I bit my lip.
Fenn kissed me briefly on the cheek. “You ready?”
“Wait, no! You’re wearing my shirt.”
“Mmm.” He ran a hand down his stomach. “You’re right! It reallyishigh-quality.”
“I hate you.” I pulled his shirt over my head, not nearly as upset as I was pretending to be. In fact, not upsetat all.
He grinned and moved toward the door. “You can show me how much. Later.”
“Gloria!” Fenn opened the door with a wide smile. “Sorry about that. Hey, thanks for seeing me, Dr. Bloom. I’m feeling much better.” He pressed a hand to his diaphragm, took a deep breath, and let it out with a grin. “You’re a miracle worker.”
I leaned against the doorjamb. I needed to focus on Gloria, but I couldn’t quite get there while this demented life force was staring at me like he wanted to laugh at me and devour me at the same time. “Anytime, Mr. Reardon. Really.”
Fenn grinned. “I’ll be back in an hour with your town car.”
I snorted. “Thought you weren’t a livery driver.”
“We can all learn to enjoy new things, can’t we?” He gave me a jaunty salute and Gloria a bright smile before strolling away.
“That boy,” Gloria said fondly. “Doesn’t half know his worth.”
I grinned. I was pretty sure I did. And I was gonna enjoy every minute I got to spend with him.
Fenn was right. My plan for the day hadn’t looked a damn thing like this either… But I was getting really comfortable with going off plan.
Chapter Thirteen
Fenn
“You really wanna do this?”I demanded, pulling Mason against my chest the second he cleared the walkway to theMary Anna. The sun brought his brown hair to life, teasing out glints of red and gold as he grinned up at me.
“I really, definitely wanna do this. Why wouldn’t I?” He pressed his free hand to my T-shirt, pushing back just far enough that he could look up at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Because you already know all about the treasure, and I could think of a hundred things more fun than spending your day off on this boat?”
“I can’t! Not whenyouare on the boat.” He blushed, like he couldn’t believe the shit that came out of his mouth, but he didn’t take it back.
Oh, man. That blush. That little smile. The sweet shit he said.Fucking temptation.
If you’d told me three weeks ago the lengths I would go to for those things, I would not have believed you. I would not havewantedto believe you.
But here we were, three weeks into this fling of ours—three weeks of Mason kissing me goodbye in the Charger when I dropped him off for work, Mason sitting beside me at the town meetings about the Extravaganza, and Mason going bright red when Lety called me Mason’snoviolike he knew the word meantboyfriend, but not correcting her. Three weeks of nights where I’d brought my tablet with its hot spot to his room so we could “watch movies,” but mostly just so I could lie on his bed, watch him putter around his room, put things awayjust so, hang up his clothes, and brush his teeth, before giving me a big smile and climbing into bed beside me like I was the reward for his work. Three weeks where my sandals had gotten their own spot near his door, and where he’d bought me coffee in exchange for me washing his clothes, since he hated the dark, tomb-like laundry room on the first floor. Three weeks where we’d missed almost every episode of whatever-the-fuck British period drama Mason had chosen for us to watch, because we were too busy making out or trading blow jobs.
And now I got why Big Rafe kept sinking money into finding treasures, and why my own dad had never given up the bottle for long. If you had this happiness once, what wouldn’t you do to keep it? What lies wouldn’t you tell yourself? What risks wouldn’t you take?
“Besides,” Mason continued, leaning back against the boat’s rail, “I don’t knowallabout the treasure. I know the bits and pieces you told me when we were in Rafe’s office, and I know a little from spending a day at Wynott’s Books last weekend, but I would not say I have a comprehensive picture. So I’m gonna play tourist and sit there with all the blue-haired ladies—” He waved a hand toward the bench seats in the rear of the boat. “—and ask the handsome tour guide lots of questions.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Wow. Pretty presumptuous of you to assume I’ll answer them.” I moved my hands to Mason’s hips, and my thumbs stroked the skin under his polo, just above the waistband of his shorts. “You know, most of those ladies give me tips when the tour is over. Just sayin’.”
“Ah, darnitydarn.” Mason bit his lip. “Now you tell me! And here I am with no small bills in my wallet!”
“That’s too bad. But for you, I could consider accepting alternate forms ofincentivizing.”I drew him even closer so I could run my nose along the bottom of his jaw and feel him shiver in the hot sun.
“Incentivizing?” he said roughly. “Is that a real word?”
“Mmhmm. Like I’m gonnaincentivizeyou to go skinny-dipping with me by taking you out to dinner off island next weekend. And remember when youincentivizedme to watch that stupid show of yours?”
