Page 101 of Here & Now

She laughed and nodded. “Everything was wonderful.”

“Not was, is,” he corrected.

She placed her hand on his chest again, right over his rapidly beating heart. “I’m not going to be here much longer.”

He was starting to despise the reminder. “You’ll be here this weekend, though, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good because we have plans.”

“We do?”

He nodded, though he was making this up as he went. “Let me show you around the island, take you to new places, and some familiar ones too. We’ll spend the entire weekend together. What do you say?”

“I—”

“Agree? Great!”

“What about the shop?”

“I’ll ask Marco to cover for me.”

“For the whole weekend?”

“We do each other favors like that.”

“It’s kind of short notice, don’t you think?”

“Let me worry about that.”

“But…”

“No buts. This could be our last weekend together, so let’s make it count, okay?”

She gazed at him for a long moment and then said, “Okay.”

Satisfied, he leaned in and kissed her. He intended it to be brief, but then she wound her arms around his neck and pressed her lush body to his. He nudged her lips apart and tasted her tongue.

She moaned against his lips, and his whole body reacted. His manhood was nestled snugly between her thighs, and if it weren’t for their clothes…

She broke their kiss. “How much time do you have?”

“Just enough,” he said and kissed her again.

Half an hour later, they walked outside together, him in his work clothes and her in her pajamas. He eyed her longingly, wishing he could have stayed in bed with her.

As they stood in his driveway, he leaned in and kissed her without getting too close. Otherwise, he’d have scooped her up and carried her back inside, and to hell with work.

“Have a good day, dear,” she teased.

“You too, darling. I’ll expect my dinner to be ready and waiting when I get home.”

“Ha! This isn’t the 1950s.”

He laughed and reluctantly hopped in the car, and he waved to her as he backed down the driveway.

The rest of the morning flew by as he rented bikes and kayaks, signed people up for dolphin cruises and fishing expeditions, and answered numerous phone calls.