“Yes,” I moan as Dex slides his big palms down my legs, giving me goosebumps. His hands stop at the bright red shoes still on my feet and he smirks. I’m wearing the shoes-and only the shoes.

“Fuck, you’re sexy,” he groans as he kisses a trail down from my ankles to the red Louboutins on my feet. “I’m going to fuck you extra hard for keeping these on.”

I gulp as my eyes wander down his muscular body, taking in every inch of hard muscle, every deep ridge and sexy line of his chest and abs. My eyes continue past his shredded abs to the perfect V that’s carved into his pelvis. I moan as my eyes stop at his trimmed pubic hair before continuing down to the main attraction.

His cock is huge-thick and long as it points up at the ceiling waiting to please me.

My pussy clenches as he separates my legs and climbs over me, making my heart thump. I reach down and wrap my fingers around his cock, moaning as I realize how big he actually is.

“Stick it in me,” I beg. I can hear the desperation in my voice.

My wet lips part as he drags his tip up my wet folds, making my back arch. I reach for him, holding him as close as I can as he guides his delicious cock into my tight hole.

“Yes!” I scream, already feeling an orgasm coming on. “Fuck yes! Just like that!”

His beautiful face is in front of mine as he thrusts inside of me over and over again. “Just like what?” he asks.

His cock feels so good but he’s slowing down. “Just like what?”

It’s then that my eyes pop open and cruel reality comes crashing down. Dex is leaning over the barricade I made, grinning as he watches me. “Just like what?”

“Nothing,” I shout, yanking the blankets up to my neck. Luckily, I didn’t strip naked while having my sex dream.

“It didn’t sound like nothing,” he says, laughing as he sits up on the bed.

I glance at the clock before squeezing my eyes shut. It’s the middle of the night. How loud was I that he woke up? What exactly did I say? Is it possible to actually die of embarrassment?

These questions and more are racing through my head as he reaches over and taps my shoulder. “Sounds like you were having an exciting dream,” he says with a knowing voice.

“I wasn’t,” I lie.

“What were you dreaming about?” he asks. His voice sounds like he’s smirking. I hate him.

“Nothing. Leave me alone.”

“Fine,” he says, climbing back under the sheets. “I’ll leave you alone. You seem to be all hot and bothered anyway.”

I squeeze my eyes shut as my stomach hardens. My ears feel impossibly hot like they always do when I’m mortified.

How could I have a sex dream about Dex? Even my subconscious is betraying me. First it was my body, now it’s my mind. Can’t every part of me see that this guy is all wrong for me? He’s pure evil. Sexy as hell, but pure evil.

I finally start to loosen up a little when I think that he’s dropped it and gone back to sleep. He’s been quiet for a few minutes but I should have known better. This is Dex after all.

“Can I ask you one question about your dream?” he asks.

“No.”

He asks it anyways.

“Did you leave your red shoes on for me?”

I explode out of bed like the mattress is on fire and grab my pillow.

“Where are you going?” he asks, grinning as he watches me storm across the room.

“I’m sleeping in the bathroom!” I snap.

He laughs as I toss my pillow on the tiles and grab the door handle.

“Don’t forget to keep your shoes on.”

I slam the door in his face.

* * *

I feel like a prisoner about to walk onto a pirate ship. I’m surrounded by enemies, but I have a big dumb fake smile plastered on my face.

The yacht is ready for us, but I’m standing on the dock as long as I can. I don’t want to be trapped with these people for a second longer than I have to be.

“I hope you brought your bikini,” Prince Kalib says, giving me a creepy look, and making me glad I wore my shorts and tank top over my bathing suit. “You’re going to need it!”

I cringe as he steps off the dock and onto the yacht. He’s taking us deep sea fishing so we can catch our dinner.

Marv walks up next, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but stepping onto Prince Kalib’s boat. “It’s time to earn your commission,” he says, leaning in and growling in my ear. “Help me sell these yachts. I have other business to take care of this weekend.”

