“Mia, I—”
She shot him a daggered look. “Seriously, you need to stop talking now before either one of us says something that will make our working relationship unbearable. As it stands, I’m perfectly happy to go back to the way things were when we barely talked and never touched. Agreed?”
A muscle worked in his jaw. His brown eyes, which usually held devilry and teasing, were filled with…she couldn’t be sure. It looked likehurt.But she told herself it was only injured pride.
She had a healthy dose ofthatgoing herself.
Finally, he nodded.
“Good. Now, I’m going inside to dig out that vodka Bran keeps hidden in the cupboard so Uncle John doesn’t steal it to put in his salty dogs. And I know alcohol is never the answer, but after the last couple of days, it’s worth a shot.” She screwed up her face. “No pun intended.”
“I thought you said you never drink alone?” he called to her back since she’d pushed open the copilot’s door. The sound of the rain became so loud, she had to shout above it.
“There’s a first time for everything, Romeo!”
“What happened to Spiro?” he demanded, that muscle ticking in his jaw again. “I thought you were going to call me by my first name!”
“Feels a bit too…friendly!” she emphasized and then a thought occurred. “Also, so I don’t break my own rules, I bet I could convince Doc to have a drink with me. He always seems willing to come to the rescue of a damsel in distress. Maybe it’s the good ol’ boy in him.”
Romeo’s eyes hardened at the same time his nostrils flared wide. But she didn’t wait around to try to determine whatthatexpression was all about. Instead, she jumped from the plane and didn’t glance back as she ran up the beach toward the rickety old house.
There was a reason she kept to herself. Kept quiet. Didn’t seek people out.
When she did, she opened herself up to disappointment. Tohurt.
Romeo had hurt her with his rejection. Because that’s what it had been, right? He’d rejected her before she’d even had a chance to ask anything of him.
Chapter 23
1:29 PM…
Chrissy felt eaten alive by Wolf’s kisses. But in the best possible way.
As the mist continued to shower down around them, creating a secret, magical world that seemed to hold in its palm only the two of them, she thought,This… This is how desire is supposed to feel. This is how passion is supposed to taste.
Not that she was a virgin or anything. She’d had her fair share of men.
Well, maybe not herfairshare.
According to Winston, her body count was abysmally low for a modern era that included hookup culture and Tinder. And now she knew why. She simply hadn’t been doing it right. Or maybe it was more accurate to say she hadn’t been doing it with the right kind of men.
Men who set her blood on fire. Men who made her body hum. Men who made her forget herself.
For the first time, she understood what Winston meant when he spoke of being with Rosa.
“It’s like I was playing with passion before,”she remembered him saying one night after she’d invited him over for New Orleans style BBQ shrimp.“Pretending desire. Pretending need and want. And then Rosa came along and I became athingof need and want. Need was the breath in my lungs. Want was the blood in my veins. And no matter how much I had her, I still craved more.”
Funny, Chrissy had never considered Winston a man of words. But when he talked about Rosa, he turned damn near poetic.
Winston…
Thoughts of her best friend were just the thing to bring her back to reality. To lift her out of that ocean ofwantandneedWinston had spoken of and plant her feet firmly on solid ground.
“Wolf?” She pressed a hand against his bare chest. Despite the cool rain drenching them, his skin was warm to the touch.
Warm? No. Heburned.
Burned so hot she wanted to rip the borrowed T-shirt over her head and press into him so she could feel his flame against her naked breasts.
