Wren placed her hand on her inflatable and frowned. “Mine is also a little soft,” she said, frowning. “It was perfectly hard a minute ago.”
Dane slipped out of the boat and stood in the water; it only came up to his waist. He spun her around and looked for the plug; it had come loose. He didn’t understand it; he’d checked the plugs on both boats before they left the shore. The plug on his was intact, and it had been firm when they entered the water.
“That is so freaking weird,” he said, surprised at how unsurprised he was. He’d felt cold spots, sensed someone was watching him, the bugle blast in the studio, the freakin’ ghost Wren saw. His glimpse of the Civil War soldier the other night. Bizarre things kept happening, but he’d stopped reacting weeks ago. It was what it was.
Dane pulled Wren to shore, powering through the water. “Do you mind sharing a float with me?” he asked. “Or is being up close and personal with you off limits?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought we covered that before?”
He grimaced.
“Going forward, can you not refer to that night, what happened, and any decisions I need to make?” she asked, her tone cool.
He wanted to push her, to make her choose him, here, now, on the spot. But the thing was, he couldn’t offer her more than a fling, a few weeks together, because his job wasn’t conducive to a relationship, and he wasn’t sure he wanted one, or was ready for one. Pushing her for answers was a dick move, and he did try his best to keep his dickish behavior to a minimum.
Yeah, maybe she was still thinking about the other guy, but she wasn’t with him yet. She was here, with him. And that was all that mattered.
“Fair point,” he conceded. “I’m sorry.”
She nodded but lifted an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by his apology. Why? Apologizing was the right, and adult, thing to do. “Let me ask you again … double boat or single?” he asked.
He watched Wren’s face as she looked from the bigger boat to him, and back again. Her throat bobbed, and in the semi-darkness, he swore he saw her cheeks color. “It might be a bit of a squeeze, because you’re like one-and-a-half people,” she said, and he was grateful that she’d accepted the reset.
“Is that an insult or a compliment?” he teased her, smiling.
She flicked water at him and grinned. “You can take it any way you want,” she cheekily told him. Dane shook his head, smiled, and reached up to pull the double inflatable from the bank. He placed it in the water next to Wren and eyed the boat. It definitely would mean them getting up close and too damn personal. Great, because he couldn’t think of anything better than having her head tucked under his chin, his legs against hers, his arms around her waist.
Well, apart from them being naked and sweaty, with her under him…
Keep it tidy, Trafford.
After getting Wren settled, he pulled her back out to their place behind Tad and Gina, happy to see that there was enough space for Jesus between them. At the first scream, he knew that would change, but as long as lips and hands didn’t stray…
After using his upper-body strength to settle into the float, Wren handed him a beer, and he raised his can.
“Cheers.”
Wren bumped her can against his, and Dane wriggled down, resting his neck on the boat’s rim. This was actually quite comfortable. He glanced at his watch and saw they had at least twenty minutes before the movie started.
“How has your week been?” he asked, a little surprised when she tucked herself into his side and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Is this okay, me lying like this?” she asked, sounding hesitant. “There’s not much room.”
And for that, he was grateful. His arm curled around her back and rested on her hip. “Very okay.”
She rested her beer can on his stomach and angled her head to look at him. “To answer your question: good, I guess. Luna’s been bugging me to help with the setup for the main festival.”
“She ambushed me outside Cobwebs and Curiosities and told me to report to the medical tent,” Dane said. “She also told me to take inventory and to tell her whether they had all the necessary medical supplies, and to let her know if anything was missing.” He smiled. “I was tempted to ask for a portable ultrasound and an LED surgical light to see how she’d react.”
“She probably wouldn’t bat an eye, and would place the order immediately,” Wren said. “You could ask for the moon, and she’d give it to you.”
“As long as I offered to take over Dr. Morris’s practice,” he replied. “Have I told you that I am absolutely not ever going to become a family doctor?”
She patted his chest, as if placating a child. “Yeah, yeah.”
He chuckled, and Dane tipped his head back to look at the sky, filled with stars. They hung heavy, bright, and cheerful. The last time he’d seen a night so star-filled was in the Sudan, providing medical care in that shitshow of a conflict zone. He’d taken a break between an amputation and a bullet-to-the-chest wound to go outside and look up. Of course, after ten minutes, he started shifting from foot to foot, thinking of everything he had to do, itching to get inside. But right now, there was nothing he wanted more than to lie here with Wren tucked into his side, a beer in his hand.
Well, nothing but her naked, screaming his name.Crap.
