No matter business, personal, or pleasure, Sugar Hartwell led a very structured life. She believed that every moment and minute of the day should be used wisely, so she created and abided effective schedules that maximized her time. Even on vacations such as this one, there was a schedule to be followed. Friday kicked off the four-day gettogether with a barbeque pool party, which was interrupted with a near-drowning incident. Saturday was a day of beach picnics, sunbathing, napping underneath the warm sun, and splashing around in the turquoise waters then a girls’ night out at a club and a boys’ night out at a sportsbar but was ruined by a rescue mission (among other things). Sunday was supposed to be a calm and relaxing day exploring downtown Havenport, but the schedule was once again disrupted.

This time it was of Miles Thibodeau’s doing, which prompted everyone to pile in their respective cars to drive two and a half hours south of Havenport. The decision to make this off-script adventure was a unanimous agreement conducted over pints of frothy amber beer and buffalo wings. A decision that no one told the female members of the group until about an hour before departure. Sugar wasn’t pleased by the surprise change. However, she had no choice but go along with it all. She tried to pry information out of the men, but they were quite tight-lipped. She thought she could rely on her dear little brother. She was wrong. Very, very, very wrong. The emperor of gossip, Mallory Vincent Hartwell, would not utter a single detail and had the nerve to declare to her that he was a changed man.

Sugar rolled her eyes hard at the fresh memory, pursing her lips together and crossing her arms around over her chest.

Currently, she sat in the front passenger seat of Miles’ car. They hadn’t spoken much since last night. Since, he fucked her against the wall of a stranger’s bedroom then dropped to his knees to greedily bury his tongue deep into the folds of her pussy to lick her clean after he filled her up with his cum.

Such a gentleman.

A quiet gentleman who wouldn’t cough up any intel about what he had up his sleeve.

“Why won’t you tell me where we’re going?”

“If I told you then it wouldn’t be much of a surprise when we get there,” Miles returned.

Sugar plastered a sweet smile, batting her eyelashes. “Mind telling me where exactly is there?”

He shifted his attention away from the stretch of highway ahead, a grin spreading across his lips. “I’d much prefer to show you where there is like how a surprise is supposed to go.”

“I don’t like surprises very much.”

“Hate to break it to you, darlin’, but I’m gonna shower and pamper you with surprises. That’s how I operate. It’s how I handle business,” he said.

Sugar bit her bottom lip, her eyelids fluttering shut momentarily while she suffered from a wave of chills at his words. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that.”

“And I wish you’d realize that I’m not gonna stop ‘cause I ain’t spewin’ lies dressed promises. My words are scheduled guarantees,” he said. “You’d best accept that, sweetheart. We ain’t pretendin’ anymore. So, that means I ain’t holdin’ back. The gloves are off.”

“What exactly are you trying to prove, Miles?”

His gray eyes nailed her to the spot. “That I’m worthy enough to be your husband.”

Well, there it was. Another surprise she hadn’t seen coming. The words hung in the air like a heavy fog. He had revealed to her his true intentions. Her warm brown eyes grew while her mouth sucked in a gasp before hiccupping a momentary shocked laugh.

He wanted to marry her? Where in the hell did that come from? Her brain scrambled through an archive of memories, attempting to pinpoint and isolate breadcrumbs he left behind to lead her to this revelation. Was she that fucking blind not to notice it? This man was doing everything in his power to show his worthiness to her and yet there was this ingrained belief within her that she wasn’t worth much at all.

Miles Thibodeau was pure gold. Sugar Hartwell was fool’s gold. She didn’t deserve him, but she decided to savor what they had before he finally came to realize what she knew all along. She wouldn’t marry him. She couldn’t marry him. She couldn’t accept the responsibility of loving him as his wife when she couldn’t even love herself.

She cut her attention away from him, nervously shifting her focus to her phone. Needing to change the subject, she cleared her throat and asked, “So, are we almost there?”

“Almost.”

He reached over to her side of the car to open the glove compartment, plopping a green blindfold onto her lap.

Sugar’s eyebrows shot upward. “Who’s that for?”

“Well, it does match my ensemble, but blindfolds and drivin’ probably ain’t a good mix,” he said, winking at her. “So, I suppose, I’ll just have to live through you.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course, darlin’.” Miles smirked. “You can put it on or I can pull off to the side of the road and help you put it on.”

Sugar reluctantly put it on.

