She wasn’t like Felicity or Carol or Marcus. There wasn’t an abundance of self-confidence she could pull out lickety-split and wear like a suit of armor. However, one thing she knew about herself that was damn near bulletproof at the moment?

Impulse decisions.

Sloane stood, stripped off her cover-up, and walked past everyone to the edge of the boat. She gave her audience a sweeping look.

Marcus and Felicity were smiling. Carol looked annoyed. Ruby was looking at Carol for what her emotional response should be.

Brady was taking off his shirt, forest-green eyes firmly on her.

They might not have known each other well, but, in that moment, Sloane knew exactly what the bartender was about to do.

She laughed as she jumped out into the dark blue water. Before she could surface, she heard Brady make a splash right behind her.

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

“You could belly dance, and I could swing flaming swords around you?”

Sloane ran a hand over her slicked-back hair and let Brady know straight up that there weren’t going to be any flaming swords anywhere near her at the pageant. Or just in life in general.

“How about you belly dance, and I just pull up a chair and watch with the crowd?”

Brady laughed into the water. “I don’t know about that, sweet cakes.”

Since Sloane had jumped into the water, the group had somewhat gone on to do their own things. Marcus had beached the boat and then spent time lounging in the shallow water with Felicity. Carol and Ruby had taken their lounging to the small strip of sand that curved against Floater’s Cove. They’d also taken several selfies before starting a natural tanning session on their matching designer towels. Sloane and Brady, on the other hand, had opted to switch between standing in and treading water out of earshot of the group while finally addressing the Arbor Bay–size elephant in their shared room.

The Sailors and Mermaids Pageant…and the much-dreaded talent portion.

It was better than being grumpy at a game of Two Truths and a Lie. Sloane had decided to let that bad feeling dissolve into the water, since they had bigger fish to fry.

“We should keep it nautical-themed,” Sloane tried. “Something we can do wearing mermaid and sailor costumes. Really on-the-nose stuff that’s all flashy so they don’t notice right away that we have no talent.”

“Hey, I know you aren’t lumping me in with you right there.” Brady brought his hand to his chest, causing a ripple across the surface of the water. “Because I have talent.”

Sloane gave him a questioning look. One she knew was filled with nothing but sarcasm.

“Oh, really? Tell me, then. What, Mr. Knox, are your talents?”