“Will that work?” She leaned in to inspect what he was doing and Griffin got another whiff of her musky scent.
It would work to get rid of the stains, but sadly, not her memory. “Yeah.” He continued to massage her hand.
Marin sighed contentedly and Griffin felt it all the way in his groin. The chirping of the burn phone made her jump. Griffin snatched it up and looked at the message.
“Your chaperones are in place. If you can’t be good, be careful. B”
Smart asses.Griffin snapped the phone closed as he let out a relieved sigh.
“Are your friends coming to get us?” Marin asked as she wiped off her hands.
“We’re staying put here tonight. There’s a team of agents just outside keeping watch. The guys in the speed boat never saw us. Adam will have the Coast Guard pick them up. We’re safe where we are.”
Marin nodded, but with little enthusiasm.
“I found some tea bags and some cookies.” He gestured to the pot of water on the stove. “We’ll have to make do with that for food.”
“And you found a gun, too, I see,” she added.
“It’s always better to be prepared.”
She wrapped her arms around her midsection. “I just want this to be over,” she whispered.
He reached up and caressed her face. “You were amazing today.”
Marin leaned her cheek into his palm as tears welled up in her eyes. “I killed a man today.”
The ache of her words nearly broke him. “I believe I owe you a thank you for that.” He leaned in and took her mouth in a gentle kiss.
She amazed him every time with how sweet she tasted.
“I need to shower before I stink up the place with the perfume of the Potomac,” he murmured after reluctantly releasing her mouth.
She shot him a guilty look. “I might have used all the hot water.”
That was probably a good thing. A cold shower was just what he needed right now. “I’ll make do.”
* * *
The breeze picked up outside causing the sailboat to sway gently from side to side. Marin rinsed her bra and panties out in the galley sink and hung them back on the line. While sipping on a cup of tea, she finger-dried her hair and braided it to the side. Then she explored Ben’s boat. Anything to keep her mind off the sexy man in the shower who kept doing things to make her like him. Like kissing her.
There were three sleeping berths—two at the back and one up front. All three had double beds with a door that separated them from the main cabin. Griffin was already using one as a makeshift laundry room. The other aft cabin resembled a jail cell without any windows, so Marin wandered to the one at the bow of the boat. This one featured three-foot-long horizontal windows on either side of the bed and a tiny porthole at the front. Marin climbed up onto the bunk and dragged a blanket over her bare legs.
Moonlight illuminated the narrow teak ledge that surrounded the bed and Marin was drawn to the photos Ben had displayed there. Some looked like they were of his family, but one in particular caught her eye. It was a photo of Ben, Adam, and Griffin holding a swordfish. All three men sported wide, carefree grins and a great deal of sexy, tanned skin.
“I actually caught one that was bigger, but Adam let it get away.”
Marin started at the sound of Griffin’s voice. The picture frame slipped from her fingers, landing on the bed. She hadn’t heard the shower stop or the bathroom door open. Yet there was Griffin filling the small doorway to the cabin. And sucking all the air out of it, too.
Her breath caught at the back of her throat at the sight of him. His arms were stretched above him as he gripped the doorframe, giving Marin an eyeful of his sculpted chest, complete with a happy trail of dark hair that disappeared beneath the waistband of his skintight sweat pants. Dark stubble still shadowed his jaw making him look like a pirate. The way his eyes were devouring her, she was apparently his booty.
He let out a pained sigh. “You should get some rest while you can.” He brought his arms down to his sides where they hung rigidly.
“When didyoulast sleep?”
His face grew taut. “I’ll sleep when you’re safe.”
“But you said I was safe right now?”