“Your cooperation is much appreciated,” he replied in slight amusement.

Sugar sat quietly as she felt the car make stops and turns. When the car halted once more, she heard a humming of a window being rolled down and Miles speaking to a man.

“How’s it goin’, Cole,” Miles greeted.

Sugar could hear the grin in his voice.

“Long time no see, Chef,” Cole chuckled. “When Durant told me that you were coming down, I thought he was joking. I thought you forgot about us down here.”

“Naw,” Miles assured, placing his hand on her thigh. “I’ve been busy is all.”

Cole teased, “If that gorgeous passenger in your car has anything to do with your busy life then you’ve got a mighty good excuse. Est-ce qu'elle a un nom ou tu vas me faire deviner? Est-elle ta petite amie?“

Her eyebrows scrunched together at the sudden addition of French words.

Miles chuckled for a moment. “Sugar. C’est ma futur femme. Elle ne le sait pas encore.”

Yet another surprise Sugar had been unprepared for.

Goosebumps popped up on her skin like wildfire at the smooth delivery of Miles’ reply. The foreign words rolled off his tongue and melted into the air around her, spiking up her temperature. Though she knew that Creole and Cajun blood flowed through his veins, she had never considered that he spoke Louisiana French. Cole seemed to be pleased by whatever answer Miles gave him and laughed heartily in reply.

They exchanged a few more words before she heard commotion of a security gate opening. After the car eased into the gate, they drove along for a few more moments before Miles finally pulled into a parking space and turned the ignition off. She heard him get out the car. Then her door opened, and Chef helped her out.

“Where is everyone else,” she asked.

“They’ll be a few minutes late. Sullivan said they got held up by a train,” Miles answered as he held her hand, leading her towards whatever surprise awaited her. As she walked along slowly, she heard water swooshing nearby, but she couldn’t figure out where they were.

“Riiiiight here,” he said as he eased her to a stop, moving behind her.

He brushed his lips against her earlobe. “You ready for your surprise, sweetheart?”

The buildup to this moment had her aching to know what the secret surprise was he guarded so closely until now. Her heart throbbed fast in her ribcage and a potent shot of excitement pumped into her bloodstream like a drug.

“Yes,” she breathed.

He slipped off the blindfold in one fluid motion and Sugar winced at the summer sun’s brightness, blinking her eyes rapidly as her eyesight adjusted. Once she had regained her proper vision, she clasped her hands to her mouth and gasped, “Oh, my god, Miles!”

They were at a marina with a fine display of gorgeous private yachts. Directly in front of them was a crisp white 70’ yacht with black-tinted windows and caramel-hued wooden fixings. In elegant cursive was its name, Arcadia.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she gushed.

“Wait until you see the inside,” Miles assured, nodding his head the boat. He helped her onto the yacht’s aft deck before he slipped open the black-tinted glass door leading her inside.

The interior took her breath away as sunlight streamed into the wraparound windshield into the salon, dinette, and kitchen galley, designed in flawless white, light gray, and silver color schemes. There was a set of stairs leading up to the enclosed bridge and a set of stairs leading down into the belowdecks where two fully furnished bedrooms with their own private bathrooms were waiting.

As they stood on the foredeck, she admired how spacious it was and determined it was a perfect spot for dozing off underneath the sun. Miles stood a few feet behind her, observing her carefully.

“I don’t know what to say,” Sugar said, shaking her head slowly as she glanced all around her with eyes wide with awe and wonder. “I’m speechless.”

She went back to him, raising up on her tiptoes to give him a tender peck on the lips. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. You beamin’ and glowin’ is thanks enough,” he said as he wrapped his tattooed arms around her waist, pulling her close her. “I love seein’ you happy. It’s intoxicatin’. So, I gotta keep you happy to get my fix.”

Sugar teased, “So, you’re a junkie looking for another fix, huh?”

“Mm hm, so keep smilin’ at me like that,” he returned before he dipped his head down to claim her smiling lips. She parted her lips to moan and he greedily took the opportunity to glide his tongue into her mouth slyly, tasting her. His hands slid down her shapely hips and to her plump ass, palming her cheeks possessively.

She giggled against his mouth, trying to pry one of his hands from her ass. “Everyone will be here any minute,” she reminded, turning her head to officially break the kiss. Instead, he kissed along the curve of her cheek and towards her neck.

