Page 27 of Raven's Nest
“Shedidpilot the boat.”
Zain stared at her, all that heat from earlier sizzling back to life. Talk about crazy. “Yeah, she did.”
Kash met them on the porch. “I grabbed your keys, buddy. They’re in the truck. And I put your jeans and bra in there, too, Saylor. Your other clothes were beyond repair.”
She grunted. “That was one of my favorite sweaters, too.”
Kash grinned. “Guess Zain knows what to get you when the opportunity pops up.”
Zain groaned, ushering her forward before Kash made the situation more awkward. He opened her door, waiting until she buckled her seat belt before going to the driver’s side. He blasted the heat once the engine was running, then backed up and headed for the road.
They traveled in silence, her gaze fixed on the landscape rushing past. Thick fog reduced the visibility as rain pelted the windshield.
He turned onto the winding drive, parking in front of her boathouse and loft. When she didn’t stir, he gently touched her arm. “Saylor?”
She jerked awake, looking as if she was ready to hand him his ass, before she groaned. “Sorry, I guess I drifted off.”
“Between the rescue last night and today’s adventure, I’m surprised you’re not in a coma.”
She glanced at her place, toying with some of her hair. “Already tried that once. It’s not nearly as fun as it sounds.”
Great. He’d managed to say the one thing that brought all those ugly memories back to the forefront. “I didn’t mean?—”
“It’s okay. And before you drive yourself crazy with all those unanswered questions, I was in one for about a week, then in and out of consciousness for another three days before I really woke up. Mac stayed the entire time.”
He reached up and brushed his thumb along her jaw. “I’m glad she was there for you. Hell of a thing to go through on your own.”
She merely nodded, then opened the door. “Sorry I ruined the evening.”
“You didn’t ruin anything.” He stepped out and met her at the front of his truck. “I’ll walk you to your door.”
“You don’t have to. You can see me from here.”
“Are you asking me to break a promise I made to my mother?”
Saylor raised an eyebrow. “You promised your mother you’d walk women to their door?”
“When I was sixteen. Haven’t broken it, yet.”
She smiled, crinkling a few lines around her eyes. She took his hand, then walked beside him, closer than he’d expected. They climbed the stairs, stopping a few feet back.
She spun toward him, long shadows stretching across the left side of her face from the lights strung along the dock. “I assume you’re gonna want to clear my place, too?”
He stepped in close. “Greer did say she felt as if something was off.”
Saylor snagged her lower lip, then pressed her body against his. “If I really didn’t ruin the moment earlier, I’d love for you to come inside for more than just a security check. Unless that’s off the table.”
He dipped down and captured her mouth, sliding one hand to the back of her head as he gathered her hair and deepened the kiss. Saylor barely gave him enough time to suck in a breath before she tugged his head down — claimed his mouth like she had in his bathroom.
Her chest heaved against his when they finally parted, foreheads touching, their breath mixing. She smiled, and everything stopped. The wind, the rain, the roar of the ocean. Gone. Just the two of them standing in front of her door, the promise of more hanging between them like the fog clinging to the trees.
He thought about spinning — pinning her to the wall as she rode his leg — until he remembered herreaction. One he feared had nothing to do with her experience aboard the doomed vessel but something closer to home.
She palmed his cheek, leaning against him. “Is that a yes?”
“I guess that depends.”
She played along. “On what?”
