No Tan Lines

Smiling now, holding his hand as he sat down beside me, I was asleep instantly. When I woke up in the middle of the night, he was there, asleep in the chair next to the bottom bunk-bed, still holding my hand. I lay there, looking at him in the darkness, leaving my hand in his, wondering. What did I mean to him that he'd do this for me? Look after me like this? What did he mean to me that I'd let him look after me? That I wanted to stay here, on his boat. With him.

I had no idea, but I trusted him and I felt safe with him, and he was holding my hand as he slept. My eyes closed, I sank down into the welcoming darkness, and I knew I was smiling.

"How 're you feeling this morning?" he asked, and he was still sitting there beside me, except he'd shaved and showered and changed his clothes. He must've done that while I slept, coz I hadn't heard a thing, and my hand wasn't in his. It was under the duvet with me.

"Much better," I said, sitting up, careful not to bang my head, pushing the light duvet aside and swinging my legs around and down before I remembered all I was wearing were my t-shirt and panties, and I was giving him a really good look at them, except he wasn't looking, which was lucky, because they were boring white cotton bikini briefs.

"Good," he said. "Now take these," and he handed me a small dish of pills and capsules and a glass of water that I drank, thirstily.

"I need to take your temperature," he said. "Going to put this in your ear."

"Back to normal," he said, looking at the thermometer a minute later, after I'd sat there with it in my ear. "Go take a shower, the bathroom's through that door. Your Aunt brought a bag over for you early this morning with all your clothes and everything she thought you'd need. It's up on the top bunk there. I'll go make breakfast, call if you need anything, otherwise come up when you're ready."

"Aunt Suzy did?" Now that did surprise me. She must trust him too, to let me stay here overnight and then do something like that. Clothes? Everything? Like she expected me to stay here longer or something.

"Yeah, she called me early, we had a long chat. I told her you were welcome to stay as long as you liked, and I think you'd be more comfortable here on the boat than in their apartment, until you recover completely, anyhow. In the end she said it was your decision." He looked at me. "If you want to go back, I'll take you, but you really should get a portable aircon, and maybe a heater for when it gets chilly, for your room. I'll help you get one with the truck if you want one."

"Really, you don't mind if I stay here?" I looked around the small cabin. Bunks up against the outside wall, a side stand, small dresser, closet, chair, that teak flooring. All paneled wood, glossy and smooth, and it had its own bathroom as well. I'd never had my own bathroom, and it was small, but it was more beautiful than any bedroom I'd ever had in my life. Aircon, too, and I looked at him. "How come?"

I thought about that for a moment longer, and yeah, well, I better be real clear on that one. "I'm not, you know, a boat bunny or anything."

He chuckled, and I liked that chuckle. "I know that, Jenny," he said, still smiling. "I know Suzy and Wayne too, not like they're friends, but I know them."

I smiled back, feeling a bit silly.

"I like you, that's all," he said. "And I'm taking some time off, so I can do whatever I like. I'll probably do something eventually, but right now all I want to do is relax and work on the boat, and fish for the next year or so." He smiled at me. "And now that you've walked into my life, maybe look after you for a while."

"And take me fishing." I smiled back.

"And take you fishing." He chuckled again, and that chuckle and the look on his face did things to me. Nice things. "When you're well enough. In a day or two, after Carl gives you the okay."

"Who's Carl?" I asked.

"My doctor, the one who saw you yesterday. He's a buddy of mine, we go out fishing together off and on. He's going to come over tomorrow evening on his way home from the clinic if I think you need a check. He'll take a quick look at you if I think you need it."

Tomorrow evening? Checkup? Dave expected me to be staying tonight and tomorrow night for sure?

"Told your Aunt Suzy I'd bring you back for dinner tonight, so her and your Uncle can check up on you."

"But I can stay here tonight?" I asked. "And tomorrow night?"

"As many nights as you want, Jenny," he said, not smiling. "Until the end of summer if you want too."

"Okay," I said, not smiling either. Until the end of summer? Really? That was seven months away. Was he serious? All that time on a boat like this? With him? I felt so comfortable with him, and really, how long had I known him? A couple of days, and I wasn't sure that yesterday counted at all.

But I wanted to stay. With him.

