The Wrong Gentleman(47)

“What about this one?” Landon asked, stretching to pick up another. “No breaks in this one.”

It wasn’t a bad choice. But it wouldn’t do for me. “It’s a little gaudy. But if you like it, keep it. Shell collecting is very personal.”

“Gaudy? How can a shell be gaudy?”

“You know, all the curly bits you have there. The pink color. I like something more like . . .” I looked around and found the perfect one. I held it up so he could see. “There are no breaks. It’s perfectly symmetrical, so white it’s almost blinding, and—”

“Tiny. It’s smaller than the pad of my thumb.”

“This is the only time a woman will tell you this and not be lying—size doesn’t matter.”

In a flash, he launched himself at me, pressed me to my back, and covered my body with his. “You have a problem with my size?”

He knew the answer to that. I shook my head. “You know that I don’t.”

“Right. I do know that. And if we weren’t in public, in broad daylight, I’d be reminding you that you don’t.”

I gazed up at him, so handsome and serious. So protective and fierce. Every minute I spent with him, I wanted more.

He pressed a kiss to my lips, gently at first, then deepening it until it turned passionate and wild. He hardened against my thigh, and I shifted so I could feel him between my legs.

“Skylar,” he growled in the most delicious way. “Don’t tease me like that. I won’t have you here out in the open—we have no idea who’s watching.”

He rolled off me and onto his back, then scrubbed his hands over his face.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re paranoid? There hasn’t been a single sign of life since we got here.”

“It’s how I’m built.”

“Not to express how you feel?” I asked.

“No, it isn’t about me. It’s about you. Goes to my need to protect what’s important, I guess.”

Did he just say I was important? That he wanted to protect me?

I guess there was no arguing with that, except I knew the only person who could protect me was me. Landon was only in my life for the summer. I just needed to make sure I didn’t start to rely on his protection. The only person I could rely on was me.





Twenty-Six





Landon


“You’ve caught the sun,” I said, pressing a kiss against her nose as we reached the top of the hill. “It’s cute.”

“Do I look like Rudolph?”

“Only if I look at you straight on.”

She shrugged. “It was the look I was going for. That’s what I’ll tell people, anyway.”

“Shall we call a cab?” I asked, shielding my eyes against the sun and looking out into the distance.

“I think this one looks like ours,” she said as a car came into view.

“How did you manage that?”

She laughed. “It’s not magic. I just texted the guy ten minutes ago.”

“You think of everything, don’t you?”

“It’s my job.”

“I think it’s more than that—it’s who you are.” It seemed second nature to Skylar to look after people. To think ahead and anticipate the needs and desires of those around her. And I didn’t believe it was just because of her job. More like her nature made her good at her job rather than the other way around.

The car pulled up and I held open the passenger door for her.

“I’ve had a beautiful day. What do you say to grabbing a shower and some dinner?” I asked, taking her hand and pressing her wrist to my lips as we traveled back to Monte Carlo. The scent of sunshine on her warm skin was almost good enough to eat.

She withdrew her hand from mine and pulled out her phone. “We can, but I haven’t made any reservations.” She began to tap through the pages on her phone.

I placed my hand over her screen. “You took care of the day stuff. Let me take over on the relentlessly practical stuff for now.”

She frowned at me. “But, I can—”

“Skylar, you’re not my maid, my stewardess, or my assistant.” I curled her hair around her ear. “I want to do this. Making people happy is a two-way street.”

What did I know about making people happy? Skylar and I had been on two dates, but instinctively, I knew I wanted to make her happy, to see that smile of hers. And once I understood what my goal was, I always made it my mission to make it happen.

“I should have arranged something,” she said. “I just didn’t know how today would go.”

“Today has been a thousand times more than I could have expected,” I said.

The corners of her mouth twitched. “Really?”

“I might not be a man who says a lot or is big on sharing, but everything I do say is the truth.”

She slid her hand back into mine and leaned her head against my shoulder. “That’s the thing I like about you best. You’re exactly who you say you are.”

Except I wasn’t just a deckhand this summer. And I wasn’t the drifter Skylar seemed to assume I was.

I made hotel reservations on my phone while enjoying the feeling of Skylar’s body tucked close to mine.