“That’d be true if I hadn’t given them the wrong address,” he admitted as he held onto her ass, holding her closer to him as he leaned down further to suckle a sensitive spot on her neck just below her ear. Her jaw dropped open and her eyes rolled into her the back of her head as he suckled and nibbled rhythmically. She should be hitting him for doing such a terrible thing, but she was in a trance.

“Why would you…do such a…thing,” she breathed out.

“I wanted you to myself for a little longer,” Miles said as he planted a tender kiss on the sensitive spot he used against her as a weapon.

“Where are they?”

“At a marina fifteen minutes away.”

Sugar pulled her head back to get a good look at him, her face attempted to look stern but she couldn’t hold it for long. “That was plain dirty, Miles, and you know it.”

“What can I say, honey? I’m a dirty old dog,” Miles returned with a devilish smirk. “Forgive me, s’il vous plaît?”

Sugar rolled her eyes, fighting back a smile. “You think throwing around French words will help your case?”

“I think so,” he trailed off as he bent his head to whisper in her ear. “Je ferai n’importe quoi pour ton pardon. Je vais mendier à genoux. Suivez toutes vos commandes comme un chien.”

She hung on his every word, eating it up like a sweet confection.

“How’s that, honey?”

“I think,” she trailed off as she reached around his waist, slipping her fingers into his backpocket, “you need to work on your apology more.”

She plucked out his cell and handed it to him. “Now, give my family the right address," before she added with a playful wink, ”S'il te plaît et merci.“

Pulling away from him, she sauntered inside. The phone conversation lasted no more than a minute or so and as Sugar explored the yacht’s salon, Miles stalked inside and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Miles,” she shrieked. “What are you doing?”

He made his way to the stairs that lead to the below deck. “You told me to work on my apology and I’ve only got fifteen minutes to show you my improvements since the previous draft.”

Sugar laughed brightly at his tenacity. He went into a bedroom located at yacht’s bow. Within a blur of moments, Sugar was atop of Miles, capturing his lips with a desperate fervor and twirling her soft pink tongue in his mouth hungrily. His left hand gripped her ass like he owned it and gave it a nice hard thwack that made her moan deeply against his lips. His other hand threaded through her tresses. There was no sex included to sate the passion they felt for each other. With a sense of urgency an imposing force that lingered around them, fooling around like unsupervised teenagers was just what they needed.

Then she felt it. A burst of nausea clenched her stomach.

She clamped her hand over her mouth and scurried off him—off the bed—and into the bathroom, dropping her knees as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Miles had been hot on her heels, holding her hair back for her as she suffered. She heaved and coughed, trying to breath through the terrible wave of illness that consumed her. She threw up two more times before her sickness finally dissipated.

“I had no idea you were prone to sea sickness, darlin’,” Miles said. 

“I’m not,” she panted, shaking her head.

She knew exactly what it was.

She had suffered through it enough times over the years to know.

She had been on plenty of cruises before, a few ferry boats and river taxis. Miles helped her to her feet and she sluggishly walked over to the sink, turning it on to wash the awful taste out of her mouth. After she finished, she twisted off the faucet.

“I think I know what it is though,” she admitted softly, sniffling. The dots hadn’t quite clicked until now. She had missed her period, but she had chalked it up to stress. When she felt the cramps and aches over the last few weeks, she assumed it was just her period coming in late.

She turned around to face him as she announced it. “I might be pregnant.”

Miles’ eyes twinkled with excitement like he had been expecting this all along. “I suppose this was bound to happen.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen,” Sugar corrected. “I was told I couldn’t have any more children, Miles. Because of that, I didn’t mind being reckless with the ‘no condom’ thing because I assumed nothing would come of it.”

“This is a blessing, honey,” he said. “This ain’t gonna be like the other times.”

Sugar shook her head, casting her teary eyes downward. “Forgive me for not being optimistic about this, Miles. Every single one of my pregnancies ended in a miscarriage or a stillbirth. There’s something wrong with my body.”

Miles closed in on her, cupping her cheeks. “There’s nothing wrong with your body, Sugar. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect, ya hear? You’re fuckin’ perfect. This baby, our baby’s gonna be perfect too,” he said.

She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back her tears. “This is too much, Miles. This is going too fast. I was just getting used to ‘you and me’. Now, we’re throwing around the word ‘our’. I need some space. I need some air.”

Sugar raced out of the bedroom, trotted up the stairs, into the salon and through the glass doors leading onto the aft deck. Before she could even plop herself down onto a couch to clear her head and form a coherent thought, her clan had finally arrived.

