Chapter 25
“But I wanted a marshmallow.” ~ Harper
Harper
“W hy are you nervous?” Kai asks.
“I’m not nervous,” I lie.
“Okay. You’re not nervous. Why are you dressed in black?”
“I always dress in black.”
“No, you usually dress in a black t-shirt from Rumrunner and a pair of jeans. You’re wearing black pants.”
“When did you become Mr. Observant?”
He squeezes my thigh. “When it comes to you, I’m always observant.”
“Sure you are, Goofy.”
“Why did you insist on driving your car?”
“Are you going to question me all night?”
“Yes.” He nods. “Until you tell me what we’re doing for our date.”
“What if I want to surprise you?”
“Surprise me how? If you want to have sex on the beach, I’m in.” He wiggles his eyebrows .
My nose wrinkles. “The sand gets everywhere. And I do mean everywhere.”
“Okay. No sex on the beach. What else requires you to wear dark clothes?” He taps his chin. “Pranks obviously require dark clothes.”
I gasp. He wasn’t supposed to figure out what we’re doing until we arrive. I probably should have skipped on the black beanie.
“Harper Poole, are we performing a prank?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“I hope it’s better than Blossom’s idea for a prank.”
“What if it’s not?”
“I don’t care. I was joking. I’m excited you’re up for trying new things. Maybe later we can try new things in bed.”
My nipples tingle at his suggestion. I’m ready for another night spent in Kai’s arms. But he needs to make the first move. We only had sex the last time because I attacked him the night of the Moonshine & Merriment Festival.
“What kind of new things?”
He traces a finger down my arm. “How do you feel about handcuffs? Or what about a mask?”
His suggestions, combined with his gravelly voice, have me squirming in my seat. It’s a good thing we’re nearly at our destination or I’d park near a deserted dune and have my wicked way with him. So much for Kai making the first move.
I clear my throat. “We’re here.”
He looks around. “Why are we parking in the center of Rogue’s Landing? ”
“We can’t exactly steal Rogue the raccoon if we’re not in Rogue’s Landing.”
His jaw drops open. “You want to steal Rogue?”
“Rogue hasn’t been successfully stolen since I was in high school. What better way is there for you to win the prank war with your brothers?”
“What do you know about the prank war?”
I turn to face him. “I know you’re losing.”
He bristles. “I am not losing.” I raise an eyebrow. “I’m not winning but I’m not at the bottom, losing either. Jaxon is always at the bottom.”
“Your brothers told me all about the prank war at the barbecue last week.”
He sighs. “I knew they were up to something when they kidnapped you.”
“They didn’t kidnap me.”
“They carried you away from me.”
I tap his nose. “No pouting or I won’t let you come with me to steal Rogue.”
His eyes light up. “What’s your plan?”
I hold up a bag of marshmallows. “Rogue loves these. We’ll lure him to us with marshmallows and then we’ll escape with him. Easy peasy.”
Kai laughs. “Let’s do this.”
We exit the car and he captures my hand. “Do you know where Rogue is or are we going to walk around town offering marshmallows to everyone? ”
“Of course, I know where Rogue is. I own the most popular bar on Smuggler’s Hideaway. I know everything happening on this island.”
He freezes. “You do?”
I bite my tongue to stop my smirk. “Why? Is there something about you, you don’t want me to know?”
He groans. “You know, don’t you?”
“Know about the time you went running through a field of sheep without any clothes on?”
“I had shoes on.”
“Or about the time you got kicked out of Bootlegger for starting a game of The Floor is Lava?”
“No one got hurt. I don’t care what Alaia says.”
“Didn’t you end up with eight stitches and a concussion?”
“It was only six stitches,” he mutters.
I giggle. “Oh, in that case.”
Kai dives after me and tickles my ribs. “Are you laughing at me, Slugger?”
I try to bat his hands away. “Stop! Stop!”
“What will you give me if I stop?”
I hold up the bag of marshmallows. “You can have a pink one.”
He reaches for the bag but I hide it behind my back. “After we capture Rogue.”
He motions me forward. “Let’s go.”
We begin walking again and Kai captures my hand. He squeezes it and smiles at me. My heart thumps in my chest. I want to see his smile every day for the rest of my life .
Whoa, Harper! Don’t get ahead of yourself. Kai is young. He has lots of exploring to do before he settles down with someone more age appropriate. Assuming the goofball ever settles down.
