“It means you’re a little pot stirrer and you know it. Wouldn’t surprise me a bit if you egged this on just for the drama of it. You’re the one who dared Gisella and Cameron to kiss — knowing she was with Finn, and knowing Cameron was with me!”
Bernard scoffed, crossing his arms. “Babe, don’t be mad at me. Hate to break it to you, but your man’s got free will. He could’ve said no. Hewould’vesaid no… if you actually mattered to him.”
That did it.
Cameron lunged like a viper set to strike.
Palmer grabbed him just in time, locking his arms around his chest and dragging him back as Cameron barked, “Say that again, you Sassenach bastard, and I’ll wring your fecking neck.”
Bernard just laughed, shaking his head as Palmer struggled to keep Cameron from losing it. “Upset I called out the truth, are we, my sweet Scot? Aww.” He made a pouty face. “You’d really be suffering if Leah found out you and Gisella continued to have a little fun after she and Ember went inside, wouldn’t you?”
Ice pricked my skin like a thousand little needle points, the shock of Bernard’s words hitting their intended targets perfectly. Gisella turned bright red, her fingers curling into fists as Cameron lunged for Bernard again. He was firing off a string of curse words in such a thick Scottish accent that I couldn’t understand him, but I was too busy watching Leah to pay much attention anyway.
And she was breaking like a fragile vase knocked off the highest shelf.
“Leah,” I tried as her eyes flooded with unshed tears, but her jaw hardened, her chin lifting.
“Don’t pretend like you’re my friend,” she spat to me, and then she stormed out of the room with the guys still clamoring for a fight behind her.
As soon as she was gone, another face appeared at the door.
This one was all business.
“ENOUGH!”
Captain Gary’s voice cracked through the room like a whip.
Every head turned to where he was in the doorway. I knew with one glance that he’d yet to even have his coffee. His eyes were wide, jaw locked as he slammed that authoritative glare into each one of us.
When it landed on me and Finn, it softened — just marginally, enough for his true feelings to slip through the façade.
Disappointment.
Again.
It was the final rock on the pile of rubble, and suddenly I wasn’t just struggling to breathe.
I was crushed.
“What the hell is going on here?” he asked, voice booming as he tore his gaze from us and back to the crew still gathered at the foot of the bed.
“Pretty easy to see, isn’t it, Cap?” Gisella fired back, throwing her arms toward me and Finn. “That’s our chef and chief stew — also known as my boyfriend and roommate.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing this was a nightmare I was going to shake awake from any second. I didn’t miss the frustrated flare of Finn’s nostrils at Gisella’s accusation.
They weren’t together anymore, but no one knew that except the three of us.
No way was Gisella going to admit that now.
And if it was our word against hers, I had a pretty good feeling who everyone would believe.
“Right,” Captain said, severe. “Everyone, get to work. We have charter guests in six hours and this boat is in shit shape. We’ll talk about this when our guests are satisfied and gone, understand? And not a word of it until then. I expect professionalism.”
“You’re going to let them stay?!” Gisella gaped at Captain, but when he arched a brow into his hairline, her mouth snapped shut.
I knew she wanted to argue, but to her credit, she fought it. Because while Captain may have wanted to get more of this story before he made any decisions, we all knew he wouldn’t stand for even one second of insubordination.
No one moved for a breath, but then slowly, everyone started to shuffle. Palmer released his grip on Cameron, who immediately ran off — I assumed to find Leah. Bernard smirked at me with a wink on his way out, like we were best buds and he approved of my scandal.