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My pinch to her thigh wasn’t hard—just enough to get her attention—but she squealed and lunged backward like she’d dismounted my lap in favor of her ass on the patio. I threw my arms around her, my growl earning a squeal of laughter as I pressed kisses up her collar. “I can’t have a fucking dog,” I grumbled against her skin. “Much less apuppy.”
“Why?” She blinked, her confusion somehow adorable and simultaneously ridiculous.
“I fish for a living.”
Brow furrowed, she scowled down at the photos. “So? Is that…against the rules or something?”
Rolling my eyes, I explained the obvious. “Who the hell would take care of it? Potty train it? I’m never home.”
“Oh,” she said, her face falling. She looked back at the screen, face twisting in contemplation. “I mean, I’m not sure Chloe would approve once she’s up here, but I’m home. I helped Brex train Royal. If you want one—or two—you should get one. You deserve to have a buddy. Or buddies.” Surprise lit my soul on fire right as her eyes widened. The implications of her words struck us both, her lips popping open.
“Generous offer,” I said softly, tucking her obstinate curls behind her ear again as she slowly blew the air from her lungs, melting over me and wrapping her hands behind my back. Maybe she was hiding that edible blush in her cheeks, or maybe she just needed the reassurance that her future casting hadn’t entirely terrified me.
Quite the opposite. While my internal alarms should have been screaming to run for the damn hills…I felt oddly at peace.Tooat peace for logic to be content. Chewing that reaction over would take more time than we likely had. My hands buzzed with the need to touch and claim as I ran my palms over her thighs, the strip of exposed skin below her shirt. Right as I was thinking I could get used to the feel of her body wrapped around mine—my unobstructed view of the mountains through the fog making the moment feel eerily idyllic—my front door banged open, my brother’s voice bouncing off the walls. Right on cue.
“Yo! Do you have coffee? I’m out.”
Closing my eyes, I sighed dramatically. “Axel, you know if you bothered to shop, you wouldn’t have to steal my shit all the time.”
“I did shop. Town was out, too.”
“Fucking island,” I grumbled as a smirking Noel slunk off my lap, a trace of pink still in her skin. Throttling my brother suddenly became an actual possibility. “Barge must have skipped us this week.”
“They can do that?” She asked, shock lacing her voice as she stretched, popping her back. Her exposed abs were just begging for my fucking tongue to run across them.
Axel was ajackass.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “When the storms are too bad, they won’t risk the jaunt out here.”
“So…what happens if you run out of supplies?”
“Tough shit and phone a friend…or,brother, in Axel’s case.”
“That doesn’t seem very…safe.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “Last winter, we got hit back-to-back with storms. Couldn’t find a scrap of dairy for ten days. Coffee becomes a damn currency. Never realized as a kid that those weeks on beans and rice were rations.”
“Oh, hey, Red!” Axel said as he popped his head outside, cheery and oblivious to the fact that I had very different plans for my afternoon off. “Throwin’ on a pot—you guys want some?”
I was about to barkno, tell him to take the bag and get out, when Noel said, “I could go for a cup! I guess I better check in with Grizzly Grind and make sure we have what we need for the week.”
The glare I sent my brother had him grinning back at me for a beat before the two of them vanished inside. Groaning, I set my head against the back of the chair, begrudging the fog as it crept over my lawn, gradually blotting out the view. So much for half a day with my girl.
When we all split ways, I couldn’t shake the trepidation in my gut at the mere idea of being away from her. The boys reassured me, of course, that we’d steal her for guys’ night, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that we should have just stayed home.
TWENTY-SIX
NOEL
“This isinsane, Brex,” I said, slamming the truck door as I slid into the driver’s seat and worked to keep my phone at face level while adjusting my purse. We’d been video chatting for the last thirty minutes as I wandered the island searching for supplies for the shop.
“You checked all three stores?” She asked, wide-eyed.
“Not only did I check, I had the stock boys check. They’re fresh out of all dairy. Full stop. The whole damn town. I could fly to a village, but I somehow suspect my prospects would be worse.”
“How much do you have left?”
I mentally calculated, wincing. “About enough for the next two days, but after that, it’ll be black coffee only.”
