Chapter Nine

Micki

After a mouthwatering, delicious lunch, Devin took me upstairs to check out the bedrooms and choose which one I wanted. Secretly I hoped I wouldn’t be needing it, but nothing had been carved in stone…yet.

“I’ll take this one,” I announced, after he’d shown me the two other bedrooms on the opposite side from the ocean—and his. That the one I chose just so happened to be right next to his and shared the same balcony, well…happy accident.

Salacious thoughts aside, the entire decor of the room brought a smile to my face. White shiplap walls, dark wood floors, and a travel-magazine view of aquamarine waters that went on as far as the eye could see. A four-poster canopy bed decked out with crisp white bed linens anchored the room. If I were to design an island bedroom, it would look exactly like this. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, filled with books of myriad subjects and antique navigation tools, took up one entire wall. “It’s just what I’d have designed myself. You may never get me out of here.”

He had a pained expression on his face. “Never? Oh, that hurts. But aside from that disappointing start, I’m glad you like it. I, on the other hand, prefer my bedroom…which just happens to be next to yours, in case you missed that.”

A little gurgle of laughter bubbled out of me. “It is? Why I’d barely noticed. Until you pointed it out. Three times.”

With a rogue’s smile, he folded his arms across his chest. “Did I ever mention that I sometimes walk in my sleep?”

“Oh dear, dear. That’s not good. Not good at all. I mean with you sleeping on the second floor and all. That could be dangerous, don’t you think?”

He wasn’t even a little abashed. “I’m all about taking risks, sweetheart.” His smile dimmed just a bit as his eyes dropped to my mouth. “No risk, no reward, as they say.”

An almost palpable energy filled the room, and I wondered if there’d ever come a time when my pulse didn’t speed up when I looked at him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t. Turning, he walked toward the door. “I’ll let you change. Bathing suits are optional, of course,” he added, with a wink, before pulling the door shut behind him.

I stared at the polished wood panel for a full minute before shaking myself from the trance-like state I’d slipped into. The man had me off balance since the day of the wedding and I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to change any time soon.

Diving into my bag that he’d placed on the bed, my hands flew through the contents to find my bikini, shorts and a tank top. A few minutes later, I resisted the urge to skip down the stairs like a kid and instead took them like a grown woman, pretending there wasn’t a gorgeous man waiting for me somewhere near the bottom. Stumbling to a halt on the last riser, I found him leaning against the wooden railing of the porch outside, his gaze focused somewhere off in the distance. I paused and memorized every detail. His arms wide, bracing his six foot three frame. The wind lifting random locks of his hair. He seemed lost in thought.

Hesitant to interrupt him, I took a step back, but he must have sensed the movement.

Turning, his expression serious until his eyes found mine. A slow, sensuous smile lifted his lips. So slow and so deliberate, my whole body flushed with awareness. It was all I could do not to leap on him and wrap my body around his.

His eyes swept me up and down, twisting to look behind my neck. “I see a tie, so that means a bathing suit?”

“Check.”

“Disappointing, but I’ll have to be satisfied with ogling your body with it on. Sunscreen?”

“All set.”

He eyed me with speculation as he rubbed his chin. “Something’s missing, but I’m not sure what it is.”

Automatically, I looked down to my hands. “Oh,” I laughed. “Believe it or not I don’t have my camera with me.”

“It makes you look a little underdressed, except…oh, now that’s an interesting thought. Underdressed…hmm. What an intriguing thought.”

“Mind in the gutter, Mr. Stockton?”

He pretended to be offended. “Me? Never. Purest of thoughts run through this mind, I can tell you. Like a priest. Well, except for where you’re concerned, but…”

I laughed. “The inner lecher slips out now and again.” I sighed theatrically. “Believe it or not, I think I’d like to see the island without wondering what it looks like from my viewfinder. Crazy, I know, but it must be the food and the air and—”

“Me?” he provided, hopefully.

My heart did a funny little triple beat at his look of boyish optimism. “And you,” I added with a smile.

Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone before I could put a finger on it. “Then, let’s get going.” With a wide sweep of his hand toward the steps leading down to the white sand, he said, “Fisher Island awaits you.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Devin reached for my hand and I let him take it as we set off. My hand tingled at his touch, enveloped in his large, warm hand. We walked on in comfortable silence for a few minutes. I was captivated by the pristine, empty beach and the glorious blues and greens of the water. In the shallows, the gin-clear water allowed a glimpse of the white, sandy bottom. I couldn’t wait to dive into the surf.

The further west we walked I could see how the beach curved into a cove that I hadn’t seen from the house. “Oh, what a gorgeous picture this would make. Look at that house, almost hidden in the palm trees.” I pointed at the lone house peeking through the lush greenery.”

“Turn around,” he said.

I did and realized that half of his house was hidden as well. It sat out on a spit of land that I hadn’t seen earlier.

“It’s private enough that you don’t even realize you have neighbors.”

“Yep. That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with this house.”

I pivoted slowly, taking it all in. “I think I’ve decided you’re nuts, Devin. There’s no way in hell a normal human being could leave this for the hustle and bustle of a crowded city. A cold, rainy, damp city.”

He surveyed what I’d just admired and shrugged casually. “There’s this thing called work, but yes, many would agree that I’m both nuts and not normal.” He added with a grin. “Part of my charm, wouldn’t you agree?”

“You could charm the rattle off a rattlesnake and turn around and sell it back to him.”

“I would like to think I could, but I think you exaggerate just a wee bit.” He leaned closer with a mischievous look in his eye. “Be careful, gorgeous. If I can charm the rattle off a snake, what could I charm you into?”

He wouldn’t have to try too hard to do anything.

Having no witty retort, I simply rolled my eyes with a smile. I looked to the near empty cove. “You know what? For some reason, I thought you had your boat here, at the house, but I don’t see a dock or anything anchored out, except that little cat boat over there.” Shielding my eyes from the sun, I scanned the rest of the cove to see if I missed a small dock or something.

“No, it’s docked at the marina right now. I usually bring her around and anchor off here,” he pointed back towards his house on the lee side. “But only when I’m here for a good amount of time. Otherwise, I just head out of the marina when I go. But I’m kinda pissed at myself for not thinking this one through. I should’ve brought her here, before you got here.”

“Well, I’m excited to see her whenever I can.”

“We can go right now, if you’d like.”

“Can we? Oh, I’d like, I’d like!”

He smiled at my eagerness. “My singular goal is to give you what you’d like.” A curious look came over him and he stared at me for a moment longer before turning to look out over the water. He rubbed the back of his neck as he kept his eyes out to sea. “You want to know something?” he asked, still not looking back. “You couldn’t get here fast enough for me. Every hour of every day felt like a penance.” He let out a low whistle. “You can’t possibly imagine how many times I looked at the clock. My watch. My computer…anything with numbers, and counted how few minutes had passed since the last time I’d checked.” He looked at me sideways. “It made for some very long days.”

Oh, how I could relate to that. The odd thing was, his admission made me feel vulnerable. More vulnerable than I’d been feeling. My go-to response when feeling emotionally naked was to use humor. Deflect whatever I could. And, right now, the window he was opening to his thoughts was heaping too much hope on my wary heart. And, yet…God, I wanted so much more. “So, we can sail?”

He considered me long enough that I began to wonder what I’d done wrong. Until the corner of his mouth ticked up. “Of course.” He lifted his face into the wind and filled his lungs. “The wind’s steady and there’s plenty of time for a decent afternoon sail.”

“I’d love nothing more.” Yes, you would. Kid yourself all you want. You’d love a whole lot more.

“Ahh,” he rubbed his hands together with a roguish look. “How badly does the beauty want to go, hmm? And…how can this work to my advantage, I wonder?”

I slapped his backside and was rewarded with a startled grin in return.

“A cheeky passenger, I see.”

I snorted inelegantly. “Yes, that was cheeky.”

With an easy laugh, he agreed. “Okay, I’m in. Let’s go.”

