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Her hair was dark and wild, with just a smudge of smoky eyeliner and pinky nude lips. An ivory, crushed silk slip clung to her body, falling around her hips like water as she walked barefoot across the deck. The neckline of the slip was wide across her collarbone, barely covering her nipples with the thinnest scraps of silk, then came together in a deep vee at her waist, as if the entire dress was just a bolt of slinky fabric draped across her naked body. A renaissance painting coming to life under the dusky starry sky.
“Lily.” Alex reached for Lily, and she melted into her arms. “You look…” She paused, smiling down at the smattering of honey-colored freckles just beginning to appear on her cheeks. “Stunning.”
“I pack
ed something a little fancier just in case we happened to end up on a private houseboat in a beautiful cove at sunset.”
“Well.” Alex pulled her closer, drawing in the sultry, dark vanilla scent of her skin. “That was a damn good guess.” She slid her hands around Lily’s waist, then down the dip of her lower back to her ass with a tortured moan into her neck. “You’re not wearing anything under this, are you?”
“Not a damn thing.” Lily nodded at the grill that had started to smoke in earnest. “Now, eyes on that grill.”
“I had a feeling grilling was going to be a bad idea.” Alex ran her hands over Lily’s body as if trying to memorize it, then kissed her and reluctantly turned back to the coals. “You’re going to have to stand over there, then. I’m only human.”
Lily dragged one of the beanbag chairs closer and sank down in it, smiling as Alex’s eyes followed the silk draping itself across her thighs.
“Didn’t we just establish you have a grill to watch, Alex?”
Alex turned back with a wink in her direction. “How am I supposed to watch anything with you looking like that?” She leaned down to the stainless-steel cooler and brought out a muslin-wrapped package and container of fresh green salad.
???“Ooh…Now you’ve got my attention,” Lily said, leaning forward for a better look. “What are you making?”
“It’s just a simple Cuban mojo grilled steak,” Alex said, unfolding the cloth around the two sirloin steaks inside. “The mojo spice is similar to what we had on the shrimp, but you’ll find the flavor is much more complex with the steak recipe.”
“Did you marinate it beforehand?”
“I did. It’s been in an orange juice, olive oil, and spiced salt marinade. I made it yesterday and stored it in Sara’s fridge. Then I rubbed it a few minutes ago with a chili, garlic, and lime zest dry rub.”
“So did you learn to cook from your aunt that owns the restaurant?”
Alex looked up as a crane took off across the water from the sandbar, stirring the air as it passed. The air settled back into stillness, mirroring the glassy surface of the still water below. “That’s right, Alejandro’s mom.” Alex shook a few drops of water onto the metal grates of the grill to test the temperature. They crackled and steamed instantly, disappearing into the ash-covered charcoal below. “My mother was a terrible cook, but she adored her sister’s cooking, so we all spent a lot of dinners together.” She stirred the coals and picked up the olive oil with a glance in Lily’s direction. “I just paid attention, I guess.”
Alex rubbed the same spices into the grain of the steak with her fingers and a little olive oil, then laid the steaks carefully on the grill. They instantly sizzled and filled the air with the rich, smoky scent of grilling meat as she arranged the salad on two plates, topped it with a pineapple vinaigrette, and handed them to Lily. She settled the plates on the table on the far end of the deck and came back for the silverware and napkins Alex held out to her.
Alex checked her watch again, peered carefully at the steaks, and used the tongs to take them both off the heat and onto the cutting board. “These have to rest for a few minutes, so that gives us just enough time for…” Alex’s voice trailed off as she got out her phone and chose a song. The Bluetooth speakers on the boat picked up and filled the air with Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito.”
Alex turned and held out her hand for Lily. “Dance with me?”
Lily smiled and took it, her eyes locked on Alex. “You seem to forget that I don’t dance, Suarez.”
“I’ll have to stop you there, Miss Larimar.” Alex held her gaze as one hand slid low around Lily’s waist and the other held Lily’s hand at shoulder height. “There’s a difference between don’t dance and can’t dance. You most certainly can dance, and just as a reminder, lying is a sin.”
Lily melted into the step Alex taught her in the cabin, then spun in her arms when Alex tapped her waist.
“Gotcha,” Alex said, her smile turning to laughter when Lily realized what she’d just done. “That was just a dead giveaway.” She tapped her waist twice with one finger, and Lily turned the other direction, falling back into perfect step with Alex afterward.
“Whatever,” Lily said, her dress swirling around her hips as Alex moved their bodies. “I might have wandered into a few underground Latin dance clubs in Havana.”
“And why didn’t you tell me this?” Alex said, turning her halfway around so Lily’s back was to her, their steps perfectly together. “That’s very useful information for someone trying to seduce you.”
Lily turned back around, following Alex as she shifted them into a parallel step. “You really want to ask me why I didn’t tell you something, Dr. Suarez?”
“Touché.” Alex pulled her close as the song ended, her hand sliding from Lily’s waist slowly up her back to hold the base of her neck as she kissed her. “That is an excellent point.”
Alex reluctantly let her go and returned to the steak, which she cut into slices on the cutting board and topped with a drizzle of garlic oil, a sprinkle of chili flakes, and a few fragrant cilantro leaves. She brought the entire board over to the table and set it carefully between them where Lily was opening a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.
“Thank you for that,” she said. “I completely forgot the wine.”
Lily looked up and held her eyes for a long second, then touched Alex’s bottom lip with a gentle fingertip before she leaned in and followed it with a kiss. “No one has ever made me feel like this.”
