THE CRAZY GOOD SERIES - Rachel Robinson Page 0,178

disease?

“Oh, and Morg,” I yell. “I’m pure fucking class, darlin’.” After a sly wink I shout to Alex, “Two words. One finger.” Happy sailing, non-friends.

CHAPTER SIX

Morganna

“A HURRICANE? YOU can’t be serious? Did we move to Florida without my knowledge?” I’ve been in my home office all day on the phone or doling out correspondence through e-mails. I’m insanely out of the loop in the real world. The weather is the very last thing on my radar—literally. Phillipe steps into my office, my salad in his hand. “When is it supposed to hit? Does the generator still work? I need to be able to work through the wind...or whatever it is that happens during these rare occurrences. I have a million things to do before my meetings next week.”

“As far as I know, it works. I’m not really skilled in machinery. Or better yet that type of machinery,” Phillipe says, handing me a note pad with all of my messages he’s taken while I’ve been ensconced in heaps of work. “You should call Steven back. Or phone Maverick. Or ask any of the other manly men in your life about the generator.”

I glare at him over the edge of my laptop. “I can’t decide if you’re being cute or not.”

Phillipe smiles, slides the notepad closer, and shrugs. “It’s one of my gifts. Skills, if you will.” Backing out of my home office, he asks, “Shall I stay over tonight, or will you have company?”

I shake my head. I know he’s counting down until I have Alex stay the night. Or sleep with him. I haven’t taken the next step with Alex…even if I’ve wanted to something fierce. It’s just not right—yet. Maybe it won’t ever be right, but in the meantime he is a nice distraction from my other, more sinister desires. One glance at the notepad and there it is. Seven calls today. Nine calls yesterday. Steven.

I stand, cell phone clutched in one hand, and walk to the solitary window in my office. I find it easier to work when it’s dark. The light just distracts me. Steven. The self-assured way he told me exactly how he desired me while I was on a date with another man got under my skin. So much so that I’ve avoided him altogether. By doing this I know I’m showing my hand. He knows I want him. I know he wants me. God knows how horrendous a decision that would be. For me. For him. For Stone. Tears prick my eyes, so I glance at the ceiling.

“I don’t have plans with Alex tonight. He’s busy. With the storm coming I’m sure he doesn’t want to camp out with me on the water anyways. I’ll call…” I stutter, unsure whose name I want to say. Steven. “Cody,” I finish. “He’s the one who has the handle on electronics and the like. Can you get him on the phone for me?”

Phillipe sways out the door and disappears, but I hear him agreeing, muttering, judging under his breath as he goes. If he weren’t the best assistant on the planet, and my friend, I’d tear into him five ways to Sunday. Instead I holler a very un-ladylike curse and return to my notepad. I scan until I get to his messages.

Steven: 7 a.m. “Hey, you didn’t just meet me. Call me maybe?”

9:30 a.m. “I wanna (he asked that I spell it this way) lick you all over. But I really want to talk to you first. Call a man back, Morgaliscious. Are you too busy with your STD?”

What the hell? An STD? He’s trying to enrage me to get a call back. I know his game. And the “lick you” song is there to grab my attention. I imagine Phillipe taking down these notes and smile. He gets enough punishment on a daily basis, I think.

12:00 p.m. “Morg. Call me back. A hurricane is headed our way and I know you’ll want electricity for all of your electronic devices. Bam! You have to call me back now.”

Shows how intelligent he is. I dial Cody. He doesn’t answer, as I suspect he wouldn’t as it’s late afternoon. I leave a brief message. Most of the guys work into the evening during this cycle in training. They’re getting ready for a deployment, so when they are around, they train hard; each SEAL developing and perfecting the skills that make the Navy SEALs second to none. Nowhere else on the planet can you find men with this particular skill