Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
He grins. “What else have you never done that you’ve wanted to do?”
“I’ve never been to the Pacific Northwest.”
“That’s easily fixable.”
“I’ve never had crème brûlée,” I say. “I was watching a food show and they took their spoons and cracked the top—the crack was so satisfying.”
Jess laughs. “You are so easily entertained.”
“Lucky for you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He grins as he paddles toward me. “Are you implying that I’m not working hard enough to entertain you, Miss Plum?”
His predatory gaze and sexy smirk send a chill racing through my body. It pools in the bottom of my core, making me clench.
The warm air is tempered by the trees overhead blocking the sun. Instead of the intense rays burning my skin, filtered sunlight casts a warm, happy glow over the river.
This definitely needs to go on the retreat menu.
“What’s the bar for entertainment?” he asks. “What scale are you using to measure? Am I competing with Vibe Jess?”
“I measure with my heart.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
I try to keep a straight face but fail. I giggle, paddling until my board is floating next to his. “Kiss me.” I pucker, leaning far enough over the side to reach him but not too far where I feel like I’ll swim with the manatees.
“Oh, you think you can demand kisses now?”
“Well, you sure as hell don’t deny me when I ask for other things.”
His eyes sparkle as he grins, leaning toward me. “You’re damn right I don’t.”
His lips touch mine. It’s brief and sweet but also … not.
My stomach flutters as Jess pulls away, and I’m left watching him and wondering why that just felt different.
“Hey,” he says, dragging his paddle. “Look up there.”
“Where?” I follow his gaze into the trees on my right. “What the fuck is that?”
“Monkeys.”
“Monkeys?” My voice is high, almost chirpy, and the sound causes the monkey to smack its lips. “Why is it doing that?”
“It’s just doing monkey things.”
My heart thumps as I try to wrap my brain around what I’m seeing. “There are monkeys in Florida? How did I not know that?”
Jess shrugs, amused at my reaction.
“There are more of them.” I watch as three others join the first monkey on a branch at the edge of the water. “They aren’t going to attack us or anything, are they?”
“Probably not.”
“Probably not?”
The troop begins to make noise, growing louder and louder as we float by.
“They might if you keep acting like you’re calling for a fight,” he says.
I look over my shoulder. “Can they swim?”
“Very well.”
Fuck. “No, they cannot.”
“Fine. They can’t.” He grins. “But they can. And they have Herpes B so if they grab you …” He grimaces. “Not sure I’ll fight them for you.”
I gasp, making him laugh.
“See? We’re by them and they didn’t do anything to you,” he says.
I paddle more into the middle of the river. “If I’d have known there were monkeys in Florida, I would’ve picked another adventure.”
“There aren’t supposed to be, but a boat captain released a few of them on an island out here to help tourism. And, unsurprisingly, they had babies.”
“I’m shocked.”
He shrugs like I’m the only person in the world that didn’t know they were here.
We float without incident for a long time. We spot a couple of turtles and some fish. Jess saw an alligator but smartly didn’t tell me until we were well past it.
The sound of the trickling water and the soothing colors of the environment are equivalent to a massage. Stress melts from my body; my mind rests. Maybe I could be an outdoorswoman after all.
“What would your perfect day entail?” Jess asks out of nowhere.
“Where did that come from?”
He shrugs. “You asked me earlier, so now I’m asking you.”
Fair enough.
Very carefully, just like the instructor at the boathouse showed us, I crouch down and then sit in the middle of the board. I rest the paddle across my knees.
Jess looks at me over his shoulder. “Look at you being fancy.”
“I know.”
He sits too. “It was really me asking you about your perfect day, wasn’t it?”
“Why would that have anything to do with me sitting down?”
“Because you associate a perfect day with being on your back.”
I snort.
He drags his paddle, effectively slowing him until he’s next to me again. “So answer my question. Your perfect day?”
I raise my face to the sky and breathe in until my lungs strain. Then I blow it out until there’s nothing left.
“My perfect day would start with sleeping in—at least until ten,” I say.
“That’s half the day.”
“Hey, this is my perfect day. You had yours.”
He holds up his hands in defense.
“Thank you.” I clear my throat. “There would be coffee and breakfast waiting for me—probably a chocolate croissant or just a croissant with Nutella on it. Oh, also, a fruit and yogurt parfait. I love those things.”
Jess grins.