“Here we are.” I motion to the alleyway running between two rows of houses. “It should be the third house on the left.”
We reach the gate in the wooden fence. I unlatch it and start to open the gate but Kai stops me.
“Let me go first. In case, anyone’s home.”
“No one’s home. Norm has bowling tonight. And Amy is at book club.”
His mouth drops open. “You seriously know everything happening on this island.”
“Told you so.”
We enter the backyard and I make a beeline for their shed. “They keep Rogue in here when they’re gone.” I pull on the door but it doesn’t budge. “Crap on a smuggler. It’s locked.”
Kai nudges me out of the way. “No problem.” He fiddles with the lock for a minute before grinning at me and opening the door.
“Remind me to add a security chain to my front door.”
He frowns. “I wouldn’t break into your house.”
“Maybe not but you have five brothers.”
“I’ll buy a security chain at the hardware store tomorrow.”
Something in the dark hisses and I switch on the light. “Hey, Rogue,” I greet the hissing animal. “I brought you marshmallows. ”
Rogue immediately stops hissing and sticks his paw through the cage. I place a marshmallow in it and he skitters to the corner of his cage with his prize.
Kai picks up the cage. Rogue briefly looks up but isn’t bothered by this development. “Lead the way.”
I hurry out of the shed and to the gate. I open it and run into the alleyway. I trip and fly through the air before hitting the ground with a thump.
“Ow!” I push my hair out of my face and notice Sammy the seal lounging in the alleyway. In my rush, I didn’t see him.
“Sammy, what are you doing in the alleyway?”
Sammy is a Smuggler’s Hideaway legend. The seal was released from a Marine Sanctuary to the north of the island. When he arrived here, he realized he didn’t have any interest in frolicking in the sea.
He decided to stay on land and become a complete menace to the locals. He’s lucky he’s cute or between blocking traffic and invading people’s homes, he never would have survived this long.
“Harper.” Kai rushes to me. He sets Rogue in his cage down next to Sammy. “Are you hurt?”
“I think I bruised my elbow.”
He frowns. “You’re bleeding.”
I point to the seal. “It’s Sammy’s fault.”
Sammy honks in response. “Don’t honk at me. I’m not the one blocking the alleyway.” He barks and I wag a finger at him. “Being cute doesn’t mean you can hang out wherever you want. ”
Rogue snarls and hisses at Sammy and Sammy growls in return.
“Shit. Where are my marshmallows? We need to quiet Rogue down before he alerts the entire neighborhood.”
“You’re not seriously thinking of stealing Rogue now?” Kai asks.
“What do you mean? It’s not as if Sammy will tell on us.”
“You’re bleeding, Harper.”
I roll my eyes. “This isn’t bleeding. I’ve bled more from a broken bottle cap.”
He scowls. “I’m serious, Slugger. We need to get your elbow checked out.”
“I’m fine. You’re acting weird. Are you sure you’re not the one who fell?” I get to my knees and he helps me to my feet.
“What’s all the racket?” a man yells before he opens the gate to the alleyway. He notices the cage. “Are you stealing Rogue?”
“Who’s stealing Rogue?” another man yells before he enters the alleyway with a woman.
“I’m phoning the police,” the woman says.
“Let’s go.” Kai pushes me toward the road but I plant my feet.
“We need to get Rogue first.”
“They’re going to call the police.”
“But if we ditch Rogue, we’ve failed.”
He cups my face. “Slugger, I don’t give a shit if the prank failed. You tried. You let loose. Witnessing you have fun when you usually don’t have time for fun is the biggest privilege of my life.”
I blink up at him. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?”
He kisses my nose. “There’s more to me than the goofy guy.”
“The police are on their way,” the woman shouts.
Kai shackles my wrist and drags me away from the crowd. “If you get arrested, your dad will tan my ass.”
I roll my eyes. “Dad isn’t violent.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “And he didn’t threaten to run me over with his wheelchair.”
“It was your fault. You shouldn’t have lied about the Fruit Loops.”
We reach the end of the alleyway and slow down. I scan the area but no one else has appeared from their house and no one has followed us.
“I don’t think they phoned the police.” I pull out my car keys and beep the locks open.
Kai swipes the keys from me. “You’re injured. You’re not driving.”
I roll my eyes. “Your definition of injury is false.”
I’m complaining but I enjoy how he’s taking care of me. No one’s taken care of me in a long time. I’m the one who’s always taking care of others. The roll reversal feels good. It’s nice to be taken care of.