Did I even know what I was doing? Aunt Suzy trusted him. I guess she did. She was okay with me staying here with him. On his boat. I trusted him, but what did I know. What if I was wrong. I'd always been a bit too trusting. It hadn't exactly got me into trouble, but I better be careful. He was older to start with, but his vibes were good, and really, he wasn't sketchy at all. And he'd looked after me yesterday.

"Is it really okay for me to stay tonight?" I said, hesitantly.

"Of course it is," he said. He grinned. "I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't okay."

"Aunt Suzy said it was okay? Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, really, she did," he said. "I'm taking you back for dinner, though. You can talk to her yourself." He smiled. "I'm not going to be offended if you change your mind, Jenny. I mean, you don't know me that well."

"I trust you," I said, without even thinking about what I was saying, and my hand found his.

"Thank you." He smiled, but it was a serious smile. His hand held mine, squeezed lightly. "Take a shower, get dressed and come up for breakfast. Take your time. Not like we're going to go anywhere. Not today, anyhow."

"Okay," I said, waiting until he'd left and closed the cabin door behind him, and wow, my own bathroom. It was nice, too. A little small, but hey, it was a boat, not a house and it was so well organized. I kind of luxuriated in the shower, washing my hair, and Aunt Suzy had even packed my shampoo and conditioner and everything.

After that shower, I sat on the chair, and I was thinking of it as my room, and I smiled as I carefully painted my toenails pink before I dressed. I hadn't painted my toenails since before.

"Breakfast's ready," his voice floated down.

"Coming," I called back, slipping on a halter top and stepping into some panties and shorts.

He grinned as I emerged on the main deck, climbing the stairs to get there. "Help yourself from the buffet," he said, and wow, he'd been busy, and I was hungry. Hadn't eaten a thing yesterday, and I demolished fruit salad and yogurt, followed by eggs on toast and a glass of chocolate milk.

"I called Suzy just now," he said. "Told her you'd woken up and you were much better."

"Okay," I said. Then, "Really, are you sure I can stay? It's not too much trouble for you, is it? I don't want to be a nuisance."

"You, Jenny Dao, are not a nuisance," he said, smiling, drinking his coffee. "I'm enjoying having you as a guest, and your Aunt said it was fine for you to stay, and you need some recovery time. She told me a bit about what'd happened. Only a bit, though, and you're far better off here than in your Aunt and Uncle's apartment by yourself." He grinned. "So today, Jenny, you are going to sit around and decorate 'No Tan Lines.' Lie in the sun, lie in the shade, drink water, eat, take your medication, relax, take it easy."

"Doctor's orders?" I smiled.

He grinned. "My orders. But yeah, Carl said that too. He called me this morning to check up on you. He's going to call tomorrow. Now go get your swimsuit on, get your sunscreen and go outside up top, and get some fresh air and some sun."

"Uh, Dave, I don't have a swimsuit," I said, after a moment. "I didn't bring one."

After six months in that hospital, and a couple more moping around at home, I'd outgrown my old one piece. I hadn't bothered buying a replacement before I left. I'd figured I'd buy one down here if I wanted one. "I don't really feel up to going shopping either. I can just wear these."

"Feel up to walking down the dock to the truck?"

"Yeah, I could do that."

"The Marina shop sells swimsuits. We'll drive there."

Fifteen minutes later, the truck was parked outside the Marina shop, and I was inside with Dave, and wow, did they ever sell swimsuits. Except my purse was back in the apartment. Aunt Suzy must've missed it.

"Pick whatever you like, Jenny," Dave said. "We can sort it out later."

I wasn't letting him buy me a swimsuit. Except, the way he was smiling, I sort of felt bad not accepting.

"Thanks," I said, and I already had a one piece I liked in my hand.

"It's Florida," he said. "Buy a bikini as well." He grinned. "Heck, buy a couple."

I'd never worn a bikini, but it was Florida, and I kind of liked the thought of wearing a bikini.

"Okay," I said, putting the pone piece back, and I picked three bikinis, and I let him pay for them for me. I never did get back to that one piece.

"You never did get to look her over," he said, holding my hand as I stepped back down into the cockpit, and god, I was tired again, but not tired enough to not look, and I didn't mind him holding my hand at all. I kind of liked it.

"You're right," I said, then, curious. "Have you had a lot of girls on your boat?"

"You're the first," Dave said. "You get girls around here that move from boat to boat, live off the guys that live on them..."

"Boat bunnies?" I asked.