“Now, this is what I’m talkin’ about,” Mallory exclaimed with a big grin. “We ‘bout to get lit on a badass yacht!”

“Lory, if you destroy anything, you deserve to get sued, and we won’t take on your case,” Rochelle assured with a sharp roll of her eyes.

“Hey, Shug,” Odette greeted happily with a wave.

Sugar smiled weakly, trying to put on a strong front. “Hey, guys. I’m glad you finally made it.”

Everyone filed onto the aft deck with bags and coolers, making their way into the dinette and salon.

“I can’t believe your boyfriend has such a tight hookup, Sugar,” Taffy complimented, nodding her head in approval as she looked around. “A custom-built seventy-foot yacht by Gringatas. Very nice.”

Sugar arched an eyebrow at Taffy, who giggled bashfully. “I’m sorry. I’m a bit of a yacht buff. I’ve been on quite a few over the years.”

Mallory draped his arm over Taffy’s shoulder. “My yacht will be something like this with a few modifications, of course.”

A grouchy Helena moved past them. “I doubt you’ll have a yacht at all. Aim a little bit lower like a pedalboat.”

Sugar and Sully were the last ones on aft deck.

“What’s wrong, Shug?”

Sugar opened her mouth to speak, but Sully then added, “Don’t lie to me either.”

She made her way to her twin brother and he welcomed her with open arms. “What’s going on with you, sugarbear?”

She nuzzled her cheek against his chest. “There’s probably gonna be a little something running around.”

“Forreal?”

She nodded her head slowly.

“You cool with that?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I truly don’t know.”

“Does he know?”

“Mm hm,” she hummed.

“Do I need to beat his ass,” he paused for a moment, “or at least, try to. He looks like he can put up a good fight.”

“No,” she voiced, “I don’t think that’s necessary. I like him…a lot. More than a lot, actually.”

Sully arched an eyebrow. “But do you like him enough to have a bundle of joy with him?”

Before she could even answer that question, she heard Miles’ voice. “We’re ‘bout to head out in a few minutes. Come make ya’ll selves comfortable in the salon,” he encouraged.

“Sounds like a plan,” Sully said as he and his twin sister broke apart from their hug. “You in, Shug?”

She shook her head, tucking some hair behind an ear. “I think I’ll just stay out here. I need the fresh air.”

Sully offered, “You need company?”

“I think I’ve got enough company,” Sugar said as she smoothed her hand across her flat belly. With an acknowledging nod, Sullivan bypassed Miles to enter the yacht’s interior space. The two men exchanged assessing looks in those moments.

Miles slid the glass door shut and sauntered to her. “Come join me up in the bridge. I’m in need of a second-in-command.”

“Sounds very tempting, but I think I’ll pass,” she declined, stepping backwards to keep the space between them. “I like it out here. It’s a nice place to sit down and think about the fact that I’ve got a tiny living thing inside of me the size of a poppy seed or something. I need to think about what am I going to do if I am actually carry to term or if this will end up like the other times. Then I need to think about you and me.”  

“Us,” he corrected her. “You want to think about us.”

“Fine,” she said. “Yes, us. Satisfied?”

The glass door slid open and Mallory questioned, “Aye, Chef, when we gonna get this show on the road?”

Thank you, Mallory, Sugar thought in relief.

“He was just about to get to that,” Sugar said, shooting her brother a warm smile. “Ain’t that right, Miles?”

“I’ll get to it when I’m ready,” Miles tossed over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving Sugar. Pleased with his sister’s tattooed boyfriend’s answer, Mallory retreated, sliding the glass door shut behind him. Unable to escape him any longer, Sugar stood her ground as Miles came to her. She tilted her chin up, holding his intense gaze.

“This is far from finished,” he warned her. “Ya hear me?”

“Crystal clear, Captain Thibodeau,” Sugar assured with a wink and a sailor salute.

He didn’t take her sarcasm very well. His stormy gray eyes darkened. He dipped his head and uttered huskily, “Tu ne peux pas courir de moi. Même si je dois t'attacher.”

Miles sealed his promise with a searing kiss upon her lips and she knew he wanted it to be burned into her memories like the other ones he had bestowed upon her.

“What did you say to me,” she asked breathlessly.

