Page 24 of Unexpected Entanglement

There were words going around town about a man arriving on a shiny motorcycle. Jason couldn’t stop talking about it like he’d never seen a bike before. Then there were the reports of Rowan meeting a couple of wacky looking people off the ferry earlier today.

One thing was for sure, nobody saw those three leaving the island on the last ferry back to Rockland like most day visitors did. Tourists were easy to pick out in Vinalhaven, and these three stuck out like sore thumbs. Fancy bike, blue hair, and apparently the other was a foreigner.

There wasn’t much happening in town that the figure didn’t know about. And it looked like the Bright Head Inn was getting a little more crowded if the rumors of the newcomers were true. It didn’t bode well. It would make executing the plan harder.

Who are these people?

With one last glance at the now dark windows, the figure disappeared into the night.

nine

Eleven days to the wedding

Chris stared at the ceiling as he lay awake on the plush bed and replayed his argument with Rowan Kelly last night. He’d started that conversation hoping to clear the air, instead a little spark had ignited a whole forest fire. Her eyes had resembled blue flames. He could almost feel them singe him.

Before he could calm her, Rowan had stormed out of the room and firmly shut the door behind her. He’d let that raging blaze lose fuel overnight before he tried to approach her again.

After a quick shower, he’d dropped into bed and fallen asleep in minutes. He must’ve been more tired than he’d thought. To tell the truth, he had done little manual work in years, but it’d felt good working outside. The air had been so clean.

Chris reached for his phone on the nightstand and checked the time. Though the sun had been up for a while, the clock showed it was only six. Kicking off the cover, Chris padded his way naked to the bathroom and got ready for the day.

Might as well assess what I’ve gotten myself into.

He left his room after a quick tidying up the bed. He wanted Rowan not to treat him like a guest, so he wouldn’t expect guest service.

Chris was going to go down the stairs they’d taken last night when he spotted discreet, narrow stairs at the end of the hall.He loved discovering the hidden nooks and crannies in big old houses. He had fond childhood memories of frustrating his nanny when he’d hidden in one of those spots in his family’s house.

Indulging his curious inner child, he started down the narrow—must be service—stairs and wondered where they would lead. He cautiously tiptoed down the old staircase, amazed that he had heard no creaks despite being so conscious of the quiet house. Yet, he still barreled straight into something firm yet soft in the dark hallway. A scream filled the hallway and his ears.

“Son of a—” the curse flew out of his mouth as some flying limb smacked him at the side of his jaw, and another grabbed him and brought him down with them.

“Oh, shit!” He heard Rowan’s voice exclaim under her breath as she realized they were going to hit the floor.

Chris reacted fast. His left arm wrapped around Rowan’s back while he relied on his calisthenic-trained muscles to stop them from hitting the floor hard. His other arm slowed their crash at the last second, gave him a chance to roll, and he landed on his back with less momentum and cushioned Rowan’s body with his own.

The impact—of the fall or having Rowan splayed on top of him—stole the breath out of him. His heart was hammering at a thousand beats per second. His jaw stung. And his back might bruise a little. But suddenly, all that was forgotten when a hard pressure against his crotch forced a groan out of him.

“Shit!” There was panic in Rowan’s voice. “Are you hurt?”

Between quick breaths, Chris said, “Yeah. Get your leg…”

Not understanding what he meant, Rowan tried to scramble off him while her knee was on his junk. Acting on instinct for survival, Chris grabbed her thigh and pulled her entire leg out from under her, and she fell back on top of him. A bundle of hair fell around his face.

“Oof!” The short breath he managed to gasp rushed out of him again.

“Fucking hell! Why did you do that?” Rowan demanded as she pushed her body up by her arms, now pressing her crotch against his aching one.

“Fucking hell is right. Your knee was crushing my balls, woman!” Chris protested in pain as he looked up and caught thedeer-in-the-headlights expression on Rowan’s face in the dim hallway. Her hair curtained all around it.

Chris quickly registered that it was his first time seeing her hair down. He couldn’t tell its color but could see its length and texture—long enough for the tips to tickle his face and with enough volume to add drama to her elfish face.

A subtle fragrance teased his nose.

What is that? Jasmine?

He hadn’t expected a prickly woman like Rowan to smell so exotic and sweet, reminding him of another island he frequently visited: Bali. A different type of awareness replaced the throbbing pain in his crotch as he took in the woman in his arms.

The hands still resting on her firm thighs registered the softness of her skin. And he couldn’t help to notice that his position gave him a great vantage point down her decolletage. His senses suddenly went into overdrive, putting him into another predicament as he felt his body responding to hers like any healthy red-blooded man would when a gorgeous, voluptuous woman pressed horizontally against him.

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