AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The flash of his white teeth was visible. “Oh, I’m not ignoring you now. Tried that. Didn’t work.”
He leaned over me, sliding his arm behind my back and pulling me up as he sat back on the floor. My sensitive nipples rubbed against his chest in this position. He felt impossibly bigger as I sat on his lap. I dug my heels into the rug and took over the pace, desperate for more. He let me, his face a mask of pain or pleasure or perhaps a bit of both. But when he felt me tightening around him, when my breath came in short pants, he palmed my face and kissed me, swallowing my shout and giving me his. Warmth flooded my core and both of us sat there trembling together, the kiss turning lazy and sweet.
My first tropical storm in Sunshine Key and I’d spent it completely distracted with the man I was falling for.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dec
Even Irene had to admit the boat club had taken on a new life with Kenna’s involvement. We stood in the parking lot, staring at the club house, repainted a bright white with new royal-blue awnings over each window. Signs were refreshed. Gravel and plants had been brought in to soften the landscape. The boats gleamed in the morning light, none looking worse for the wear after the storm blew through. Harley would be over shortly to address a few maintenance things and confirm the zero damages, but overall, I’d say we got off lucky this season.
“Almost too pretty to smoke next to it,” Irene wheezed, blowing smoke right in front of us where the breeze caught it and sent it back in my face. I had to tilt my head to the side to avoid the secondhand smoke inhalation.
“Ever thought about quitting?” I drawled.
Irene chortled in disgust. Or maybe she was just coughing up some phlegm that rattled her ribs on a daily basis. “I ain’t no quitter,” she growled, stabbing me with her elbow in my side before she tossed her cigarette to the pavement and ground it out. “Unlike some people.”
She marched off, bejeweled sandals slapping the ground just to annoy me. That had been the point of the parting shot too. Irene knew who I’d been and usually didn’t bring it up. It didn’t matter to her that I’d been a household name there for a few years. Except when she was trying to piss me off.
Harley’s truck pulled into the lot. I waited until he’d exited and came over to greet me. He was grinning already, having found something to be delighted about before most people had their first cup of coffee.
“Kenna texted me that I’m to check out the Boozer Cruiser first.” Harley took the hat off his head and scratched. “I already bought a ticket for it’s maiden voyage.”
I shook my head. As much as I wasn’t a fan of the booze cruise idea of Kenna’s, the guy who worked on all our boats should have gotten a free ticket. “You don’t need to buy a ticket, dumbass.”
Harley slung his arm around my shoulder and walked us to the dock. “Sure did. I think her idea is fire and I want to support it.” He grinned even wider at my groan. “Plus I knew it’d make you mad.”
I flung his arm off me and marched over to the boat we’d retrofitted for the booze cruise. “Why’s everyone trying to piss me off today?”
Harley climbed aboard and started to immediately check out the lines. “Probably because we all know you’re the one being a dumbass.”
“Excuse me?” Here I was, giving him work, and he was calling me a dumbass. Irene was one thing, she called everyone a dumbass or at least implied it, but having your best friend call you one and mean it? Ruthless.
Harley kept right on working. “Well, you’ve got a good woman interested in you and you’re fucking it up. That’s the definition of dumbass.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Please. I could say the same for you and Char.”
Harley’s head popped up. “That’s a low blow. You know we’d never work out. She wants babies and white picket fences. I get itchy if I haven’t traveled out of state at least once a month. I left the tour life but the tour life never left me.”
I swiped a hand through the air. That was an argument for another day. “Kenna and I are fine.”
Harley lost the grin in an instant. “Oh yeah? You told her who you are?”
I shook my head and got busy scanning the exterior of the boat for any scratches from rubbing against the dock during the storm. “No, but things are fine between us as of last night.”
“See? Dumbass.” Harley practically growled, forgetting all about why he was even here. “You think fucking makes everything fine. Just a typical male. You know, you’re giving guys a bad rap, which I don’t appreciate.”
Harley had never been one to hold his tongue when it came to his opinion of me. He’d stood by me after everything went to hell, and he’d even moved his life to be here with me in Sunshine Key, but he had a barbed tongue. And I was getting sick of it.
“Kenna is fragile. You didn’t witness her breakdowns the first weeks she was here. The woman was hanging by a thread over the betrayal. Her ex was a piece of work, the kind who takes your trust and damages it forever. I can’t tell her about my past. Not when telling her will ruin everything between us.” I threw a life preserver back in the bottom of the bench and shoved the seat cushion down. “Besides, she’s probably not even staying here long term. Next summer she’ll be back in California, mark my words.”
Harley shook his head. “Only because she’ll feel like you lied to her. I’d leave your ass too if you didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth. Thing is, Kenna’s solid enough to keep your secret. You just don’t trust her.”
“I wish you’d leave my ass,” I grumbled, irritated enough to give voice to the lie while also avoiding the subject of trusting Kenna. I trusted her as much as I trusted anyone these days. Which wasn’t much.
Harley huffed out a laugh. “Fuck you.”
We continued to work side by side, muttering about little things that needed fixing before the tourist season started in earnest next week. Neither of us mentioned Kenna again, but I could feel the unspoken judgement. He didn’t know all the details about her ex. Had no idea that he’d been some kind of “big man on campus,” luring Kenna in and then changing who she was. If I told her who I really was, she’d run away, thinking I was a carbon copy of her ex. Better to just enjoy the time we had and then part ways next summer, no hard feelings.
