“As compared to yours? I’m guessing that’s who you’re referring to.”
“Yeah. My uncle told my mom I wasn’t up for it. She owns half the company but lets him run it.”
“Does she know about his extracurricular activity?”
“No, but he’s not married so he can do what he wants.”
“It’s generally not okay to screw your employees and then promote them for it.”
I laughed. “Screw? I have you using that word now?”
“What? That’s what it is.”
I put an arm around her. “You’re perfect.”
“That again?” She leaned into my side.
“Yeah.” I rubbed the palm of her hand that now had tiny imprints of the grass on it.
“You’re going to be okay.”
“You think so?” I lifted up her hair so I could kiss her neck.
“I know so.”
“So are you.”
“I hope so.”
“I guess I need to start planning a special date now, huh?”
She laughed. “Did you like my excuse?”
“I’m guessing he was asking you out?” I refused to get angry at the thought of Caleb. She’d turned him down hadn’t she?
“Yeah, and I figured it was a good way to get you to take me out tonight.”
“Because I wouldn’t take you out anyway?”
“Generally you prefer to keep me in.”
I looked her right in the eye. “You don’t actually think that, right? That I’m just using you for sex or something?”
“Of course not. Although I do wonder how I’m satisfying you.”
I laughed. “Yeah… good one.”
“You do have a bit of a reputation you know.”
“One you believed.”
“Oh?” She turned to look at me. “Should I have questioned it?”
“I’ve only slept with one girl this entire summer.”
“What?” her eyes nearly bugged out. “That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
“I’m the only girl you’ve been with this summer?”
I nodded. “Are you going to make me scream it or something?”
“Then why does everyone act like you sleep with anything with breasts?”
“Because it’s easy to let them think that. People don’t worry about you if they think you’re having fun.”
“Wow.” She ran her fingers over my wrist. “Well, you’re the only guy I’ve been with this summer.”
“Very good to know.” I brushed my lips against hers.
“Now you’re officially perfect.”
“Oh yeah?”
“The only thing keeping you from that title was your propensity to move through women. With that removed…”
“So you were willing to date me even without me being perfect?”
“Of course. Perfect is over rated.”
“Does that mean you want me less then?”
“We both know that neither of us are actually perfect.” She crawled into my lap.
“Yeah well, I think you’re perfect for me and that’s enough.”
“Ditto.”
“Ditto? I haven’t heard that one in a while.”
“I rock it old school.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. She pushed for access to my mouth, and I gladly let her. I wrapped my arms around her and lay back on the grass. The motion left her on top of me. There were other people around, but I didn’t care. Kissing Carly wasn’t something I could consciously decide not to do. She was addicting, and I had no plans to quit.
***
“This is your big plan?” She glanced at the boat and then back at me.
“Yes. I figured a romantic dinner out on the water qualified as big.”
“On that? We’re going to eat a romantic dinner on that thing?” One of the best parts of Carly was her reaction to things. She was so honest it was funny. It’s why I went out of my way to tease her.
“What’s wrong with it?” I looked at the tiny little rowboat. Did she really think I’d pull something like that?
“No comment.”
I pulled her back against my chest. “Babe, we’re not taking that boat.”
“Then which one are we taking?” She glanced around the marina.
“That one.” I turned her so she was looking at the yacht docked two down from where we stood.
“Uh, I don’t think that’s your boat.”
I laughed. “Not by a long shot. It belongs to a happy client of mine.”
“A client is letting you borrow a boat like that? That’s a lot of trust.”
“The captain comes with the loan. Really he’s just trusting we don’t trash it.”
“Does a chef come with it too?”
“But of course.” I led her over to the boat. I really hoped I was earning points. I’d never gone out of my way to organize something like this, especially not under such short notice, but Carly was worth it.
She leaned up and kissed me on the lips. “You’re amazing.”
“So are you.” I squeezed her hand, and we climbed on.
After introducing Carly to the staff, I’d actually lived on board for a week the previous summer and knew them well, I led her over to the starboard side while we pulled out of the marina. I’d timed everything to the sunset, and I loved watching her smile as she watched the pink, orange, and yellow colors cross the sky. “This is beyond beautiful.”
“I’m glad you think so.” I put an arm around her shoulder. It never ceased to amaze me how perfectly she seemed to fit at my side. A good four inches shorter than me, her head came to rest right at the crook of my arm.
We enjoyed the sunset before I led her over to the carefully set table. I’d left the dinner and wine selections to the on board chef, and I hoped Carly approved. From what I’d seen she wasn’t a particularly picky eater.
She seemed to love the mussels and lobster tails, and she didn’t leave any of her shrimp cocktail untouched. Clearly she loved seafood. After clearing our plates the staff went inside and left us with what was left of our wine.
Carly immediately returned to the railing. “You’re not going to try to get me to dive tonight, right? Because if so you should have done it before we ate.”
I laughed. “Your first dive isn’t going to be in open water. We’ll start with a shore dive.”