Wanting to rub it in Calder’s face, I snap a quick picture of the falling-down joint and send it to him, along with the middle finger emoji.
Before I even reach the door, the loud music playing within is shaking the cement beneath my feet. I open the door and step into the lively darkness, my gaze sweeping over thered, hanging Christmas lights and the framed black-and-white photographs along the wall, depicting the fishing trade along the Massachusetts coastline. Broken peanut shells decorate the worn floorboards. The smell of garlic hangs heavy in the air.
And everyone in the crowded restaurant is staring at me.
Of course they are. I might as well be wearing a sign that saysI’m not from around here.
I am. But it’s a much more affluent part of Massachusetts.
Most of the customers are still dressed for the day in whatever uniform they wear for work. Some of them I even vaguely recognize from the resort. Meanwhile, I’m in a pair of deck shoes that are probably worth more than this entire establishment.
But I’m used to being stared at. I was taught from an early age to keep a stiff upper lip in any situation and that’s exactly what I do now, taking off my shades and staring back at the curious onlookers with a bored expression.
One that I can’t maintain when I see Vida weaving through the crowd in my direction.
Jesus.
Fucking.
Christ.
This girl keeps getting hotter.
I was obsessed with her in the maid uniform. Then, this afternoon, I had to go back to my room and jack off over those tight little cutoff shorts. Tonight she’s in a yellow, strapless summer dress that is so snug around her tits, I don’t know how I’m going to keep my hands off them, especially because I know what they feel like. Perfect. The hem is so high on her thighs, the dress had to be designed for torture. Her hair is down and loose, her mouth shiny with gloss, leading to memories of our kiss that afternoon.
How the taste of her hit me like a slug to the stomach.
I haveneverbeen so affected by a kiss. I didn’t even know I could be.
For the second time, she almost had me popping off in my pants. It’s a wonder I didn’t when she tasted like honesty. Ripe, innocent arousal. Forbidden fruit.
The only fruit I want to eat.
Hers.
“Hey,” Vida says, bouncing to a stop in front of me. “I got us a table in the back.”
“Thanks, but that should be my job.”
“Are you forgetting? You don’t have any connections here, rich boy,” she says teasingly, snagging my hand and pulling me through the staring throng of people. I only have eyes for Vida, though, and she’s clearly in her element here. A lot more comfortable than she looked walking through the gym this morning with an armful of towels. That contrast tells me she’s definitelynotcomfortable at the resort. I don’t like knowing that. “Here.”
She slides into a booth all the way in the back corner, and I join her, memorizing the way she gathers her dark hair to one side and leans down to study the menu.
God, she’s so beautiful, it hurts to breathe.
“You know, mussels are an aphrodisiac. They build testosterone and that’s about the last thing I need more of right now. Are you trying to kill me?”
She gives me a prim side glance. “Maybe I just like mussels.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I guess you could order the burger if you don’t think you can handle the extra zinc.”
“I can handle anything, angel.”
“Mmm.” That blush on her bare shoulders makes me wonder what she’s feeling on the inside. If she’s reacting to me the way I’m reacting to her. Like something serious is shifting inside me.Something unexpected and real. “What are your friends doing back at the resort tonight?”
“I couldn’t care less.”