"Yeah, boat bunnies." He grinned. "Your aunt really covered the basics, huh?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm not a boat bunny." Already said that, but it didn't hurt to say it again.

"You keep saying that. Didn't think you were," Dave said as I followed him inside. "Let me show you over her down below so you know where everything is, and I don't have to tell you."

"Okay," I said, following him down the stairs.

"Okay, right across from your cabin, we've got my bathroom and back here's my cabin where I bunk down."

"It's beautiful," I said, looking around. Lovely wood paneling and timber ceilings, wooden beams, although I guessed maybe they were decorative, cabinets, a huge closet, and it went from one side of the boat to the other and the bed was king-size. "The bed's really comfortable too," I added, sitting on it and bouncing. "Just right. What's behind the wall, back there?"

"The engine room," he said. "I'll show you that later. You get to it through a hatch in the mezzanine."

"Cool," I said.

He grinned. "Okay, follow me up front. This is the other guest cabin, up in the bow." V-shaped cabin and yeah, I could tell it was the bow, with a nice big double bed. "Bathroom's through here," he said. "I store stuff in here mostly, which is why I didn't put you in here last night." He hesitated, not looking at me. "You can sleep in here tonight, if you like."

Tonight? Wow. I'd much rather stay here than in the pokey little bedroom at the back of Aunt Suzy and Uncle Wayne's oven, but I kind of liked the cabin I was in. It was right next to his.

"Okay," I said, sort of non-committal, not looking at him either, because how long had I known him? A couple of days? But I really wanted to stay. With him. Weird.

"Tired?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, just about sagging now.

"Go change into your swimsuit and come up on the flybridge. Relax up there in the shade. I'll get some juice and water, and it's just about time to take your pills."

"Yes, Doc Dave," I grinned, and he grinned back as her headed back up the stairs while I headed into my cabin, and yeah, I did think of it as "my" cabin, and pulled my new bikinis out of the shopping bag.

I'd never worn a bikini before. Which one?

In the end, I wore the smallest one. Believe me, it's easy to slip that bikini on when you're in your cabin, by yourself. It's a lot harder to walk out the door, knowing someone else is going to be looking at you. All of you, because bikinis really don't cover very much, and I'd never been one of those girls that enjoys putting herself out there, on display. Miss Conservative, that was me when it came to clothes.

And swimsuits.

Except, Dave. I wouldn't even have bought a bikini, except, Dave. I wanted him to see me. I wanted him interested in me. I wanted him to like me, and he'd looked at my boobs. I'd seen him looking, and they weren't that big or anything. Actually, honestly, they were small, but at least I had them, and in that little black bikini, you could see them. Exposed.

The side ties on the bikini bottoms left me even more exposed. There wasn't much of me you couldn't see, and butterflies were dancing inside me as I opened my cabin door and climbed up the stairs, onto the main deck. Up on the flybridge, he'd said. I stepped out into the cockpit, climbed the ladder, and there he was, in shorts and nothing else, his back to me, and his back, and the backs of his legs, they were covered in scars, lots of small ones, and a couple of big puckered ones.

"What happened?" I asked, looking at his back, my voice quavering.

"IED," he said, sort of matter of fact. "We were ambushed and I took a few."

"More than a few," I said, and I felt really small and inconsequential, so wrapped up in myself and feeling sorry for myself, and when I looked at him, there were far worse things than I'd gone through. I'd just been sick. His back looked like it'd been shredded. "What hit you?"

"Yeah, well, a few things," he said. "Shrapnel from the IED and I got winged by a couple of AK47 rounds and some mortar shrapnel, but that was later." He turned. "But hey, I walked away every time, and they didn't, so it was all good. How are you feeling now?" He was smiling now, turning, looking at me, and there were scars on his chest too. "I like the bikini. Better put some sunscreen on though, I've got some here somewhere."

"There," I said, seeing a bottle, stepping towards it, brushing against him, and that touch send hot little ripples rushing through me.

"Come and sit down here," he said, pointing me at one of the seats at the side. "It reclines, like this... lie back and put your feet up. Iced water?"

"Please." I said, squirting sunscreen on and rubbing it on, and it was really nice in the winter sun. Then, "thanks."

He sat in the seat next to the helm seat, put his feet up on the dash, popped the top of a Bud and sipped while I drank that iced water, thirstily.

