One Foolish Night

Hunter lifted his hands. One held a half-empty bottle of beer, the other a bottle of water. “Sorry, ladies first.” Then he walked to where Daniel and Sabrina sat on the bench, and handed the water to Sabrina.

Paul instantly noticed that Sabrina was as white as a sheet.

“I don’t think I can stay.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “The rocking is making me sick.”

“That’s nothing yet,” Hunter claimed. “Wait until we’re out there. It’ll get a lot rockier.”

Daniel put his arm around Sabrina’s shoulders. “I think we’d better get you off this boat. I don’t want you to get sick.” He put his other hand on her round belly and stroked her tenderly. “Come, let’s go.”

Daniel looked in Zach’s direction. “Sorry, buddy, but I think sailing is going to be out for us while Sabrina is pregnant.” He rose, helping Sabrina up.

“No worries, Daniel,” Zach replied.

“You can stay, Daniel, really. You shouldn’t lose out just because I’m feeling a little queasy.”

“I don’t want you to be alone,” he replied.

“I’ll take her home,” Holly offered, walking to Sabrina and taking her arm.

Daniel looked at Holly. “But then you’re missing out on all the fun.”

Holly made a dismissive gesture. “I really don’t mind. You should hang out with your friends. Sabrina and I will be fine.”

Sabrina gave her a grateful smile and when Daniel nodded, Paul felt disappointment wash through him. He would have enjoyed spending a few hours with Holly in the carefree environment of a sailboat.

Holly turned to him. “You don’t mind, Paul, do you?”

He took a step closer. “No, of course not,” he lied. “Take care of Sabrina, that’s more important.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you later.” Holly leaned toward him and gave him a soft kiss on his lips. The contact was so short that he could have dreamed it. But he knew he hadn’t: The envy on his friends’ faces was proof positive that she had truly kissed him.

“Why don’t you take my car?” He pulled the keys from his pocket and pressed them into her palm. “I’ll get one of the guys to drop me at home later.”

“Thanks.”

Paul watched as both women stepped off the boat.

He heard Sabrina thank Holly, then watched as Holly took her friend’s arm. A few words drifted to him with the wind blowing his way. “ . . . feeling a little queasy myself.”

Moments later, the boat was out on open water, the sails filling with wind and propelling them forward. Paul went into the cabin and grabbed a couple of beers from the large galley, then went back outside, where Jay steered the boat and Zach trimmed the jib. He handed one beer to Jay, then took a seat on the bench. Wade and Hunter were sitting on the gunwale, letting their feet hang over the side. He couldn’t hear their conversation, the wind blowing past his ears making it impossible.

Paul had just popped the beer open and taken a gulp when a shadow fell on his face. Daniel stood over him. “Hey.”

Daniel took a seat next to him. “So.”

Instinctively he knew what Daniel wanted to talk about, but Paul wasn’t going to volunteer. Besides, it was none of Daniel’s business what he and Holly had arranged between them.

“I’d never have thought of you as somebody who wasted money.”

So Daniel knew what he’d spent on the privilege of spending time with Holly. “I’m not.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“Listen, Daniel, I think you should stay out of this.” Paul brought his beer bottle to his lips and took a sip.

“I can’t. Because something is fishy about this whole thing.”

“There’s nothing fishy about it,” Paul protested, and glanced in Jay’s direction. But it appeared his friend couldn’t hear their conversation. Nevertheless, he leaned closer to Daniel and lowered his voice. “Holly is a call girl. This is what she does for a living. And I happened to be in need of somebody like her, so I hired her. End of story.”

“On the contrary, that’s where the story begins. Or are you honestly going to tell me that you don’t want to have sex with her?”

“My arrangement with Holly doesn’t include sex.”

“That’s not what I asked. I know all about the arrangement. I don’t care about that. What I want to know is the truth. And it appears that neither you nor Holly is willing to tell anybody what’s really going on here. Because there is something going on.”