Salt air and sunlight catch her bare shoulders as she leans against the rail, the open water stretching endlessly behind her. Small-framed and unhurried, she owns every inch of that deck with the casual confidence of someone who answers to no one out here.

The boat rocks gently beneath her, her fitted shorts riding low, nothing above the waist but warm afternoon light tracing her petite curves. She tilts her chin toward the horizon like she's daring it to look back.

This is her jurisdiction — no dock, no rules, just wind-tangled hair and the particular freedom that only comes when land disappears completely from view.