Page 37 of Places I've Never Been

“The sea, it pushes, it pulls, but always it reaches to the same place.” He winked at her. “This man you hunt, he does the same, yes?”

“The only thing I’ve seen him reach for is procrastination.” She shook her head. “If we moved any slower on this project, we’d be going backwards. He just doesn’t seem to understand how important this is.”

Abayomi stopped next to the dock.

“Sometimes we have to go slow to go fast, Miss Mattie.” He pointed to the largest boat at the dock and smiled. “The Imagination is waiting for you. Enjoy the day.”

She’d come to really like the unassuming, happy man who brought her smiles and coffee every morning. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for the ride. And the advice.”

“My pleasure, Miss Mattie. Always.” He bobbed his head and took off down the path.

She walked up the dock to a white boat with rich wood accents and the nameImaginationwritten in black on the side. It looked more like a yacht than a fishing boat. There was a main cabin with windows so tinted she couldn’t see inside, and a deck big enough for twenty people at the rear of the boat. Steps provided access to the water for would-be swimmers or divers. Padded seats lined the edges of the deck, and fishing poles had been arranged neatly at the end of each bench.

She spotted Adam lounging in the captain’s chair in the center of the deck. He held a drink in one hand and a book in the other. She stopped with one hand on the rail.

He wore white cargo shorts and a white linen shirt that lay open to expose his bare chest and the Delusions of Glory tattoo. The spiral artwork played with her eyes and confused her thoughts. How could such a simple design look so…inviting? Her gaze traced the lines of it around and down to where it ended in a flourish just above his belly button, then continued the remaining distance to where his shorts interrupted the view.

The pang of regret she felt at not being able to see more of him didn’t make sense. Neither did the sudden itch she had to trace that tattoo with her finger.

This was her writing partner, not her date.

A deckhand cleared his throat. “Welcome aboard, Miss Mattie. Can I bring you anything?”

Mattie jumped. She hadn’t even seen him approach. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment. “Um, just some water, thanks.”

The young man gestured to the right. “Please have a seat. We will be underway in a moment.”

Mattie nodded her acknowledgment but didn’t move. She had to get a grip on herself before she talked to Adam.

She was here to write a song. If she let herself get carried away, she could end up with even worse headlines than she had already. She’d barely kissed Devon and it had turned into a fake Twitter breakup of epic proportions.

What would happen if she let herself be swept away by Adam and tropical island lust? It wasn’t like they had any kind of future together. He was a rock star. She was a pop princess. In what real world would they mesh?

She didn’t think Adam was remotely like Devon, but there were still a million ways things could go horribly wrong if she followed her sex drive instead of her head.

The boat shifted, reminding her they were trying to get the fishing expedition underway. She gave herself a mental shake, gathered her resolve, and stalked toward her prey with determination to get the project back on track and her thoughts under control. “You’re avoiding me.”

Adam peered at her over the top of the book. “No I’m not. I’ve been waiting for you for two hours.”

“You are aware you didn’t actually invite me, right?” She stared the way she used to do when she wanted her sisters to stop teasing.

“Are you sure? I could swear I mentioned going fishing.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes, I’m sure you did. You went over a list ofeveryactivity available on the island. You didn’t actually say you were goingtoday, or that I should come along with you.”

He shrugged and didn’t look the least bit bothered by her frustration. “I woke up this morning thinking about howmuch easier it is to work while being rocked by ocean waves. I knew you’d find me sooner or later.”

Her inner Southern girl politeness collided with the exasperation she increasingly felt around Adam. She wanted to tell him to stop being a jackass, but instead she summoned her syrupy sweet voice, the one she used with people being intentionally dense, in the hopes he’d get the message. “You could have knocked on my door or left a note.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” He tossed the book he’d been reading onto the nearest bench.

The boat shifted as they pulled away from the dock. She sat down so she wouldn’t trip and fall into his lap. “We came here to get some work done.”

“We have all day to ourselves.” A hint of a twinkle lit his eyes. “We’ll have to figure out some way to fill the time.”

The teasing innuendo in his tone made her lose her train of thought for a second. For one brief, wild flash, she imagined a very different day than the one she had planned. Then she shook herself and clung to her need to be professional like a security blanket.

“Would you focus, please?” She opened her bag and pulled out the most recent notebook and a pen. “I’ve been working on the chorus. Do you want to hear what I have so far?”

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