Page 26 of Totally Wrecked
I pull my hand away and shake it.
Yikes, what was that? A taste of the bad-girl punishment my sister likes?
I back out of the door and quickly find my way to the back of the boat.
“Are you alright? What happened?” Killian has one hand on my back and the other holding a book. His intense gray eyes bore into me. “You’re trembling.”
I bite my lip and feel my eyes fill with tears. Killian fishes a bandana out of his pocket and gives it to me to dry my eyes.
“I’m here when you need me, but you got this,” he says.
“I’m fine,” I say, weakly, putting up a hand to push my hair back. “But it’s hard work convincing Harvey I don’t want a cabin canoodle.”
His lips quirk. “Cabin canoodle?”
“You know, a bunkhouse bonk.”
He puts down the book he is reading, and then puts a finger under my chin and tilts it upward. “Just a couple more weeks. You can do it!”
Can I? Harvey is freaking me out.
“And then,” Killian continues, “it’s me, you, and all the time in the world.”
“Unless I’m found out and arrested and go to prison for twenty years.”
“Well, if that happens, I’ll just come visit with a file in a cake to help you escape.”
“I think that only works for Bugs Bunny. Maybe I can work in the prison library. That wouldn’t be too bad.”
“You are daft. But rest assured, I’ll wait for you. Even if you go down for a long-stretch, which is ridiculous and not going to happen.” He kisses my forehead. A large swell sways the ship and I stumble, dropping my bottle of water all over Killian and his book.
“Noooo! I am so sorry.” I hate damaging books.I pick it up and lay it open in the sun to dry. It’s an old, small hardback with faded writing on the cover.
“What are you reading?”
“Jane Wilde,” he says.
I'm a little embarrassed that I’ve never heard of her. “Any relation to Oscar?” I joke.
Killian grins. “Actually, his mother—and a writer and poet, just like her son. My mam is writing a biography about her, and I’ve gotten a little obsessed—I love learning about amazing women who are overlooked in history.”
Why do I find that incredibly sexy?
“Do you have a favorite poem by her?”
“I haven’t studied enough of them to make that distinction yet,” he replies. “But I’m currently memorizing one called ‘Destiny’. Thought it was apropos, but it turns out to be really sad.”
“Ooh, how does that go?”
He gives me a grin and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “I only have the first bit down, but I’ll give you what I’ve got.”
Looking out over the ocean, he starts to recite.
“There was a star that lit my life
It hath set to rise no more,
For Heaven, in mercy, withdrew the light
