Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
“Grab whatever you think you’ll need,” he said. “I’ll bring the bike over here and pick you up.”
His bike.
God, I remembered the first time I’d gotten on that bike, too.
• • •
“Come on, nobody will even know it’s you,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Please?”
I was nervous as hell.
And I knew that if my dad found out that I’d gotten on the back of a motorcycle, he might very well kill me.
But how the hell would I be expected to ever say no to a man like Aodhan?
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
He helped me onto his bike, and though it was stupid as hell, we took off with no helmets, protective gear, or cares.
We rode around for hours, wasting gas and enjoying the wind in our hair.
I would never be able to look at a motorcycle the same way again.
• • •
“You know,” he said, “no one has ever been on the back of my bike besides you.”
I blinked, surprised.
Turning to him, I said, “You have a wife!”
“Had, past tense,” he shrugged. “She didn’t like bikes. And I never really cared enough to get her on the back of it.” He winced. “That sounds callous, but the bike was always my escape.”
He didn’t say that “you were my escape.”
I read it loud and clear through his stormy eyes.
“Aodhan…” I started, but he held his hand up and said, “No. Today is about having fun and fishing. Let’s go.”
Aodhan failed to mention that the man going on the boat by himself for a twelve-hour guided fishing tour was a man in a wheelchair. A man that had absolutely no desire to actually fish, or even interact with anyone.
When I got there, I expected it to be all awkward.
But all he really wanted to do was sit there and enjoy the sights, so that was what we left him to do.
I climbed up the tower thing and sat in the seat next to Aodhan, smiling to myself when I watched the familiar movement of his fingers tapping on the wheel.
CHAPTER 6
Thank goodness my book arrived. I almost had to start cleaning the house.
-Text from Aodhan to Morrigan
AODHAN
“What are you over there smiling about?” I asked, tapping my fingers against the wheel as I navigated myself out of the inlet.
The inlet was tough. People that weren’t used to navigating it every day tended to want a pilot to guide them out. A pilot would board the boat, drive them out into calm waters, then disembark for another boat.
A good friend, Cassius, did that for a living. Funny enough, we’d never run into each other much despite us living in the same area and being in the same waters.
However, the area that I navigated out and the area he navigated out were two different areas, and mine was far less dangerous than his was.
He’d grown up and lived in Blue Ridge, while I’d grown up and lived in Accident, thirty minutes away.
“I’m smiling because you still do that tapping thing.” She pointed to my fingers that were still tapping away at the steering wheel. “I know you’ll stop right about…”
I stopped the moment we made it past the point of jagged rocks that jutted out.
“Now.” She smiled, finally finishing her sentence.
I winked at her and started navigating us toward the biggest fishing hole that I had, but would also be within an hour of land in case our guest didn’t want to be out here as long as he’d originally said.
The time passed in companionable silence until she blurted, “Where’s your first mate?”
My first mate was actually a twenty-five-year-old woman.
“Cassidy is at a doctor’s appointment in Sarasota,” I explained. “Her grandfather has cancer, and she takes him to his appointments. Most of the time, it’s scheduled on a day that I usually don’t work. But there was something that happened with his medication or something, and they had to go in sooner.”
She bumped me with her shoulder. “A girl as a first mate?”
I grinned. “It’s my boss’s daughter. Otherwise, I hate to say it, she wouldn’t be my first choice.”
She looked at me curiously as she said, “Why’s that? You don’t think she can do as good of a job?”
“I think that she doesn’t really want to do as good of a job,” I corrected. “I think Cassidy has a passion for fishing, but that doesn’t extend to her fueling someone else’s passion for fishing.”
“That’s understandable,” Morrigan nodded as if that made complete sense. “I like to shop, but I certainly don’t want to do it for a living.”
I flashed her a grin, then pulled up my mapping system, because I knew we were getting close.
After finding our spot, I went down to the bottom deck and talked with our guest.
After assuring us that he was just enjoying the views at the front of the boat, and would like to be left alone, I took us to the back and started getting our poles set up.