“I went back to the party and told my dinner partner how sorry I was, but that I had to leave due to weather. With a quick word to the asshole-butler—because I didn’t see Provard anywhere—I relayed what I was up against, and that he should let the boss know I was on my way. At least it was a viable excuse, and Provard would know, when the gale moved in the next morning, that I was telling the truth. But I was beyond caring what he thought at that point, anyway.
“I didn’t stick around to see how things played out. I just changed into my own clothes in the bathroom off the kitchen, then hopped on my boat and got the hell out of Dodge. And now, here I am.”
“Oh, Bobbie,” Buck’s voice had quieted. “I’m so sorry you had that experience. I wish I’d been there to back you up.”
Wow.Wasn’t that just like Buck? He hadn’t said “save you” or “protect you”. He’d said ‘back you up’ which inferred she could take care of herself, and that he’d simply be there to help her in any capacity she’d need.
“I appreciate it,” she told him with all sincerity. “Now I just have to figure out what I’m going to do about future trips. My brothers will go ballistic if I tell them I’m not interested in continuing.”
Buck soothed. “Let’s not worry about that right now. We’ll run all this by Mason, Chief Ildavorg, and Tex, to see what theythink. But in the meantime, there’s one good thing that’s coming out of this.”
“Yeah?” Bobbie snorted. “What’s that?”
“You’ll be home in seven or eight hours, and not only do I plan on being at the dock to meet you, we’ll get to spend an entire day together, doing…whatever we want.”
Bobbie’s heart sped up.
She liked the sound of that.
A lot.
CHAPTER 22
Buck didn’t want to,but he needed to say goodbye because satellite calls cost an exorbitant amount of money per minute. Not that he wouldn’t mind paying, but Bobbie surely wouldn’t let him, and she’d always been the frugal sort, so…
Something occurred to him, however, just before he reluctantly signed off.
“Bobbie, I’m curious. Originally, we were going to see each other tomorrow night once you moored in Searsport. How were we going to do that without your brothers finding out?”
She chuckled. “Ahh. You mean tonight, right? Remember? it’s already Wednesday in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Semantics,” he laughed, because yeah, he’d just been asleep and his brain wasn’t quite functioning yet. Unlike Bobbie, who seemed to be firing on all cylinders even though she’d been up since…?Damn.
The woman had to be running on freaking fumes.
“Hey. Are you alright? Good enough to sail? Cognitively speaking I mean?” Buck asked, putting aside his original question for a moment.
“Seriously? You’re doubting my mental acuity? Let’s remember who’s smarter, here, buddy,” she snorted humorously.
“Oh. You mean me?” Buck returned in kind, easily falling back into one of their old “who’s better” routines. “But Bobbie, just because I’m smarter than you, doesn’t mean I think you can’t handle yourself on a sailboat. I’ll allow that you might even havemyskills beat, where sails are involved,” he returned cheekily with a big guffaw before getting serious. “No. What I’m really worried it about is your sleep, or lack thereof,” he ended thoughtfully. “I’d hate to think you were in any way impaired, having been up all night.”
Bobbie sighed. “I’m fine. Really. I’m always alert when I’m on the water. But hear this. Once I’m moored, all bets are off. I might crash, big-time, later on today, just so you’re prepared.”
Buck’s brain went quickly to holding a sleeping Bobbie in his arms, and his whole body twitched.
In his imagination, they were both naked, with her soft curves nestled warmly into his hard muscles. Clearly, in this fanciful storyline, they’d have been up tosomethingbefore they were both worn out enough to doze.
A man could dream.
His cock stretched, as if seeking…
“Oh, I’m prepared alright,” he answered gruffly, putting one hand on his junk to keep it under control.
Right.That wasn’t happening.
Of coursehe wanted nothing more than to bury himself deep inside Bobbie, and if that’s how things played out, halle-fucking-lujah. But if she was too tired, there’d be no pressure from him. Not because he was necessarily nice, but because, in his head, they’d be meshing body-parts for years and years to come.
He just needed his dick to get the message that those offeringscouldbe off the table for now. Which jogged his foggy brain into recalling his initial inquiry.
