“Well, well, well.”
Derek climbed out of a smaller sailboat. He looked skeptical. As he well should since I was here for nefarious purposes. But damn, he looked good. His whole sailing outfit fit a lot more out here. This time in navy-blue shorts and a white button-up with those same boat shoes. He’d clearly been wearing a hat because there was an indention around his almost curls at his ears.
For a second, all thoughts fled my head. The whole reason for me being here. The moment I’d been waiting for since he’d ruined my reputation and not cared at all. Because it’d been a week and it hadn’t blown over. In fact, it might have gotten worse. Now, everyone at school had heard about it, and the girls were being terrible too. Of course, they didn’t have sympathy for what I was going through; they’d rather think the worst and shun me. Fun times.
“Hey, Derek,” I said with a smile.
I’d worn something that Gran would have never let me out of the house in. I’d changed out of my jeans and hoodie into a miniskirt and tank top. She’d flip her lid, but I had a plan.
“Marley,” he said with a head nod. His eyes dropped to my legs and back up. “What are you doing out here?”
“Came to see you.”
He crossed his arms. “Yeah? And how did you know that I’d be here?”
“I saw Kathy.”
“Hmm… she didn’t mention that.”
“She might have thought that I was your date.”
He laughed. “Yeah, well, I have a date with Krista Kendrick tonight. So, you should probably go.”
That name sounded familiar, but I didn’t know why.
“She’s a St. Catherine’s cheerleader. Miss Junior Savannah,” he filled in.
I blinked. “Oh.”
Shit. Krista was one of those bombshell girls. She was in all the pageants and sometimes came into Miss Alicia’s for solo lessons. I was sure she had no idea who I was. But also, clearly, I couldn’t compete with the Kristas of the world. My plan was coming unraveled, and I’d just gotten here.
I needed to stall. “That’s your boat?”
He hardly blinked at the change of subject. His eyes lit up, and his smile went with it. “Yeah, this is Sandra. She’s a beauty, and she’s all mine.”
“Kind of small. I expected…” My eyes drifted back to the massive sailboat.
“Yeah. Well, that one is my dad’s. I saved up for three years to get Sandra here. I bought her off of a local and do most of the repairs myself.”
“You bought the boat?”
He grinned at me. “Yeah. I’ve been working out on the marina since I could walk. The only thing that I’ve ever really wanted to do is be on the water. Now that I have my own boat, I can take the Intracoastal Waterway up to Charleston and see my cousins. I could take it all the way up to Virginia and down to Florida if I wanted.”
I tried to reconcile this Derek with the one I saw when he was with other people. I’d put him squarely in the bad category. But here he was, just a guy with a passion. It was what had drawn him to me when he helped his sister and then talked about Duke versus UNC. I’d never expected him to be more than the charming playboy.
“That sounds amazing,” I finally admitted. “I’ve never been sailing.”
“What? It’s the best feeling in the entire world. I should take you out sometime.” Then, he frowned and glanced back to the marina entrance just as a car door shut. “Just not right now. What are you doing here anyway?”
But I didn’t get a chance to tell him.
“Derek!” Krista Kendrick called. She was in a flowy dress and tall wedges. Her hair was down, as if the humidity didn’t affect it at all, and a full face of makeup. She stepped onto the dock and scrutinized me. “Who is this?”
“Hey, babe. This is no one. Just a friend.”
Krista looked doubtful. “Just a friend,” she drawled. “I know you, Derek. You don’t have any female friends.”
I shot her an innocent, wide-eyed look. “I should be going. Sorry.”
“Wait,” Krista spat. She looked between us and saw Derek’s reputation and not what was reality. As I’d suspected she would. I didn’t even have to say anything. His reputation would do its work for me. “Did you forget about us today?”
“No, of course not,” Derek said hastily. He glanced over at me. I smiled sweetly at him, and he narrowed his eyes. “Marley, you should go.”
“Right, yeah.”
Krista held her hand out to stop me. “Are you double-dipping, Derek? Did you already take her out?”
“What? No.”
“Oh my God,” she said with a shake of her head. “I ignored all of my friends who said this was a bad idea. I said that you were different with me. But I was wrong, wasn’t I?”
“Krista, babe…”
“God, I’m an idiot. We all know who you are, Derek. That you’d do this to me is beyond stupid.”
I tried to inch around her. “I didn’t mean… I’ll just get out of here.”
“Were you here for a date with him?” she demanded.
“I… no…” I told the truth, stumbling over the words, as if I had no idea what she was talking about.
“Tell her, Marley,” Derek demanded.
But I just smiled at him. And it was that moment that he realized what I was doing. Why I’d shown up. It was as if all the pieces slid into place in his mind.
Krista snorted. “Well, Marley… he’s all yours.”
She turned and stomped back down the dock. Derek followed after her, trying to explain. But how could he explain my presence? His reputation had worked against me… so why shouldn’t it work against him too?
I waited with a smile as he tried unsuccessfully to salvage his date. But Krista got back into her car and peeled out of the parking lot without a backward glance. Derek jogged back onto the deck. He looked mad but mostly shocked that I’d gotten him back at his own game.
“What the fuck was that?”
“Oh sorry,” I said, batting my eyelashes at him. “Would you like me to go after her and tell her that we didn’t sleep together?”
His jaw set. “So, that’s what this is about.”
“What? Did you think I’d stop caring about all this?”
“It’s not my fault that people are talking about you at school.”
“It’s your reputation,” I snapped. “You clearly knew how people would see it. You get off scot-free, and I have to suffer the consequences. I decided if you wouldn’t do anything about it, then I would.”
He shook his head. “You’re insane.”
I laughed. “No, I’m brilliant.”
He tilted his head again, giving me that look that I hadn’t been able to decipher at the party. “You could always let me take you sailing.”
“What?” I asked, stunned by the offer.
“You could make it up to me,” he said with a panty-melting smile.
I blinked. “Have you lost it? I just fucked up your date.”
“Yeah. Well, I’m a make the best of any situation kind of guy.” He patted Sandra. “So?”