She lifts her paddle, and we glide forward a few feet. “Give it a stroke.”
I bypass the lame joke on the tip of my tongue and do as she tells me. The sea lights up beneath us and I’m stunned. We’ve fallen into the sky, surrounded by living stars.
The iridescent white light weaves strands of silver through her hair and sprinkles shards of stars in her eyes. She’s out of this world.
I’m lost for words and overwhelmed when she smiles fondly at my awestruck expression.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she says, swirling her paddle in the galactic soup.
“Magical,” I say, looking at her. Saying it out loud for the first time.
Eliza reaches the front door before I bolt to check if it’s her scumbag ex.
“I’m looking for a brooding big oaf,” the hesitant voice I recognize instantly says from the porch. “I must have the wrong address.”
“You’ll find him in the living room. Can’t miss the dark clouds and ravens circling his head,” Eliza says, amused.
Adam laughs and I catch the glint of interest when he steps in. I’m familiar with it and I don’t like it one bit.
Usually, Adam is one of the few people I’m always glad to talk to. It’s been like that from the moment he sat next to me during our first class at Harvard. He hasn’t left my side ever since. Even when Laura entered the picture, and it was obvious she couldn’t stand him. The feeling was reciprocated, but Adam knew better than to say anything about her. I was too caught up in my first real relationship to care.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
He’s tired and pale and I’m worried he’s partying too much again. It’s been a recurring cycle for the past seven years. It began when Jackie left for an MBA in London out of the blue and it got worse when our father died, and she came back. I never got the truth out of any of them.
“It’s been over a month,” Adam laughs and lunges for a hug. “I missed your pretty face and sunny disposition.”
Eliza giggles and the sound goes straight to my dick.
“Carter, don’t be rude, introduce me to this lovely lady.” He turns back to Eliza, all charm, and a ball of possessiveness unfurls in the pit of my stomach.
“Why would I do that to her?” I play it off as a joke, but I’m not keen on letting her anywhere near Adam.
She scoffs. “Eliza. I’m renting Carter the cabin.”
Adam holds her hand a moment too long and I find myself dragging the annoying idiot to the back porch. He sits and levels me with a questioning look.
“Anything new at the office?” Small talk is not part of our routine.
“Really. Are we doing this?”
I pretend not to notice the questioning look on his face. “That’s what I’m interested in.”
“It seemed to me your interests lie somewhere else,” he says, tilting his head toward the cabin.
One reason Adam is so good at his job is he doesn’t miss anything. I’m aware he’s hunting for hints, so I decide to stay silent.
He doesn’t push for now, but I know him too well to hope he’ll drop it entirely.
“How are you?” His worry is genuine, and I tell him the truth.
“Honestly, better. If you say anything to my mother, I’ll deny it, but she might have been onto something.”
He snorts. “I’ll take it to my grave.”
“I’m still trying to find workarounds.”
“I’d be worried if you weren’t.”
