Almost like he didn’t want to be alone with me.
What was that about?
He’d made it clear for years that his end goal was to get me alone and naked.
What had changed?
Had spending some actual real time with me ripped off his rose-colored glasses? Had it knocked me off the pedestal he’d placed me on?
My heart sank. Even as my mind told me that it was for the best.
“Not really, no. I think this home stretch is just reminding me that this was never actually a vacation.”
“It was a vacation, though. This is the only part that isn’t. But if all goes to plan, I’m hoping we can squeeze some of that in too. What’s the point of going to Miami if you aren’t going to have some fun?”
The point was, of course, to see if his hacker friend Arty had tracked down Drake yet. And if so, where we could find him.
The thing was, I hadn’t thought about Drake in… days. He had been my hyperfocus every second of every day back in ShadyValley. I felt queasy day in and day out from thoughts of him and what he’d done, how I’d been played.
I’d been fully immersed in the road trip, the experiences, the food, a little work, and, well, Raff.
As much as I hated to admit it, I’d been thinking about him a lot. And not just in a “what crazy or amazing thing is he going to have planned next?” kind of way. But just… as a person. As, yes, a man. A very attractive man who always smelled faintly of lime, coconut, and rum… even though I knew he hadn’t been drinking. In fact, aside from having a mixed drink with me at one restaurant (because, in his words, the margaritas were ‘life-changing’), he actually never drank at all. Which also tore down another preconceived notion I had about him, thanks to seeing him at The Bog all the time.
It was something that had also been a strike against him. Because as long as my list was for desirable traits I’d want a partner to have, my list of red flags or traits I would never accept in a partner was even longer. Pretty damn high on that list was being a heavy drinker. It was right there below: long-term unemployed, drowning in debt, and one of those guys who is always ‘going to’ start a business and never actually doing it. But above things like mediocre personal style or having a beard—both things I figured I could change or learn to work with.
There were other small things I’d learned about him that I found intriguing. I’d always found him kind of silly and unserious, maybe even too laid-back. He was, in many ways, all those things. But I’d also seen him spring into action—gun in hand—when he’d heard me screaming. When we were walking down a busy street and a fight broke out, he shoved me behind him and wouldn’t let me move until the threat passed. He’d spent a whole hour active-listening to an unhoused man tell him his life story before giving him a rolled-up wad of cash that had to be close to a thousand dollars.
He was very… present, engaged, empathetic, protective, and, yes, full of life.
I almost forgot what that looked like.
I was a workaholic, someone so invested in my future that I often overlooked the present. And the person I was around the most—Cillian—was just the male version of me. I didn’t get to see someone just… alive like that often. Doing so with Raff had created this strange ache inside me that I didn’t fully understand but could no longer deny as it seemed to grow stronger by the day.
“Maybe a little fun,” I conceded.
“That’s my girl.”
It was a throwaway comment.
It meant nothing.
But try telling that to my fluttering heart.
I needed to get Drake found, have whatever confrontation I was going to with him, then get on a plane and get back home as soon as possible. I couldn’t let myself keep softening toward Raff, keep wanting things I knew didn’t fit in with my plans.
“So, which obnoxiously expensive hotel are we staying in here?” I asked, watching the water as we seemed to be driving further away from all the hotels in the heart of town.
“We’re not.”
“What do you mean we’re not? Where are we—oh, God. We’re not staying with your sister club, are we?”
“They have a nice clubhouse, but no. I asked another buddy of mine if we could crash at one of his places.”
“One of? You know someone who has multiple pieces of real estate in this area?” This area where most places cost in the millions.
“I know a couple people with multiple pieces of real estate in this area—among other places—actually. Plus yachts. Of the mega variety.”
“Whoareyou?”