Forty-five minutes later we were skipping over the warm waters of the sound, the only noise coming from the wind slapping the canvas sail and the water against the hull as we slid out of the mouth of the bay and headed out to open water. For the second time today, I let my thoughts wander where they pleased and wasn’t at all surprised when they landed back on Devin.

I turned to look at him at the helm of his thirty-four-foot sloop, aptly named Dream Designer. His eyes were hidden behind dark Costa sunglasses, but I saw the relaxed planes of his face as the boat picked up speed. This was his element. The water. The sun. The wind.

It used to be mine, as well.

“Want to take over?” he offered.

“The helm?”

“Yep,” he said, already scooting over to give me room to sit directly behind the wheel.

Thrilled to put my hand on the wheel, I happily accepted. “Yesss!”

He’d moved over just enough for me to squeeze in next to him. Our legs pressed together and the heat from his leg warmed mine and moved straight up my body. He made no effort to shift over farther and—if I were honest—I didn’t want him to. Gripping the wheel, I felt the strength of the wind filling the sails and the pull of the boat against the rudder as she danced over the swells. Exhilaration filled every cell of my body and I grinned so hard, my cheeks began to hurt.

“She feels great to handle, Devin. God, this is so fantastic.” Excitement filled me to the point of giddy delight. I hadn’t enjoyed anything like this since we’d been together forever ago. Yet, the years dissolved as the wind kissed my skin and blew through my hair. I wanted the feeling to go on and on…to never end.

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

I looked to where he lounged behind me, one long muscular leg resting on the cushioned settee, his handsome face relaxed. I could’ve stared at him all day, but awareness of my task jolted me back to reality.

I snapped my attention back to course we were sailing. I had no experience sailing in these waters but I knew it could go from a hundred feet deep to shallow, real quick. It was all in reading the bottom, and—even with Devin sitting next to me—I was nervous being in charge.

Taking a second hasty glance sideways, I asked, “You are keeping an eye on where we’re going, right? I mean, you know I have no idea of what I’m doing here.”

He indicated the bow of the boat with a single nod. “You sailed enough when we were together, but yes…I am aware of where we are and—” He ripped his glasses of his face and shouted, “Oh shit!”

Panicked, I jumped up, my heart in my throat, furiously scanning the water “What???”

“I forgot to ask if you wanted to get up and go for a run with me in the morning.”

“You what—?” Understanding dawned and I whipped around to whack his shoulder with my hand, my heart threatening to pound itself right out of my chest. “You’re the devil! You were a beast then and you’re a beast now. You damn near scared the shit out of me,” I shrieked. Sitting down in a huff, I missed the fact he’d relaxed his leg enough so that I half sat on it, instead of the cushion. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t muster up true anger as I wiggled my backside back into place.

He eyed the lower half of my body. “Don’t move on my account. I was perfectly comfortable.”

It seemed like an appropriate time to change the subject. “How far are we from the house?”

He tugged the bill of his hat lower over his eyes and scanned the coastline. “We haven’t gone that far. I’d say only about a half a mile. Maybe three-quarters, but don’t worry. We’ve got plenty more time before we need to consider putting in. Oh…” I saw the corners of his eyes crinkle up. “You don’t have to go to the bathroom, do you?”

I glared at him as hard as I could from behind my sunglasses. Obviously, my fierce face was lacking in oomph, yet he lifted his hands as if to ward off a brutal assault.

“A child. That’s what you are, Devin Stockton. A child.”

He nodded in agreement. “I must admit I feel young again. Not that we’re old or anything.” He paused, looking at my hands on the wheel. Suddenly, he reached out and covered my right hand with his. When skin met skin, sparks of electricity raced up my arm. He felt it, too, because when I turned to face him, his expression shifted from lighthearted to a man heavy in thought. “I feel…happy,” he offered simply.

Out there with nothing more than sun, wind, and water, the world seemed brighter. Hope took firmer root in my heart, while the rest of my body ached for more.

“I do, too.”