Superb and Sexy (Sky High Air #3)(32)

“Until this is over.”

“Damn A straight. So give me some more details.”

“Okay.” She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe she was doing this. “I told you, I need to stop my sister from doing something stupid.”

“Like making that 9:00 meeting on Stone Cay.”

“Right. But I didn’t tell you that it might get ugly.”

“I’ve seen ugly before.” At the doubt on her face, he arched a brow. “We’re a unit, remember?”

“Only until we’re back in the real world.” She pointed a finger to the middle of his chest. “You remember that.”

“Finally. We’re on the same page.”

“Why is this so important to you anyway?”

Hell of a question, one he didn’t have a real answer for, at least none that he liked. “Because it’s important to you. Now let’s go.”

“Brody—”

“Don’t argue with your husband, woman.”

“Oh, my God, stop saying that!”

He rented a car and got them on the road in the blackest, stormiest night he’d seen in a good, long while. Through the headlights and straining windshield wipers, they could see nothing but the slicked road lined with palms still nearly bent in half in the wind. “Anytime now, you’re going to be happy I’m here.”

She snorted.

He downshifted the piece of shit car and managed to keep them on the crazy road. “I’m serious.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know when I’m happy to have you here.”

“You do that,” he said grimly and outsteered a f*cking golf cart on the road in front of them.

“Renting a car was a completely unnecessary expense.”

“Yes, well, it’s my expense, not yours.” He tried to turn up the speed of the windshield wipers, but apparently, the highest speed was a snail’s pace.

“Since when do you throw your money around? Usually, you’re so tight you squeak when you walk.”

He slid her a glance. “Hey.”

“Admit it. You only rented the car because you can’t stand taking a cab. You like the control.”

“I do not.”

“Then why wouldn’t you let me make the arrangements? It’s what I do for a living.”

“I realize that. I sign your paychecks, remember?”

“I could have gotten you a cheaper car.”

“No one could have gotten me a cheaper car. I needed more leg room.”

“I meant a better car.”

Okay, that may be. “The only other car was smaller. I needed more leg room.”

“You need head room,” she said. “How you ever get through a damn door with that big, fat head is beyond me.”

“You’re sweet.”

She nearly choked on that. “Sweet?”

“Yeah. You only insult those you care about. Face it…” He shot her a look, waggling his brow. “You like me.”

She stared at him. “You’re crazy. And you still paid too much. Admit it—you like your control.”

“Okay, I like my control. Now admit you like me.”

“I like your damn fat head.”

He snickered in triumph and kept driving. “You going to tell me where to any time soon? Or should I guess?”

“The docks. We need to stop Leena from taking a charter boat to Stone Cay.”

Looking out into the nasty night, he laughed. “No one’s going to charter a boat in this storm.”

“Hopefully not. But I just want to make sure she doesn’t try to go tonight.”

No one would be going anywhere tonight. Not in this mess. But arguing with her was like beating his head against a brick wall. The brick wall of Maddie’s stubbornness. So he drove her to the docks where she was told by two different charter guys exactly what Brody had already said.

No boat out tonight.

Brody drove them back toward town.

“A hotel,” she said, resigned. Frustrated. “Five star. Two rooms.”

Yeah, he read that two rooms part loud and clear.

He pulled into a decent-looking inn because it was the first one they came to and paid for two rooms. Then he walked Maddie to hers, not missing the way she was rubbing her shoulder. “Sorry it’s not a five-star hotel,” he said.

“You are not sorry.”

No, he wasn’t.

The inn was decorated in shabby chic beach and was clean, his only requirement. “It’s right on the beach.”

“I’m not here for fun in the sun.”

Which was a shame because under different circumstances—say, better weather and a better attitude on her part—he’d have enjoyed seeing her in an itsy bitsy bikini.

He opened the door to her room, eyes narrowing in on the shoulder she was still clearly favoring. The woman was hurting, and stubborn as a mule.

“My room key, please?” Holding out her hand, she waggled her fingers impatiently.

“Do you need ice?”

“I don’t need anything.”

Uh-huh. “Maddie—”

“My room key.”

She accompanied this with another demanding wriggle of her fingers.