His lovely wife Kara follows him in, glaring at me as she steps onto the boat. “I’m watching you,” she whispers, pointing two fingers at her eyes and then sticking her index finger at me. Maybe I’ll get lucky and she’ll get eaten by a shark.

My biggest enemy is last. Dex saunters up the dock looking sinfully good in his boardshorts. A white tank top is tossed over his shoulder, and he’s got those aviator glasses on that drive me nuts. I’d check him out if I wasn’t still embarrassed about last night.

I wince as he approaches, wanting to cover my face with my hands. I glance at the deep water, wondering if anyone would notice if I sunk to the bottom and never came back out.

“Good morning,” he says, grinning from ear to ear. “Sweet dreams last night?”

“Shut up.”

He tilts his head to the side. “Why so cranky? Did you not sleep well?”

My ears start to burn as he chuckles. “You were tossing and turning all night. Actually, it was more like moaning and writhing.”

“I hate you.”

He just laughs. “Here,” he says, taking my hand. He opens my clenched fingers and drops a tiny pill inside my palm. “Take this or you’ll be puking the whole boat ride.”

“Thanks,” I say, swallowing the Gravol. It’s another reason why I’m still on the dock. I wanted to wait until the last moment before getting on the rocking yacht.

“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s just a little dream,” he says, smiling for real at me. “I dream about us all of the time.” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “I’m doing it right now.”

“Stop,” I say, feeling my ears getting really hot now.

“Oh fuck,” he says, tilting his head to the side. His muscles are flexed and I secretly wish I could see what he’s seeing. “Wow. Your legs are spread so far apart. I didn’t realize you’re so flexible. You’re almost doing the splits.”

I slap his arm and he opens his eyes, laughing as he looks down at me.

“Knock it off,” I say. I walk past him, but then stop when I reach the yacht. I turn to him with a grin. “By the way, I can do the splits. You can imagine me all you want, but I’m even more flexible than that.”

I hear a loud gulp from behind me as I step onto the boat.

* * *

The boat is jerking around in the rough open sea making me thankful for that Gravol. When is this supposed to start being fun?

Prince Kalib is driving the boat, Marv is yelling into his satellite phone, Kara is puking into a bucket (well, that part is fun), and Dex is sitting across from me staring at my breasts which are bouncing and jiggling around in my bikini top.

“The view is over there,” I say, pointing to the ocean.

“My eyes are perfectly fine right here,” he says, staring at my chest.

I roll my eyes as I grab my tank top and slip it on, blocking his view.

“Ahh,” he sighs, looking disappointed. “You never let me have any fun.”

“Not if it involves me getting traumatized,” I say, licking the salt water off my lips.

The boat’s engines die down to a low rumble and Prince Kalib pops his head out of the Captain’s cabin. “I think we’re going to get lucky with this spot,” he says, only addressing me.

“At least someone is getting lucky,” Dex mumbles.

The prince cuts the engines and starts setting up the fishing poles, baiting the hooks and doing whatever he has to do so we can get this day over with.

Kara groans as she drops her head back. Her face looks as green as the puke sloshing inside the bucket on her lap.

“How are you feeling, Kara?” I ask her in a sing-song voice, smiling extra wide at her.

“I feel how you look,” she says, spitting into the bucket as she glares at me.

“Some raw fish will settle your stomach,” Dex says.

Her cheeks bulge as big as her eyes as she starts heaving. Dex gives me a wink as she starts another violent round of puking.

Marv finally gets off his phone and joins us with the prince by the fishing poles. It’s a hot, beautiful day, and although I’d rather be on this boat with literally anyone else in the world than these three people, I’m still excited to go deep sea fishing.

My father vanished from my life when I was a toddler, and my mother wasn’t the fishing type. I’ve always wanted to try it but never bothered to go on my own. So, I’m pretty excited to hold a fishing rod for the first time. Well, second time if you count the aisles of Walmart.

Dex is a natural, of course. He takes a rod, baits the hook, and casts it like a pro as I’m trying to handle mine without getting the hook stuck in my leg.

