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 Welcome to the Fair Winds Sailing School. A young woman in a bright yellow linen
skirt and a white blouse got up from behind a desk and held out her hand.  How may I help
you today?
 Thank you. He took her hand and smiled.  My name is Carlton Pearce, and I have an
appointment with Mr Nicholls.
 Ah, Troy himself. The woman let go of his hand and sat down behind her desk.  Let
me just call him, he should be right with you.
 Sure. He sat down in one of the chairs after picking up a leaflet, just for something to
cover his nervousness.
The emails he d exchanged with the owner had given him all the basic information
about the school, but he hadn t made a booking yet. He d liked Troy well enough from what
they d discussed, but he wanted to see what the actual teacher was like. Being the winner of
the American Sailing Association s title of school of the year for three years was all well and
good, but he wanted to know who he d be dealing with. After all, whoever that person was
would be spending a lot of time with him, since he intended to take a private course. No use
wasting time socialising with other people. He had an objective to achieve, and he was going
to get there with a minimum of distractions.
Speaking of distractions
The man now walking towards him from an office on the other side of the reception
area was distraction personified. Carlton had a hard time keeping his mouth closed.
The man was about his own height of six feet but far more athletically built. Broad
shoulders, a chest and arms that strained the short-sleeved shirt in the nicest possible way,
slim hips and muscular legs encased in tan cargo shorts that made his mouth water. With
difficulty, he pulled his attention back up to the man s angular face, spying an inch-long scar
on the right cheek, along the jaw line. The man s hair was blond and curly, long enough to
touch his shoulders. Bright blue eyes gazed back from the tanned face, dark pink lips curved
in a polite smile.
Carlton felt the heat rise in his cheeks. He hadn t been caught checking out a man like
that in a very long time.
SUMMER ESCAPE Serena Yates
139
 Mr Pearce I presume? The stranger held out his hand and smiled.  I m Troy Nicholls.
Welcome to my sailing school.
 Carlton. He swallowed and took the other man s hand.  Please, call me Carlton.
The touch of skin on skin with this utterly gorgeous man was a revelation. Warm and
slightly calloused, Troy s fingers enclosed his own and held on slightly longer than strictly
necessary. God, what he would give to feel those hands on the rest of his body.
 In that case I must insist you call me Troy. The other man finally let go of his hand
and stepped back, gesturing to the office.  Would you join me in my office, please? We ll
hopefully remain largely undisturbed in there, so we can discuss your plans in more detail.
 Sure. Great, he was reduced to one-syllable replies now. Way to make an impression.
At this rate, he was going to end up in the remedial class.
 Oh, Marie, could you get us two coffees, please? Troy turned back towards him.  You
do drink coffee, don t you?
 Yes. I take it black with one sweetener. Or he did now, after deciding some of his
eating and drinking could be even healthier than before. Taking no milk and replacing sugar
with sweetener was as far as he would go though. He was not going to give up coffee
altogether. Two cups a day compared to his eight to ten before had to be better for him and
was all the sacrifice he was willing to make.
 So, you want to learn how to sail. Troy sat down behind his desk and leant back in
the ergonomically-optimised-looking chair.  What brought that on?
 I ve always wanted to. He wasn t going to share his health issues with a practical
stranger and make himself look even more like a weakling. He was already far behind in the
looks and strength departments, no need to exacerbate the issue further.
 Look, I don t mind if you don t want to tell me. Troy frowned.  I was trying to find
out a little more about your motivation so I d have a better chance to pair you up with the
right teacher. The American Sailing Association, or ASA, has strict requirements if you want
to pass the Offshore Passagemaking certification so you can captain or crew your own yacht.
I want to make sure you successfully get through the required two weeks of initial courses,
then the additional qualifications before the final cruise a month or so later. That s obviously
much easier with the right teacher.
SUMMER ESCAPE Serena Yates
140
 Oh. Could he appear even more idiotic?  Let s just say that I was fed up with my job
and am looking for a change. Sailing is something I ve always wanted to do, ever since I was
a kid. Back then my parents didn t approve, and then college and my job got in the way.
 But this is not a mid-life crisis, is it? Troy s lips were twitching suspiciously, making
him look like the imp he probably was.
 Most certainly not! He was thirty-eight, not fifty.  I m just reorienting myself.
 Uh-huh. Reorientation it is. Troy s grin broke through.  Man, have I got the right
teacher for you!
* * * *
What the hell had possessed him? Troy wanted to bang his head against a wall, maybe
even needed to do it just so he could beat some sense back into his brain. Why was there never
a convenient wall around when he needed one?
He sighed as he continued walking on the wet sand, leaving deep, angry footprints in
his wake. He was headed south, towards Finnegan s Place, a local gay-friendly pub right on
the beach that was only a couple of miles from his house. He needed a drink, or two, to try to
forget the utter stupidity that had made him decide he was going to personally teach his
newest client, the totally stunning Carlton Jaymes Pearce. What sort of a pretentious middle [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]