“I never said you were.” She frowned. Where had that chink of insecurity come from?
He continued to poke at the sharp bit of wood. “I can fix any engine you throw my way, repair any bit of trashed-up body kit.” He pointed out to sea. “I can tell you when the next good waves are going to come around depending on the time of year and the weather.”
“None of which I have a clue about. But if everyone was good at the same things, the world would be stuck in a rut.”
“I guess.” He paused. “What would your mom think of me?”
She touched her necklace. And was pleased when her mom’s pretty, healthy face came to mind. Always quick to smile and just as quick to offer reassurance and support. Her embrace had always been a soft place to land if things didn’t go to plan. “I think…”
“What?” He tipped his head, studied her.
“I think she’d say I have to make my own mistakes.”
“Ah! I’m a mistake, am I?”
“I don’t know yet.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, you do. I’m the biggest fucking mistake of your life, but you can’t help yourself. Not when my cock makes you feel so damn good.”
Her cheeks flushed. It was true, she hadn’t been able to resist. It was as if he’d cast some kind of spell on her, seduced her with the promise of delicious, devilish deeds.
“Damn it!” He frowned at his thumb.
“What?”
“Splinter.”
“I knew that was going to happen.”
He sucked it. “Got any tweezers?”
“Sure, in the drawer to the left of the bed.”
He stood, still poking at his small wound.
Her gaze trailed to his cute denim-clad ass as he wandered from the deck.
When he’d gone through the door, she picked up her drink and sipped, then thought of her mom again. She’d been the opposite to Brooklyn—she’d rarely worn makeup, dressed mainly in hiking gear as she spent so much time walking the dogs, and Leah had never once known her to go to a nail bar.
Leah looked at her pink toenails.
She gasped.
The color reminded her of something else. Something stashed in her bedside drawer. The one Carter was heading to right this minute.
She jumped up. Raced to the door, pulled it open, and dashed up the stairs.
But it was too late.
When she reached the bedroom, he turned to her with her trusty pink vibrator in his hand.
“Leah,” he said, a small frown forming between his eyebrows. “You really think you need this when I’m around?”
“Well, no, obviously, but…” A giggle burst upward. “I didn’t know we were going to, you know … did I? Not when I packed.”
“You didn’t know we were going to fuck.”
She cleared her throat. “Yes, that.”