He headed toward the cabin’s main door. “I’m going to check on the generator in case things get bad this far inland.”
“And the shirt?” I asked, pointing at it so I had something to look at besides him.
Knox shrugged his shoulder toward the door. “It’s raining. I didn’t pack enough clothes to lose one to a rainstorm.”
Great, so he was just going to walk around shirtless.
5
*KNOX*
Emerson, with eyes as wide as saucers, stared at me as I walked outside to check the generator.
That was weird.
Rain splattered my bare back as I jumped from the porch and worked my way around the cabin. It was definitely the right choice to take off my shirt. With this humidity, it would take days for something to air-dry.
I didn’t want to leave her alone too long in case she had her post-boat-freak-out while I was wandering around outside the cabin. It looked like the storm was coming in fast, and I didn’t want to waste any time securing the cabin. Dante, my friend who ran these cabins, kept them stocked, but there wasn’t time to double-check the building before we got hit.
Dante had the generator at the back of the cabin, closest to the kitchen and bathroom hookups. I checked the wire, happy that if we had to go to backup power, the essentials would still work. It was still too hot in South Carolina to worry about the heat. That was one less issue.
The rain picked up, pelting me with heavy drops. I stopped and lifted my head to the sky. Dark, thick storm clouds piled toward shore, coming in off the water.
“It might be cold in Alaska, but at least we don’t have Poseidon threatening our existence,” I said as I made it back into the cabin and closed the door behind me. It caught on the edge, refusing to close completely.
Emerson turned from her spot in front of the bed and laughed. “No, you just have to deal with three feet of snow.”
Three feet? That was an understatement. “No bugs in the winter months either.”
Giant freaking mosquitoes in the summer, but I failed to mention that. It’s not like she’d be coming to Alaska to see them. She twisted a piece of her hair back into a fresh ponytail and popped out a hip. I grinned as the move made her seem feisty.
Feisty was good because it wasn’t panicking.
Emerson squinted one eye at me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
She squinted with the other eye. “I don’t know, but it’s something.”
I chuckled, which only made her squint more. It made me want to walk over, wrap an arm around her, and kiss her so hard I literally had to hold her up to keep her standing.
What the fuck?
My smile fell. Where did that thought come from? Sure, she was hot, but I was not in South Carolina to find a woman, especially not one obsessed with manatees.
“Can you put a shirt back on or something?” she asked, turning back to stare out the window behind the bed.
Oh, she liked me without my shirt on?
I liked knowing that she liked me shirtless.
“Well?” she asked again when I didn’t move.
“Sure, babe.” I grabbed my shirt from the back of the chair and slipped it over my head. “It’s safe to turn back now.”
Emerson spun on her heel. “That’s not… well… I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Sure.” My grin came back in full force. She thought I was hot. “It’s okay. I know how I look.”
