Page 234 of Out of Left Field

And all she had to do was touch me.

When we ended the kiss she burrowed into me, so I held her tight. “You can’t tell me this feels wrong.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Then what’s holding you back?”

She sighed. “I just need some time. Can you give it to me?”

“Time? As in you ignore me for a few weeks and pretend we didn’t just have the most incredible night?”

“No.” She pushed back just enough to look up at me. “Just…time. To adjust. To wrap my head around this. If we go back to the resort holding hands then everyone will know. They’ll hound us, ask questions. They’ll be weird. And until I understand what I’m feeling, what this means, I’d rather it just be my own voice rattling in my head instead of Seth’s and Annalise. And don’t even get me started on Jeri or Charley.”

She made a valid point. Our friends would be all over us. They’d be insufferable. I’d rather have Willa all to myself for a bit. “So we keep our relationship a secret, but we do have one?”

“Yes. We…explore this in the quiet. Alone.”

I liked alone. “All right. I live with Isaac but we only cross paths in the main part of the house.” This was doable.

“And it’s not like it would be unusual for us to hang out.”

And she lived alone at Seth’s old condo. It wasn’t like we didn’t have options. “So we date in quiet until we’re ready for the tornado?”

“If that’s all right with you.” She looked so worried.

I hated it. “It’s more than all right. I love it. I want you all to myself anyway.” I sealed our new deal with a kiss just as my phone beeped with a new message. A voice message from my dad.

I hit play.

“Get your gun and bring in the cat. I’m five minutes out.”

Willa shot me a look. “What on earth does that mean? Other than the five minutes part. I got that.”

“It’s from Battlestar Galactica. He loves to say it when he’s on the way.”

“But…what does it mean?”

“It doesn’t actually mean anything. Other than it’s time.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Are we hiding this from my parents, too? Or just our friends?”

“Can we trust Isaac and Kate to keep this quiet?”

Probably not. “Pretending it is. Grab your stuff.” While Willa finished tidying up the cottage I texted Val that we were headed out and offered to pay for the night when they got their billing system up and running.

She promised to send a link for my review when it was time.

Dad pulled up to The Fighting Conch dock six minutes later. “Ahoy. I hear we have some pirates left behind on this here island!” He tossed me the stern line to tie off while he went to the bow and did the same.

The engine kept rattling away as I held out my hand to help Willa step from the dock to the moving boat, then followed her down. “Thanks for the rescue.”

Dad released the bow line as I released the stern, then took his position at the wheel. “Haven’t been out to old Keelhaul in a long time. The Adelaide’s are really back?”

“Roan’s running the Conch and Val’s cleaning up the house.”

Dad grinned as he pushed the throttle forward to steer the boat away. “It will be good to have them back. George was shit at running things. I bet old Rupert is dancing down in hell.”

Rupert was Val and Roan’s grandfather, and the man responsible for losing the family business. While he was most certainly in hell, if such a thing existed, there was no denying he was happy to have the island back in the family.

“How was the food?” he asked Willa.