Chapter Six
Zach lay in his bed in shock, with a snoring Marit on his chest. What the hell had just happened?
He honestly hadn’t planned on having sex with her tonight.
So he’d been surprised by her proposition, but not opposed.
Definitely not opposed. Christ, he’d been sitting with her on his lap, in his recliner, and trying his damnedest to keep his dick from poking her in the ass.
He’d been completely serious when he’d told her that he didn’t do one-night stands. Didn’t want a fling. And now that he’d had her? Or rather, she’d had him—he still wasn’t sure who’d had who here—he never wanted to let her go. She was literally his dream come true.
They were a perfect match sexually. He’d never really let himself go the way he had tonight.
Never been with someone who was as open as Marit when it came to sex.
And that boded well for a future sexual relationship.
He could see them trying all sorts of things .
. . and laughing and coming through them all.
The thing was, now he didn’t want to move.
That alone said a lot about the woman snoring on his chest. In the past, when he was still comfortable with casual, all he’d wanted was to get up and leave, or go to sleep, or clean up.
But with this woman, he was content to let her use him as a pillow all night long.
In fact, he could definitely get used to that.
It was unexpected, and almost scary, that he felt so at ease with her after such a short period of time. A single week. Love didn’t work like that. At least not according to his experience. It kind of freaked him out that he could already envision a life and future with Marit.
She made a snort sound and smacked her lips, shifting on his chest. Zach realized his cock was still buried deep within her body.
He’d gone soft, but because of his size, even at rest he hadn’t slipped out of her.
He could feel their combined juices coating his inner thighs, but he didn’t give a damn.
He should wake her up, get the condom off, but he was afraid if he did that, she’d leave.
And Zach didn’t want her to go. He wanted her right where she was. In his bed. With his dick buried inside her body.
He thought back to the moment she’d taken him. Without caution. It had scared the crap out of him, thinking she’d hurt herself, while also turning him inside out with how good she felt around his dick.
The Marit he’d gotten to know in his bed was nothing like the cautious lobsterwoman he’d first met.
But he supposed she could be who she really was here, in the safety of his apartment and behind closed doors.
Didn’t have to fade into the background so she wasn’t noticed by the men in the lobstering industry.
That thought pissed him off . . . which led him to think about that Pearson guy.
He needed to get with his brothers. Figure out who Lucas Pearson was, make sure he understood that he’d better leave Marit alone.
But Zach also suspected that if he did that without Marit knowing, he could lose her.
She wasn’t the type of woman who’d tolerate people going behind her back. She’d see it as a betrayal.
So he’d need to convince her to let him and his brothers go to bat for her. To stick up for her in a way her own brothers never had.
Thinking about her worthless brothers made Zach tense up yet again, which made Marit restless on top of him, as if she could sense what he was thinking.
He forced himself to relax. How could anyone who’d ever met this woman just leave her to fend for herself? Not love her to the moon and back? Not do everything in their power to be the best big brothers they could be?
Well, it was their loss. Marit was better off without them.
Eventually the day caught up to Zach, and he drifted off to sleep. The best sleep he’d had in ages, even with Marit draped over him like a living weighted blanket.
He woke up when Marit stirred. Looking over at the clock on his nightstand, he momentarily panicked. He should’ve been up thirty minutes ago! He needed to get to The Lobster—
Oh yeah. No, he didn’t. He was taking the morning off, just as Marit also had the day off.
Sometime in the night, they’d shifted. Marit was now curled up next to him, one leg thrown over his thighs, her arm across his chest, and she was snuggled into him as if he were a body pillow. He could definitely live with that.
What he couldn’t live with was the disgusting feeling of the condom hanging off his dick like a deflated balloon. Or the damp spot under his ass from his release . . . and hers.
Still, Zach couldn’t help but grin at what they must look like.
“Please tell me you aren’t this . . . smiley . . . every morning,” Marit grumbled from next to him. Turning, he looked at the woman at his side. She hadn’t moved. Was still draped over him as if she was attempting to keep him from floating away.
