind Hunter, Wade came out of the cabin.
Having reached the deck, Paul greeted them, “Guys! Sabrina! Good to see you!”