Page 84 of The Pilot

Mom: Love you.

Kash: Love you too.

“That Kash?” Linc asked, as he headed for The Lobster Buoy.

“Yeah. He seems to be doing okay. But . . . something seems off.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. It’s . . . just a feeling, I guess.”

“You want to call him?”

Harper shook her head. “No, I’m sure he’s busy. I can’t put my finger on what’s different though.”

“What can I do?” Linc asked, sounding concerned.

Harper took a deep breath and did her best to relax. Kash was fine. He was texting, so she was simply being a worrywart. “You mentioned something about lots of orgasms,” she teased.

“So I did,” Linc replied, smiling over at her. But then he sobered. “But if you’re worried about Kash, you won’t be able to relax. So if at any time you need to take a break and call or text him, don’t hesitate, okay? And if there’s anything, anything at all I can do to make you feel better, just say the word.”

“You’re too good to me. To us,” Harper told him.

“No such thing,” Linc said firmly. “I worry about Kash too. He’s growing up before our eyes. I swear from August to now he’s filled out and has grown at least two inches. His jeans are too short now. It’s crazy. By this time next year, we’re going to have to worry about all the girlfriends he has instead of bullies.”

“I don’t know about that,” Harper said with a little laugh. “Remember what his room looks like? With all those posters of nebulas? He’s always going to be too smart for his own good. Probably too smart to put up with girly crap.”

“True. And there’s no rush. He’s got time to win the Nobel Prize for science before he settles down with a nice girl . . . or boy. Hell, don’t care which. Just want the kid to be happy.”

The anxiety she’d felt about something she couldn’t put her finger on faded away. Her son was okay. He’d tell her if something was wrong. She was so happy that Linc loved her son just as much as she did. “Are we there yet?”

“Where? The Lobster Buoy? Almost. Why?”

“Because I want to show you how much I appreciate you. How much your concern for Kash means to me. You ever had a blow job while driving?”

Linc almost choked. His cheeks flushed and his fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “No. And I don’t want to start now. Because if I crashed, you could get hurt. Hang on for another fifteen minutes, Harp. When we get home, and are carefully parked, you can suck me off. In fact, now I can’t think of anything else.”

Looking at his crotch, Harper could see that he was, indeed, hard, his pants tented in his lap. She gave him a satisfied smile, loving that she could affect him as much as he did her. If he could tease about multiple orgasms, she could tease about blow jobs in the car. Licking her lips, she said, “All right, Linc.”

“Fucking hell,” he muttered, shifting in his seat. “Now I have to get out of the car with a damn erection. Hopefully no one notices.”

Harper wasn’t sure how someone couldn’t notice the huge bulge in his pants, but she kept her mouth shut. She hadn’t had this much fun with sex in . . . well . . . ever. The teasing, the anticipation, the laughter. She loved it. Loved Linc.

Thoughts of her son pushed to the back of her mind, Harper concentrated on the here and now. The rest of the afternoon and evening were going to be full of erotic fun with the man she couldn’t get enough of. She couldn’t wait.

Kash shivered. He was cold. But not as cold as he would be if he hadn’t been able to break into the house he and Ginger were currently hunkered down in. He felt bad that he’d had to bust out a window, but he vowed to do whatever was necessary in order to pay for it once he got back home.

Inside, he’d found blankets in a box in a closet and some canned vegetables. He was disappointed that there hadn’t been more food, but he’d certainly been hungrier than he was right this moment. All in all, this experience sucked, but it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. He kept that thought in the back of his mind at all times.

Remembering what Marit had been through, he rationalized that at least he wasn’t sharing the island with someone who wanted to kill him. And even though he’d technically been kidnapped, like Britt and Ms. Evelyn, it wasn’t with the purpose of taking out his entire family.

No, Donny was an asshole. And he’d done something that was stupid and illegal, but he hadn’t tried to kill Ginger or Kash. He wanted to make them suffer, to humiliate them. And Kash was well aware the only reason he was on this island was that Donny thought it would make Ginger’s experience even worse.

But the joke was on him.

Without Kash, Ginger would be screwed.

Kash wasn’t thinking that to be a jerk. It was just a fact. The girl had absolutely no self-preservation skills. He wasn’t exactly Mr. Outdoorsman, but he sure wouldn’t have sat by the dock and cried for hours after Donny left with the boat, like Ginger wanted to do. As they’d neared the cabins, she’d begged him to go back with her to the dock, positive Donny would return.