“Hard day?” he asked. His voice was higher than Joshua’s, but if she closed her eyes, she could almost picture Joshua as Priest spoke. Why couldn’t she get Joshua out of her mind? She felt like she was forgetting Jesse in the wake of the too-appealing Joshua Jewel.
She blew out a breath and studied the water. She didn’t even want to crane her neck and check him out. She needed a friend right now, and he seemed content to be that. What a nice guy he was. Maybe she did want to check him out, because obviously nice guys were few and far between these days. “I went to the cave where my sister’s boyfriend came and declared his love to her, so that was amazing. It was beautiful with the softest sand and blue, blue water.” She skirted his question, thinking of Joshua’s blue, blue eyes and then getting disgusted with herself.
“That does sound amazing.”
“What about you? How’d your day go?”
He didn’t answer for a few beats, and she wondered what was going on in his head. “It was kind of lame, honestly. I went around the island and simply played tourist. Did you see all the burned cars lining the middle of the main street over on the French side? Marigot, I believe was the name of the town.”
“No. I went back past the yachts before I headed north.” She loved that they could just talk about something casual, and it wasn’t always drama like it was with Joshua. She smiled to herself. A part of her loved the sparks and fire with Joshua. “Why were they burnt?”
“Rioting not too long ago. It was kind of eerie.”
“Were you scared?”
“No.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
“Too tough to be scared?”
“For sure.” He chuckled. “The funny thing was that all the traffic had to take turns dodging around dozens of these burnt-out vehicles, most of them filled with garbage, and at the end of the mess there’s a backhoe sitting there. It was honestly all I could do to not climb in that backhoe and push the mess off the road.”
She laughed. “You’d probably start another riot.”
“Exactly why I refrained. So, why did you sound so frustrated when I came out?”
She was caught. “Have you ever had a guy who just drove you crazy … yet you were crazily attracted to him?”
“Nope.” He paused and then said, “I’ve had a girl who drove me crazy that I was crazily attracted to.”
She smiled. “Good to know that’s how you swing.”
“Just the way it works for me. You want to tell me about him?”
She clenched the railing. “Oh, I don’t know. He’s way too handsome. He has these blue eyes that just …” She blew out a breath. “Whew. They just suck me right in. And his smile. He has a perfect dimple that I just want to kiss.” When she heard him pull in a breath, she paused. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be telling you all of this.”
“What?” he protested. “I’m your priest. You have to confess to me. Go on.”
She smiled. He was asking for it, and she really liked talking to him. “Then there’s his hair. It’s this beautiful chestnut brown. If I could just run my fingers through it …” She paused to imagine doing just that while Joshua gave her that smile she couldn’t resist. “And then his body …” She blushed as she realized she was getting out of control. “Never mind, I’ll stop now.”
“Oh, don’t stop. I love hearing all about another man’s pecs,” he said drily.
“I didn’t say one word about his pecs,” she shot back.
“Were his pecs amazingly tough, though?”
She laughed. “No, wimpy and saggy as all get out.”
“Really?”
“No,” she admitted miserably. “They were perfect.” Why was she so drawn to Joshua?
“That’s good to know.” She could hear the humor in his voice. “Can I say something you don’t want to hear?”
“Sure. You can’t offend me.” Joshua had offended her today, but she didn’t think her priest would.
“Everything you described about him was physical. Does he not appeal to you emotionally or mentally at all?”
Jade bit at her lip. “I don’t know,” she said. “He’s smart and successful, and that’s appealing, and we’ve had fun a few times. He’s charming, but … honestly, he just ticks me off. He can’t trust me, and that’s a definite deal breaker.” Now she was back to feeling guilty. Why was she talking about Joshua nonstop to Priest when she should be sharing about Jesse? It had only been a couple days, and already she was forgetting Jesse. She hated that.