“Yeah.” I tip my head back to meet his gaze, and his fingers bite into my skin, causing my breath to catch in the back of my throat.
“You two are so cute,” Sammy whispers.
“Yeah, cute,” Mel adds, and I catch Jace’s expression become annoyed before I turn to look at Sammy.
“It was nice meeting you.” I then glance at Mel. “I’m sure I’ll see you two around this week.”
“Absolutely.” Sammy smiles, while Mel stares at Jace.
“Later,” Jace mutters, grabbing my hand and leading me away without another word.
After earlier, I didn’t think I would be looking forward to the two of us being alone again, but now I’m more than ready to get out of here and away from everyone else.
“Thanks for saving me,” I tell him when we get inside the boathouse, and he lets my hand go.
“I would have earlier, but every time I got a step closer to you, someone else would come up to talk to me.” He walks back toward me, holding one of the life vests that had been hanging on the handle of the jet ski. When he hands it to me, I start to put it on but only get it over one arm before the rumble of a motor vibrates the building. Then a jet ski comes around the corner with a solo rider.
Even without being able to see the guy’s eyes behind his sunglasses, I can tell he’s good looking, and it’s not because his body is tan and he’s obviously muscular. No my observation is based solely on the thickness of his dark hair, the cut of his jaw, his full lips, and the arch of his nose.
As soon as he comes to a stop, a very attractive grin forms on his face, and he slides the shades covering his eyes up into his hair. Yep, definitely good-looking.
“Mom said you were here, motherfucker.” He jumps off his seat onto the dock in one swift move, then rushes Jace, giving him a bear hug. I stand back and watch the two of them embrace, then smile when the guy’s eyes come to me. “Shut the fuck up.” He lets Jace go so he can point at me.
“Ian, this is my fiancée, Penny. Penny, my cousin Ian.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Ian repeats, dropping his eyes to my hand. “Mom said you were engaged, and I told her she was smoking something. When the fuck did this happen?”
“A couple months ago,” Jace tells him, and I know in that instant that Ian isn’t buying it. The look on his face changes from playful to serious, and when his eyes come to me, they are filled with suspicion.
“We just got engaged a couple days before we came here for the reunion. We’ve been seeing each other for a few months.” I glare at Jace. “Or maybe I thought we were together when we actually weren’t.”
“A few months? I thought you were dating that chick Anna a few months ago.”
Ugh, that information should not annoy me as much as it does. First, because I didn’t even know Jace a few months ago, and second, this is not real!
“Anna was before me,” I cut in so Jace doesn’t have to come up with something, because Lord knows what would come out of his mouth. “We met right after they broke up.”
“You’re moving kind of fast, don’t you think?” Ian looks at his cousin. “You just started dating, and you’re already engaged?”
“Don’t worry. We plan on having a very, very long engagement,” I assure him to try to put his mind as ease.
“Not that long,” Jace says, and I sigh in exasperation. “Just saying, princess. I don’t plan on waiting a year to make you my wife.”
Okay, he’s used it twice now, and I really hate that nickname more than all the rest of them.
“You’re going to have to.” I cross my arms over my chest—or try to. The task is much more difficult with the lift vest in the way.
“We’ll talk about it later,” he tells me, then gives Ian a look that would have me kicking him in the nuts if this was real.
“No, we will not.”
“We will.”
“We won’t.” I glare at him, then my eyes widen when he drags me forward by the straps on my life jacket.
“We will.”
“We will not.”
“Will.” He ducks his head and presses his mouth hard against mine, and I inhale a startled breath that causes my lips to part. Lifting my hands, I press them against his chest to push him away, but his hand moves up to wrap around the nape of my neck, holding me hostage.
I tell myself that this is for show, that it’s not real, as I melt into the kiss. Then the tip of his tongue touches my inner bottom lip, and I reach out with my own and taste him. He tastes like mint and sunshine, and his hard chest feels good against my soft body. So good that a whimper of need escapes, and he groans in response.
Oh God.
My eyes that had fallen closed spring open in realization, and I push away from him, panting for breath while my heart races.
Glancing quickly over at Ian, I know I messed up, because he doesn’t look any more convinced. Actually, he looks confused as he glances between Jace and me. Like he just witnessed something he shouldn’t have.
“We… We should go.” I step toward Jace and close the awkward distance between us, and as our eyes lock, I realize he looks just as stunned as I feel. Like he wasn’t planning on that happening either.
“Yeah.” His voice is gruff as he focuses on his cousin. “We’re gonna head out. We’ll have a beer tonight.”
“For sure,” Ian mutters.
I latch the clasps on my life jacket and get on the jet ski, half-tempted to just take off on my own. To get as far away from this situation, from Jace, and the memory of that kiss as I can. But of course I can’t do that without looking like I’m running, so I wait for him to get on the seat in front of me.
Chapter 15
Appropriate PDA
“Hold on,” he orders, pressing the throttle, and I grab onto him as we shoot out of the boathouse, then quickly remove my hands from his waist and latch onto the seat behind me. “I said hold on,” he barks over the sound of the engine and water shooting out behind us.
“I am.”
“Hold on to me.”
“I’m fine!” I yell back and hear him curse before the jet ski begins to slow to a stop. When he woke up this afternoon, he told me that we were going to a food truck that took up residence on a dock near the head of the lake. But I can still see the house and everyone from where we are.
“What are you doing?”
“We need to talk.” He cuts the engine, and my heart that had started to go back to a normal speeds up. I want to tell him that we don’t need to talk, but after that kiss, a serious conversation is in order. “Come here.” He reaches back for me, and I shake my head.
“I’m good.”
“Penny, don’t be childish,” he clips, and for the first time since getting on the plane with him, I remember what a jerk he can be.
“I’m not childish.”
“Then come here.”
“I’m right here. If you want to talk, start talking.”
“I’m not going to break my neck to have a conversation with you.” He stands, and I hold on for dear life as the craft tips to the side. Then my breath catches when he straddles the seat facing me, locking my legs in with his knees.