Chapter 51

“I’m sorry,” Cassidy said.

We were still in the Pilot’s Cabin. It had been a few minutes since Wanda had left and gone below deck, and Heather, Cattie and Sherry had come back up dressed in their own bikinis. It looked like they were getting ready to do a shoot for Heather since she was looking all glammed up with her short hair gelled out to look sort of like an anime character and her makeup done super striking and showy. Or maybe it was the big cameras that gave it away.

“I know,” I said. I left the wheel for a moment and stepped over to her, picking Cassidy up from the counter and lifting her into a hug. She clung to me, wrapping her legs around my waist, and I stepped back to the wheel.

“I didn’t mean to tell her,” Cassidy said. “I just- she asked and I didn’t want to make you try and lie or fudge it or anything.”

“I know,” I said again. “It’s fine. Other than Cattie I think Wanda might be the other person on this trip who could actually offer us some good advice. She also deserved to know, probably before last night.”

Cassidy let her legs come down from around my waist as she lowered to her bare feet, but she stayed hugging me, standing between me and the wheel and resting her head on my chest. “Robbie, do you really still love me?”

I closed my eyes, then snapped them open remembering I was driving, and took a deep breath. “Yes, Cass. I really still love you. I’m still hurt and mad too, but I still love you for sure. And you’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” she whispered back.

“Cass,” Cattie called from out on the deck. “Hey, Cass, can you come look at this? You’re better at lighting settings than me.”

Cassidy kissed my chest through my shirt, then went on her tiptoes to kiss my lips, and I let her out under my arm. She took a deep breath before she left, trying to wipe the feelings from her face before going out to face the others.

I listened to them for a bit, just the chatter of the girls as they discussed the bright overhead lighting and the best angles for the shoot Heather was organizing. It sounded like she was planning on being in and around the hot tub, so they needed to be able to move a bit. Cass ended up going below to our equipment bag to get a light diffuser - ours was a good-sized one with a collapsible frame so it travelled well.

At some point they were happy with the results and they started taking pictures, though I couldn’t really check what they were doing since I had to keep my mind on driving. A couple of minutes later Cassidy came back into the cabin.

“Tiger, I- Heather’s planning on getting completely naked for this. Do you want me to step away?”

“Come here,” I motioned to her, and she came and slipped her arm around me as she joined me at the wheel again. I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you for checking. I’m OK if you’re helping Cattie manage the shoot.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t planning on it,” Cassidy grumbled. “I kind of just got sucked into it.”

“Do you want me to say no?” I asked. “I can be the bad guy if you want, I don’t care.”

“No, it’s fine,” she sighed. “She’s still Cattie’s girlfriend.”

“OK,” I said and gave Cassidy’s butt a little swat. “Love you.”

“You too, Tiger,” she smiled, scritching my back before stepping away.

For the next fifteen minutes or so I could hear them talking as the work went on. Every once in a while I would glance back - not trying to catch a glimpse, just checking the back corners of the houseboat to make sure no one was coming up behind us or anything. At one point I saw that Cattie was taking photos of Heather sitting topless on the edge of the hot tub. Another glance back a little later and I saw that she was naked and posing outside the tub, leaning on the side, though I didn’t see much more than her big boobs and the big curve of her hip.