“Like this,” he says, as he places his fishing rod into the holder on the boat. My breath seizes as he comes up behind me and slides his hands down my arms.

I swallow hard, staring at the water but seeing nothing as I feel his hard chest graze the top of my back. His warm breath tickles my neck as he shows me how to hold it properly.

“Like that,” he whispers, placing my fingers on the handle. “Just like you’re holding a—”

The look I give him over my shoulder shuts him up.

“How do I make the hook go far out like you did?” I ask. I really want to catch something, and the best I can do is let the hook fall right beside the boat where exactly zero fish are swimming.

He moves his warm body a little closer and tightens his grip on my forearms, making me light-headed. I have to focus on the instructions coming out of his mouth, but I can only seem to focus on his big biceps curled around me, his low voice growling in my ear, and his heart beating against my back.

“Got it?” he asks, stepping back after he explains how to do the motion.

“Yes,” I lie. I don’t got it.

And that’s clear when I try to cast the hook like he did. The rod sails out of my hands and plops into the water.

“That’s a start,” he says as we both start laughing. I look at the prince to see if he saw, but he’s setting up the rods with Marv on the other side of the boat.

“Try again,” Dex says, handing me another one.

He gives me a few pointers, mainly to keep my hands closed, and I try again. This time the hook sails through the air and lands a few feet from his.

“Yay!” I squeal, jumping up in the air.

“Great job!” he says, smiling as he holds up his hand for a high-five. I slap my palm against his, and he closes his hand around mine, holding it for an extra moment.

Something electric passes between us, and I yank my hand back before I get burned. “Thanks,” I mumble, turning toward the ocean as I hold the rod with both hands.

I lean against the edge of the boat, watching the sparkling ocean as we wait for an unlucky fish to bite. Dex stands beside me in a comfortable silence, enjoying the view as well, and I realize that this is the first time we’ve been together for more than five minutes without getting at each other’s throats. It’s kinda nice.

“Have you ever been fishing before?” I ask after a while.

“Yeah,” he says, running a hand through his hair as he takes a deep breath. “I lived in Alaska when I was a kid, and my dad would take me fishing during the summer.”

I jerk my head back in surprise. “Alaska?” I spit out, staring at him in shock. “I didn’t know that.”

He smiles a sad smile. “I haven’t been there since I was seven-years-old.”

“Is your dad from Alaska?” I ask, wanting to know everything about him. Not because I care, but to use for future ammunition in our war. Definitely not because I care.

“Was from Alaska,” he says, gazing out at the ocean with an empty stare. “He died two days before my seventh birthday.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, dropping my head. The look on his face is so raw and full of emotion that I suddenly feel like I’m an intruder who stepped into the wrong room and is witnessing something deeply personal.

“It’s okay,” he says, his voice thicker than usual. “My father was Alaskan born and raised. A real mountain of a man. You wouldn’t find a tougher guy, but when he was around my mother he was pure jelly. He was so in love with her.”

“Was she from Alaska too?”

“No,” he says, shaking his head. “She was from Richmond, Virginia. She moved up to Alaska to live with him but when he died she moved us back down to her home so she could be close to her family. I haven’t been back up to Alaska since.”

“What happened to him?” I ask softly. “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”

He looks down at his hand, which is picking at the rubber ridges of the fishing pole. “Cancer,” he says, the dreaded word catching in his throat. “I hero-worshiped him when I was a kid, and I was forced to watch the man who lifted me on his wide shoulders like I weighed nothing waste away to a skeleton. Three months after the diagnosis, he was dead.”

My chest aches as I listen to his heartbreaking words. He takes a deep breath as he stares out at the ocean, trying to steel his emotions.

I’m not as good at that as he is. My eyes start to water as soreness sits in my throat. “I’m sorry,” I say, inching a little closer to him. Our arms touch, and for the first time, I keep it there. “I know how much it sucks to grow up without a dad.”

“Really?” he asks, looking down at me with soft eyes.

I nod as my shoulders droop down. “He ran out on my mom when I was a toddler.”