Instead, he replied, “I better not catch you alone on this boat, Sugar.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No, it’s a scheduled appointment,” he clarified boldly before he left her on the aft deck.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

The yacht stationed itself about a mile from the mainland. It was a beautiful sunny day without a single puffy white cloud in the sky and everyone enjoyed it in their own way. Mallory was greasing up Taffy with tanning oil on the foredeck. Katrina and Sully was on the foredeck as well, avoiding the sickening flirting between the two younger folk by having Katrina bury her nose in a beach read while Sully chilled beside his wife, listening to his music with his earbuds. Helena tried to nap on a couch in the salon, nursing a hangover from last night with white wine and aspirin. Reid, Odette, and Tate were in the kitchen galley, making lunch for everyone, laughing and purposely making lots of noise as Helena’s punishment from last night’s foolery.

Victor, Rochelle, and Sugar occupied the aft deck. Victor was lounged across cushioned aft deck furniture with a pair of sunglasses on his face. Rochelle and Sugar sat at the edge of the deck, their feet dangling over the edge.

Rochelle nudged her older sister playfully with her shoulder. “Things must be getting serious for you and Mister Thibodeau.”

“What makes you think that?”

Rochelle pursed her lips and gestured all around them. “Asking his loaded godfather to let him borrow his luxury yacht is a pretty big deal. You don’t do that for just anyone. He has some strong feelings for you, girl. Maybe even the,” Rochelle then spoke a singsong tone, “L-word.”

Sugar lifted an eyebrow, shooting her sister a teasing smile. “Is it the L-word? Lobster? Lesbian? Labrador? Help me out.”

“That smart mouth is going to get you in trouble,” Rochelle laughed, swatting Sugar’s shoulder. “You know what L-word I mean.”

“I think it’s all in your imagination,” Sugar said, wanting to change the subject as she stared out into the breathtaking turquoise ocean, loving how the sunlight sparkled upon the glistening waves.

“I’m not imagining things. You’re just being delusional,” Rochelle said. “You can just see it in his eyes. He’s got it bad for you. The way he looks at you. It’s so intense. Woo wee! Girl, if I wasn’t married—”

Victor spoke up from where he was, “Hey, hey, hey. Stop all that ‘if’ mess. Your drop dead handsome husband is right here. You’re hurting my ego.”

The two sisters laughed at Victor’s interjection.

“I think Victor wants you to stroke his ego, Roc,” Sugar teased. “Isn’t that right, Victor?”

“Or she can just come sit on my ego too. I’m not too picky,” Victor returned, his face glowing with a grin and deep dimples as he patted on his lap. Rochelle rolled her eyes hard as she stood up from the deck’s edge and sat on her husband’s lap, giving him a tender kiss.

Rochelle pulled back with a smile. “Is that better, Big Daddy Vic?”

“Big Daddy Vic,” Sugar mouthed to herself, wrinkling her nose at Rochelle’s nickname for her husband while trying her absolute hardest not to laugh. Though she found the exchange between her younger sister and her brother-in-law humorous, she couldn’t help but admire the way they loved on each other. In all honesty, she was jealous of all her siblings in one way or another.

Rochelle and Victor were life partners and law partners, who shared a common vision and supported each other in every aspect of their lives. Odette and Tate had a youth, bubbly love where laughter and smiles were a common occurrence. Sully and Katrina had a love that was strong and mature. The two were stubborn as hell, but Katrina softened Sully’s rough edges and grounded him. Sugar even admired Mallory because you could always count on Mallory to be bold enough to put himself out there always. He was never afraid to try new things.

Then there was her.

Sugar ran her fingers through her hair and exhaled a sigh. “What in the hell am I going to do?”

Just then, the black-tinted glass door swished open and she glanced over her shoulder at the sound. Her heartbeat thumped faster as she realized who it was. She jerked her attention back to the scenery sprawled before her.

“Let’s give these two some privacy,” Rochelle said, thinking she was doing Sugar a favor when in fact she was doing the exact opposite. Sugar stood up as usual to trail behind her sister, but Rochelle blew her a kiss and slid the glass door shut. Sugar tried to open it, but the door won’t budge at all.

“Roc, open the door,” Sugar hissed as she pulled at the door, but it paid no avail.

She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the glass’s coolness.

It was difficult to run away on a yacht floating in the ocean.

She had to face this.

She swirled on her heels to face him, eying him carefully as he stood a few feet away from her.

“Alright,” she exhaled, crossing her arms over her chest. “Miles, let’s talk.”