I woke the next morning to sunlight streaming in through the open windows to the balcony. I'd forgotten to close the shades last night. Or the doors. Naomi and I had been too busy having rowdy, let's-make-up-for-lost-time sex. On my floor, the bed, against the wall. I rubbed a hand over my face, surprised at how unexpectedly that had all unfolded within the last twenty-four hours. How amazing it had been. Hard to believe that only a few days ago, Naomi had been pointing her angry little finger at me, reminding me of how awful being a Delaney was.

Now she lay with her back to me, the sensuous curve of her chest and waist in profile making me stir with desire for her again. I wanted to run my fingers over her beautiful olive skin and wake her up for round two. Or round six, depending on how you looked at it.

Naomi stirred, turning so that her face was in profile. Her dark hair spilled back from her forehead, fanning across the pillow. That face— the high cheekbones, her wide hazel eyes accented by thick eyebrows, the accidentally-pouty cast her lips so often took on—made my heart skip a beat.

God, I was in trouble. This was a fling, a fling; I had to remember that. I was going to be on my way back out of Rhode Island before I knew it. I had to make sure Naomi knew that, too. I thought of my wish-filled words on the deck the day before, what if it wasn’t just twenty-three days, and felt a new stab of guilt. I wouldn’t mind trying for more than twenty-three days with Naomi, but long-distance relationships are hard, a relationship with a SEAL is hard, and a relationship with a Delaney is damn near impossible.

"Good morning, beautiful," I murmured.

"Good morning, you," she said shortly, but a faint smile touched her lips.

I leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek. Despite Naomi's hard edges, her skin felt soft as a smooth nectarine. "I thought I'd slip out and get us some breakfast."

"You know how to fry bacon?"

"I am capable of being self-sufficient," I promised her, bounding out of bed. I pulled a t-shirt over my head; Naomi sat up in bed, drawing the sheet up to her chest, as she watched me appreciatively. I offered her a self-deprecating smile. "I just choose not to be."

"I knew this was all a trap," she said, settling back down in my bed.

"Absolutely." I pulled on my sweatpants and then headed down the hall, down the stairs— god, what a trek every time you wanted a snack, it made my compact San Diego apartment seem like the best deal ever—and into the kitchen.

Where I came face-to-face with my grandmother, who stood at the stove already dressed in madras and a polo. She quirked an eyebrow at me as if she knew what I was up to.

"Morning," I said. “You're up early."

"I always wake up early. I'm putting the kettle on for my morning tea. Have you seen Naomi?"

"Mm? No."

"Strange. She's supposed to be here by eight every morning when we're at home."

"At home, really?"

"You don't still consider this your home? Not a bit?" She sniffed. "I told your father he should sell the place, but he can be such a romantic when it comes to you boys."

"Sure," I said, because I didn't feel like arguing that one today. She always had a very different take on Mitch than I had. I opened the fridge, pulling out a glass container of strawberries and another of cherries. I opened the sleek metal bread box, but it was empty. "Do we have any pastries left over from yesterday?"

"You're not going to keep those chiseled abs of yours if you eat pastries," she said, nodding towards a box on the end of the counter.

"The occasional croissant is not my enemy.” In a hurry to get out of the kitchen, I threw the box on top of the fruit.

"Who's the girl?" she asked slyly. "Do I know her?"

"Don't worry about it," I said. "It's not serious."

"Well, Rob, you are thirty."

"Next year."

"I know you don't want to hear about how you should settle down while your latest conquest waits for a cannoli, but you really should think about it."

"I don't need love advice." I threw it over my shoulder as I headed for the doorway.

"Oh, you definitely do.”

I made my way up the stairs, trying to shake off her words. Of course, as awful as she was, she was right that I didn’t have a handle on normal relationships.

Her words finally fell away when I walked back in and Naomi smiled across the room. She sat up in bed, her elbows propped up on her knees. "Hey."

"Hey," I said softly as I closed the door with my shoulder, my arms full of breakfast. I would avoid the subject of The Lurking Grandmother for now, for both our sakes.

I threw myself down on the bed besides her and tossed the big white pastry box into her lap. "As good as bacon? Better than bacon? I don't know. Certainly faster than bacon."

She lifted the flap and inhaled deeply, a look of pleasure coming over her face. It made me stir with longing all over again.

