“Here, all the fucking time.” He shook his head. “All. The. Fucking. Time.”
He was more adventurous when it came to being naked in the water. I was always afraid something would find a way in. He did not seem to even think twice about something swimming inside of his pee pee hole. Perhaps knowing what I was thinking, he grinned and led me out of thebure.
He grabbed my straw cowboy hat from the peg and set it on my head. I set his sunglasses over his eyes, and he set mine on. I had slathered myself in the cream Scarlett had sent over, since it contained sunscreen, and misted Mariano with the spray.
He always laughed when I did. “Mamma does the same thing. I don’t know why she wastes her girlie stuff on us. You too. You waste it on me.” He sniffed my neck, then himself, and said, “I smell like you. Your scent. Here on the island. The one you wore on the mainland. All of it. It’s inside of my lungs for the rest of my life. I can even smell the apple, pear, rose, citrus scent on you, even through the coconut. It somehow fucking works.”
“You should always wear sunscreen. Even Fausti men are susceptible to the elements.” I made ano-nogesture with my finger at him. “You should not burn. Ever.”
He dived underneath the water, coming between my legs and setting me on his shoulders after we entered the ocean.
He walked around this way for a while, and when he thought I was getting burned by the sun, he set me down and we floated. The water always felt like a cool hug.
After a time, I took cover in the hammock over the Pacific, a wooden arch shading me from the intense sun. On the shaded side of the arch, a holder protected hats, books, and our sunglasses when we were diving. Magpie had snuck a few romance tales in my suitcase before we left. All cowboy romances, or small town. I was lost in one when Mariano’s head popped out of the water.
His eyes narrowed on my face.
I sighed, and it sounded soft as I closed my eyes, the anticipation hitting me straight in the heart.
His cool fingers played connect-the-dots with the scatter of freckles on my nose and shoulders.
Every day he counted them.
He said because he knew they were going to disappear. He was counting his blessings.
“I was thinking—” I stopped when he narrowed his eyes at me. “What is that look for, Mariano Fausti?”
“Thinking can be a fucking dangerous activity,” he said, and when I splashed him with water, he chuckled. He set his fingers between the ropes, pulling me in, and kissed my thigh. “I’m going to fucking regret this. Tell me your thoughts.”
I sighed. “Nino and Dr. Musa.”
He got a serious look on his face and nodded.
Some…tension existed between them. Whenever we ventured to the mainland, Nino or Oscar was always close, a herd of Fausti soldiers with them. The men did not get close, the ones that were supposed to keep to the shadows, but I always felt them nearby. Only on the mainland. The island had them as well, but not as close. However, whenever Nino and Dr. Musa were around, I sensed the tension and noticed their behavior. Space. Always too much space between them.
“We—I—should do something nice for them. Perhaps send them out to a romantic dinner?”
He shook his head. “Stay out of it, Annie. They’ll work it out amongst themselves.”
“I feel bad for Nino.”
“Oscar too.”
“Sì.”
“Sense a pattern, Annie?”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“It’s the grouch effect,” he said. “All the men fucking see it. These are Fausti men. No pity fucking allowed. We don’t operate that way. Nino must man up. Take care of his woman.”
“Nino was hurt on the job,” I argued. “He is not...” I used my pointer finger to tap my temple, meaning,all there anymore.
Mariano took my hand, and cool water fell on my hot skin, causing goosebumps to rise. “You’re baking, Annie.”
“Do not change the subject, Mariano.”
He promptly tipped me over and caught me in his arms. I held the book above my head. “I do not want to ruin my book!”
