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“Owen Gray Bailey,” she whines. And strangely it’s a sound that’s hard for me to resist. She starts again for the button that I’ve now done up.
“Trying to undress me already?” I say and then I wait.
Annie's neck and cheeks turn a pretty pink and my nerves calm with the color. “I–” She blinks, hands falling to her sides.
“Should we go?” I say, certain I am James Bond, dodging bullets.
She nods, her lips folded in on one another.
I reach for the door just as Annie slips in front of me. Lightening fast, she yanks on my blue button-up and pops that third button clean off the shirt.It flies to the ground—never to be seen again. James Bond is dead.
“Hey!” I bark, but I’m too late. Annie’s got my shirt opened to the side and showcasing my new ink. I clear my throat–fairly certain that my face is every bit as pink as hers now.
She drops her hand from my shirt, her brown eyes blinking up at me. “A bullseye?”
I nod.
“You tattooed a bullseye to your chest?”
It’s not as if I can deny the fact, she’s seen it. “I did. Over my heart.”
She doesn’t ask why and she doesn’t peer back at the thing. With stiff shoulders, she squares herself for the exit. “I’m ready to go now.”
Pine trees surround us on either side as I pull into the parking area. There’s a cruise boat in view just a few feet out into the water.
“The lake cruises? Are we going on a boat?”
“We are.” I peer over at her, feeling warmer simply because she’s near me. She’s near me, she knows my truth, heck she’s even seen my tattoo.
How is it that by simply telling her the truth, I love her even more?
Who knew that being honest would be so empowering? Meredith Porter is a genius.
“You’ve never been, right?” I ask.
“No.” Her gaze turns from the water to me. Her eyes search mine for a second. “You?”
“I haven’t.” I shrug. We never had money or time for boat rides as a kid.
“How is it that we’ve both lived here the majority of our lives and we’ve never done this before?”
I grin, open the door to my red Buick and step out into the cool night. I grab my suit coat from the back and slip it on, hoping the air won’t cool down much more.
I walk around to Annie’s side and tug on the collar of her brown coat. “Are you going to be warm enough?”
“I am. Plenty warm. In fact, my shoes match my sweater so perfectly I’m not keeping this coat on.”
My fingers on the collar of her jacket trail down to the zipper at the bottom, I pull it up. “You better keep it on, at least until we get inside.”
We board the boat along with a few dozen other patrons. It’s a good-sized boat, but not nearly as big as the one next to it. I made that choice on purpose—fewer people. If I could, I’d buy every ticket for this boat and make Annie and I the only paying customers aboard. But I can’t—so we’re here along with fifty strangers.
There are two levels with an inner heated space where we’ll eat. Twinkle lights trim every ledge and railing, making this old boat sparkle.
The captain gives us a short speech and then leads us to the dining room. We enter the covered dining area and walk into a wall of warmth with sweet and savory aromas. There’s a buffet of food against the long wall of this inner part of the ship. We stand in line and serve ourselves before finding a seat at one of the large community tables.
Not only are we on this ship with a few dozen other people, we’ll have to sit at a table with six strangers.
Annie seems to have the same idea that I have. She leads usto a table with eight empty chairs, and for the moment, we are left to ourselves.
