Someone Else's Ocean(33)

“A very intelligent fucking man.”

This time when she gripped my hand, I squeezed hers back. Jasmine was overly affectionate, at least that was my opinion when we first met. She was quick to hug and offer her sympathy. But over time, I learned to love it about her. In fact, it was what I loved most.

Even as I managed to get through our day, I still felt the dread course through my veins. I was thankful when I pulled up to my house and hit the pillow.





A knock at my back door had me scrambling from my bed. My chest and throat raw, I raced to the bathroom and cupped water in my mouth before I answered the door still half asleep.

Ian stood on the other side, his easy smile wiped the minute he saw me.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. What’s up?”

He drew his brows. “You forgot?”

“Forgot?”

“About our bonfire?”

Yes.

“No, I’m sorry. I must have drifted off.”

Ian took a step back as I pried my eyes open further to see he was dressed casually in shorts and a T-shirt. It was a far cry from the suit-clad man he arrived as a month before. His thick brown hair had gotten slightly sun-bleached and a few blond hairs had sprouted out of the thick disheveled mess. Gorgeous gray eyes peered at me through thick black lashes. It was always on the tip of my tongue to tell him how beautiful he was.

“Koti?”

“Yeah?”

“Bonfire?”

“Yeah.”

Ian patiently pressed his lips together to hide his grin.

“I mean, yeah. Let me wash my face, okay?”

“Must have been some nap,” he said with a small smile. “I’ll be out here.”

“Okay. Do I need to bring anything?”

He paused again and cupped the back of his head with his palm. “Chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows?”

“Right.”

He frowned. “We can do this another time.”

Snapping out of my haze, I finally met his watchful gaze. “Nope, I’m on it.”

He turned to make his way to the beach as I admired the fit of his clothes. The man had swagger and it was dizzying. He carried himself as any military man would—with confidence and purpose.

Ian chose the exact moment I zeroed in on his ass to glance back at me. I didn’t bother acknowledging I was caught. Instead, I shut the door and raced to my bedroom.

I spent short minutes showering and scouring my skin in a sugar scrub that smelled like juniper before I raced to my closet and threw on my favorite white sundress and gold flip-flops. With another minute to spare, I brushed some bronzer on my cheeks and glossed my lips. Feeling lighter from the shower, I grabbed a small bag from my pantry and threw my stash into it along with a few other provisions. I grabbed a bottle of wine and two plastic wine glasses. Outside, Ian was carefully crafting our bonfire. I watched him work with it for a few seconds before I ran back inside and turned on my beach mix. The first few notes of Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” sounded as I shut my door and crossed the sand. Slightly nervous and still a little drained, I met Ian near the shore where he was setting up a pair of folding chairs next to his newly lit fire.

“This is perfect. I brought wine.”

He perked up and eyed the bottle I pulled from my bag. “Looks familiar.”

“Yeah, well, it’s delicious.” I pulled out a second bottle and we shared a smile.

“That kind of day?” he asked.

I slowly nodded as he took one of the bottles from my hands and I dug through the bag for my corkscrew. “We found a man lying dead in a lawn chair at one of our properties.”

“Oh?” Ian said with interest. “We?”

“Me and my boss, Jasmine.”

I held out an empty glass to Ian who poured generously into one and then the other. We clinked our plastic and took a seat.

Nervous laughter burst out of me. “He was naked.”

His eyes bulged. “Wow.”

“Yeah, nothing kinky. He wasn’t tied to the chair or anything. He probably didn’t expect to die naked on a porch. He was in his eighties.” I felt the lump in my throat threaten and pushed through it. “He was alone. I hate that.”

Ian took a sip of wine. “That’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah,” I said dismissively though my voice shook. “Yeah, it was.”

“Does he have family?” Ian asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Let’s talk about something else. How is Disco?”

“She was asleep when I left.”

“Oh well, she’ll keep you up all night.”

Ian rolled his eyes. “As she has every night.”

“Got to get her on a schedule, professor.”

“She sleeps with me now,” he said affectionately.

Lucky bitch.

With a glass of wine in hand, we sat for several minutes simply enjoying the view, the sun slowly creeping down before us. The islands were becoming giant black rocks with twinkling lights as their canopy as each minute passed. I had so many questions but decided to start with the one I thought was the safest.

“How long are you staying?”

He paused before he answered. “I’m not sure.”