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Caitlin grinned, gracefully arcing a grape into his mouth. He had to move to get it, but it landed on his tongue.
“Perfect.” Michael pulled another grape off the vine.
They took turns tossing grapes into each other’s mouths, sometimes missing so much that they were sent into spirals of laughter. And that only made them laugh even more. A few grapes flew overboard and others rolled across the deck, but most of them got to their intended target. Eventually one grape was left on the vine.
“Last one,” Michael said. “Ladies first?”
“You can have it,” Pearl said, fatigue written all over her face. She was going to crash soon. “My tummy is full.”
“Thank you.” Michael took the grape and turned toward Caitlin.
Caitlin opened her mouth to catch the grape, but instead, he placed it gently on her tongue. His fingers brushed her cheek, leaving trails of tingles along her skin. They shared a look, one that made Caitlin’s heart stutter in her chest. It was only broken by Pearl yawning and stretching out.
“You want to take a nap?” Caitlin asked. Pearl nodded.
“I’ll clean up if you want to put her to bed downstairs,” Michael said.
Caitlin took Pearl into the small bedroom below deck and tucked Pearl in. When she came out, Michael was mostly done with the clean-up.
“I expected her to crash, but not so soon after lunch,” Caitlin said, helping Michael gather the rest of the leftovers.
“It’s been an exciting day. I don’t blame her,” he said, shaking the picnic blanket off. “Being in the sun for a while always conked me out when I was younger.”
“Really?” Caitlin tucked a few leftovers into the cooler.
“Is that surprising?”
“A little bit. I just had an image in my head of you surfing as a kid—the kind who had to be told to come inside like fifty times.” Caitlin laughed.
“Oh, I was definitely that kid.” Michael folded the blanket neatly and put it in the storage under one of the seats. “But I didn’t readily rest like Pearl did.”
“She usually isn’t so easy. But she was really, really excited about today.” Caitlin tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear as it blew in the wind. “So I think she really wore herself out. Thank you for your kindness and for having us both on here. We’ve made a lot of amazing memories. And I bet Pearl is going to be asking me to man the cruise ship since she’s second mate.”
“It’s no problem at all, really.” Michael gave her one of his killer smiles, which literally made her knees a touch weaker.
They sat down next to each other, the silence between them comfortable. Despite that, Caitlin still felt hyperaware of every cell in her body. The breeze caught Michael’s hair, blowing its clean, salt-air scent toward her.
Caitlin bit her bottom lip, trying to slow down her heart. But it wasn’t working.
“How long have you had this boat?” Caitlin asked.
“About five or so years. A buddy of mine was selling it at just the right time,” he said, raking a hand through his hair. “I’ve always wanted one ever since I was a little kid. My dad used to have to hold me up to steer the boat we had when I was growing up.”
Caitlin smiled, trying to imagine a little, excitable Michael trying to see above the wheel of the boat, just like Pearl had.
“That’s adorable,” she said. “It must have been a lot of fun.”
“It was. It’s pretty fun now, actually,” Michael said. He pointed his thumb toward the boat’s steering. “Want to learn how to drive it?”
“Sure, why not?”
Caitlin followed him over to the boat’s steering wheel. It was bigger than the one in her car. Michael gestured for her to step up to it first. Caitlin put her hands on it as Michael reached behind her to turn on the motor again. The boat rumbled to life underneath them.
“Okay.” Michael stepped up behind her and reached around to grab the wheel. “It’s pretty easy.”
Caitlin’s entire body tingled as she felt Michael’s strong chest lightly against her back. He took her hands and adjusted their position on the wheel. The contrast between his hands and hers was stark—hers were slightly tanned, delicate, and smooth, while his were tanned and strong, with a scar or two on each one.
She briefly wondered what they were from until the breeze whipped his scent around her, derailing her train of thought. He smelled so good, like the best parts of the beach boiled down into one man.