"So tell me about Jenny," he said, and in the end, he coaxed me into talking about me, I did. Growing up in Minneapolis, my family, school, my brothers, Mom and Dad, my friends, everything except going into hospital, but in the end he coaxed that out of me as well, but when I looked at those scars, and he had them all over his shoulders and arms as well as his legs, well, my stay in hospital didn't seem quite so bad, not really.

"What about you?" I asked, and he started talking, and I listened, and before I knew it, it was midday and I was taking my medication and eating lunch down in the main cabin, and then I was back on the couch, still inside that main cabin, lying there looking at him sleepily as he covered me with a big fluffy duvet, and tucked a pillow under my head, and then I was asleep again.

"I'm staying on his boat tonight, Auntie Suzy," I said that evening, back behind the counter, and I'd finished eating. Dave was working his way through another plate that I'd gone and got for him, coz he was a bit hesitant about helping himself a second time.

"Don't want to look greedy," he'd said, eyeing the buffet. "Not when I'm not paying, anyhow."

"Now you're being silly," I'd said. "Here," and I'd taken his plate and filled it before I slipped back behind the counter to talk to Auntie Suzy.

"I wish we could look after you better, Jenny," she said, not looking at me. "I feel really bad leaving someone we barely know taking care of you." She hesitated. "It's just, you know, with the restaurant, and the hours we're open, and only Wayne and I." She looked at me. "There's just so much to do, Jenny, and there's just the two of us, and Wayne can't do it all himself, and I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses...."

"I know Mom didn't tell you how sick I'd been, Auntie. She thought I was over it, and so did I," I said, my hand on her arm. "It's okay, Dave and I, we had a really long talk today. He doesn't mind me staying, he's taking a year or two off before he decides what he's going to do. He says he likes the company." I knew he liked me, and yeah, I liked him, a lot, but I wasn't saying that to Auntie Suzy. She'd say he was too old for me, and say something about boat bunnies again, or something.

I giggled. "He knows I'm not a boat bunny, okay."

"He's a guy, Jenny," Auntie Suzy said, but now she was smiling. "And you're an attractive looking girl. Just keep that in mind, and I can see you like him, but don't let him talk you into anything."

"I won't," I said. "I'm really tired, Auntie. He said he'd bring me over tomorrow morning for breakfast. Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay, Jenny. You're family and you're supposed to be staying with us. I feel really bad about this, that we can't look after you like you need, and if it wasn't for him keeping an eye on you, I'd be really worried. Of course you can bring him here with you, anytime. As long as he's with you, he's family, and he eats free, and you can tell him that. It's the least we can do after everything he's done for you."

She turned and took both my hands in hers. "I'm sorry about yesterday, Jenny. Your Mom didn't tell us how sick you'd been. If I'd known..." Her voice trailed away.

"That's okay, Auntie," I said, hugging her. "Mom thought I was over it completely. Otherwise she wouldn't have let me come, and I thought I was over it too, and I wasn't thinking when I went off to meet him yesterday. It's not your fault."

"He wouldn't give me the bill from the clinic," she said.

"He said he had a really flexible medical plan," I said, kind of doubtfully, coz he had said that. I'd asked him again, but I sort of didn't think even a really flexible plan would cover some girl who walked into your life the day before. "And I know Dad's deductible, it's really high. His plan wouldn't cover yesterday at all, or not enough to make it worth claiming."

"I don't like him paying for you," she said.

"Neither do I," I said. "But he won't tell me what it cost. He said not to worry about it, he said he had my back." I squeezed Auntie Suzy. "Don't you worry about it, Auntie, it's not your problem, okay. I'll talk to him again."

"Okay," she said, hesitantly. "Okay, Jenny, you go if you're tired. Get a good night's sleep. You're looking so much better now." She smiled. "Better than when you arrived if you want to know. Whatever else he is, he's been good for you."

"He has been good for me," I said, smiling at him, coz he was looking at us. I was still smiling when we left the restaurant together, waving to Auntie Suzy and Uncle Wayne with one hand.

My other hand was in Dave's.

"Tired?" he asked, walking slowly up the dock with me, back towards 'No Tan Lines', and my hand had found his as soon as we were out of the truck, and we'd started walking.

"Yes," I said. "But I don't want to sleep, not yet. It's so beautiful tonight."

One of those clear warm nights, a gentle breeze, the night bright with stars, and it didn't feel like winter at all.