Page 72 of Unmoored

He slowly slides down the wall to lie on his back on the deck, staring up at the sky.

But I’ve got one more thing to do. “You—” I start, grabbing a lifejacket from aboard Dawn’s Embrace and then turning to Eden.

My new boyfriend blushes furiously and raises his arms. “Yes, please… Captain Murph, sir,” he winks at me.

Oh, Eden. One step ahead of me, as ever.I grin fondly down at him and shake my head as I pull the lifejacket onto him. Life with Eden might be full of surprises, but it’ll never, ever be boring.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

EDEN

“That wasthe longest day of my fucking life,” I groan.

We’re leaning on the railing, watching Berty’s speedboat—and the rest of the brothers—disappear around the rocky outcropping to Sunrise Island. The race is over, we only have half an idea who finished first, and nobody really cares. The important part is that the good guys won.

George and his staff were shuttled off hours ago to wait in the cramped little floatplane terminal for the first flight back to Vancouver. As the long summer afternoon gently faded into evening, and over bottles of ludicrously expensive champagne, I became one of the Sunrise Island Brothers.

Now, as the sun is finally sinking beyond the mountains, it’s just the two of us left.

“You’re telling me,” Murph rumbles in that deep, calming voice. He leans sideways against the railing, grabbing hold of my lifejacket straps to pull me in against his chest—or rather, his lifejacket—for a soft, warm kiss. The world fades away, and it’s just the two of us aboard my creaky little boat.

It’s almost breathtakingly romantic… almost.

I can’t help feeling a little bit ridiculous. It’s like a video I saw online, with people running around a soccer field wearing huge, clear, blow-up ball outfits, bouncing into each other and rolling all over the place.

Murph is trying to kiss me again, but I can’t stop the giggle from bursting out of me, ungraceful and sudden. “Pfff—” I snort, almost spitting right in his mouth before I manage to turn my face away.

“What?” Murph grins, grabbing the strap on the other side around my ribcage. Holding me by both straps, he sways back and forth like we’re slow-dancing in the sunset. “Isn’t this the closest you’ve felt to me all day?”

I raise myself on tiptoe, leaning back for momentum. “I’m sure I’ve been!—” I grunt, throwing myself against the padded foam wall of his chest. “—a little!—” I try again. Murph grabs me to wrap his arms around my waist as I manage to finish my sentence between my giggles. “—closer!”

“What? Is six inches too much?” Murph murmurs, raising an eyebrow.

Thatbreaks through my foggy, overtired haze of laughter. I finally catch my breath and push myself to stand upright again. “Uh—that—” I stutter, shaking my head. “That depends on the details. Anyway, come on. Let’s go inside and ditch these.”

“Yes, sir,” Murph teases, following me to the door.

Once we’re inside Dawn’s Embrace, he gently unbuckles all the straps on my lifejacket first, pulling it off over my head. I don’t even hesitate—I just raise my arms and let him do it, even though by this point I know how. And now, of all moments… it’s even more intimate.

I blink back tears as I finally kick off my shoes, sitting heavily on the edge of the bed. I feel so much freer all of a sudden—but also strangely fragile and small without all that extra foam padding. “No more lifejackets today.”

Murph grunts in agreement. He unbuckles his own lifejacket way faster, stripping it off without so much of a show, and tosses both of them out onto the back deck. Then he closes the door and leans against it, drawing a deep breath as he thumps his head against his forearm.

I rub away the prickle of tears, watching his broad back. I don’t need to see his face to know that he’s thinking the same thing I am.

If only we could shut out everything that happened today, as easy as that.

But we can’t. I promised myself earlier that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt me again without asking for answers. And even though I know Murph loves me the way I’ve long wanted, and always deserved… that makes it even more important that I knowwhy.

“Murph?” I draw my legs up to sit cross-legged, patting the bed in front of me.

Murph sighs and turns to sit on the edge of the bed. “Hit me with it,” he says as the mattress squeaks under the weight of all those muscles.

“You didn’t know who George was to me, right?”

Murph winces, shaking his head. “God, no. But I should have put two and two together. No, fuck. It’s more than that. I shouldn’t have taken that job at all.”

“You couldn’t have known. I’m the one who avoided ever saying his name,” I sigh, shaking my head. “I just didn’t want to let him creep back into my life. And I thought I could just avoid talking about him ever again.”

---