AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Then there’d been the other hour spent remembering how deliciously decadent it had felt to have Reynolds’s arms around her, his lips on hers, even when there’d been a whisper of danger around them. How the simple feeling of his fingertips trailing up and down her arm had awakened a longing for that kind of simple, loving touch every day.
Spencer had never touched her in that way. Their marriage wasn’t filled with overly sentimental moments or even sentimental ones. It had been more of a partnership than a joining of two people who loved each other and wanted to share their lives. And she’d never questioned it. Never wondered why it wasn’t more. Maybe because on some level she didn’t feel like she was worthy of that kind of affection and tenderness.
It was these thoughts and more that had sleep just out of reach and were why she’d broken down and sought out some conversation from her roommate.
A minute passed with no response from Reynolds.
“Psst. Reynolds,” she said less quietly.
Nothing.
“Reynolds?”
“Yes, Waverley?” he finally responded in an impatient tone that told her he’d probably been awake the entire time.
But she’d let it pass, just grateful to have the company.
“I know, I know. You’re still mad because I followed you tonight, put myself in danger, yada, yada, yada. But it turned out fine. I’m okay.”
No response.
She sighed. “Fine. I am sorry. But in my defense, you didn’t actually tell me to stay put, so it wasn’t like I was defying a direct request. But I can see now that maybe going out there alone was probably a bad choice.”
“Probably?”
She remembered the moment as she and Reynolds retreated from the dock and she actually started to feel and recognize the real danger she had put herself in.
“You have to understand something. I’ve known Spencer and Ronnie for years and never thought for a moment they would do anything to harm me. Sure, they could be rude and obnoxious when they drank too much. But dangerous? It was hard to imagine. Until I found myself, heart in my throat, racing through the darkness to avoid being seen by them. It’s been…sobering.”
“I guess I can understand that. Just let me handle this, okay? It’s why you hired me.”
“I will.” And this time she was pretty sure she meant it. “So. Do you think Ronnie was out there to meet Spencer? And that boat motor we heard, could it have been Spencer slipping away?”
“Both are possible. I’ll have to keep closer tabs on Ronnie tomorrow. Which means that I’ll be spending the morning fishing with the guys.”
He sounded as excited about that prospect as she did about being left with just the girls. Although maybe they weren’t all as bad as she’d thought, as she recalled her conversation with Staci. And Lexi was really a sweetheart and would need some extra protection from the subtle digs Tracie and Julie were good at dropping.
She rolled over to her side so she could study Reynolds. He was lying flat on his back with his hand behind him, tucked under a pillow as he looked up at the ceiling. He was wearing a tee shirt, she knew, because she’d seen as much when she left the bathroom before jumping into bed, but she had no idea what he might be wearing—or not wearing—other than that.
Pajama pants? Shorts? Or maybe just his underwear, which introduced a whole new debate. Tighty-whities? Boxers? Briefs?
How had her thought process degenerated to this? Imagining the man’s underwear choice?
Okay. She knew how. And it had started with that freaking kiss.
Did he kiss every woman like he’d kissed her? Which opened the door to some other questions she’d been wondering about.
But how to bring those up tactfully without sounding too intrusive?
“I had a really nice lunch with your sister and her friends the other day. She was a font of some great information about you.”
He groaned. “Great. What did Poppy tell you?”
“She may have mentioned that, in the five or so years since you’ve moved back to Blue Haven, you haven’t dated anyone. Is that true?”
“No.”
Hmm. He sounded grouchy again. Must have touched a nerve. But it didn’t bother her since she had learned by now that his bark was worse than his bite.