“Nope. This morning’s special. How do you feel?”
She shrugged, closing her eyes as she said, “A little sore, a lot embarrassed, rested, grateful I don’t have to work this morning.”
“What are you embarrassed about?” he asked, not liking that in the least.
“Figures that’s what you homed in on,” she said with a sigh. “I was pretty forward last night. I’m not usually like that.”
“You were. And I’ve never been so turned on in my life,” Zach said simply.
That got her to open her eyes again. “You aren’t just saying that because you enjoyed the sex? Sex you weren’t planning on having?”
“Absolutely not. It’s because I was with you.
I told you before, from the moment I met you, something clicked inside me.
Last night never would’ve happened if I hadn’t felt that immediate connection, no matter how forward you were.
And for the record . . . enjoyed is such a lame word for what I felt about last night. ”
Marit flushed. “Yeah.”
“I know I spoke a big game about what I was gonna do to you when we got up, but I think we covered most of those bases before we crashed. What do you say we get up, get showered, and I make us a good old-fashioned American breakfast? With eggs, bacon, biscuits, and French toast.”
Marit’s stomach growled.
Zach grinned. “I guess that’s a yes?”
“I haven’t had a breakfast like that in forever. I usually just grab a bagel or something on my way out the door.”
Zach had the momentary thought that he wanted to feed this woman a nutritious and filling breakfast every day for the rest of her life.
It was way too early for that kind of thought .
. . wasn’t it? He honestly wasn’t sure anymore.
He’d never felt this comfortable with someone so early in a relationship.
“How about after we eat, we head down to the festival? It’s your first time experiencing it, and I’d love to share it with you. All the good stuff happens this weekend, but we can at least walk around a little bit.”
“You just want to check out The Lobster Buoy,” Marit teased with a smile.
Zach shrugged. “I do, but that’s not the real reason I want to walk around with you. Can’t I want to show you off?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not exactly a prize, Zach.”
Marit went to scoot away from him, but he wasn’t having it.
Zach rolled until Marit was under him, trapped under his much bigger body.
He looked into her eyes as he said, “Wrong. You’re hardworking, smart, strong, fucking beautiful, and anyone who sees us will take one look and know that I’ve hit the jackpot.
They’ll probably want to know how the hell I caught your attention and why you’re with a bum like me. ”
Marit scowled. “You’re not a bum.”
“I own a lobster shack. One that has yet to prove itself successful. People around here judge others by how much of a ‘Mainer’ they are. And my stint in the Navy was probably a strike against me because I spent so much time away from Maine as a result. You? Being a lobsterwoman? You’re at the top of the impressive list.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Marit said, staring up at him, still frowning.
“Do what?”
“Pretend I fit in around here. I know that no one is super thrilled that I’m doing a man’s job.
It was the same in Portland, but since that was a bigger city, I got away with it a lot longer than I have here.
I’ve only been here a short while, and I’ve already seen the looks people give me around town.
I’m petite, yet I work in a male-dominated field.
One that’s belonged to men for over a century.
It’s weird, Zach. I’m weird. And I’m okay with that. ”
“Listen to me, Marit. Are you listening?”
She nodded.
“You aren’t weird. I think the looks you’re getting are ones of respect.
Everyone around here knows how tough it is to be in the lobster industry.
It’s like farming in the Midwest. It’s a damn tough job that no one really wants to do, but that everyone relies on.
If people want their lobster—and trust me, they do—they have to rely on people like you to go out on the water and get them.
“You’re new, so yes, you’re going to have people curious about you. But you’re also friendly, and open, and not an asshole. That goes a long way, especially when the locals deal with tourists day in and day out who aren’t so nice.”
“I haven’t been here that long,” Marit protested. “Not long enough for anyone to know that stuff about me. And I can be an asshole.” She tacked that last bit on as if daring him to disagree.