Page 9 of Bear's Midlife Bridesmaid
“You’re the captain,” she replied, moving her glass to make room next to her. “I don’t know that you want to be seen fraternizing with me, though. I’m a homewrecker. Not in the classic sense, but something along those lines.”
Careless of his dress uniform, which he surely wouldn’t be using again for this trip, Jace lowered himself to the deck. “Is that what Gretchen called you?”
“No.” She took a sip of her drink and didn’t seembothered by the burn of it. “She didn’t really say much of anything. I tried to talk to her, but Hugo was with her. I waited and came back later, but it didn’t matter. She won’t come out, and she won’t talk to me.”
“I’m sorry,” Jace replied.
“Well, me too.” She straightened out her legs and leaned back against the sun pad. Erin had changed from the flimsy bridesmaid’s dress into a dark t-shirt and pajama bottoms. The moonlight allowed Jace to see that her toes were painted, though he couldn’t tell what color. She didn’t need an expensive dress and strappy shoes to be sexy, that was for sure. It was still her body underneath, and he wanted it just as badly.
“I came on this trip because I wanted to be here for my friend,” she continued. “I thought that meant just going through the motions of putting on a dress and smiling for the camera. I was wrong.”
“Did you really catch those two in a storage closet?” Jace had been wondering about that ever since her announcement. He didn’t think Erin was the sort who would just make that up, but he was curious. The yacht made for relatively close quarters, but people could find their privacy if they wanted it badly enough.
Erin pressed her lips together and nodded. “Oh, yeah. I saw way more of those two than I ever would’ve wanted.”
“So, why are you beating yourself up about it?” he asked. “I know Gretchen is taking it hard, but I think anyone would if they found out their spouse-to-be was cheating on them.”
She shrugged. “I should’ve told her earlier. I just didn’t know how. She kept telling me how happy she was, and we’re not as close as we were as kids. It wasn’t until they were about to seal the deal that I knew I really had to say something.”
He studied her profile as she spoke. Erin had wiped off her makeup, and her hair was tousled. This was what she must look like right before she went to bed or when she first woke up in the morning. Jace liked it. A lot. “That’s a hell of a burden.”
“And now I’ve unloaded it all on you. I’m sorry about that. There’s just something about you that makes me want to talk to you.” She took a sip of her whiskey and frowned at it. “And I think there might be something about this whiskey that made me admit that.”
Jace laughed. “I don’t mind. I’ve been wanting to talk to you, anyway. And I don’t have alcohol in mysystem that I can blame for telling you that.” No, there was something else in his system.
“Good.” Erin had mostly been looking out through the railing, keeping herself distant even as they sat together, but now she turned to him. “Then distract me from my misery and change the subject.”
“All right. Tell me what you are. Not the homewrecker part,” he added with a smile. “The other part of you. I know you’re like me, but also not.”
A single syllable of laughter escaped her throat. “Isn’t it funny how people like us can say it without actually saying it?”
“Years of practice, I suppose.”
Erin nodded. “I’m a bobcat.”
“Really?” He sat up a little straighter at the surprising news.
“Is itthatshocking?” Her lips curled with amusement.
“Just a surprise.” But also not. He’d already sensed something feline about her, but he’d attributed that to her feminine appeal. Apparently, he’d been more on target than he’d realized. “That’s not one you hear of every day.”
“What about you?” she asked.
“Just a boring old black bear,”he admitted.
Erin shook her head. “That’s not boring. That means you’re big and scary.”
“Oh, now I’m scary,” he replied. “Thanks.”
She laughed again, this time letting out a little more of it. “I mean, you can kick someone’s ass.”
“And you couldn’t?” he challenged.
“I could if I wanted to,” she replied. Her shoulders had relaxed, and she wiggled her feet a little. “Maybe I should go kick Hugo’s ass. I could just bust into his cabin and scratch his eyes out.”
“No, don’t do that.” Jace shook his head. “As soon as other folks find out Hugo Bradford could afford a bobcat on his yacht, everyone else will want one, too.”
This time when she laughed, he noticed it made her eyes crinkle a bit more at the corners. The connection between them was growing. He could feel it in his gut and in his chest.
