Page 9 of The Couch Where It Happens

From the end of the peninsula, we angled across to Smith Cove on Shelter Island, and I cut the engine. We drifted a little, splashed a little, laughed a little, until an unspoken agreement sent us back. When I throttled down near home, I didn’t head to the neighboring house. “Your dock or mine?”

The full moon at this angle illuminated him well enough for me to see his eyebrows rise. “You’re asking?”

“Mine, then.” In moments, the fenders were down, the outboard was up, the spring lines tied and tidied, and we werestanding next to each other at the juncture where the wooden boards met land. This was the first time all night I’d stood next to him, and I realized I’d underestimated his height. He towered over my five foot seven inches, so he must be well over six feet. I liked it.

The sound of the party on the next property was muted, either by the actual distance or the bubble we’d built around ourselves, to a vibrating bass line that pulled at the deep spot between my legs. “Want something to drink? I can’t compete with the Seven-and-Sevens next door, but I do have Diet Coke and maybe a couple of Rolling Rocks.”

“It’s not a competition. You’re so far ahead, they can’t even see your wake.”

“Come on.” At the boathouse, I fumbled with the clasp on my life jacket. I hoped he didn’t see my trembling hands.

“Want my help?”

He’d have to get close to my breasts to work the fastener, but ultimately, that’s what my invitation was about, so I said yes.

He stared at my face while he lifted both hands to the clasp. Without looking down, he slipped his fingers behind the chest straps, and I felt the press of his knuckles on my clavicle. His thumbs stroked the small distance across my exposed skin above the clasp. His fingers were chilled from being on the water, and my skin was so much hotter than his touch. It felt like I was feverish.

I shivered.

The tab made a small snick when it unlatched, then he moved his hands to grasp the bulky floats at my shoulders. This time, he let his thumbs rest on either side of my throat, brushing like the lightest noon breeze across the tendons there. My knees wobbled, and I swayed closer to him.

He lifted the life jacket away. I heard it hit the gravel path.

I felt as if he had undressed me, even though I was wearing all my clothes.

“It’s sort of adorable that you wore that all night and made me wear one too.” His voice was deeper than it had been during our cruise along the shore. Slower.

“Liability avoidance is one of my managerial responsibilities.” Speech came out of my mouth with the breathy quality of Farrah Fawcett, but because words had no meaning to either of us except as a means to continue the evening, whatever I said didn’t matter. Only the movement of my lips so close to his mattered.

“I kept wanting you to take it off so I could really see you.”

“Now you can.” I shifted to stand taller, moving my chest almost close enough to him.

“Yeah.”

Kiss me, I was certain I was emoting. Grab my face and mash our mouths together, big guy.

He should have gripped my shoulders and yanked me across the last inch and pressed our bodies into one being, but instead, he stood there.Oh-kay.

“Come back with me?” I whispered into the quiet.

In response to my tilted head, he nodded.

“Follow me.”

As I led him across the lawn to the faux carriage house and up the stairs to my apartment, it seemed like he’d lost his voice. The outdoor security lights cast enough illumination to show that he hadn’t lost the contours shaping up behind his zipper, though.

The landing at the top of the stairs couldn’t fit both of us, so he stopped one step below me. Before I could twist the doorknob, I felt his finger draw a line down my back, and I shivered in the muggy August night.

“Hey,” he said.

I turned. With me on the landing, our faces were almost even.

“On the dock.”

I held my breath.

“I should have done this.” He kissed me.

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