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I explode, “What the fuck do you mean, she headed out?” Jim nods slowly as he eyes me warily. I bite out, “Alone?”
“Yeah, alone, Hayden,” he sounds as worried as I feel right now.
“What an idiotic thing to do,” I seethe and then I’m running down the docks, not bothering to say goodbye to Jim or thank him for the information.
While I’ve been waiting for her, she’s gotten herself into who the fuck knows what kind of trouble. Getting around the island is simple and it’s not a long journey, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe for someone without any fucking experience.
There are sand bars out there which are hard to see from inside the boat, but easy to get caught up on. There’s a few reef-like areas and the marshy area looks a lot more hospitable than it is. She could get hurt.
The thought of Bristol being in danger makes it feel like my heart is being ripped from my chest.
Does she have a life vest on? Why did she think this was a good idea? Why didn’t she just keep the appointment?
I don’t waste time unmooring my boat and pulling out of the marina. I’m barely cognizant of any other traffic in the area, but I know if I’m not careful then I won’t be of any good to my woman. I need to find her and make sure she’s okay.
Then I need to yell at her until I don’t feel this level of fear anymore. Or maybe I’ll just kiss her until it goes away.
I’m not sure it ever will though. Kissing would probably be better. I can almost feel her soft lips against mine and the way they would look bruised by the time I’d be done with them.
She’s definitely earned a spanking.
When the first drops of rain fall from the gray clouds now hanging out overhead, I curse under my breath. I’m thankful there’s no lightning in the sky this time. That would make this whole situation worse.
The rain will pass over, but after this stupid stunt by my woman, I’m not sure that I’ll ever be the same again.
CHAPTER 5
BRISTOL
I’m not saying I’ve never done something stupid before, because I have, but this takes the cake. Not like a slice of cake. The entire cake. Probably a fudgy one with all the frosting and even flowers made out of sugar. A cake with at least three tiers.
I don’t even have a good reason for doing what I did. After not being able to get much sleep last night because my thoughts were haunted by Hayden and how damn attracted I am to the man, I couldn’t bear the thought of spending more time with him. More time with him on a boat. A boat I couldn’t escape.
In order to avoid that, I hatched a half-baked plan that I should have taken a few more minutes to formulate. Or, at the very least, I should have gotten coffee before deciding I was going to follow through with it.
Lack of caffeine is the cause of this. And a case of a rampant libido whose focus is a man who goes from cold to hot and lights me up from the inside out.
Hayden doesn’t seem to like me very much, but there’s something about him I can’t ignore. He started to warm up to me at JB’s Bar and I enjoyed talking to him. Probably too much.
Because I’m only here for a few days and then I’m gone. Back home. Where it snows during the winter and is far too cold for me. Where there’s no sand. Where there’s no adorable shops on an island devoted to my favorite holiday.
And, most importantly, where there’s no Hayden.
I shake off the feeling of hopelessness about going home when all of this is done to focus on the much bigger problem in front of me. The bigger problem being the fact that I’m stranded not too far from the perfect location for the photoshoot.
I lean over the side of the boat I rented when I decided to go all ‘I am woman and I can do this on my own even though I have no fucking idea what I’m doing on a boat’, which was…shortsighted. Okay, fine, it was stupid. The whole idea was stupid and now I’m stuck dealing with my own stupidity.
Oh, and I’m thirsty.
Because I didn’t bring water with me. I didn’t bring food either, but it’s a little easier to ignore the hunger pangs in my stomach as panic starts to fill me.
The beach in front of me is beautiful and secluded. There’s a large twist of beach wood that has washed on shore, nestled in something that I would describe as a cove. But, then again, I don’t really know what I’m talking about.
Looking down into the clear water, it’s obvious I’m in trouble. The boat is stuck on a sand dune. Is that what it’s called when it’s under water? Damn it, I don’t even know.
Apparently, people who live near the beach and experience the world with water in it have a whole other vocabulary I don’t know a damn thing about.
I tilt my head back and look up at the clear blue sky above me, but something catches my eye and I rotate my head to take in the darker expanse on the horizon. Is that a storm? It looks like it’s heading my way.
