L. Marie Adeline- S.E.C.R.E.T

Gulf. I alternated between watching the water below and watching the pilot’s sculpted
hands icking this and that button with eciency and ease. His forearms were tanned
and lightly furred with pale blond hair. Was he going to be the one? Was he part of my
fantasy? If so, we were off to a solid start.
“Where are we going?” I yelled, pulling off my scarf and letting my hair cascade. I was
flirting. For the first time in my life, it seemed to come naturally.
“You’ll see. It won’t be long now!” he said with a wink.
I held his gaze, this time letting him be the one to break it rst. I’d never done that
before and it was a little intoxicating, flirting through my fear.
A few minutes later, I felt the helicopter begin to descend. Panic crept in. I couldn’t see
directly below us, so from my back-seat vantage point we looked to be landing directly
in the blue Gulf waters. When the helicopter skids hit something solid, I realized we’d
landed on a boat. It was a very big boat. In fact, a yacht.
The pilot hopped down and opened my door, offering me a hand.
I leapt onto the polished landing deck, shielding my eyes from the now-blinding sun
and thinking how quickly weather can change.
“This is unbelievable,” I said.
“It is,” said the pilot, giving me the impression he might not have been referring to the
boat. “I have been instructed to bring you here, and now I must leave.”
“That’s too bad,” I said, meaning it. From the upper deck, I could look around. It was a
yacht, indeed, and one of the most beautiful vehicles of any kind I’d ever seen in my
life. The deck was gleaming, polished wood, the hull and the walls a vivid white. “Can
you stay for a drink? Just one?”
What was I doing? The fantasies usually unfolded before me, and now I was
interfering with whatever was planned for me. But the helicopter trip had energized me,
and I wanted to continue the flirtation.
“I supposed one drink wouldn’t hurt,” he said. “Join me in the pool?”
Pool? My breath stopped when I leaned around the bow and saw the oval-shaped pool,
on a yacht, circling the deck in front. White lounge chairs lined both sides, red-and-white
striped towels casually folded over their backs. For me? Was this all for me? Whatever
happens to me here doesn’t matter, I thought, so long as I get to swim, in a pool, on a
yacht! And though the waters were starting to get a bit choppy, the boat was huge and
felt rock-solid, even with a small helicopter perched on top. It dawned on me that a
bathing suit wasn’t among the clothes provided, but the pilot was already making his
way to the pool, dropping pieces of his clothing before turning the corner and
disappearing from sight.
I waited a beat, then followed him. No one else seemed to be aboard the boat, the
windows to the pilot’s bay so darkly tinted you couldn’t see the crew inside, if they were
there. By the time I reached him poolside, the pilot was submerged, and by the look of
the pile of clothes he’d left behind, he was naked.
“Get in. It’s warm.”
“Will you get in trouble?” I asked, feeling shy.
“Not unless you protest my being here.”