Page 16 of When We Breathe
Turns out I was dead fucking wrong.
I change into my swimsuit as the guys pack the food and drinks, then we’re off again, walking down through the resort and to the marina. The boat is not what I thought it would be. I was expecting a small speedboat, big enough to pull a skier and have fun on.
This is not that.
It’s bigger, sleeker,sexierthan what I’d pictured. But as we’re about to get on this boat, someone else is coming off theirs, along with their giant fucking dog.
And I freeze.
Fuck.
The little dog at the coffee shop was easy enough to skirt by, but this dog is fucking huge, and the dock is not big enough for the two of us.
“Hey, Harvey,” Gabe says and reaches out to pet the beast, but I’m backing up, my heart pounding in my chest, my throat constricting. “Did you go out on the water today?”
“Hey, guys,” the man says. “Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you.”
I’m shaking my head, still slowly backing away. I can’t take my eyes off the animal.
So much blood. He’s laughing, and his sick smile makes my tummy hurt. He’s enjoying how much he’s torturing me with the poor cat that wandered through the yard this morning. Why is he so horrible? Why does he laugh so much when I scream?
“Alex.”
I think that’s Adam’s voice, but it sounds like it’s coming down a long tunnel.
Suddenly, I’m swept up in strong arms, and I bury my face against a firm chest, willing my breathing to slow the hell down as I cling to the man carrying me.
Christ.
I feel the earth shift beneath us, then he sits and nudges my face back so he can look at me.
Gabe.
“Is it gone?” I ask. My voice is so small, and it pisses me off, but I can’t help it.
“It’s gone, Shorty,” Gabe says, his nickname for me helping to lighten the mood.
I take a trembling breath and look around, and when I don’t see the massive dog anywhere, I swallow hard and nod.
“Let’s get out on the water,” Adam suggests. He’s already started the engine, pulled the ropes in and pushed us away from the dock. Next thing I know, we’re zooming away from the resort, shooting across the lake. The wind feels fantastic, as if it’s blowing all of the anxiety I just had away.
I smile up at Gabe, and he covers my mouth with his,kissing me sweetly before licking across the seam of my lips, and I open for him, loving the way he takes the kiss from calm to hot in a nanosecond.
I shift and straddle him, wrap my arms around his neck, and continue kissing him, until Adam slows the boat and we’re drifting in the middle of the lake.
He pulls the sunshade over the top, then tugs me out of Gabe’s arms and into his own. Cupping my chin in his fingers, he says, “Talk to us, Princess.”
Chapter Seven
ADAM
The look on Alex’s sweet face when she saw Harvey ripped the heart out of my chest and set it on fire. My girl was terrified, and I want to know why. Sure, the great dane is a big-ass dog, but she acted like it was a grizzly bear and she was lunch.
She’s looking up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes, silently pleading with me to let the subject go.
But I won’t let this go. I need to know everything there is to know about this woman.
I already know that I want to move her out of that tiny apartment.
