madness.
The strange thing about this ruse, this con, was that the lines had blurred. Sure, they’d had the greatest sex of her life last night, but that had been predicated on intercourse simply being intercourse—a transaction between two willing people. A transaction like a man pretending to be a woman’s boyfriend.
But this morning, when they were half-awake, not consumed with playing a part and only relying on touch and desire, it had felt real. And after that, when she’d led him up to the well and shared her kiss keeper curse story, it was as if every cell in her body had ached for his kiss—as if the well or the ghosts of Otis Wiscasset and Muriel Boothe demanded it. Or maybe it was her yearning, her body begging to be touched by this man who’d gone from a complete stranger to her lover in the space of hardly more than a day. Still, when they’d nearly kissed at the well, and he’d gazed into her eyes, she would have sworn that she’d glimpsed a flash of wonder and an intense longing that took her breath away.
Could what had started as a parlor trick parlayed into something more, or was this her artist’s heart leading her astray with another Jake, again? The way he worked her body, no, worshipped her body, had to mean something. She closed her eyes, remembering the sweet slide of their bodies as he thrust his big, hard—
“Aunt Nat? Are you okay?”
Natalie blinked. “Sorry, I was just thinking about…”
“Kissing Uncle Jake?” Josie said with a giggle as she, Maddie, and Annabelle twirled about.
And licking his torso all the way down to his magical cock, but she was in charge of the kids and needed to keep this PG.
“You wanted to know about the luau, right, Annabelle?” she asked, forcing herself to switch gears.
“Yeah!” the little girl cried and wiggled onto her lap.
She smoothed the strips of Annabelle’s skirt then waved in Josie and Maddie. “The lobster bake luau is a tradition that started a long time ago, right after Mimi and Poppy opened Camp Woolwich. Every year, the girls all gather in the lodge to create their costumes while the boys take care of the lobster bake preparations on the beach.”
“Why can’t the girls do the lobster bake preparations?” Josie asked.
“That’s a good question! It’s always been this way, but that doesn’t mean it can’t change. I might bring that up with Mimi,” she answered.
“Bring what up with Mimi?” her grandmother asked, entering the room with a crate of bright yellow hibiscus flowers.
“Josie and I were thinking that someday the girls should be in charge of the lobster bake beach prep, and the boys can make lobster skirts.”
“I like it! A little change could be good for Camp Woolwich,” her grandmother answered.
“What are all the flowers for?” Annabelle asked.
“These are for our hair,” her grandmother said, sliding one into Annabelle’s dark locks. “And for the leis.”
“Leis?” the child parroted back.
“They’re flower necklaces that you get to give to someone special,” her grandmother answered, pulling out several flowers then passing off the crate to a Woolwich cousin.
“Can I give one to Finn?” the little girl asked.
“Sure,” Natalie answered. Growing up, she’d always made a lei for her grandfather or for Fish, but she’d never given one to a boyfriend—even a fake boyfriend.
“I thought you were supposed to give a lei to somebody you love,” Maddie chirped, her cheeks turning pink.
Annabelle scrunched up her face in a confused pout. “I love Finn. He’s my cousin.”
“Gross!” Maddie and Josie cried in unison.
Annabelle cocked her head to the side. “Why’s it gross?”
“It’s not gross. It’s perfectly fine to love your cousin, sweetheart,” her grandmother answered.
“Are you going to give one to Jake?” Josie asked.
“Do you love him?” Maddie pressed.
Love him? She hardly knew him, but that didn’t stop the flutter in her belly at the mention of his name.
“I certainly like him an awful lot,” she answered, feeling her cheeks heat.
It wasn’t a lie.
“He’s very handsome,” her grandmother added.
“And he can climb trees, Mimi,” Annabelle supplied.
The hint of a smile pulled at the corners of her grandmother’s lips. “An admirable quality, indeed,” the woman answered, then clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Ladies, the flowers have arrived. Let’s get started on those leis.”
Natalie went to work, and the room buzzed with conversations as the women strung flowers and made final additions to their skirts when her grandmother sat down next to her.
“He cares for you,” she said, sliding a