Page 100 of Hot Shot

I study the image again. “How did you get that light, the way the ocean is sparkling like that? The whale looks like it’s glowing.”

“Total fluke.” She smiles weakly.

“Bullshit. You’re so talented, Carrie.” I pause. “I saw some of your pictures at the gallery yesterday. They were all sold.”

She gasps. “All of them?”

“Yep.” I turn my gaze back to the photograph. “I love this. So powerful.”

“Yes, that’s what I thought. It reminds me of you.”

My head lifts and I meet her eyes again.”

“It’s big, but gentle. And these whales are friendly and interact with other cetacean species, like d-dolphins.” She stops, swallows, and my own throat thickens, thinking about the dolphin I made for her. “Also, humpback whales have a loose-knit social structure. Sometimes they live alone or sometimes they live in transient groups. And that reminded me of you too, and how you’ve found family.”

Jesus. I can’t speak. There’s something that feels like a tennis ball lodged in my throat. I swallow a few times. “Did I ever tell you about the time a horny whale attacked our submarine?”

What the hell am I doing? Trying to get out of this without breaking down in tears, I guess.

She chokes. “No!”

I force a grin and set the picture on the dresser. “Yeah. He was going to rape us.”

Carrie falls against the dresser laughing. “You’re making this up.”

“I am not. You can ask Cade. He was there too. We were about thirty miles off the coast when we discovered there was an unidentified object following us, about five hundred yards behind. We tried to take evasive action, but we couldn’t lose it. Chief Wallace picked three of us to go out and see what was happening. We exited the submarine using a torpedo tube and waited for whatever was shadowing us to show. I damn near died when I saw it was a fucking humpback whale and he had a motherfucking hard-on.”

Carrie laughs more.

“Have you ever seen an erect whale penis?”

She shakes her head, still quaking with laughter. “No!”

“Well, let me tell you, it’s huge and it’s freaky.” I grin. “Cade was the one who smacked him on the nose. Well, that did it, he lost his stiffy and dropped back. Cade saved us from being whale raped.”

Carrie wipes her eyes. “I’m still not sure I believe you.”

Our eyes meet and our smiles fade. I tried to lighten things up but once again, the air thickens around us. “You’re gorgeous.”

Carrie draws in a shaky breath. “Oh, Marco.”

I reach for her and pull her into my arms again, this time pressing her against me chest to chest, thigh to thigh. I tilt my head and capture her mouth with mine in a long, aching kiss. Desire and yearning expand inside me. She wraps her arms around me and kisses me back, a poignant, long kiss goodbye, both of us holding on as if we’ll never let go.

I bury my face in her hair, breathing in her scent. Her height and curves fit me perfectly. I’ll never find another woman who fits me so well; a woman who cares as deeply as I do but isn’t afraid to show the love she feels; a woman who brings joy to so many people; a woman who forces me to look inside myself and recognize that deep-down longing for home. Love. Approval. Acceptance.

She gave all that to me, and yet . . . it’s still not enough.I’mstill not enough.

“I’ll miss you, Supermodel.”

“I’ll miss you too.” Her voice is clogged with tears.

I release her and step back to pick up the framed picture. “I’ll take this to my room now,” I say, my voice gravelly. “So it’s safe. See you back down there.”

21

MARCO

The door to the bar opens Friday morning and a woman walks in.

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