Page 63 of Stolen Kisses
Chapter 14
“All right, man. Give it to me straight. What’d you do to my sister this weekend?”
Noah’s gaze darted left and right. He was stuck on a forty-foot boat with an oaf of a man who could probably toss him overboard if he wanted. Noah was built, but Joey was a heck of a lot bigger.
“She was singing in the shower this morning.” Joey crossed his arms at his oversized chest, looking unamused.
“Oh, yeah?” And that little fact satisfied the heck out of Noah.Hewas the reason Krista had woken up giddy. And maybe he’d been guilty of humming a tune in the shower this morning, too. Noah avoided Joey’s gaze for fear that what he’d done to Krista was written all over his face.
“Geez, man.” Joey shook his head and turned away to look out on the calm water. A few pelicans glided across the sky. One missled itself toward the expanse of blue, no doubt aiming for a fish. Joey didn’t seem too concerned over the loss. He had bigger fish to fry.
Noah wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t going to lie, but he wasn’t going to kiss and tell, either. So he just waited quietly. He guessed his silence was answer enough.
After a long moment, Joey turned to face him again. “She’s a grown woman so I have to let her take care of herself. But I’m still her big brother and if you break her heart, co-captain or not, I’ll have to rip you in half.”
“Fair enough.” Noah blew out a pent-up breath. “She’s at no risk of getting her heart broken, though. It’s not like that between us.”
Joey raised a brow. “Not like what?”
“You know. She’s my best friend.”
“If you tell me you’re friends with benefits, I’m going to have to make you fish bait.”
“No.” Noah adjusted his sunglasses and trained his eyes on the water. “It’s more than that. Truthfully, I have no idea what we’re doing. That’s why I’d rather not talk about it. Krista won’t get hurt, though. She knows me and she knows what she’s getting into with me.”
Joey shook his head. He was wearing a ball cap today to shield his face from the sun, and Noah could see his eyes reflecting more than the ocean. Wisdom. Concern. “Maybe she knows in her head. But what my sister knows in her head and believes in her heart are often two different things. Just warning you.”
Noah let that sink in. Krista was intelligent, but Joey was right. She did sometimes lead with her heart in spite of her sharp mind. He slid his gaze to Joey. “You’re, uh, just teasing about making me fish bait, right?”
Joey laughed as he unfolded his muscled arms. “How about I just let you sweat on that thought?”
They anchored the boat, tossed some chum in the water, and cast the lines. The rest of the morning was silent. Noah liked that about his new co-captain. They got along great, worked well together, and there was very little chatter amongst them. Joey, unlike his sister, kept fishing sacred. He could talk with the best of them over a couple drinks down at Castaways. And, as a cabbie, he knew how to start and carry a conversation with just about anyone. But out on the water, with their lines suspended into the deep blue, he sunk into the same quiet meditative state that Noah did. Even Beauty had learned to remain quiet when they were out on the boat. When Noah had crewed with Jack and Chris, things had been different. Jack and Chris were always cutting up—not that it scared the fish away. Those two had been fish magnets. The pressure of that was heavy and suffocating. As was the memory of what had happened to Chris. Chris’s death had hit Jack the hardest, but Noah felt the loss, too. Chris had been a good man, who’d lived and died by the sea. Filling his and Jack’s shoes was a tall order. With Joey aboard, though, the job felt doable. They couldn’t replace the former crew, but they were a crew in their own right.
By the time he and Joey docked, they had two good-sized tunas and about fifty pounds of other quality fish to take to the fish house.
“Good day,” Noah said, shaking Joey’s hand.
“Yeah. Now I’m going home where my sister is probably still humming.” Joey’s mouth quirked. “See you tomorrow, Cap.”
—
Noah went home as well. He showered and pulled on a pair of jeans and a clean T-shirt, then hopped back in his Jeep to go pick up Krista for their first official date. Joey’s warning haunted him as he drove. Krista might know who he was in her head, but believe something entirely different in her heart. Maybe her heart was right, though. Maybe he could be that committed guy she wanted him to be. He was a captain of his own boat now, even though he still felt like that little boy he’d been decades ago. The screw-up who couldn’t do anything right. The kid votedleastlikely to succeed. One thing he knew, he’d done Krista right this past weekend. He’d never seen her look so happy. And truthfully, he’d never been as happy, either. Maybe the tide had changed in his life. Hope pinged around in his chest.
He parked in front of her townhouse and stepped out to ring the doorbell. He wasn’t usually nervous going to get his best friend. But Krista wasn’t just his best friend anymore. She was the woman he’d spent the weekend with. The woman he’d been resisting for most of his life. He held his breath until she opened the door and beamed back at him. Everything inside him relaxed then. There was no reason to be nervous with Krista. He knew this woman, better than he knew himself. And he absolutely adored everything about her.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey yourself. I’ve been looking forward to this date all day.”
She rewarded him with a smile. And that was the biggest catch of his day. Krista grabbed her purse and followed him to the car. “So where are we going?”
Noah opened the passenger side door of his Jeep. She looked surprised and he was suddenly punctured with guilt that he hadn’t been doing so all along. Maybe he’d been a bit of a slacker growing up, but he’d always had manners. His father had made sure of it. Krista was a woman. Why the hell had he not been opening the door for her?
“Thank you,” she said, climbing into the passenger seat.
He stood there for a second wondering if he should lean in and help her buckle her belt as well. That was a move he’d used on some of the women he’d dated in the past. It brought him close enough to smell them, close enough to kiss them if he wanted to. Krista would see past his charms, though. Judging by the look in her eyes, he didn’t think he needed to anyway. She looked about as eager as he did for whatever happened next.
He closed the passenger door and met her on the other side. “I’m taking you back to my place,” he said with finality.
