“Jesus H. Shitballs,” she said as he sucked on her clit and pushed two fingers inside her, curling them to hit her G-spot.
He had her hovering on the brink when he stopped.
“Cooper!”
“Are you going to give me a chance, Gigi?”
“Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”
“A real chance, the kind where risks are taken, and two lives come together to make one that works for both of us?”
“I have to answer that before you’ll let me come?” she asked, squirming against the fingers he had buried deep inside her.
“Yeah, you do.”
“This is sexual blackmail!”
“Call it what you will. Answer the question. Are we going to do this?” He withdrew his fingers almost completely and then drove them back inside her, taking care not to hurt her after she’d told him she was sore from last night.
“I wish you would do it, for fuck’s sake.”
Cooper laughed. “I will. As soon as you give me what I want, I’ll give you what you want.”
“If this is the kind of boyfriend you’re going to be, I’ve got a rabbit that doesn’t talk back to me.”
“Can your rabbit do this?” He twirled his tongue around her clit before sucking on the tight nub of nerves and making her cry out. “Can it do this?” He withdrew his fingers and pushed one into her anus before she had the opportunity to anticipate his intentions. “How about this?” He buried his tongue inside her and went for it, making her come so hard, she nearly broke the finger he had buried in her ass. “Now, as I was saying…” He kept his finger inside her while he waited for her to recover. “Are you going to give me a chance?”
“You’ve got your finger up my ass. I believe that means I’m giving you a chance.”
Cooper laughed so hard, he had tears in his eyes. “Gigi, I really think I could love you.”
“I’ve warned you that’s not a good idea, but you won’t listen to reason.”
“I think it’s quite possibly the best idea I’ll ever have in my entire life.”
“It’s your funeral.” She squirmed, trying to break free of him. “Now get your finger out of there. Right now.”
He dipped his head, pressed his tongue to her clit and pushed his finger deeper into her. “Not until you give me a second one.”
* * *
“This feels weird,” Dara said to Oliver as they drove to Luke and Syd’s for dinner. “They don’t even know us, and they invited us to dinner.”
“He knows me. I see him every day.”
“It still feels weird.”
“Don’t let it. You know how the people are here. Everyone has been so welcoming and kind to us. Luke is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. I’m sure his wife is great, too.”
Dara had become accustomed to just about everything feeling strange since she lost her son, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to her that socializing with people she didn’t know would be awkward. Since they’d come to Gansett, she’d tried to go with the island flow, as Oliver called it, meeting lots of new people who hadn’t known them before they lost Lewis.
There was relief in that.
Everyone didn’t look at her like she was a walking tragedy the way they did at home.
“Tell me more about your first day at the Wayfarer. What did they have you doing?”
“Nikki gave me three weddings to work on, all of them happening next spring and summer. I set up Zoom meetings with the brides to get acquainted and to go over the details for each of them.”
“That sounds like so much fun, getting to work with couples on the happiest day of their lives.”
“I’m looking forward to really digging in. The big challenge is that everything has to be ordered way in advance so it gets here in time. Nikki has a very impressive system in place with vendors and lead times.”
“I never gave much thought to the challenges of island life until we came here. Big Mac’s son-in-law Joe owns the ferry company, and Big Mac always has stories about things coming and going. They send a special ferry twice a week in-season to bring gas over. No passengers allowed on that one.”
“It’s all very interesting indeed. Nikki said the family has been doing a community Thanksgiving at the marina the last few years, but it’s gotten so big, they want to move it to the Wayfarer. Since she’s getting married that weekend, she’s putting me in charge of that, the Christmas meal they want to add this year and a New Year’s Eve party for the island’s year-round residents.”
“So the off-season will be busy for you.”
“Looks that way.”
“I’m happy to see you taking this on, Dar. I think it’ll be good for you.”
“I think so, too. Like you said, it’s a challenge, but nothing like what work used to be like. I’m not ready to go back to that life any time soon, so this feels perfect for now.”
“What if we decide we never want to leave this place? What if the Wayfarer turns out to be a job you love, and my day trading provides a sustainable income?”
“I guess then we’ll figure out how to make this a permanent move.”
“You’d be up for that?”
She shrugged. “I’m taking life one day at a time these days. That’s all I’m capable of.”
“I’m glad to hear you say you might consider staying. I feel more at home here in a few days than I have anywhere I’ve ever lived. I love the morning meeting at the marina and the friendly people and the gorgeous scenery and the adventure of living on an isolated island. I love it all.” He looked over at her. “But I only love it if you do, too.”
“I like it a lot. I feel like I can breathe here. Do I want to stay forever? I’m not sure yet, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”
“We probably ought to experience winter before we fall in love with the place, huh?”
Dara laughed, which was another thing that happened more often lately. “True.” With the windows down, she turned her face into the last of the day’s warm sunshine. Peace had been an elusive thing over the last year, but it had shown up occasionally since they’d come to Gansett. If nothing else, she and Oliver were finding their way back to each other, and for that, she would always be thankful.
For many dark months, she’d wondered if their once-blissful marriage was going to be a secondary loss. It seemed now like maybe they had gotten through the worst of it and were slowly but surely finding a new normal. That simply hadn’t been possible at home. Why? She couldn’t say, but she wasn’t asking any questions. She was thankful for any peace she could find.
Luke and Syd lived in a ranch house right at the coast.
“Wow, what a spot this is,” Oliver said as they stepped out of the SUV to the start of what would be a spectacular sunset.
“I inherited it from my mom,” a handsome dark-haired man said when he came out to greet them. “She died young, so it was just me here until I got lucky and convinced Syd to spend the rest of her life with me.”
“It’s amazing.” Oliver shook his friend’s hand. “You must have people beating down the door wanting to take it off your hands.”