“Building kingdoms?”
I capture the gentle curve of his lips before he turns to me. He slits his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you.”
“And with what are you helping me, Francesca?”
“You know I hate it when you call me that.”
“Mmm.”
“I’m going to make a dating profile for you,” I say, thumbing through the pictures. God, he looksgood. But he also looks like himself. Nature-y. Intelligent. Confident.
George gets to his feet. “No, you’re not.”
I hold up the phone to him. “Thisis an emergency flare. You’re telling me you don’t want to even try?”
He takes a step closer, sliding the phone from my hand and closing the screen. “I’m telling you there’s no one onanyapp I want to date.”
The way his gaze holds mine makes my heart drum faster.
“That seems a bit judgy,” I say as the wind kicks up, blowing my hair in my face.
“It’s not a judgment about people who date online. But I know who I am and what I want, and I’m telling you, I’ll never find her there.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I hold my breath as George reaches up, sweeping the wayward strands of hair from my cheeks.
Before he replies, the rumble of an engine cuts through the quiet. We both turn in the direction of the sound. TheNautical but Niceis approaching slowly, just like Derek promised.
Chapter Twenty-one
Derek holds my hand up to his eye to check for a ring as he helps me aboard. Dressed in warm clothes, George and I take spots on the bench at the back of the boat. As we cruise around inlets and islands, I watch him in my periphery, wondering what he was about to tell me. He looked almost relieved by the interruption.
Derek and George embrace when we say goodbye, and we watch as theNautical but Nicepulls away.
“Good day?” George asks.
I look up at him. His hair has curled more tightly in the coastal damp.
“Great day.”
A strange day, too. I’ve never felt so entranced by George or so envious of the women he’s dated. I’ve never noticed how perfect his mouth is, or how enchanting his eyes are. He’sGeorge,my lifelong friend. But he’s also another George—a man who has risked his life for his work and won awards for his reporting. He’s an adult who wants a partner and has dreams I’m only now learning about. This George isn’t mine anymore.
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget it,” I tell him.
George looks down at me. “Who could forget their first sex cult initiation?”
“Or their maiden voyage on theNautical but Nice?”
“I believe they’re one and the same.”
I laugh. “I mean it, though. That was incredible. I feel like I could hike up one of those mountains, but if I closed my eyes, I’d probably sleep for twelve hours.”
“What about your appetite?”
“Gargantuan.”
