Page 93 of Raine Out (Grand Slam 2)

Alex

“Have you been to St. John before?” Raine says as she crawls on top of me in the hammock. “How did you even know this place was here?”

After the drama of the morning, I drove us to a beach on the north shore. We found a hammock strung between two palm trees that’s only about ten feet from the water. We’ve been here for about ten minutes. There’s not another person in sight.

“I told you that I explored the island before you got here. I found a lot of cool places,” I say, pulling her closer. “I was just waiting for you to get down here so I could use them.”

“You didn’t even know who I was when you were exploring,” she says, laughing. “I think what you meant to say is that you were waiting foranywoman to get down here, so you could take her to all the romantic beach spots you found.”

“That’s not at all true,” I say, kissing her forehead. “If I hadn’t met you, I’d just be hanging out with my buddies. Believe me, there’s not another woman down here who interests me.”

“It’s fine. You don’t have to lie. We’ve already established that you were a whore before we met.”

I lift her head so I can look her into her eyes. “We didn’t establish anything—you did.”

“Okay,” she says, kissing my cheek before snuggling her head into my shoulder again. “But I’ve had two people confirm that information for me—without me even asking. They just walk up to me and tell me you’re a player.”

“Yeah, well don’t believe everything you hear. I’m not a player.”

“Alex,” she says as she sits up and straddles me. “I’m not mad about it. We’re both adults and we’re having a fun weekend. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“A fun weekend? This is more than that to me,” I say, taking her hands. “I want to keep talking to you after we leave.”

“We’ve only known each other for two days,” she says, smiling. “Can’t it just be what it is?”

“And what is it for you?” I say, raising my eyebrows. “Frankly, you seem more like the player here than I do.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “I’m not a player, but I am a realist. After tomorrow, we’re probably not going to see each other again.”

“Says who?” I try to keep the edge out of my voice, but I’m starting to get a little pissed.

“Alex, you’ll be in Miami and I’m going to be in San Diego. When are we going to see each other?”

I take her face in my hands. “We can visit each other. I’ll pay for you to come to Miami whenever you want. I’ll even charter a plane so it works with your schedule.”

“That’s very sweet,” she says, kissing my hand, “but I’m going to be busy with my new assignment. And if you’re signing a contract, you’ll start training in like February, right?”

“Yeah, but you get vacation.”

“This is the first real vacation I’ve had in five years. I’m not exaggerating. My job is all-consuming.”

“So you’re okay with this being it?” I say, frowning. “We leave tomorrow and never see each other again?”

She lays her head back down on my shoulder and whispers, “No, I’m not okay with it. I’m just trying to come to terms with it so I won’t have a breakdown when I have to leave you tomorrow.”

“Don’t leave me then. Come to Puerto Rico,” I whisper. “Even just for a week.”

“I can’t. I want to, but I really can’t. Let’s just enjoy the next twenty-ish hours and whatever happens, happens.”

“Hmm,” I growl. “I’m not willing to give up on this that easily. I like you. We have a lot in common. I haven’t had anything in common with a woman in so long—like probably back to college.”

“We definitely have stuff in common. I haven’t clicked this quickly with a guy in—well, ever. I don’t think this has ever happened to me before.”

“Exactly. Same,” I say, holding her tightly to me. “If we were in the same city, I’d be trying to get a date with you for every night at this point.”

“And I’d be saying yes to every night, but we’re not going to be in the same city.”

“Not every day, but we can be sometimes. After Puerto Rico, I’ll come out to San Diego and visit you. We can still get to know each other better and see what happens.”

---