trip so far. Except for the parts you spent with me, of course.” I grin when she sputters on her swallow.“How long are you here?” I ask.
“I’m leaving on Sunday.”
Perfect.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” I announce.
She stills, her eyes widen with surprise and disappointment. Maybe it’s not such a moonshot after all. “Oh, so soon?” She tries to sound casual and sits back on the couch, her hands gripped together on her lap.
“I’m going on an excursion for a few days.”
“Oh, that’s nice. To where?” She asks, her voice tinny with false cheer.
“A road trip to Isla Espiritu Santo. Stopping where we feel like between here and there.”
She blinks, frowns. “We? You’re going with someone?”
I nod. “With a woman friend.”
Her eyebrows lift in surprise and then her expression shutters. “Well, Stone it was really nice to see you. Hope you brought enough condoms to last the rest of your trip.” She gets up from the couch.
I grab her and yank her back down. “You’re gorgeous when you’re jealous.” I lean forward to kiss her.
She shoves me away. “Are you out of your mind?”she growls, her dark brows furrowing and look like the wings of an avenging angel. Her eyes glitter like stars and her face is flushed with sun and emotion.
I smile, innocently. “Now that you’ve mentioned it, I don’t think I have enough condoms. Do you know where I can get some around here?”
She gives me an acidic, contemptuous smile. “No, I don’t, asshole.” She yanks out of my grip.
I bite back a cackle and take hold of her arm again.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, feigned confusion drawing my brows down.
She doesn’t buy my act for one second and her lips curls in disgust. “I hope you and whoever you’re taking with you get a flat tire in the middle of the desert and have to walk for miles while coyotes chase you. And, I hope your dick falls off.”
I can’t hold my laughter any longer. It’s shitty of me to be so giddy about it. But I am. She’s jealous. And I’ve teased her long enough.
“It would be a shame if that happened because we’d miss swimming with the dolphins, bungee jumping, me eating your pussy when the sun rises, fucking it while it sets…”
“Wait, what?” She stops squirming and puts two hands on my chest and shoves me away.
I grin at the skeptical suspicion on her face.
“Are you teasing me?” she asks, clearly affronted.
“Yes. Captain Obvious,” I say.
She narrows her eyes and frowns in disapproval.
I drop a kiss on her sweet, puckered mouth. “You’re coming with me. Unless you want to stay here, staring out at that amazing view, instead of becoming part of it.”
I pull her into my arms, and she struggles, but when I nuzzle the soft skin of her neck with my nose, she melts a little before pulling away again.
“It’ll be great.” I press a kiss to her cheek, and she scowls.
“I haven’t said yes.” She stares at her linked hands resting in her lap.
“If you say no, you’ll regret it as soon as I’m gone.”
“Maybe, but I’m very adept at living with my regret,” she says.
She needs the trip worse than I thought. And my attempts to cajole her aren’t going to work, so I drop it and give it to her straight. “Listen, you have a lot going on. I’m not saying that I have the answers. But I think you need to really get away. Not just to bury your friend and lay around this boring resort. Let’s have an adventure.”
Her eyes dart to me and then back to her hands.
“It’ll be fun.” I nudge her, keeping my voice casual and free of the hope growing in my gut.
“When would we be back?” she asks. It’s only tinged with tentative exuberance, but a smile curves the corners of her full mouth, and I have to stop myself from pumping my fist in the air.
“On Friday, when the rest of my family is due.”
Her eyes bulge. “Your family? Like…your brothers? They’re coming here?” Each sentence is louder than the one before it.
“Yeah. My brother’s fiancée is throwing a surprise wedding here, and so, my whole family, except my mother, thank God, will be here on Friday.”
She covers her face with her hands and groans into them.
I knew this was coming. “They’ll be here Friday, and we’ll be discreet. It’ll be fine.”
She moves her hands from her face and eyes me with a skeptical frown.