Rowan moved and her hand brushed his shoulder. Heat burned through him at the contact. Kelsey ran ahead to grab a coconut drink.
“You all right?” she asked.
“Fine.”
“You sure? You look like you’re trying to analyze a spreadsheet.”
He huffed out a laugh. If only she knew what he was trying to deal with. The masculine part of him roared to simply step in and kiss her. Then take the consequences. “Just adjusting. This isn’t my usual scene.”
“No one’s grading you, Suit.”
“Not even your friend Howie?”
She tilted her head, obviously amused. “Everybody loves Howie.”
Everett nodded and considered her answer. “You two together?”
“Romantically?”
“That’s the ‘together’ I meant.”
Rowan stopped and crossed her arms. The fabric pulled taut across her breasts, emphasizing her tight nipples. Of course she wasn’t wearing a bra. Of course he kept thinking about that hidden tat and if Howie had seen it. He was officially losing his mind. “Why would it matter?”
He expected her to snap back, but the question came out breathlessly, as if there were other questions hidden behind it. Because he wasn’t a liar, Everett simply told the truth. “I don’t know. But it does.”
She gave a little gasp of breath that hit his dick like a hot lick of fire. Her red lips parted and she wet her bottom lip with her tongue. He almost groaned in agony.
“You can’t say stuff like that.”
A smile tugged at his mouth. She’d battle him to the very end. “Sure I can. I won’t lie to you, Rowan. Never that. But I make no other promises here.”
Her eyes widened. Her body swayed and closed the distance between them. His hands ached to bury themselves in those wild waves of hair and hold her still for his kiss.
“Dad, Rowan, come on!”
The spell broke at Kelsey’s voice. He caught the relief on Rowan’s face and let her run ahead.
He needed a minute to get his shit together.
Chapter Sixteen
What just happened?
Heat still crawled under Rowan’s skin when they reached the tiki bar. Howie leaned on the bamboo counter, still shirtless. Sweat glistened across his chest. His hair was loose around his shoulders, his grin wide enough to make half the women in the place scramble to get closer.
Everett didn’t look happy.
Kelsey perched on a stool beside her friend, eyes bright. “Can you teach me that fire thing?”
Howie laughed, booming and easy. “Maybe in a few years, little sis. For now, you stick to the waves. They’ll burn you in different ways.”
He slid a coconut toward her. “Fresh juice. Straight from the source. None of that bottled junk.”
She drank, made a face, then smiled. “Tastes weird—but good weird.”
Rowan shook her head, laughing. “I still get nervous when you do the fire routine. Still the same show-off you were when we were kids.”
“Can’t help it,” Howie said. “I live for applause. You were the quiet one. Just you and your board.”