“Prick,” he mutters under his breath. “I find it hard to believe that someone would leave you.”

His words take me by surprise, and I’m about to ask him what he means when my fishing rod jerks forward. I tighten my grip around the handle as I look down at the tight fishing line.

“I caught something!” I shout out in surprise.

Dex secures his fishing pole and rushes behind me, supporting me with his strong arms. “Okay,” he says, as my breath races. My heart is beating so fast.

“Lower your rod fast,” he says, helping me. “Now quickly turn the reel.”

The beast on the other end is so strong. My flexed arms are burning as I try to reel him in.

“You do it,” I say, worried that I’ll screw it up.

“No way,” he says, shaking his head. “You got this, Riley Coyote. Just keep doing what I showed you.”

It takes forever, and I’m exhausted with my arms on fire, but I finally get the beast to the surface.

“Holy crap!” Marv shouts as he looks overboard. “That’s got to be at least thirteen feet!”

“What is it?” I ask, gritting my teeth as I struggle to turn the reel.

“A marlin,” Prince Kalib says as he looks overboard.

“It feels like Godzilla,” I say between ragged breaths.

I take a peek overboard and gasp when I see the large marlin thrashing around in the water, swinging his long nose-sword around like a pirate.

“Dex,” I gasp, looking up at him as sweat drips down my temple. “He’s too big for me.”

“I’m right here,” he says, wrapping his arms around me for support. “Let’s do this together.”

The load becomes lighter as Dex shoulders the bulk of it. With the strain off of me and on Dex, I can enjoy the moment more. My senses are heightened as adrenaline rushes through me. I can feel the ridges of the handle against my palms, I can taste the salt from the water on my dry lips, I can smell Dex’s musky scent around me, I can hear the waves slamming against the side of the boat, and finally, I can see the shiny blue marlin as it’s pulled on-board.

I fall backward, completely exhausted, but luckily Dex is there to catch me. He holds me up as he smiles in my ear. “Great job!” he whispers.

My happiness is short lived as I look down at the spectacular creature thrashing around on the floor of the boat. He’s huge-much taller than Dex-with beautiful blue stripes on his silver belly. He swings his long sword-shaped nose as he flails around in confusion. He looked so majestic when I caught a glimpse of him in the water, but now he just looks sad and desperate as he slowly dies at my feet.

“He’s a beauty,” Marv says, slapping his thigh as Prince Kalib takes the hook out of the marlin’s lip. “I’ve never seen one so big!”

“I’ll get my knife,” Prince Kalib says, sounding giddy as he rushes to the other side of the boat.

“I’ll get my camera,” Marv says, running after him.

My body turns rigid as guilt and horror sets in. My stomach is rolling with nerves as I watch him with my vision blurred. He was the king of the ocean, and now he’s going to be stuffed and mounted on the wall over Marv’s couch.

“Are you okay?” Dex whispers as he studies my face.

I’m too upset to talk, so I just shake my head as my lips close into a tight line. My chin trembles as the stunning animal’s movements slow and his mouth opens and closes, his eyes glossing over into a dull haze.

Dex steps in front of me and lowers his face so that our eyes are level. “Want me to throw him back in?” he whispers.

I just nod. It’s all I can do.

In a heartbeat, he turns around and slides his powerful arms under the marlin’s silver belly. With a savage grunt, he lifts the creature up and gently tosses it overboard.

Tears of relief well up behind my eyelids as I watch it swim away unharmed. I lean on the boat, holding onto the edge with trembling hands as it disappears below the surface.

“Thank you,” I whisper to Dex as he stands beside me, watching the water.

My heart picks up again as he gives me a slow smile and a little wink.

“Where did it go?” Marv asks in a panic.

Dex turns to him, sheltering me with his body. “He was bucking so hard that he jumped overboard.”

I smile as I hide behind him, admiring his strong back.

This doesn’t change anything. He’s still a jerk. He’s still my enemy.

I still hate him.

And I’ll be sure to tell him that as soon as I can stop smiling.