Sun.
We had not left thebure.
At that point, I told Mariano he was going to have to take some scissors to my hair. Although we bathed, there was never enough time to brush or dry my hair. We could not keep our hands off each other. I did not recall for how long, even after the day when the sun came out.
This time, however, I could see the determination in my husband’s eyes to make it out the door.
Perhaps mine as well.
“We are not separating,” I reminded him. “Wherever we are going, we are going together.”
“Fucking truth,” he said, and to prove a point, he went to the door to meet Merlin.
He left me in the bathroom to get ready. This time, I was more excited. The shopping trip I had with all the women spurred me to dig through the suitcase at lightning speed. He had not even moved it from the time he had set it down in the bathroom.
Mariano had told me he was taking me to a special area of the island, and all I would need was a swimsuit, or I could go naked. I could have, but I wanted to wear the things I had bought.
At least for a time.
Since there was not much of the “outfit,” it did not take me long to slip into it. I lifted my arm and sniffed. Since the time we attempted to leave, we had not bathed. I did not smell horrible. The scent of the shampoo, bath wash, and cream Scarlett had given me still lingered on me.
However, my hair?
I glanced at the hairbrush I had set on the counter.
“No,” I said sharply. I could already feel how horrible this was going to be. A true fight. Nothing on this island felt as if it should be so rough. The air was soft. The water was soft. I would deal with it later, or have Mariano chop it off. I twisted it up, then set a hair clip to hold it together. My hair was full of plump volume, and the top of my hair swelled. It did not look so bad. I spritzed a little of the spray on and turned.
I jumped, flinging the brush, hitting Mariano square in the chest. He did not budge. He was staring at me.
“You need to make more noise, Mariano!”
He said nothing, but his eyes were working. They were taking me in at rapid speed, even if it was a slow perusal. It was making me antsy.
I almost danced from foot to foot. “Too much?” Magpie had picked it out for me. It was a champagne-colored, leopard-printbikini. The top was halter style, and it had a U-shaped wire at the center, which pulled my breasts together, creating a deeper cleavage. The bottom had thin straps that reached my hips, and…my husband turned me around. A single piece of material flossed between my ass cheeks.
He was all about the dental hygiene…
I had to say something to break the tension, and I could not come up with anything. It felt as if another storm was brewing. I hoped not. The sun was bright, it was hot, and I was ready to explore—with my husband.
“Too much?” I repeated, although I knew he had heard me. His ears worked as well as his eyes.Precise.
“Too fucking little,” he said, shaking his head. “That—” he pointed to me but meant the bathing suit “—doesn’t leave thisbure. Meaning it doesn’t come back to the mainland with us.”
“Why?” I glanced down at myself.
“Why?” he repeated, shaking his head again. “That—whatever the fuck it’s called—will get me killed. You want to keep me safe, Annie. Lock it up here. Only wear it on our private beach. For me fucking only.”
I set my hands on my hips. “You get to walk around like that?” I waved a hand at him.
He looked down at himself. He had slid into a pair of swim trunks to speak to Merlin.
“I do not mean your trunks,” I said with a grin on my face. His thick eyebrows were pulled in. He was confused but refusing to say it. “I meanyou,Mariano Fausti. In a suit, all eyes cannot deny what is clearly mine. In a beat-up t-shirt, worn-down jeans, and old work boots…tongues wag. It is only you—it does not matter the clothes.”
“I was born this way,” he said.
“Perhaps I was born to wear this suit.”
“My grandmother.” He sighed, shaking his head. “She’s behind that suit.”
