“You won’t always be able to protect me,” Laura pointed out.
His sorrowful look cut her to the heart. “I can always try,” he said fiercely. “I couldn’t rest if you weren’t safe.”
Laura picked up his hat, running a finger along the band before setting it on her head. It was big on her, but she had enough hair to hold it up from her eyes.
“I know you meant well,” she conceded. “I’m not used to having someone willing to run to my rescue,” she confessed. “I’m not sure what to do with it.”
“I like you in that hat,” Tex said shyly, with a crooked smile.
Laura tipped it at him, an echo of his own habits. “Pleased ta meetcha,” she drawled.
“I am so glad I met you,” Tex said, all sincerity and chivalry.
Laura gave a laugh that was more snort. “Me, with all of my baggage.”
“Ma’am,” Tex said seriously, “I’m happy to carry all of your baggage.”
Laura tipped forward to kiss him, forgetting that his hat was still on her head. It hit him in the forehead, and he lifted it off her head in one smooth motion, cupping her face with his big, gentle hands.
She had not forgotten that he was naked, however hard she was trying to ignore it. Her whole body tingled to be so close to him, and she put one of her hands on his chest. Fine hair curled over her dark fingers. He felt like the softest leather imaginable, warm in the early sun.
He shivered at her touch and drew her in for another, deeper kiss.
They kissed until they had to break apart for breath, hands exploring over muscles and the planes of their bodies. Tex had his hand up under her sundress, barely touching the wet heat of her entrance, while she just accidentally brushed the attentive member that Tex was sporting. And kept accidentally brushing it.
“Scarlet wants you to take the boat to the mainland, Tex. Travis can’t go because he is fixing the toilet in cottage eight.”
The voice that interrupted them was matter-of-fact and Laura and Tex scrambled apart hastily to find a woman standing in the overgrown path, looking at them with open curiosity. Her salt-and-pepper hair was wild around her face, and her feet were bare beneath a short, flowing sundress.
“Gizelle,” Tex said, strangled. He pulled his hat over his lap. “This is Laura.”
Gizelle stared at Laura. “Your skin is much browner than mine,” she said candidly.
Laura blinked at her unexpected statement, and slowly agreed, “Yes, it is.” Gizelle had pale, freckled skin and Laura couldn’t decide if she looked very young, with her straight, innocent gaze, or very old, with the white that streaked her hair and the unexpected wariness in her expression.
Tex coughed. “Gizelle hasn’t been in human form very long,” he explained, hinting at a deeper story.
Gizelle finally turned her intense stare from Laura to Tex and she felt like she could breathe again. “Scarlet says we need more things before the bonfire tonight, and Travis wants duct tape that isn’t pink. I like the pink duct tape. Chef wants strawberries, twenty pounds if you can get them. What were you doing when I walked up?”
Laura blessed the dark skin that kept the heat of embarrassment from showing. Tex, not so lucky, was scarlet-faced. The blush extended down to his chest, Laura was amused to see.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” Tex promised. He stood up and grabbed his pile of clothing, keeping the hat in place in front of him. “I’ll go grab a quick shower…”
He paused just a few strides down the path. “Do you want to come to the mainland with me?”
Laura had to consider only a moment — escape from the crowded resort in a boat with only Tex? — and she said, “Yes!” exactly as Gizelle primly said, “No, thank you.”
The two women looked at each other, and Gizelle explained, “Scarlet says I shouldn’t, until I stay human when I get frightened. You’ll have a nice trip. The sunlight will be pouring before the ocean gets in.”
“How long will it take you to get ready?” Tex asked Laura.
Laura shrugged. It wasn’t like she spent a lot of time on makeup, and the shower was too chilly to tempt her to stay long in it. She did want a quick bite first, though. “Thirty minutes?”
“You know the staff house by the cliffs? The one closest to the beach?” At Laura’s nod, Tex said, “Meet me there when you’re ready to go.”
Then he left, and once his adorable bare buttcheeks had vanished around the corner, Gizelle turned to Laura.
“Will you explain what you were doing?” she asked directly.