While I did as instructed, I could feel his presence lingering on the other side of the door as I secured the double bolt.
“Now check to make sure it’s locked,” he yelled through the door.
“Oh my goodness,” I groaned, yanking on the knob. The lock held.
“Good. Get some rest.”
It’s crazy but I could almost feel him walk away.
I wanted to linger at the door, but instead, I pulled myself away. It was late and I probably needed to shower and get in the bed. However, what I did was strip out of my clothes, unpack my bathing suit, and immediately went to for a swim. I needed to cool off, and while a shower could’ve done the job, I preferred to use the private pool. It was the main reason I chose this place.
I hoped it would cool my hot ass down. And my temperature level had not a damn thing to do with the outside temperatures. It was all due to one man.
“Don’t get carried away, Mia,” I mumbled to myself as I emerged from the pool about fifteen minutes later.
I had to keep telling myself that this was probably only the start of a vacation time fling. It’d last a few days. A week, tops.
Then we’d go our separate ways. Just fun, nothing more.
CHAPTER5
Brutus
“AreThe 48 Powers of Lawbullshit?” I asked right before taking another pull on the Cuban cigar in my hand.
Jameson, my longtime friend and former squad mate from the Army, lifted a dark eyebrow. “The fuck are you going on about?” he asked from across the small, wooden table.
We were having dinner at one of the local, outdoor restaurants. This one, like the one I’d eaten at with Mia the night before, doubled as a nightclub. It was shortly after nine, and in addition to the flowing cigars and tequila, the number of people on the makeshift, outdoor dance floor had doubled.
A few women looked my way and winked. And despite the fact that salsa was my favorite type of music, their enticing looks did nothing for me. All I could picture was Mia moving in my arms the night before.
“The book,” I sat up and said to Jameson.
His forehead wrinkled. “You know I don’t like to read.”
I glared at him. “You told me you read it a few years back.”
He shrugged. “Probably skimmed it or something. Why?” He spoke to me, but his gaze trailed off and followed a pretty woman wearing a frilly, black skirt with hair down past her ass.
She was cute I supposed but I only spotted her because that was my instinct. I kept an eye on my surroundings at all times. Even when I wasn’t on duty. No one in the immediate vicinity was a threat or harm to me, but I still felt uneasy. It was the same feeling that had been with me ever since I dropped Mia off at her bungalow after our brunch and impromptu beach visit.
I wanted to be with her, not with guys I’d known for almost two decades.
“Something someone said to me,” I finally answered Jameson. I folded my arms and pressed them into the table as I leaned in. “What if what that book teaches is all bullshit? Maybe it doesn’t take into consideration the systems, traumas, and other dynamics at play in the world that impact us all.”
Jameson’s eyes narrowed and he sat back in his seat. For a long minute, he didn’t say anything. Then he burst out into laughter. “What the hell?” He shook his head and whistled for our waitress. “Another round of beers for the table,” he ordered in Spanish before handing her his card.
He pointed at me. “You need more alcohol and to shut the hell up with all of that philosophical nonsense.”
“What’s happening over here?” Will, another one of my friends and a former squad mate, asked as he left the dance floor.
Jameson stood and slapped Will on the back. “This motherfucker wants to talk about his feelings or whatever while there’s prime pussy all around us.” He rolled his eyes. “More beers are on the way. I need to drain the snake.”
“Snake my ass. “More like a centipede,” Will berated.
Jameson stuck up his middle finger before heading to the bathroom.
Will kicked his leg over the chair Jameson had vacated and sat across from me. “What are you talking about now?”
