“It was good,” William said as they tied their boats together. “I caught two. Finn caught four.”
Brenna cast her gaze across the boat toward Finn. “Four, huh?”
He grinned. “It was a good fishing spot.”
He was standing there wearing only his board shorts, his body bronzed and golden and dripping with sweat. He wore his shades and the wind blew his raven hair. It wasn’t fair for a man to look so downright hot. Brenna felt a pang of regret that they weren’t alone in this shaded cove so she could have her way with him about five or six times.
She dipped her sunglasses down her nose and gave him a very direct look. His lips ticked up in a knowing smile, so he’d obviously received her message.
They climbed off the boats and onto the small island, opened up the coolers and grabbed their sandwiches and fruit and veggie sticks and parked their butts in the sand.
Finn sat next to her.
“I guess it was a good fishing expedition,” she said as he dug into the bag containing the carrots.
He chewed, swallowed and nodded. “Really good. I need to add ‘buying a boat’ to my list of things to do—someday.”
“You do know we have a boat.”
He shrugged. “That’s your family’s boat. I want one of my own so I can go out anytime I want.”
She wasn’t going to tell him that the Bellinis’ boat was his anytime for the asking, that her father would never tell him no. She understood men and pride.
“Anything worth having is worth working for,” she said.
He nodded. “Damn right.”
Brenna understood that better than anyone. She chewed thoughtfully, taking a sip of her water.
“When Mitchell and I got married, I saved all the money I could, my one goal to buy a house. I hated living in that cramped one-bedroom condo.”
“I sense a but in there.”
“Mitchell liked to take trips and host parties and show off his success. One of the many things we argued over.”
“Ah. You weren’t on the same page, financially.”
“Not in the least. But when we divorced I took the money I saved and put it away again.”
“For your someday house.”
She turned to him. “Yes. For my someday house.”
“You’ll get it. Someday.”
“Just like your boat.”
“Just like my boat.” He smiled and smoothed a wayward hair away from her face. “Anything worth having is worth waiting for.”
She wasn’t certain if he was referring to his boat, her house or something else entirely. But she was lost in his eyes right then and didn’t care. Whenever she looked at him, the whole world fell away.
And when he leaned in and brushed his lips across hers, she melted against him, only barely cognizant of the other people nearby. Finn was the one who broke the kiss.
“Hold that thought for later. When we’re alone.”
“We’ll be alone later?”
“Yeah. When we get back to my place. If you wanna come over.”
She pressed her fingers into his bare chest. “Oh, I want to come over.”
“Good.”
They all piled back into the boats after lunch and took turns tubing. Brenna ended up on the boat with Finn, and the two of them went out together.
“You ready?” he asked as Dave started the boat’s engine.
“I’ve totally got this.” Which she did, because this was not her first ride on a tube.
He grinned, and then they were off, sailing over crests like they were flying. They hit the water hard and her legs nearly flopped over her head, sending her careening off the tube. Finn grabbed on to her and tugged her against him and she fought for breath as she laughed. He held tight to her while they went catapulting over the waves.
She was dizzy by the time Dave stopped, but, hey, she’d held on. They climbed aboard and Brenna needed to get her footing. Finn stayed next to her while she downed some water.
“Feel okay?” he asked.
She looked over at him. “Exhilarated. How about you?”
He grinned. “Same. You did great out there.”
“Did you have any doubt I would?”
“Nope.”
Now it was Dave and Sabra’s turn. Finn drove the boat and Brenna stood at the stern to watch them so she could signal Finn if one of them fell off. Sue and Andi were on their boat as well, so they all chatted while watching.
“You were a natural out there on the tube, Brenna,” Sue said.
“My sisters and I went out on the boat with my mom and dad when we were kids. I learned to ski and tube as soon as I learned to swim.”
“Same here,” Andi said. “I grew up in Florida, and we hit the beach as soon as we could stand. We were out on the water all the time.”
Sabra did a flip off the tube, so Brenna signaled Finn, who slowed and brought the boat around to pick them up.
Sabra was laughing as she climbed aboard. “I’ve got so much damn water in my ear I’ll be floating in my sleep.”
Sue and Andi went next, and they hung on for the duration of their ride.
Brenna could have done this all day, but they decided to meet up with the others and head to shore. They loaded up the boats and drove back to the house. Everyone rinsed off and Brenna took off her swimsuit and changed into her sundress, winding her hair into a knot on top of her head.
“I’m madly in love with your hair,” Marie said as they stood side-by-side in the bathroom. “I’ve tried to get that color four times and it always ends up orange, so I gave up and went back to brown.”
Marie was petite and absolutely stunning. “Your hair is lush and gorgeous. I don’t know why you’d want to change it. Mine is naturally curly and drives me crazy.”
Marie laughed. “We always want what we don’t have.”
“I guess that’s true.”
They went into the kitchen and dove into fixing sides while the guys went into the backyard and helped Sue pull the meat out of the smoker to get it ready to put onto the grill.
Brenna pulled out bottles of wine and they opened those, plus Andi made up a batch of sangria, so they had plenty to drink. Considering that Brenna typically worked weddings on a Saturday, it was a treat to kick back, relax and enjoy a rare day off.
They sat and drank and talked about their lives and partners. It was nice to sit with a group of women who were at similar points in their lives, who also loved their careers. She loved learning about them. They all had varied careers, from financial analyst to child development coordinator to chef.