“That’s interesting to hear. He seems so normal.”
“He is, but he’s also fucking brilliant. I’d love to work at the free clinic with him if I get the job here, but I couldn’t do patient care. Too much exposure to germs. Maybe there’s a board of directors I could sit on or something.”
“I’m sure they could find a way for you to help out.”
“Can we take a swim to cool off?”
“Sure.” I toss the ladder down and execute what I deem to be a flawless dive off the boat. When I resurface, he’s grinning down at me.
“That was hot.”
“What was?”
“You just diving off the boat like that.”
“Been doing it all my life.”
“First time I’ve ever seen it.”
“Are you going to join me?”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
He dives in and comes after me, making me scream with laughter as I try to get away. His arms come around my waist, and the next thing I know, we’re kissing like fools in the water.
I only come to my senses to make sure we don’t stray too far from the boat.
After the swim, he continues to cast while I stretch out on a bench seat as the sleepless night begins to catch up to me. Between the sun, the lull of the ocean and the view of shirtless Wyatt fishing, I’m as content as I’ve been in a very long time. This last year has completely sucked, and it’s so great to feel good again. I want to hold on to that feeling with both hands, and I’m not going to let Carmen or Maria or anyone else talk me out of it.
The next thing I know, Wyatt is kissing me awake. “I think we’re almost to Cuba.” He smiles down at me, and I reach for him as if we’ve been together forever, and we do this all the time. Wyatt responds enthusiastically and ends up on top of me with my arms and legs wrapped around him. I arch into the thick erection that presses against my most sensitive flesh, letting him know what I want.
“Dee…”
“Now, Wyatt. Please.”
He moves quickly to push down his swim trunks and to untie the bottoms to my bikini. And then he stops. “I don’t have a condom.”
I reach for him. “I’m on the pill. I haven’t been with anyone but you in more than a year.”
“I’m clean. I get tested regularly.”
I smile at him and run my fingers through his thick dark hair. “Then I guess we’re good to go.” He’s so beautiful. His skin is sun-kissed from the afternoon on the water, and his eyes are blazing with desire as he pushes into me.
“This is a first,” he whispers against my lips.
“What is?”
“Two things—sex on a boat and sex without a condom.”
“What do you think of it so far?”
He rolls his eyes back in his head. “Sublime.”
It’s been five months since Car and Jason’s wedding, but I’m right back to the pleasure we found together during that unforgettable night. I emerged from that hotel room changed by him. “You taught me to set my expectations higher,” I whisper to him as he fills me.
“Did I?”
“Oh yeah. I had no idea what I’d been missing.”
“Me, either.”
“Really?”
“Hell yes. It’s never been like that—or this—for me.” He pushes my cover-up out of the way and frees my breasts from the bikini top. “Hello, beauties. I thought of you gorgeous ladies so often after our last visit.”
He makes me giggle while having sex, and that, too, is a first.
As he makes love to me, I feel free and sexy and happy—truly happy for the first time in longer than I can remember. Like the last time I was with him, I experience the highest of highs when he touches me and fills me so perfectly.
“I love this,” I whisper in his ear.
“I love it, too. I love every single thing about being with you.”
“Same.” I place my hands on his face and kiss him. “Thanks for breaking your rules for me.”
“I have a feeling that’s going to turn out to be the best thing I ever did.”
Chapter 10
WYATT
The day on the water with Dee is the most fun I’ve had in years. Fishing was great, but being with her made my day spectacular—and it’s not over yet. I carry our cooler of fish to the car while she turns in the keys to the boat. We’re going to drop off the fish at the restaurant on our way back to her place to shower before dinner. I check my phone for the first time in hours and read a text from Jay.
I told Carmen. He doesn’t have to specify what he told her. I know what he means. She’s wound up about Dee getting involved—and getting hurt.
I hate that my friend’s wife is upset about something to do with me, but Dee has all the info she needs to decide whether she wants to spend time with me. I type my reply. Dee knows everything, and she’s making her own choices with no pressure from me. I swear.
He responds right away. You don’t do serious.
I know.
So, this is different?
Everything about this is different.
Before Jason can reply to that, I stuff the phone in the back pocket of my swim trunks and reach out my hand to relieve Dee of the bags she’s carrying. “Want me to drive?”
“I won’t say no to that. I’m tired.”
“Me, too. How about we pick up takeout from the restaurant rather than going back out later?”
“That’s a brilliant idea. I’d be afraid of falling asleep in the soup.”
“We can’t have that.”
“I’ll text Uncle V. What do you feel like?”
“Let me look at the menu.” My mouth waters as I read through the options. “I’ll do Cuban chicken with the black bean quinoa bowl.”
“I had that last weekend. It’s so good.” She texts her uncle. “I told him we’re bringing him some fresh fish, too.”
“What’d you order?”
“Pasta primavera and a house salad.”
“Add another house salad if it’s not too late.”
She sends another text. “All set. He said it’d be ready when we get there.”
“Have I mentioned that I love your family?”
“They do come in handy, except for when they’re up in my business.”
I look over at her. “Are they up in your business now?”
She shrugs and looks out the passenger-side window.
I reach for her hand. “What’s up?”
“It’s nothing.”
I squeeze her hand. “We’re being honest with each other, right?”
“Carmen wants me to call her. Jason filled her in, and now she wants to talk about it, except if I do that, she’ll try to talk me out of this and you, and I don’t want to hear it.”
“Maybe you ought to listen to what she has to say.”
“Are you trying to talk me out of this now?” she asks, smiling at me.
“Someone oughta.”
“That ship has sailed,” she says. “No turning back.”
“Today was the best.”