“He’s so cute. And he really isplaying?”
“Yep.” The octopus gathers all the cowrie shells and drops them, repeatedly. “They’re intelligent creatures.”
“It’s amazing,” she says. “You have such talent, and your love really shows.”
“It does?” Weird that she would say that. Her praise has me swallowing hard, as it’s good to hear from someone who knows me. “Roger and I have been seeing this same octopus for a few days now. He’s quite the star, and it’s as if he put on this act for us?—”
“If you say so, but I like to think you’re part of the magic too.” She sinks into Roger’s seat. “Do you think you’ll have enough footage to finish your project?”
“Yes, and some more.”
“Good.”
“The wedding’s over?”
“Dinner’s done, and now it’s only the bar flowing and some very loud music. It’s kind of weird, given how quiet it usually is around here.”
“I can imagine.” Our cottage is situated far from the general guest area and with the wind carrying the sound away, I wasn’t aware of the music at all. “You’re off to bed?”Please be off to bed.Up close and personal like this is doing nothing for my resolve.
“Tris…” Lexi breaks off, and I look down at where she’s working her hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think Jem knows we’re faking our engagement.”
I lean back in my chair. “Why? We’ve been fine.” I’ve been making a hell of an effort, though it’s slowly suffocating my heart. The more I act, the more it feels real. The more Iwantit to be real. Wait—what? That thought zapped through my head so fast I feel somewhat whiplashed.
“I don’t know. The way she watches my every move and the things she says… They’re making me uncomfortable, and we still have quite a bit of time to kill on this island.”
“Babes—”
“What if she knows? What if she reports to Beaumont? It could end us.”
I take a deep breath and rush my fingers through my hair, trying to lean deeper into my chair. But it’s as stiff as a plank and not conducive to relaxing. “Here’s the thing, Lexi. Nobody ever knows what goes on between two people and in their relationship. Trust me. It could be all golden on the outside, while it’s rotting on the inside. It could be a shredded shit show on the outside, but solid gold on the inside. For Jem to speculate?—”
“I’m scared of the consequences if someone finds out.”
Fuck me.“You’re a real worrier, aren’t you? As if you didn’t have enough on your plate with Mia Reed and doing a good job around here. Have a little faith.”
“I know.” She shakes her head and sighs. “God, I know. I’m extra.”
“I love your extra, but you need to relax, okay? We’re doing our jobs, aren’t we? Dives are going great, and that wedding was fantastic. We’re not sleeping with the guests or other staff, and faking an engagement is hardly illegal.” I reach for her hands where she’s fidgeting with them in her lap. Every time I touch her, there’s this flow of energy. Even now, as she stills, my bigger hand cupping hers, there’s an undeniable need buzzing between us. “I told you we needed to make this easy on ourselves. Stressing about every last thing isn’t going to help. Jem’s just being Jem. She likes getting up people’s asses, having her fingers on every last pulse point, so don’t feed the control freak inside her by falling for her little traps.”
Lexi chuckles. “True.”
I let go of her hands, and she stands. “Nighty night then.”
“Sleep tight.” I wait for her to close the door before I lean back with a groan.
There’s only one way this is going to end. As Lexi said, we still have time to kill, but nothing is killing this tension between us. Fuck it. Maybe just once…Maybe just the tip. I break out in a dry chuckle. Who the hell am I trying to fool? And to be honest, I’ve been mean, toying with her. Hot and cold, off and on. She’s going to drive me nuts, and I likely deserve it. The need to taste her has only built since our recent, intense kiss. And it’s only made worse because she seems open to the idea. At least temporarily.
I force myself to focus on work for another forty minutes, so Lexi has time to fall asleep. When I emerge into our bedroom, it’s as I expected: she’s out. I quietly get ready for bed. All the windows are open, allowing that blessed breeze to cool us off, so I make sure the mosquito net’s slit is overlapping and enclosing us. As I get into bed, I glance in her direction, only to find her eyes glinting in the dark.
“Sorry. Shit. Did I wake you up?”
“Can’t sleep.”
There’s trouble. And then there’sthis. Us. Together. Awake. In bed. Best I divert to known territory. “Still worried about Jem and her jabs?”
