Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“No, keep going. I’m good.”
“He’s good,” Chad parroted, turning back to the cashier. She gave a throaty laugh and continued to move items over the sensor, scanning the barcodes for the groceries.
“Seems so.” She did that thing that both women and men alike did with Chad—take an instant like to him. He swore that Chad could draw a monk with a vow of silence into a lengthy conversation. He charmed everyone. “You two planning to set the island on fire?”
Chad gave an almost silent laugh and reached for his wallet. “I saw a brochure for a submarine scooter adventure. Recommend that?”
“Men like yourselves; I see you more as cage-free shark divers.” Even though her tone was teasing, the alarm of such an adventure caught all of Ducky’s attention.
“Where’s that at? On the island?” Chad asked.
“Wait, what?” Ducky stepped in closer as Chad moved the cart around for the cashier to scan the drinks. Her cackle told him she’d hit her mark with the suggestion.
“I figure you’re the daredevil.” She nodded toward Chad. “And you’re the quieter one. I suspect the more dangerous of the two…” She trailed off with a raised brow.
Now Chad barked out a loud laugh. “We should give shark diving a try.”
Ducky refused to be swayed just in case Chad was serious. “Did you say cage-free? I feel like I’m out on that one. I’ll watch from the boat, or I don’t even have to go.”
None of the humor had left Chad’s face as he nodded and handed over his credit card to the cashier. Ducky was so lost in the sudden fear of diving into a school of sharks that he didn’t even think to try to cover half the cost of their groceries. Shark diving. Oh man. Besides his always ready to plump cock, now he had to consider Chad’s fearless athleticism.
He bet Chad could charm a great white shark into not biting him. Ducky, on the other hand, would be dinner, straight-up chum from the minute he hit the water.
CHAPTER 12
The skills he’d learned camping with his father came in handy. Chad impressed himself by setting up a fire pit on the beach. He’d even used a rotisserie he’d found in the villa to grill their chicken for dinner. It worked out well enough, at least so far. Which was good since he’d made a big production of being the grill master for the trip.
Chad squatted down on his feet by the pit, balancing there as his toes dug into the sand. He rotated the corn on the cob lying on the outer edge of the rack. He had coated those with a good smattering of seasoned butter as he thought about all the showing off he’d been doing since seeing Ducky at the airport that morning.
Pretending to be into cage-free shark diving. He chuckled silently to himself. He was enough of a daredevil to follow through if Ducky had somehow wanted to go, but he also saw the value in keeping his appendages attached to his body.
“I brought paper plates,” Ducky said, walking past Chad to the loungers they’d placed near the surf line.
They decided to chill tonight after Chad spent a couple of hours going through the masses of Wilder Sports emails. His and Ducky’s plan was to take it easy and start fresh tomorrow morning to tackle everything the island had to offer. A drink cooler packed full of drinks sat between the loungers.
At the edge of the fire pit, Ducky’s sandal-covered feet came into view. The crunching from above had Chad lifting his gaze, his hand pausing as he went back to turning the roasting meat. His grin was immediate. He saw a second run to the grocery store in their near future. Ducky was already on his second box of cookies since they’d made it back that afternoon.
“You know, this meal is better suited for a healthier diet.”
Ducky quit chewing and stopped mid-motion with a cookie poised near his lips. He looked undecided if he wanted to take that bite or answer Chad. The latter won out, probably due to Ducky being a nice guy.
“I didn’t know how badly I was craving snack food.” The hand with the cookie continued its journey.
Chad shook his head at the sincerity of Ducky’s expression. “Bring me your plate. These are ready.”
Ducky did but only in the island pace he had adopted since the minute he landed in Hawaii. He took his role as vacationer to heart. There was no hurry. He went back for the plates and came forward again. Chad loaded each one with chicken and an assortment of the roasted vegetables. Ducky handed Chad his plate then circled around him to add a good portion of the seasoned butter he’d used while cooking the vegetables. He dumped most of it straight onto his plate before reaching over to offer the remaining for Chad’s veggies.