Ride the Tide (Deep Six #3) - Julie Ann Walker Page 0,62

for their trip to Wayfarer Island, and she’d been left to chew on her tongue.

The third time she’d asked the question was when the men were climbing into one taxi while she, Chrissy, and Meat hailed a second.

Chrissy had wanted to stop by her house to pack another overnight bag. The men, having no interest in waiting around and “twiddling their dicks” as Uncle John had oh-so-eloquently put it, had decided to head to the airport early to get the floatplane loaded up with the extra supplies.

Romeo had been the one to answer her that time. He’d simply shrugged in the middle of stepping into the cab to say, “You know how he is. The man values his alone time. He’s probably planning to meet us at the airport, eh?”

At that point, Alex had wanted to scream with frustration that no one but her had seemed concerned that Mason was MIA. Then again, she’d thought maybe they were right. Mason was the private sort, not at all the type to alert others to his comings and goings.

Of course now, having arrived at the airport to find him still missing, all the little dings of apprehension she’d felt became klaxons of alarm.

Where the hell is he?

As she, Chrissy, and Meat made their way through the little terminal and out onto the tarmac—the best thing about flying privately was skipping the security lines—she lamented that Wayfarer Island lacked cell service. It meant those who lived there had canceled their plans. The logic being why pay for something they wouldn’t be able to use 90 percent of the time?

Living a simple life in the modern world was nice. Romantic, even. But right then she’d have given up a body part to be able to shoot Mason a text.

“It’s like we’ve time-traveled back to the eighties or something,” she muttered while coaxing a waddling Meat toward the waiting plane. “Next thing you know, I’ll be teasing my bangs and wearing jelly bracelets.”

“What?” Chrissy shot her a curious look, shrugging her overnight bag higher on her shoulder.

“Nothing.” Alex waved her off, raking in a deep breath that she hoped would ease some of her anxiety. It was only partially successful, since along with the pleasant aromas of sand and surf, there was also the decidedly unpleasant smell of jet fuel.

Deciding what she really needed was a change of subject, she slid Chrissy a sly look. “You had sex with Wolf, didn’t you?”

Chrissy sputtered like Alex’s old American history professor when a student had argued the New Deal was the beginning of the end for capitalist America.

“Why would you think that?” Chrissy demanded, coming to a halt on the blacktop and shoving her sunglasses to the top of her head.

“Because I saw him come out of your room this morning. And then at breakfast, he was whistling and humming and in the best mood I’ve ever seen him in.”

“Ah, yes. And sex with me would definitely explain the change in him.” Chrissy flicked her sunglasses back onto her face and resumed walking. “What it wouldn’t explain”—her tone was peevish—“is why I’m not currently curled in the fetal position and weeping from self-disgust.”

Alex did a double take. “You don’t think Wolf is gorgeous?”

“Oh, yes.” Chrissy nodded emphatically. “He’s handsome as hell if you’re into that whole tall, dark, and dangerous thing.”

Alex snorted. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, sis, but there’s not a woman on the planet who isn’t into that whole tall, dark, and dangerous thing.”

Chrissy didn’t say anything to that, and Alex frowned. “I don’t know what he did to make you hate him, but I’m sure whatever it was, it was a mistake. Wolf is solid gold. He’s one of the good ones.”

“I don’t hate him,” Chrissy insisted. “And I know he’s one of the good ones. I mean, he came and slept in my room last night—just slept,” she insisted when she saw the prurient gleam that entered Alex’s eyes, “because I asked him to. But good guys can still be bad news.”

Before Alex could comment on that, Chrissy turned the tables. “Enough about me. What about you? I see Mason loaned you his dog for the night. Did he happen to loan you anything else?” She bobbed her eyebrows above the frames of her sunglasses. “Like, say, his penis?”

“Alas, no.” Alex sighed. “I agreed to stop hounding him to help me lose my virginity and satisfy myself with simply being his friend. Of course, that was after I