“Where were you touring?”
“I never left the Tampa Bay area,” I admitted.
“Where did those pictures come from? Stock photos?” Rowan asked.
“Oh, no. I loaned my houseboat to a friend so she could find herself,” I laughed at his confused face. “Hey, when a runaway bride needs a getaway boat and turns in her Bride Card, you have to stand aside.”
“True,” Rowan breathed. “That was nice of you.”
I raised a shoulder. “I like her. She wasn’t mad at me for trying to keep her wedding on track. Oh, boy, you won’t believe what she’s been up to.”
“Goldilocks, I don’t want to talk about True. You’re here. Does this mean what I think it means?” Rowan clutched my hands to his chest.
I smiled. “First, I will tell you what’s been going on. I loaned True my houseboat, which meant I had nowhere to stay. So, I asked your dad if I could crash in his guestroom, poolhouse, or wherever billionaires let homeless people crash.”
“I can imagine how well he took that,” Rowan snorted.
“He took it well. It turns out he has a pool house! He also seemed glad to see me, especially when I told him I wanted to make my eco-ship a reality.” I waved around the room. “I asked if we could take the boat you got for me and revamp it. He agreed. Everything on the ship is designed to be self-sustaining. There are solar panels on the roof. I have an automatic sail that raises and lowers at the touch of a button - let me tell you how nice that is. And there are rainwater catchments throughout that provide potable water.”
“You’re amazing,” Rowan breathed.
“I almost called you to help me with the design, but I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“It is a surprise.”
“Good.”
“You’ve been working on this for two months?” Rowan asked.
“It took about a month and a half to reconfigure everything, and the last two weeks were in testing.”
Rowan sucked air through his teeth.
I patted him on the chest. “That’s another reason I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want you to worry.”
“Now that I know, I’m going to worry in arrears. It’ll probably be nightmare fodder for months.” Rowan paused and looked around. “What are you going to do with this ship? Run charters?”
I smiled at him. “Eventually, but you promised me something before I left Pleasure Point. You said we could travel together.”
His eyes widened, but he said nothing.
“I planned to travel alone, but the further away from you I got, the more my heart hurt. I didn’t want to go by myself. I’ve been by myself long enough. I wanted you with me. But, I still needed to work on my personal issues, so I thought - why not make a boat that Rowan and I could sail together while I sort through my shit?” I grinned at him as I stood up. “It worked.”
“It did?”
“Yes. A therapist has been helping me learn to appreciate myself, just as I am. To accept the abundance I have in life. And to treasure those people who see me as a gift - adding to their lives,” I said, dropping to my knees. I placed my hands on his thighs. “Rowan, I love you. I think I fell in love with you when you told Jesse we were engaged. I definitely fell in love with you when you cleaned my boat, and cooked the dinner, and washed the dishes. I fell deeper in love with you when you stopped me from making an ass of myself at Jesse’s wedding events. And especially when you kept him busy during the bachelorette party.”
“I love you so much, Kendra,” Rowan breathed as he leaned in to brush a kiss across my lips.
When he pulled back, I reached for his zipper. “I haven’t forgotten the promise I made you.”
He stayed my hand. “You don’t have to do this.”
I arched a brow at him. “This is the new-and-improved Kendra. I don’t do things I don’t want to. And right now, I wantto suck your dick if you consent to that, Boss.” I laughed as his dick twitched in his pants. “He likes that.”
“I like that,” Rowan corrected as he pulled me on the bed beside him. “Can I take a raincheck on that blowjob?”
I pouted. “Why?”
