Page 106 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

“No way. If you’re the kinda guy that needs to pee every three minutes, I’m leaving you here.” Without looking, she shoves his face back with her palm. “We literally just left town.”

“No.” Laughing, he points off to the side of the road. “Please just stop a sec. It’ll take less than a minute.”

Frowning from behind the giant glasses, Laine pulls off the deserted road and brings the heavy car to a stop. Kane doesn’t wait for her to tug the handbrake up, he simply jumps over the door and sprints toward thewelcome to townsign.

Assuming he’s taking a leak, Laine makes herself busy digging around in the glove compartment by my thighs, but I catch a glimpse of him as he stops in front of the sign. He shoves his hand in his pocket and comes out with something in his grasp, and before I can guess what it might be, he reaches up and starts writing on the sign.

I snort.

He’s graffitiing.

“Alex is gonna shoot you for that,” Jess shouts. Sitting on her knees, she watches her man write on the brown sign with black permanent marker. “Kane Bishop! Stop it. As your lawyer, I’d rather not see you commit crimes.”

Barking out a laugh, he re-caps his marker and pushes it back into his pocket, then runs back to the car and jumps in like what he did is perfectly normal. “Let’s go.”

“What was that?” Laine turns in her seat and glares. “Why did we stop so you could defile public property?”

“Because we can. Because we need to. Go! It’s one thing to commit a crime. It’s another to still be sitting here when the law drives by.”

“We are the law!” Jess snaps. “Alex is the law.”

“Alex can suck my dick,” he laughs. “Let’s go. You.” He grabs Jess and pulls her around until she’s half in his lap. “We should get married.”

“You wanna marry your lawyer for free counsel? Not the best foundations for a marriage, Bishop. What if I jump ship after drawing up a pre-nup that leaves you with a loaf of bread and only your shorts?”

“Doesn’t matter what you take, so long as you stay to eat the shorts with me.”

Laine shakes her head and pulls back out onto the road. “Are you sure about this?” She changes gears and grins until her glasses lift. “You sure you wanna spend your precious vacation time with these fools?”

I turn to the front and get comfortable on the roomy bench seat. There’s only so much staring my glasses will hide. “Sure, we’re going to the beach. What’s not to love? And I’m adjusting to the fact Jess’ tongue is usually in someone else’s mouth these days.”

“It’s not as weird as you’d expect, right?”

Laughing, I slump in my seat until my legs drop open. “It’s a little weird. The Babysitter’s Club sure has grown up.” When her brows pull tight, I add, “Plus, I haven’t taken time off since high school. I reckon I kinda deserve it, no? Surfing. Sleeping in. Sounds perfect, right?”

“We surf first thing in the morning, rookie. You cannot sleep inandsurf.” Laughing, she steers with her knees and pulls her long, whipping hair around to tuck it under the strap of her top. “You gotta pick which one you want more, then you gotta get your shirt off.”

Fuck me.

Brand new images flash through my mind. I’ve been imagining this vacation all week; her driving, laughing, singing and dancing around a bonfire.

But now I see me there, too. I see her swimsuit. I see my missing shirt.

And I see me making a fool of myself.

Maybe this wasn’t my best idea.

“Maybe I’ll sleep in.” Leaning forward, I dig through the glove compartment for a spare hat. Two can play at the hiding-our-thoughts game. “And if I change my mind,”or figure out a way to duct tape my dick down without it hurting,“I’ll come out.”

Every step I take, every sentence I breathe, is like navigating a field of live landmines. Blindfolded. With a limp. And maybe a fucking chihuahua nipping at my heels.

I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what’s going to spook her. But every second thing I say is met with a frown.

“I never took you for that guy, Ang. The guy that would sleep in instead of live. You surprise me.” She pulls onto the freeway and speeds up to match the minimal traffic ahead. “I totally expected you’d be up early to catch the waves. Or hiking. Even building sandcastles.”

“You wanna build sandcastles?”

The girl who couldn’t get her hands clean not so long ago wants to dig in the sand?

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