Page 30 of Island Whispers

Which felt like way too much pressure.

More likely the universe was just having a laugh at her expense. Laugh it up, universe. Because this man was an incredible treat and right now she didn’t care if she deserved a treat or not. Boone was better than ice cream on the Fourth of July or Lila’s tropical chocolate croissants any day of the year. He made her feel as if she belonged. With him. On the island.

Something about him made her feel like her best self.

A chill doused her so suddenly someone might as well have dumped ice over her head. It wasn’t Boone’s job to make her into her best self. That was on her. His job was to keep her safe during a crisis. As good as this felt, it was muddying the waters.

She pressed lightly against his chest and he eased back. Seeing the wrinkles in his shirt, she started smoothing them out. He ran his fingers through her hair, tucking the curls to his liking.

Oh, man. There was no doubt in her mind that she looked like a woman who’d just been kissed into a lovely senseless state.

Her mother would pick up on that in an instant. Nina did not want to deal with that speculation.

“Wow. You’re good at being a teenage boy.” She tried to lighten the mood. When he frowned, she hastily added, “A much better kisser, though.”

“Compliments like that will go straight to my head.” He was smiling, his gaze as soft as she felt inside. He kept fiddling with her hair, making her want to snuggle into his touch.

She laughed, nudged him back another step. “We need to get over to the house,” she said. “Mom and Dad’s house,” she clarified when an image of Boone in her bed filled her mind. “They’ll have loads of questions for you and Jess, I’m sure.”

“About security, you mean.”

“Yes,” she replied, though it hadn’t been a question.

He carefully extricated his hand from hers and something shifted in his gaze. He hadn’t exactly shut her out, but his guard was up. He was back in professional mode.

She felt a strange pinch behind her sternum. She’d made a mistake with him. Again.

But he couldn’t possibly expect her to waltz into family dinner and introduce him as anyone other than her bodyguard.

With her track record for dating only guys that were temporarily in town, that would be worse than admitting to her family that their introduction three days ago hadn’t been their first meeting.

Chapter 8

A few days later, Boone was almost coming out of his skin. That sweet kiss in the nursery was playing over and over, on a constant loop in his head. The feel of her skin, the fragrance of her hair. The way she’d breathed his name as if he’d mattered.

He tried to set it aside, to label it as an anomaly. They should talk about it. But he didn’t know how to bring it up. She was so focused on her work and he figured that focus kept her mind off Spratt and the continued manhunt.

Besides, maybe it had been closure for her, but it had only opened up a Pandora’s box of need for him. She’d tasted the same. No, better. Everything had been enhanced by the beach air, ocean salt, warm sunlight, and citrus trees.

And then there was the new, bitter awareness. Some ornery piece of him despised that teenager for kissing her in that same spot. Boone refused to call it jealousy. That was absurd. Borderline obsessive and he wasn’t. He couldn’t be jealous of some kid he’d never meet. Still, it bugged the hell out of him that some other guy understood the wonder of kissing Nina in the nursery.

Following that incredible kiss with the family dinner that felt like a meet-the-parents event blended with a strategy session left him reeling. Because the six of them had had a great time, making Boone feel welcome, despite the reasons that brought him into Nina’s life.

Her dad and mom, Nico and Roxy, were gracious and grateful for his presence. They shoved food at him as if he was in training for an ultramarathon, all of it delicious. Nash and Jess were easygoing and friendly. Boone appreciated the way Jess backed him up on the real risks involved.

Like Jess, he wanted the entire family to be alert and cautious, but not paranoid for Nina’s safety. But he had to wonder if any of them would be as open and welcoming if they knew the truth.

Another topic it felt weird to bring up. If Nina wanted to forget their one-night-stand, he should let her. If being together now didn’t rekindle anything on her side of the equation, what was the point of pushing?

Better for both of them if he could be satisfied with handling the protection issues and maybe come out of this as friends.

What a waste of sizzling chemistry.

Except after that kiss, she didn’t seem to notice the sizzle or share his interest anymore.

Resigned, Boone polished off the last of his eggs and toast, trying to keep his questions locked down. Trying not to stare at Nina.

The more time he spent with her, the less he knew what to believe. All week, she claimed she wasn’t a breakfast person, but during their singular night in Charleston they’d talked when the band took breaks. He recalled her saying her favorite food was waffles and she had shared fond memories of Saturday morning breakfasts with her brother while arguing about cartoon heroes and villains.

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