Chapter 9
Chapter nine
Cam
Walking hand in hand with Rowen to the marina made me forget how cold it was getting. The sun had set fully while we got food, and it was December, but Rowen’s hand was warm enough to make me forget the need for a thicker jacket.
“...so my dad started Motorvated with King’s father,” Rowen finished the story he’d started when we crossed the street across from his dad’s shop.
“He must be sad to have lost his friend?” I asked, knowing the elder Mr. King had passed away earlier in the year before I arrived. “Is it hard to run the business on his own?”
“Yes and no,” Rowen answered as I steered us towards the dock where my floating house was moored. “He was already running the business on his own, and Mr. King had issues which pushed them apart long before his passing.”
“Life happens,” I nodded, not needing the details.
“My dad loved him, but…yeah. Life happens.” Rowen lifted the hand holding his pizza box and gestured further down the marina. “I have a private dock down that way with my shop.”
“Oh, how cool! Do you have a house there?” I asked, mentally thinking of the very few houses built only this side of the lake.
It was mostly businesses and houseboats with only a few private residences.
There was a curved path behind Perk Café that prevented me from seeing anything besides boats and trees.
“I live in a houseboat, too.”
“So we’re neighbors!” I grinned as we stepped onto the dock and led us down to the last boat on the right. “I’m new to boat living, but I’d love to show you my fish.”
“You have pet fish?” Rowen asked, a half-smirk on his face I read as curiosity.
“I do, and they’ve traveled around with me.” We’d reached my deck, and I had to let Rowen’s hand go to unlock it. My boss had said no one needed to lock their doors in Blue Lake, but years in the Bay Area had trained me to be cautious. “They seem to like the slight rocking of their current home.”
Rowen chuckled and rubbed his beard, “Sure, I’d love to meet them.”
Most guys I hooked up with in the city hadn’t cared except to ask if they were expensive, so seeing Rowen’s excitement was a lovely bonus.
“Come on in.” Gesturing to the small space, I stepped aside to let Rowen into the new-to me home, with its wood paneling and low ceiling. “My small but humble abode.”
“You must have bought the twenty-four footer that Eddy used to live in,” Rowen commented, having known my boss a lot longer than I had. “Looks better than the picture he showed me last summer.”
“Thanks, I try.” I’d done a bit of fixing up, adding curtains for privacy and a cover on the fold-out couch, plus painting the ceiling white to reflect the light from the big windows.
The fridge was new, and I put my pizza inside for later.
The tank taking up half of the dining table added color and life. “Come meet the fishes.”
Rowen stepped further into the space past the captain’s chair where there was a wheel if I wanted to unmoor and cruise around the lake. Maybe I could hire him to check out the engine and make sure it was sea-worthy, or whatever you called about to drive on a lake.
“So these are your friends,” Rowen commented, leaning on the table to bend for a look at the fish I’d had for a couple years. “What have we got here?”
“It’s only a ten-gallon tank.” I explained, even though that number didn’t mean anything to most people.
“The orange one is a clownfish, which most people recognize. He’s named Chuckles.
The long, blue-striped one is a neon goby, so he’s called Goby.
The fast-moving orange with a pointy fin is my firefish.
I named him Pyro. The purplish one with pretty fins is a Royal Gramma. She’s Elizabeth, of course.”
“Makes perfect sense,” Rowen nodded, grinning wide as he took them all in.
“I love how excited you are.” Moving to stand beside him, I felt his warmth and wanted to feel more of it against me. “Want to feed them?”
Rowen stiffened and stood up straight. “I should go.”
His face and neck were red with embarrassment, but I had no clue why. If he didn’t want to stay, I was fine with his choice, but I didn’t want to part from Rowen so soon.
“Can I walk you home, or are you going back for your bike?”
“Oh, no. I planned to get it in the morning.” Rowen nodded and I let out a sigh of relief to not be rejected again. “Let’s go.”
For all I knew, Rowen wasn’t into me beyond grabbing a meal, but I offered him my hand as we stepped back onto the dock. Another weight lifted when he accepted it without hesitation. The cool air seemed to settle Rowen’s embarrassment as we walked.
Rambling about when I got my fish, maintaining the tank in a moving car when I’d done my travels, and how I’d had to introduce them in a specific order got us to Rowen’s property before I knew where we were. A building appeared among the trees, and I saw how well it was hidden in a bend.
There was a shop built into the hill between the road and the water surrounded by trees, with a big door closed over the lake and a dock jutting out to one side. A bigger and newer houseboat than mine was tied off to the opposite side, but Rowen stopped on the dock, not his door.
Got it, no invite. Maybe Rowen was a no sex until the third date kind of guy? I’d been waiting months for a date, I’d be happy to wait some more.
“Can I–” Rowen started and stopped, turning to hold both of my hands. He looked nervous, worrying his lower lip between white teeth.
Did he want me to come in? To go on a second date tomorrow? Either way, I knew the answer, unless he wanted to learn how to make coffee to avoid seeing me at Perk.
“Can you what?” I prompted, stepping closer and lowering my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Because I’m pretty sure the answer is yes. To whatever you ask.”
Rowen let go of his lip and licked over the abused flesh. “Can I…kiss you?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Grinning up at him, I moved our hands to place Rowen’s on my waist, trailing mine up his arms to circle his neck. Playing with the hair that had fallen loose from his bun, Rowen shivered in my arms and tilted his head.
We spent a couple long moments breathing one another in, until I couldn’t take another second of anticipation. Pressing up, I closed my eyes as our lips met for the first time.
Rowen’s beard tickled my face as we traded a chaste meeting that lit me up inside.
I sucked his lower lip into my mouth before doing the same to the upper one.
Licking at the seam, I imagined what it might feel like if he wanted to slip into me.
Rowen grunted and squeezed me tighter before breaking the kiss as if it pained him.
Leaning his forehead on mine, I took a shuddering breath. “Damn. That was some kiss.”
“Yeah?” Rowen asked, the question in his tone mixed with awe.
“Yes. An excellent kiss,” I confirmed, in case there was any doubt. Still, I could tell Rowen wouldn’t be comfortable going any further. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Letting me go, Rowen nodded and licked his lips as if savoring the taste of me on them. “You will.”
“Goodnight, Rowen.”
“Goodnight, Cam.”
Stepping back, I took in his goofy grin. I would kiss him again, if it was the last thing I did.