Page 83 of Off the Grid
McKenzie looked up to find Leo standing over her, bronze skin gleaming in the sun as water dripped down those perfectly lickable washboard abs. It was a sight she didn’t think she’d ever grow tired of seeing. Then again, Leo in a suit, Leo in sweatpants, Leo in absolutely nothing at all… She really couldn’t go wrong.
Her grin widened, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Jo thinks she found a place.”
“Again?”
She couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s what I said.”
Leo rolled his eyes and tossed his towel around his neck as he sank into the lounge chair by her side. After stealing a quick sip of her drink, he reached over and laced their fingers together, letting their hands dangle between the seats. “Are you going to go see it next week?”
“After I get settled in.”
Leo turned to look at her, a soft smile on his lips, a bright look in his eyes. She recognized the expression because she saw it in the mirror every morning she woke up beside him. It was a look of contented disbelief, a look that silently wondered how the hell they’d found themselves here, and at the same time thanked all the gods in the world that they had. Not on this beach per say, but together. Happy and healing and in love.
Ever since that first night at the Four Seasons in midtown, they’d been inseparable. They’d spent three blissful days holed up in that hotel room together before Leo had needed to travel back home to DC. Only he didn’t. Because when he brought McKenzie back to her apartment and saw her visibly tremble at the sight of her bedroom—a place she couldn’t even enter without remembering the warm blood that rushed over her hands as she stabbed a man or the pain of a sharp knee against her back while beefy fingers tied a rope around her wrists—he’d saidscrew thisand stayed, calling in on some overdue vacation. They spent another ten days at the Four Seasons while she listed her apartment for sale, found a temporary rental, packed up her things, and moved. By then, after practically two weeks of living together, McKenzie was hooked—hooked on the way he looked at her, the way he touched her, the way her entire day was so much better because she knew it would end wrapped in his arms. And Leo had been too. They’d been dating long distance for the past year, but as soon as they got back from the Caribbean (they’d made a pact to save Hawaii for a future honeymoon), McKenzie would besettling into his apartment.
Oh, it wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but McKenzie was surprised to find she preferred it that way. Leo still snored like some sort of dying beast, but he promised he’d give nasal strips a try when she moved in. McKenzie was still a neat freak, though she promised she’d try not to take her own anxieties out on him. On a good night, they made love and he fell asleep curved against her back with his arm around her hip. On a bad night, she’d wake to his thrashing, or sometimes, she’d just wake alone. Since he’d started seeing a therapist, the good nights came more and more, the bad less and less. McKenzie went with him a few times, to talk about her father, being bullied as a kid, her memories of the kidnapping. Between the two of them, they still had their fair share of demons, but they were figuring it out together. They didn’t need to be perfect people, because all those sharp edges they’d been hiding from the world were what made them fit together. They were perfect for each other, and that mattered a hell of a lot more.
“Excuse me, sir?” McKenzie looked up at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. A man with the logo of the hotel embroidered onto his shirt stood over Leo. “Your tour guide is here.”
McKenzie scrunched her brows. “We didn’t sign up for a tour.”
“Yeah, we did,” Leo said quickly.
McKenzie stared at him. “No. We didn’t.”
“Emilio Alvarez and McKenzie Harper?” the man interrupted. “Noon island jet ski tour?”
“That’s us!” Leo jumped to his feet, still holding her hand. She was pulled to a seated position, but she didn’t stand.
“Leo.”
“McKenzie.” He had the audacity to smile.
“Leo,” she said again, through gritted teeth.
The poor hotel guy started backing away. “Um, he’s just down by the cabana waiting for you, whenever you’re ready. Take your time.”
“Come on,” Leo urged and gently tugged on her hand. She didn’t budge. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you.” She paused to cast a sidelong glance at the jet skis resting on the sand at the other end of the beach, the ones she’d had no idea were intended for her. McKenzie met Leo’s eyes and smiled sweetly. “I just don’t trust you with motor vehicles, not even the kind that are driven on water.”
“It’s been a year since I drove that motorcycle off the road.” He rolled his eyes. “Intentionally, I might add. In order to save your life—”
“Yet, shockingly, the memory hasn’t dulled with time.”
He frowned at her. “You’re going to have to get over this aversion eventually, you know.”
“Yeah?” she countered, yanking her hand out of his so she could cross her arms. “Why’s that?”
“Because your boyfriend has a need…” A wicked little gleam lit his eye, one she’d seen enough times to know she wouldn’t like what was coming next. McKenzie tried to roll off her lounger, but Leo’s arms came around her waist before her feet even touched the ground. Before she knew it, he’d thrown her over his shoulder as he shouted, “A need for speed!”
“Leo!”
“What?”
“Put me down.”
“Why?”
