“The Burger Barn has the best burgers on all the islands, so we all have to get burgers, no salads.” I eyed Kenna to make my point.
She rolled her eyes. “Wouldn’t dream of getting anything different. Can I do the cheeseburger with caramelized onions?”
“Sure thing, hun.”
Kenna glanced at Zoe. “Want to split a milkshake?”
Zoe nodded. “Do you like strawberry?”
“It just so happens to be one of my favorites.”
A foreign feeling invaded my chest, a warmth that seeped into every corner. Kenna rarely ate like this, but she was trying to make sure Zoe ordered a lot of food, and that she had whatever she wanted from the menu.
Zoe looked up at Susie. “May I have a hamburger with no tomato, please?”
“Of course, sweet thing.” Susie turned to me. “I already know what you want, but how about to drink? Guinness or Coke?”
“Coke, please. Thanks, Susie.”
“Coming right up.”
Zoe toyed with the straw in her water, glancing back and forth between Kenna and me. “Are you guys boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Kenna had just taken a sip of her water and promptly began choking. I patted Kenna on the back. “I’m gonna try and not take that reaction personally, Brown Eyes.” I turned to smile at Zoe. “No, we’re just friends.”
“You should ask her out, Crosby. She’s pretty, and she’s nice. You don’t always get both in one person.”
Truth from the mouths of babes. Kenna was stunning, but it was the beauty that she hid away, the heart that cared so deeply, that stole my breath. “I think you’re right, Zo.” I turned to face Kenna. “What do you say? Can I take you out on the town?”
The look Kenna gave me was one that spoke of a slow and painful death. “Sure,” she gritted out.
Zoe let out a little squeal. “We have to pick the perfect place for you to go. It has to be romantic and beautiful and—and—I don’t really know what else. But special.”
“How about The Cove? That’s pretty romantic.”
Kenna stiffened beside me. “Anywhere but The Cove. Or skydiving.”
I grinned, but it was forced. Kenna was scared of running into Grant there. Shit. I needed him gone from Anchor. Now. “You’re right, The Cove is too stuffy. I’m gonna think of the perfect place to take you.”
I only hoped she didn’t murder me when we got there.
19
Kenna
“You gonna toss me overboard if I hold you to that date?”
I glanced away from the wake the ferry was churning up and towards Crosby. “Come a little closer and find out.”
Crosby’s eyes seemed to twinkle as he stepped forward, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me to him. He ran his lips lightly up my neck until he reached the shell of my ear. “Would it really be so bad, spending an evening with me?”
It wouldn’t be. And that was the problem. I fought to keep my breathing under control as my nerve endings flared to life. It wasn’t like I’d been celibate since Grant and I had imploded. I’d gone on dates, had relationships. But there was just something about this man’s touch that always seemed to bring me to life. “It depends on what we’ll be doing.”
“I can think of one or two things to keep us busy.”
He gave the lobe of my ear a playful nip, and I responded with an elbow to the stomach. “Don’t bite me.”
The mischievous tilt to his lips had my stomach hollowing.
“You like it when I give you little nips.”
“Not in public.” I glanced around, but no one seemed to be paying us any mind.
Crosby released me and held up both hands. I felt the loss of him instantly. His heat, the life force that seemed to thrum through him, spilling out into the air around him. Into me. “I promise—” Crosby’s phone started to ring. He slipped a hand into his back pocket and pulled out his cell. Taking a moment to study the screen, he scowled and silenced it.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.” He shoved it back into his jeans. “Now, where were we? Ah, yes. I can taste your skin in private but not in public.”
The dismissal shouldn’t have burned, but it did. I hadn’t shared everything with Crosby, not even close, but I’d shared pieces. More than felt safe. His phone started to ring again. He muttered a curse, repeating the same steps as before. This time, however, he flipped the switch