Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
“She knows you’re not in New York anymore?”
“She does. I told her before I left.”
“Well, if she’s calling you when she thinks you’re three-thousand miles away, it doesn’t sound like she’s only interested in something physical.”
“Actually…” He sipped his cappuccino. “I’d told her I was going to be out in California for a while. She works in sales and was calling to let me know she’s going to be in the LA area next week for a business trip. She was seeing if I’d be interested in meeting up. So, I believe her call was for something physical, not to shoot the shit. Though it’s a moot point since I’m here.”
My stomach twisted. “Would you have met her if we were still in California?”
“That’s irrelevant because we aren’t.”
“But if we were there…”
“Even if we were, I’m responsible for your safety twenty-four-seven on this job.”
The word job felt like a smack in the face, and I felt my skin heat. I stood. “I’m sorry if your job gets in the way of your sex life.” I turned and went straight to my room.
An hour later, I was still lying on my bed feeling prickly when Wes knocked on my door. “What?”
He opened the door. “Put a bathing suit on and pack a bag. I made plans for us.”
I frowned. “I’m not in the mood.”
“How the hell do you know if you’re in the mood when I haven’t even told you what the plans are?”
“Because I’m not in the mood to do anything.”
“Welp. Too bad, because I already made the plans, and I had to pay for things upfront. So, find a way to get in the mood.”
I gave him my best pissed-off look.
Wes chuckled. “Is that the best you can do? Sweetheart, I work for some scary-ass men. Now lose the mood and get a bathing suit on.”
“Do whatever you made plans to do by yourself.”
He sighed. “Don’t make me carry your ass down to the car. It might give poor Natalia and Mario next door a heart attack.”
“Fine. Get out so I can change.”
He smirked. “Since you asked so nicely…”
***
Half an hour later, we pulled up at a small marina. “What are we doing here?”
“I rented us a boat,” Wes said. “I read about these caves we can snorkel in that are only a ten-minute boat ride.”
“Do you know how to drive a boat?”
He nodded. “My uncle had one out on Long Island. He taught me. We used to go clamming all the time. I’m pretty sure he only taught me because then he could drink beer all day while I drove the boat, but we always had a good time anyway.”
“I’ve never snorkeled.”
“It’s easy. I’ll teach you. I rented equipment from the guy who rents the boats.”
I hesitated, but eventually I got out of the car. “If I have a panic attack in the water, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
We stopped at the rental shack, and Wes signed a bunch of paperwork before paying and collecting keys and the snorkeling gear. The boat was navy and white, probably about twenty-five-feet long, and had a small canopy over the driver’s console for a bit of shade. But otherwise, it was open to the sun. Its deck was clean and uncluttered, with cushioned bench seats along the sides and a cooler tucked under the captain’s chair. Wes held out a hand to help me on, then lifted a compartment door in the bow and stowed the snorkel gear.
“You good to go?” he asked as he took off his shirt.
Miraculously, my mood started to improve. “Yep.”
He put the key in and turned it, and the engine hummed to life. “I’m just going to punch the coordinates of the cave into the GPS before we go.”
It was a gorgeous day, with the sun shining in a perfect blue sky. As we started to drive, the smell of the saltwater made me forget whatever I’d been annoyed about earlier. We went slow until we got out of the marina area, past the docked boats, and then Wes yelled, “You ready to hit the gas?”
I smiled. “Yes!”
He pushed the throttle, and we shot forward, the boat slicing through the water. I hadn’t thought to bring a hair tie since I didn’t know where we were going, so the wind whipped my hair all around. But it felt exhilarating—so freeing. Saltwater sprayed as we crossed over the back of another boat’s wake, making me squeal.
After a while, we slowed as we approached a hidden cove. The water inside it glowed bright turquoise. Wes killed the engine, and we drifted for a moment, listening to the gentle lap of water against the hull before he got the anchor out of another compartment in the back.
Once he was done setting it, he turned to me with a big smile. “Beautiful, right?”