Full Steam Ahead (Sea Swept #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

used to be wealthy, but these days my branch of the family only pretends to be. My parents are in debt pretty bad, holding on to their monied veneer by the grace of credit cards and a third mortgage. My computer tablet was a birthday gift from Hunter last spring, and I haven’t bought a new outfit in months.
    I watch Hunter laugh with Kelsey, waiting for my heart to ache, waiting for that dead feeling like I’m rotting from the inside to overtake me; but oddly the feeling doesn’t come. Hunter looks happy. He’s a good guy; he deserves to be happy. Even if it’s with someone else.  
    Hold on, did I really just think that?  
    It doesn’t matter. Hunter and I are over, and there’s no way to fix it. I have to focus on the here and now. Like how my family is going to be ruined the old-fashioned way—gossip, scandal, bankruptcy—because my expected engagement went up in smoke. And we’ll sink even lower if I can’t figure out how to handle the emails I keep getting.  
    Wait—there’s the nausea. It surges up at the thought of my mom’s disappointment, the vicious, quiet anger she lets loose after the housekeeper leaves and it’s only her and my dad and me. I can already hear the despair in their voices when I tell them that the engagement is off, can already see the panic in their eyes when they find out that I can’t save them, can’t even save myself.
    I swallow hard and beeline for the bathroom.
    “Georgia!” Out on the balcony, Yasmin waves at me. “Get out here!”
    I paste on a smile. “Be there in a sec,” I call, and keep going.
    Unfortunately, I don’t feel much better once I’m inside the bathroom. I don’t throw up, but it’s close; I’m already feeling the tequila on my almost-empty stomach. I managed to eat a few grapes and a wheat roll at the dinner buffet, but I had to beg off Yasmin’s attempt to shove a pile of lasagna onto my plate by claiming I was seasick.
    Hunter’s bag of toiletries sits on the counter, and next to it where my pink polka-dotted satchel should be is another bag of guy stuff: shaving cream, hair gel. They belong to Hunter’s roommate Andy. I stare miserably at the sink, thinking about how I was supposed to be staying here, my future at Hunter’s side bright and set.
    My mother warned me not to tell Hunter our family secret until we had exchanged vows, but that didn’t feel right to me. Besides, my parents don’t know that I’m being blackmailed about it. I figured Hunter deserved to know the truth before he tied his life to mine, and I can’t blame him for breaking things off after I confessed. I was desperately hoping he would stand by me, but he did the only thing that made sense—his family can’t afford scandal any more than mine. Maybe less.  
    I wish I had that tequila bottle with me right now, but it’s probably better that I don’t. With my stomach so close to empty, I can’t drink too much before getting drunk, and I can’t risk getting sloppy. I might say something off. Something true. Shutting my eyes, I brace my hands against the cold sink.  
    Before the ship left the harbor this afternoon, I sent off a reply email to my blackmailer. We lose satellite coverage out at sea, and I can’t afford international roaming or the ship’s wi-fi fee. I knew if I didn’t reply, he’d get angry, so I’d typed out a quick:  
    January 15. You’ll get your money.  
    I wasn’t brave enough to ask him for more time, even though the fifteenth is going to be tight. I have no idea what I’ll do. Open another line of credit? Get another job? Sell a kidney?  
    God, I need another drink.
    When I emerge from the bathroom the sun has finished falling into the sea, and the group is chowing down on tacos that Andy ordered from room service. The platter is already half-eaten, so I claim I’ve already had one. My stomach growls, but I don’t know if I can keep down a greasy taco. I’ve already thrown up once today, and I can only use the seasick excuse