"Ma'am, what does Justin Timberlake have to do with anything?"
"Justin Timberlake is the answer to everything," Grandma said solemnly.
"How do you figure?"
After a long pause she answered, "Because he brought sexy back."
"I'm sorry I didn't take a sick day today."
Jace
So I'd kissed her twice. Big deal. I licked my lips for probably the twentieth time, hoping, no praying, that I'd still be able to taste her on the tip of my tongue. Damn, she tasted good. I couldn't get her smell or her taste out of my consciousness, and I really needed to be focusing on important things like trying to get my career on track, rather than flushing it down a shit hole.
With a haggard groan, I licked my lips. One last time. Just to remember.
How many times had I kissed a woman and experienced nothing?
Shameful, to admit when a man is so ridiculously turned off by the female species that he stops responding all together. That's what Kerry had done to me. She'd broken me. And I hated feeling like a broken misused toy that no longer functioned properly. It pissed me off and made me feel like less of a man.
But Beth? She made me feel alive. Too bad the things that make you feel alive eventually kill you. Drugs, alcohol, bungee jumping. Okay, fine. I was being dramatic, but still. Women were predators. They couldn't help but want to trap men and eventually destroy the relationship in the process. Maybe it was fear, but I imagined it was so much deeper than that.
Arranged marriage. That was my future. At least in an arranged marriage I could pull the strings, I could use it for my benefit. I'd have the perfect little senator-wife and I'd have my dream.
The only problem? The longer I spent with Beth and that damn grandmother, the more reality was pushed away from the forefront of my mind. I needed to get back to the mainland, and I needed to call Rick. Beth made me lose focus.
I never imagined myself a romantic. That dream had been killed over ten years ago. I was so young and stupid, naïve to think that Beth would remember the magic of our kiss. The magic of the moment we'd shared. I'd fallen head-over–heels. In exactly three minutes, I'd had our wedding planned, while she hadn't been able to wait to get away.
When I'd told Grandma Nadine I'd help get Jake and Char together, never in my wildest dreams had I thought that I'd get pulled into the Titus-family drama. And not once, had I thought I'd end up in bed with Char's sister. Especially after all those years wishing for that very thing.
I stole a glance at her.
She was beautiful. But I was surrounded by beautiful women, and none of them, not a single one, made me want to fight.
She did.
And it made me pissed as hell that I had somehow given her that type of emotional power over me. I'd done it once with Kerry, let my guard down and found her in bed with my best friend. But even with Kerry, I hadn't felt the sizzle I'd felt with Beth.
Which was terrifying. Because if it was this easy for me to want to be with her, then that meant she had that much more power to destroy me, and the sad part was, I'd probably let her, because even though I wanted to be that guy that was tough as shit and didn't give a damn.
I'd always known that once I fell for someone — once I fell in love, it would destroy me from the inside out. My mom had always joked that I wore my heart on my sleeve. In my profession it helped. People genuinely trusted me. They liked me. And in return, I tried to do my best for them.
Them. I needed to keep remembering what I'd been born to do. Lead others and sacrifice. At least, at the end of the day, I'd still have my job. Logistics, voting, politics, they were topics that, given the chance, would take over a person's life, leaving no space for anything else. I needed my life to be that way in order to be able to control things.
Groaning, I decided to put my mind to rest.
For tonight.
I was going to focus on getting through dinner. It would be hard enough fielding Grandma's ministrations. I'd need all my energy for that woman. I swear, God had done a number when He'd made her.
"We're here!" Grandma shouted as if we were at the World Cup.
"Yay." Beth pumped her fist into the air and gave me a tired smile.
Poor girl. She was probably just as tired as I was. It wasn't as if that flight had been something made out of dreams. It had been hell, hell on earth. And it truly had made me question my desire to procreate.
"I'm so hungry I almost ate the three-week-old candy I found at the bottom of my purse," Beth murmured so only I could hear her.
"What? No sharing?"
"It had fur on it." Beth sighed. "Fifty-fifty chance I would have died from some sort of fungus poising."
"More science." I sighed. "Hot."
"Fungus. Always hot."
"Where's the damn boat?" Grandma put her hands on her hips and stomped down the dock, while I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Grandma yelled obscenities into the night sky, but I wasn't paying attention, because Beth had somehow managed to lean against my shoulder, and my shoulder had decided in those brief seconds that it liked being leaned on. So I stayed, paralyzed by her touch, debating whether or not I should put my arm around her or just stand there like a limp idiot.
"You kids stay here. This is just…" Grandma didn't finish; instead she continued yelling and walked off down the beach, cell phone in hand.
Beth didn't move. Instead, she leaned further against me while I closed my eyes and let the smell of the islands permeate my senses. The air was thick with the humidity of flowers. For the first time in two years, I felt semi-relaxed.
That is until a horn sounded in the distance.
I blinked a few times as a boat. Scratch that, it was more like a freaking yacht. Of course, when dealing with Grandma Nadine what else could I expect? The woman didn't do small, in any capacity, so if the Titanic suddenly rose from it's watery grave and made it's way across the ocean to our destination, yeah, I wouldn't even blink. A the yacht got closer it was harder and harder not to look away. I'd always had a thing for them and this one was beautiful. Stark white with its lights reflecting off the water. I could retire on it and live comfortably for the rest of my life. The side said Titus Enterprises, maybe we were having dinner on it? . A man in a blue Hawaiian shirt pulled up to the dock and waved us over.
"I think that's our ride," I whispered in Beth's hair, shamelessly allowing myself a few deep breaths.
"Hmm..." she answered and started walking down the dock.
I blindly followed, Hypnotized by the sway of her hips as she made her way down toward the water.
The captain helped her into the boat. She was tired, but I was at least still functioning.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Are you Jace Brevik?"
"Yes?"
"And Beth Lynn?" He pointed to Beth who looked absolutely dead on her feet.
"Yeah…"
"Great!" He clapped his hands together. "I'm your captain. Your grandmother is going to follow in the next boat. She said something about needing to use the restroom again, so I was given the go-ahead to drop you kids off so you can eat."
"Food." I grunted. "Fine, how far away is it?"
The captain gave me a funny look then answered, "Things are only as far away as you allow them to be. Now sit back and relax. There's rum punch in the back. Help yourself."
"Alcohol." I nodded. "Score."
"Right, because that hasn't caused us any problems in the last twenty-four hours," Beth joked sleepily.
Ignoring her, I grabbed two paper cups and went to the little mini-bar at the back of the boat. Filling both cups to the rim with the pink juice, I grabbed a bag of Maui Chips to share with Beth and returned to where she was sitting.