When she let her hand fall back into her lap, he covered it with one of his own. He was immediately struck by the disparity of sizes. Where he was broad-palmed and thick-fingered, she was soft and small and delicate.
Her skin was baby soft and cool beneath his touch. But it warmed up quickly, as if her blood raced to the surface to be closer to him. Or maybe his blood was hot enough to warm them both.
She used her free hand to push her glasses higher on the bridge of her nose and stared at him in surprise. Touching her was something he had rarely allowed himself to do before her proposal. And something he’d avoided altogether since.
But he wanted her to know how sincere he was now. He wanted her to understand that he meant every single word with every single fiber of his being.
Of course, it was a catch-22. Because when he was touching her, it was nearly impossible to rememberanywords.
“And you’re not attachingenoughimportance to it,” he told her quietly, pulling his hand away and settling it back into his own lap. “Which is why I can’t do what you want me to do despite the fact that my sixteen-year-old self is calling me a frickin’idjitand punching me in the dick.”
“You know,” she mused, staring out at the waves so that he was gifted with a view of her delicate profile, “when someone says ‘It isn’t you, it’s me,’ what they really mean is ‘It’s you.’”
“No.” He shook his head. “It reallyisme. I respect you too much to—”
“Oh, please.” She huffed after turning back to him. “Just admit the truth. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
He blinked in confusion. “Truth about what?”
“About not wanting me that way. About not being attracted to me.”
That was so far beyond the truth—like in an entirely different galaxy—that he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Damn it, Mason! This isn’t funny!” Her scrunched-up nose drew his eyes to the sprinkling of freckles across her high cheekbones. He wanted to lean forward and kiss each and every one of them.
Instead, he sobered and said, “Alex, you gotta know I think you’re wicked smart and killer funny even when you’re not trying to be.”
“You’re the only person I know who can insult me while complimenting me.” Her mouth flattened into a straight line.
He added, “And you have a natural beauty that makes me wanna paint your portrait every time I look atcha.”
“Yeah,” she snorted. “Paint my portrait but not diddle me until I’m dizzy.”
The thought of doing exactly that was enough to make his dick swell inside his swim trunks. “Bullshit, woman. You’re off-the-charts fuckable.”
The way she shook her head made her wild hair fly. She wasn’t buying what he was selling. “If that’s true, why aren’t we knocking boots belowdecks right now?”
He regarded her for a full ten-second count, wondering how much to reveal. Then he figured,Fuck it. “Maybe ’cause once we started, I wouldn’t wanna stop.”
Her unblinking stare glued itself to his face. And for the first time in her life, it appeared Alexandra Merriweather was at a loss for words.
Chapter 5
11:01 a.m.
Talk about bad timing.
Chrissy had walked up behind Mason and Alex at the exact right moment to hear Mason’s last statement. And boy, what a statement it was. Her own heart did a little flutter, and her mouth hung open for so long she feared a seagull might decide to fly in and take up roost.
She resisted shooting a fist in the air, because…I was right! I was right! I was right!She wanted to sing it like Adele. Rap it like Snoop Dogg.
Deciding the speedboat could wait, she spun on her heel, hoping to slink back into the cabin unobserved.
“Chrissy?” Mason’s deep voice stopped her in her tracks. She winced hard enough to hurt her cheekbones.
Lifting her hand, she waved over her shoulder without turning. “Sorry for the interruption. Please go back to your regularly scheduled programming.”
“We’re finished here,” Mason said and that had her hesitantly glancing over her shoulder.