"What's in there?" I looped my arm around her waist. I'd all but skipped the deserts during the Kate incident, eager to be away from the lunch table. I had wanted to escape Grandmother's conversation with Kate and the awkward small talk with Senator Gray.

"All kinds of delicious things," she said, poking through them. "I have missed leftovers from your family parties."

"So would you like it if I moved back to Rhode Island?"

She looked up with her teeth already half-sunk into a cannoli, her eyes widening. For a second, she looked like a sexualized ad for a bakery, and I had to stifle a laugh. She chewed thoughtfully, as if she were evaluating the pastry for a state fair ribbon, and swallowed. She was clearly in no hurry to answer that question.

"I think we both know that would never happen," she said.

"No," I said. "It wouldn't. I'm married to my SEAL team. Just... curious."

"Mm, that's not the kind of thing you get to be recreationally curious about," she said, but her tone was mild.

"If you happened to move to San Diego, I wouldn't be dismayed."

"Well, Rob, in this hypothetical alternate universe, I wouldn't be dismayed about you moving to Rhode Island."

There was powdered sugar on her pink lower lip. So I kissed her. I had to.

Naomi paused for a second, very still, and then she threw the cannoli back into the box and wrapped her arms around my neck. She kissed me hungrily.

I slid my hands around her waist. Her skin was soft and warm, and I let my hands roam her body. When my palm stroked over her thigh and slipped upwards, she jumped, but she smiled. I threw my thigh over hers, trapping her there as I caressed her.

She moaned softly into my shoulder, and I felt the growing wet heat of her on my fingers. I kissed her shoulder, her breast, the soft curve of her stomach. My lips pressed against her thigh.

The door opened, and Grandmother walked in quite casually.

"Oh!" Naomi said, diving beneath the sheet. She pulled it out of my hands as I, dumbfounded, rolled off the bed. I grabbed the blanket that hung at the foot of the bed.

My heart pounded like I was a teen boy caught in the middle of some very personal act as I flung the blanket around my waist, but I sounded steely-cold and angry when I asked her, "What the hell do you think you're doing in my room?"

"Oh," she said, pressing her hand to her heart, "I'm so sorry I interrupted you two, Rob."

"Why does that not have the ring of sincerity?" I asked.

From here, I could see Naomi tented under the sheet, the look of consternation written across her beautiful face. But Grandmother wouldn’t be able to see Naomi from her angle.

"Believe me, this is embarrassing for all of us," she said. "Grandparents do not want to think of their grandchildren as sexual beings any more than grandchildren want to think of their grandparents as sexual beings..."

"Stop. Talking."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "So you're feeling better about that family curse?"

"There is no family curse."

"Really? Your father lost the two most important women in his life under highly tragic circumstances. I could have sworn you thought you and your brothers were damaged goods now too..."

"Nope," I said. "As has been pointed out to me lately, I'm a well-educated, gentlemanly Navy SEAL with a decent family fortune. I don't think I'm a bad catch."

"If anyone could catch you." Grandmother waved in the direction of the lump under the sheets. "Good luck, sweetheart!"

"Out!" I said again, taking a step towards her.

Grandmother swept towards the door, still smiling. "Do you have dinner plans?"

I closed the door behind her once she was in the hall— she kept walking without waiting for the answer that certainly wasn't coming— and then locked it. Which I should have done earlier.

I turned back to the ghost on the bed with an apologetic smile. "She has a flair for the theatrical. Ignore her."

Naomi pulled the sheet off, exposing tousled bedhead. God, I wanted to crawl back over the bed and make love to her all over again.

But Naomi was biting down on that sweet lower lip. She whispered, "Do you think she knew I was in here?"

"No," I said. "How would she know?"

Naomi shrugged, the movement making her breasts rise and fall, and I couldn't take it anymore. I threw myself onto the bed, reaching for her.

Naomi pulled away, a smile of surprise blooming across her red lips. "She's in the hall! What's wrong with you?"

"You," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm so irresistible."

"You are."

"I have to go," she said, slipping out of bed. Then she stood there, adorably naked, raking her fingers through her wild curls. "But how? Out the window?"

"I'll take her out to lunch," I said. "If you promise me that you'll be here when I get back, looking all innocent."

"Ugh, Rob, what a mess."

"Don't tell me you have regrets," I said.

She shrugged.

"All right, whatever," I said. I leaned forward and kissed her, and even if she regretted the amazing sex we'd just had, she pressed her lips to mine in one demure kiss goodbye.