Page 50 of Wild Tides
Clay and Lucy arrived, filling out the last of our party, and I welcomed them before joining Anya in the kitchen. We worked quickly to put the finishing touches on dinner while Drew and Lee broke out the extra chairs.
We settled around the table with full plates. I endured some gentle teasing from my brothers about Lee’s showy promposal on the ferry, but they were more casual than in the past. Either they truly believed Lee was good for me, or they’d finally realized I was a grown-ass woman.
“How goes the latest book?” Clay asked in between bites.
“Mmph.” Lee kept his gaze on his plate.
“That’s author for ‘just okay,’” I translated.
Clay’s lips twitched. “For a man supposedly of many words, you know when to be brief.”
Zach coughed into his fist. “Unlike someone else we know.”
“Hey…” Clay said, “I’m sensitive, you know.”
Lucy covered his left hand with hers. “Sensitive like a brick, my love.”
I bit back a grin. Clay walked right into that one.
“Ouch.” Clay rubbed his chest, holding Lucy’s gaze for a heartbeat before his lips twitched into a grin, edging into a smirk that encompassed the entire table. “She gets me.” He sobered, focusing on Lee. “What’s the new book about?”
Carefully, Lee set down his fork, lifting his chin toward Clay. Something about the glint in his eyes had me rolling my lips together. My poker face was crap.
“A nosy park ranger who dies a horrible death.”
Wisely, Clay kept his mouth shut.
Anya chuckled. “Let me guess – Ray Clobertson is the name of the ranger who meets an untimely demise.” Drew tucked her beneath his shoulder, like even talking about fictional death made him want to reassure himself that she was okay.
Lee lifted one shoulder, expression enigmatic. “Right now, I just have him labeled Idiot Number One. Sometimes I name characters later.”
Lucy bumped gently against Clay’s shoulder and mock-whispered, “I think that’s your sign to stay off his shit list a while longer.”
“I don’t know, so long as we’re keeping things fictional, I’m okay being memorialized in print.”
The whole table chuckled, but I noticed how quickly everyone returned to their plates. Nobody wanted to be Idiot Number Two.
After dinner, Anya suggested a board game—because nothing said bonding like bloodthirsty competition. Lee poured wine,and Zach mixed cocktails for those who wanted something stronger. Anya snagged the seat next to mine, shooting me a conspiratorial wink, while Drew claimed my other side like a silent bodyguard. Clay and Lucy anchored the far ends, their bickering already warming up for game mode, and Lee, Rae, and Zach settled across from us. The table still smelled faintly of bacon and candle wax, but the air shifted as we crowded around the game board, the mood going from relaxed to razor-sharp in seconds.
We finished the first round with Anya as the clear winner, her grin broad. By round two, the rest of us were out for blood.
Lee lounged in his chair across from me, holding my stare like a satisfied jungle cat. Almost smug. And why shouldn’t he be? We’d shared a rushed but fantastic orgasm only two hours ago, and he had amassed enough points to win this round if he didn’t blow it at the last minute. But I couldn’t let him win that easily.
Smoothly, I slipped my bare foot across the distance between us, finding his ankle. He raked his eyes over me, landing on my chest, as if he could see beneath my blue sweater to where my breasts tightened in anticipation. One orgasm with Lee would never be enough.
I tiptoed up his good ankle, stroking his calf beneath the table. Lee remained calm, holding my gaze as if I wasn’t trying to drive him crazy. I rubbed higher, reaching his knee.
Zach flinched and bit out, “Since that’s not Rae groping me, cut it out.”
I drew my foot back as if it’d been burned, my cheeks flushing hot.
Lee, ever my hero, jumped into the breach. “I saw Dr. Underwood today.”
“I noticed you’re out of your boot tonight. Congrats,” Anya said.
“Thanks,” Lee said gruffly. “I’m grateful to drive again, though I’m going to miss having Violet at my beck and call.”
Rae snorted. “I think we’ve all known you too long to believe that.”
