Accidental Shield (Marriage Mistake #6)(27)

“You’re the turtle expert,” I tell her, nodding.

Her jaw drops as she looks at me. “Wow. Maybe I am. That just all popped into my head.” A full, toothy smile shows then. “Flint...thank you for bringing me here. It’s working, this little trip. It’s helping me remember.”

Just great. Sweat beads on my brow, wondering what her brain will pull next.

“I’m sure there’s more,” she says excitedly. “Let’s sit over there in the shade, so we can watch them while we eat.” Glancing back at me as she walks, she adds, “We need to stay far enough away to not disturb them. State law.”

“Yeah, honey. I know.”

We sit in the sand and tuck into our shrimp, rice, mac salad, and grilled pineapple slices right out of the boxes. Between happy bites, she chatters away about turtles, things I never knew.

Her excitement grows with each new tidbit and factoid falling out of her.

We stay seated after the food is long gone and the trash is bagged up, sipping on the bottles of water that came with the meal and watching the turtles moving languidly.

I’m only half listening now. She’s going on about green turtle mating rituals.

Something I don’t fucking need to think about right now.

We’re alone on a secluded beach, the sun hanging lower in the sky by the minute, and she’s wildly attractive. Enticing. Hot as fuck.

It doesn’t do my dick any favors, the more animated she gets.

Hell, she’s going to hate my guts when she finds out this is all a sham.

“We should go,” I tell her rather abruptly while standing up.

She frowns slightly but nods. “Okay. Sounds good.”

Feeling like a jerk for interrupting her, I say, “Cash should be due by the house soon for your evening checkup.”

She nods again, this time with more intent. Then she looks at the turtles. “All right. We don’t want to scare them off, either.”

I collect the bag and take her hand as she stands. I don’t expect her to thread her fingers through mine while we walk back up the small incline and down the other side.

Finally, I open the truck door for her and set the trash bag in the back seat.

There’s a glint in her eye as she lays a hand on the side of my jaw. “Thank you, Flint. I really mean it. Feels like old times...I think. I’m glad I got to spend this beautiful evening with you.”

“Yeah. Old times,” I whisper, my blood turning to magma.

Oh, but she’s not done.

I hold my breath, tell myself to step the fuck away as she stretches up on her toes, leaning into me.

But I can’t. So what the hell?

I’m already in so deep, one little kiss won’t make much difference.

That’s what I tell myself when my mouth finds hers, and I realize I couldn’t be more wrong.

Fuck. Me.

Val’s lips are even sweeter than the cheesecake, and far warmer. It takes all of my self-control to keep the kiss chaste, simple, instead of sending my tongue into her mouth, delving in like the animal in me wants.

Shit.

No.

SHIT!

One little moan spilling out of her kills me ten times and brings me back to life. In less than ten seconds, I’m drunk on this woman. She could be my personal distillery.

The only thing that holds me back is knowing she’ll hate me once she finds out I’ve been lying to her since the very start.

She even sighs as our lips part, still smiling, and climbs into the truck like she’s walking on sunshine.

End me. Right the fuck now.

Huffing the breath out of my stalled lungs, I pretend I can ignore the effects that kiss had on my whole body as I walk around to the driver’s door.

Good luck.

Ignoring the desire ripping through me feels like trying to ignore a flaming torch against my back, especially with the way it makes me want more of her. More than I’ve wanted in a long time.

“How long have we been married?” she asks.

Here we go. That question again. My jaw tightens.

I back the truck up and shift into drive before answering, “Not long, Val.”

“But how long is 'not long?'”

When I don’t answer right away, she sighs.

I bite my tongue, really not wanting to add another lie to the roster.

“Why are you so weird about it?” she asks.

Easy.

“Because I don’t want you thinking about things you don’t remember. You’ll just get yourself all worked up, and we’ve had a nice day. Better to just let your memory come back on its own.”

She looks conflicted for a few heavy seconds, but then she smiles and reaches over, laying a hand on my thigh. “Fine. I guess I get why I fell in love with you. You’re an easy man to like, and just as easy to love.”

Fuck.

If only she knew...

Dread fills me at the same time fire arcs up and down my thigh from her touch. This has to stop.

I’ll tell Cash as soon as I see him. There has to be another way, a better way to make this work without lying to her all the frigging time.

I know the risks, but some tiny inkling of truth must be better than this.

My stomach clenches. Trouble is, any scrap of truth could cause her more anxiety.

I’ve seen that happen plenty of times since she tumbled into my world.