acting like such a bitch.”
He kissed her softly and pulled her in close for a hug. “Just so you know, the next time I see you in another man’s arms, he is going to be missing his front teeth and maybe a few other body parts before I am done with him. And you,” he continued, “you won’t like your punishment. Not one bit.”
“My punishment? Oh, Royce, don’t tease me so,” she said fluttering her eyelashes.
He swiveled her around to face the window once again and placed something around her neck. Looking down, she touched the fiery red stone dangling from an intricately woven gold chain.
“It’s beautiful, but what is this all about?” Becki asked trying to turn and face him.
He held her in place nibbling on her ear, which he knew drove her crazy. “Promise me you will wear it every day and not take it off,” he asked. “Feel free to wear something black and sexy with it tonight when I pick you up for our date. Ok?” he whispered in her ear.
How could a girl say no to that? How could a girl speak period? She nodded her head.
“We need to go. I’m going to be late.”
“Lead the way,” Becki said tucking her hand in his.
The drive to her house was glorious; there was no other way to describe it. His car was just as fast as she remembered. They rode with the top down enjoying the warm breeze blowing through their hair. Glancing over to smile at Becki every once in a while, Royce held her hand all the way home. This day promised to be perfect!
Royce pulled up in front of her house. “Don’t touch the door handle,” he warned before getting out of the car. “That’s the rule from here on out.” He walked around the car, opened her door, and offered his hand to help her out of the car.
She placed her hand in his as if she were a queen. “Thank you, Sir. You shall receive a token of my favor. A kiss, I think.”
Royce jerked her to him and kissed her right there, dipping her backward over his arm with flair. Becki came up laughing. “Ok, you are not going to blame me for being late. Go play, I will see you tonight.”
Royce insisted on walking her to the door, and he made sure she locked it behind her.
“I will look forward to seeing you in that sexy black dress,” he said through the door. Then turning, he strutted toward his bad-ass car. He felt like he was twenty years old again as he roared out of the drive way. Royce loved this car; he loved the girl, too.
#
“Where is Royce?” Landon asked as he boarded the boat. “He had to stop by Becki’s house,” Sean answered.
“Great,” Landon said with mock impatience, “he’ll be late for sure
now.”
“Looks like you brought plenty of gear, Kurt,” Landon observed.
“Did you forget how to count?”
“Nope,” Kurt responded, secretly looking forward to Landon’s
reaction to Joanna. It was time someone knocked him off his “Mr.
Irresistible” ego trip. Joanna was a far cry from the busty but brainless
variety he seemed to be drawn to lately. This promised to be an
interesting dive in more ways than one. Kurt punched in the GPS
coordinates and settled into the Caption’s chair to wait for the fireworks. Royce strolled down the dock whistling as he walked. He couldn’t
wait to see Becki this evening. If she thought dancing with that wicked
warlock was fun, wait until she saw his dance moves.
“Hi, beautiful day for a cruise,” he called to the trio on deck.
“Where’s Jo?” he asked Sean.
“Jo’s below working out a problem with our computer systems,” Sean
said absently. He was checking and double checking the coordinates in
his system. Royce chose to use a more hands-on approach and grabbed
the paper maps.
“Is Jo another member of the special ops team?” Landon asked Kurt. “Yep,” Kurt answered truthfully.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” Landon frowned.
“Let’s get this party started,” Kurt announced as he fired up the
engines, completely ignoring Landon’s line of questioning. “It’s going to
be a hot one today folks, but the water is fairly calm and visibility is
good. Hopefully, Neptune will smile on us today.”
The ride to the harbor would take a fair bit of time, so Kurt settled in
to enjoy the ride. He loved the coastline. Wildlife was abundant and
could be spotted in and out of the water. South Carolina was the perfect
place to live.
“Sean, did you consider the possibility of tunnels along the harbor?” a
feminine voice