Page 46 of The Sailor

He liked how she could be shy one moment, and describing just what she wanted to do to him the next. The dichotomy was a turn-on. Made him feel as if he, and only he, got to know the real Marit.

When they reached the house, Chad and Britt were back from the store. They were unloading groceries, and while Zach normally would’ve happily stayed to chat, he really did want to get Marit back to his place so he could feed her. He didn’t like knowing she was hungry. The donut from Ruckus Donuts was quite a while ago, and she’d burned a lot of calories trying to cross the crates in the water.

“It’s so good to see you again,” Britt told her. “I’m sorry we didn’t have more time to chat the other night.”

“Congrats again on your engagement and pregnancy,” Marit said.

“Thanks! I’d love to get together sometime. I want to talk about lobstering. I know so little about it, since I’m from the South. Are you going to the Lobster Festival?”

“We went today,” Marit said.

“Oh, but you have to go on Saturday. Or maybe Sunday. Chad says those are the best days.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ll have to work. At least on Saturday. Someone has to catch all those lobsters everyone is eating,” Marit said with a grin.

Of course, Marit and the Wave Rider weren’t catching all the lobsters served throughout the event. It was impossible for any one boat to provide the number of lobsters consumed at the festival. But they all knew what she meant. Lobstering was a year-round job, but even more important in the summer months, when the weather was better and there was a greater demand from tourists.

“Kash would love for you to be there when he runs the crate race,” his mom added. Her head was inside a cabinet as she worked to put away the groceries Chad and Britt had brought home.

Zach opened his mouth to scold everyone for pressuring Marit. If she had to work, she had to work. Coming from military backgrounds, everyone knew how that went.

But Marit spoke for herself first.

“I’ll talk to Eliot. I might not be able to get the whole day off, but maybe we can work our schedule around the crate race. I’d love to see what it’s all about, and of course, support Kash.”

“Awesome. I have your number—I hope you don’t mind, I got it from Chad, who got it from Zach. I’ll text you, and maybe we can meet up before or after.”

“I’d like that,” she told Britt with a smile.

“Me too. There’s a lot of testosterone around here. I kidded with Chad once that this place should be called Alpha Cove instead of Lobster Cove.”

Marit chuckled. “I can see why.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Zach’s mom asked with a small pout. But she ruined it by laughing right after. “I begged their dad to give me a girl, but his sperm insisted on producing boys.”

“Mom!” Chad complained, at the same time Zach stuck his fingers in his ears and hummed.

Both Britt and Marit laughed along with Evelyn.

“Alphas indeed. They can’t even talk about babies,” his mom said, smirking.

“It’s not babies we have an issue with,” Chad protested. “It’s you talking about sex with Dad. Yuck!”

The mood in the house was jovial. Zach looked over at Marit, and saw she was smiling and relaxed. He loved that for her. Especially compared to their first visit to the house, when she’d been so stressed after meeting his brothers.

“We need to get going. I need to work on what I want to serve on Saturday at The Lobster Buoy, and Marit said she’d be my taste tester,” Zach announced.

“Why can’t we be your taste testers?” Chad complained.

“You can. Saturday. Lobster pot pie. Ten ninety-nine for a cupcake-size serving,” Zach returned.

“Wow, that’s steep. Good for you!” Chad said, giving Zach a high five.

Getting praise from his family never got old. “Thanks. And now we’re really heading out. Say bye to Linc for us.”

“Where is he?” Evelyn asked.

“He walked Kash back to his place. Not sure what kind of mood he’ll be in when he gets back though. Harper was calling for her son, so I’m sure they probably had words. We all know they’ve never gotten along.”