Yours to Savor by Scarlett Edwards Read Free Book Online Page B

take some time for me to get used to his humor , she thought sourly.
    “I have a little imagination in me yet, you’ll see,” Brandon chuckled. “This is your first date in two years. I couldn’t lose the chance to create something memorable for you.”
    “Why?” If he could be direct, so could she.
    But the question didn’t throw him off. “That’s for you to decide at the end of the night,” he answered.
    “You can’t impress me just by having a boat, you know.”
    Brandon laughed again. “It works with some girls, I’ll admit, but you seem to be more discerning than that. You’re not one to be won over by cheap parlor tricks, are you?”
    “No,” Sandra said after a moment. “And I’ll take that as a compliment, I think.”
    “It’s one of the few you’ll get from me,” he winked.
    She frowned. He laughed once more.
    Together, they came to the dock, and climbed up the slanting walkway. All of this is rather impressive, Sandra admitted to herself. Brandon and his friend, whoever she was, must both be incredibly rich.
    What kind of a man did I get myself involved with? And why on earth is he interested in me?
    “What do you do?” Sandra asked on impulse.
    Brandon smiled. A secret glimmer danced across his eyes. “I’m a businessman.”
    “What kind?”
    “The successful kind.”
    Sandra gave an exasperated grunt. Would the man never give a straight answer? Before she could call him out on his evasive response, they reached the yacht. Sandra could hear the hum of the motor running, the sound of water lapping gently around the hull. From a distance, the yacht was impressive, but from up close… it was spectacular. It was so big , and from the look of it, completely new. There was not a speck of dirt anywhere; all the metal pieces glistened like they’d just come off the factory floor. The name VEGA was printed in prominent white letters on the side of the boat, clashing against the midnight blue paint of the hull.
    She must have gaped just a little, because Brandon chuckled beside her.
    “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a ‘boat’ before?” he teased.
    “No, it’s just—”
    “Ah, never been on one before?”
    “I have, just not—”
    “On one so magnificent?” A playful smile formed on his lips. Sandra ground her teeth. “I thought you’d like it.”
    He led her up the gangplank and onto the vessel. When Sandra saw what the deck looked like, she was again speechless.
    The yacht was replete with splendor. The aft deck, where she stood, housed a lacquered cherry table in front of a leather settee. Unlit candles stood in deep glass bowls on the table, and both the floor and ceiling tiles gleamed in the fading sunlight. An American flag hung from a pole off the stern of the boat.
    Sliding glass doors offered a clean view into the salon. Two white leather sofas stretched along the walls of the room. In the middle stood an impressive oak table. Two bottles of champagne sat in an ice bucket atop it, and drops of condensation trickling down their sleek glass sides. White granite countertops decorated the bar at the end of the room, complete with matching cabinetry.
    “What is all this?” Sandra asked, motioning at the champagne, the candles.
    “This?” Brandon mused. “It’s for later. Come, I have to show you the upper helm.”
    Sandra followed him up the curving stairs to the fly bridge, which was just as spectacular as the rest of the boat. Dual captain’s chairs stood on an elevated platform, and the open space offered a panoramic view of the ocean before them. Brandon stepped beside the controls, fiddled with some of the switches. Immediately, the low hum of the engine became much louder. The boat began to move smoothly into the water.
    Sandra came to stand beside Brandon at the helm as they cruised out. “Where are you taking me?”
    “There’s a spot you need to see,” he explained, “farther out.”
    “You know the area? I thought you just arrived?”
    He smiled.