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“Hemisa!” Hook yelled at her. “What has gotten into you?”
She winked playfully at me then turned her attention to him. “I thought you needed to cool down a bit, lover boy.”
He froze at the accusation, like a deer in headlights.
“You might want to get a handle on that before you-know-who figures it out.” She swam lazily closer to the edge and motioned me over with a crook of her long finger. I leaned out and she whispered, “You’re a very lucky girl.”
“What?” My brow pinched in confusion.
She tilted her head to one side, kind of like a dog, then her pink lips spread wide in a breathtaking smile as she glanced between us. “Oh.” Her giggle sounded like raindrops on a wine glass. “You two are just too cute. This is going to be so much fun.” She pushed away from the skiff.
“Wait!” Hook yelled, leaning out over the edge.
She swam up next to him and he leaned in close, whispering something in her ear. Her eyes fluttered closed at the sound of his voice and a twinge of displeasure lanced through me. Then her eyes flew wide and settled on me. When he finished being a secretive prick, she nodded once. “Of course.”
“I need your word, Hemisa. This is not a game.”
“You have it.”
After the shimmering creature with her annoyingly perky attitude finally left, I leveled him with a glare. “What was that about?”
He picked up the oars and continued rowing without so much as a glance in my direction, which wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, since I was basically sitting right in the broody bastard’s eyeline.
“Well?”
“That was insurance.” He still wouldn’t look at me, but at least we were talking again.
“For what?” I fought the urge to cross my arms over my chest because doing that on this little bench on a tiny boat would have me listing from side to side with every gentle wave that rocked the craft. Instead, I wrapped my fingers around the edge of the bench at my sides and dug my nails into the sealed wood.
What did I get in return? Silence.
Hook’s jacket was draped neatly beside him, which meant the outline of his muscled frame was clear and cut beneath his flowing white shirt. Every time I’d seen a man in a shirt like that before, he’d always resembled a boy dressed up in women’s clothing, but Hook wore that damned shirt like he’d invented the look. He owned that shit.
Watching the muscles of his shoulders and arms flex and pull with each sweep of the oars didn’t hurt either. The guy was ripped. Not giant, bulky, walks like a wooden toy kind of ripped. I liked a man who had enough range of motion to wipe his own ass, thank you very much. And Hook was the kind of muscular that was all long and lean with just enough mass to make my mouth water.
And that was the reason for my attraction to him. The only reason. Ignoring, for the moment, my track record of dating guys who’d turned out to be giant assholes, if I looked past the grumpy, broody, bossiness of the man, his sex appeal was undeniable. That didn’t mean I liked the man himself. It just meant he was sexy enough to daydream about and to think about when I made myself come in his bed.
Heat flushed my cheeks even before I realized he was watching me damn near drool over him.
A crease formed between his drawn brow. “Are you feeling ill?”
Great. Apparently my aroused look bore some passing resemblance to sea-sickness. “I’m fine.” I tried not to choke on the words, swallowing hard to clear the frog from my throat. “What kind of insurance were you and fish girl talking about?”
“Merfolk are not fish.”
“What are—” I cut myself off with a wave of my hand. “You know what, I don’t care. What were you two whispering about? And why did she give me that weird look?”
“It was just a precaution. Nothing for you to worry about.”
I covered my mouth with a fist and fake coughed my response. “Asshole.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I haven’t been on my best behavior of late, which is something I am trying to rectify. You would do well to work on yours as well. Name calling isn’t remotely lady like.”
“I never said I was a fucking lady,” I fired back.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as his throat worked silently.
“Does my language still bother you?”
