Chapter Twenty-Six
LAUREN LOOKED OVER at Grey as they made their way down the final, gently sloping section of the trail that would deposit them on the beach.
Grey had slipped on a rock and ripped a nice little gash in her knee, deep enough that there was a steady trickle of blood coursing down her lower leg to her ankle, where the top of her sock was already stained a deep crimson.
“Are you sure you’re…?” she started to ask for the third time, and rolled her eyes when Grey waved her off again.
“It’s just a little cut, Lauren. I’m fine. Really.”
They cleared the tree line, and Lauren turned toward the dock where they had left the dinghy. “Fine. But you do know that you falling on your ass was not the ‘going down’ I was looking forward to, right?”
“It wasn’t?” Grey shot Lauren a look of playful surprise. “Because that was so totally what I meant…”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
Grey smiled as she looped an arm around Lauren’s shoulders and brushed a wet kiss over her cheek. “Don’t worry. I’ll still be able to go down later.”
“You better,” Lauren sassed. “Injured or not, I expect you to pay up. I won that race fair and square.”
Grey laughed and gave Lauren’s shoulders a squeeze. “You sure did. I was surprised, to be honest.”
“That I won?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, before you almost cut your thumb off the other day, you were telling me how you fell down all the time playing basketball…”
“It was because I was still growing into my legs,” Lauren grumbled. “Once I stopped growing, I stopped falling down so much.”
Grey pulled away and gave Lauren’s legs a thorough ogling. “You definitely grew into them, all right.”
“Horndog.”
“Says the woman telling me that I have to go down on her later this evening,” Grey retorted. “Pot, meet kettle.”
“Oh my god!” Lauren laughed. “Grey!”
Grey smirked. “What?”
Lauren wanted to pretend to be annoyed, but she could not help but smile at the mischievous twinkle in Grey’s eyes. Really, she had walked right into that one, and she knew it. “Nothing. You win.”
“If it makes you feel any better, you’ll be winning later.”
“Damn right I will be,” Lauren muttered, chuckling under her breath as she side-eyed Grey. She tipped her head at the Muellers, who were just up ahead. “Now, behave. Time to put your captain’s hat back on and pick your mind up out of the gutter.”
Grey looked at their guests and grinned. “Hate to break it to you, but my mind is pretty much always in the gutter.”
“For some reason, that doesn’t really surprise me,” Lauren said as she waved at the boys, who were now sprinting toward them.
The boys slowed when they saw the blood on Grey’s leg. “You okay?” Max asked.
“Nothing a band-aid won’t fix,” Grey assured him. “So, how was kayaking?”
“Awesome!” the boys chorused as they began leading the way back to their parents, each of them trying to talk over the other as they relived everything that had happened, including Will capsizing his kayak, spilling both him and Reid into the water, and then swimming over to dump Kim into the water for laughing at him.
“I bet that didn’t go over well,” Lauren chuckled as they stopped beside Will and Kim’s loungers.
“It didn’t,” Kim confirmed with a smile and a pointed look at her husband.
“Totally worth it, though,” Will added with a smirk as he high fived Peyton.
“Lauren?” Reid piped up.
Lauren looked down at the youngest boy and smiled. “What’s up, buddy?”
“Can we have a picnic on the beach?”
Lauren glanced at Kim to make sure that she was okay with the idea, and then nodded. “Absolutely. What do you want to eat?”
“Sandwiches are fine,” Kim answered for him. “The boys just want to play on the beach a little longer, and then Pey and Max are going to try parasailing this afternoon with Will.”
“I’m not old enough,” Reid pouted.
“What if,” Lauren said, squatting down in front of the boy to catch his eye, “you help me make cookies when they’re doing that?”
Reid’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Can I lick the mixer thing?”
“If you can get to it before Grey does,” Lauren said as she threw a teasing look over her shoulder at Grey.
“Can I help make dinner, too?” Reid asked hopefully. Out of all the boys, he enjoyed helping to cook the most and, more often than not, he wandered into the galley while Lauren was cooking just to watch.
“I’m sure we can find something for you to do.”
“What are we going to make?”
Lauren sighed, knowing that her answer was going to push Grey’s mind right back into the gutter.
“Tacos.” Sure enough, Grey sniggered, and Lauren rolled her eyes as she slapped at her leg and continued, “And those roasted veggies you guys like, and some rice, and maybe we’ll take those cookies you’re gonna help me with and make sundaes with them. Whattaya think?”
Reid grinned and threw his arms around Lauren’s neck. “Awesome!”
“Good.” Lauren hugged him loosely and gave his back a light pat. “So, you guys go play, and I’ll make you a picnic. And then later this afternoon you can be my sous chef. Sound good?”
Reid nodded and took off toward his brothers who were digging a giant hole near the water’s edge.
“Thank you for that,” Kim spoke up, giving Lauren an appreciative smile.
“Not a problem at all. So, I’m assuming PB and J for the boys since that’s their favorite,” Lauren said as she pushed herself back to her feet. “How about you guys? I can make a chicken salad, or…”
“Some kind of a sandwich is fine, really,” Kim said, shaking her head. “Just throw in some snack-type things to go with them and some bottled waters and we’ll be good.”
Lauren nodded slowly. “Okay, if you’re sure…”
“I’ll bring it all back over to you guys in a few,” Grey told the Muellers with a smile as she and Lauren started toward the dock where their dinghy was tied up. “So…tacos for dinner, huh?” she asked once they were in the dinghy and on their way back to the Veritas.
“Shut up.”
“At least you didn’t say we were ‘eating out’ tonight,” Grey mused loudly.
“Damn it, Wells…”
“Going downtown?” Grey laughed at the annoyed look Lauren shot her, and killed the outboard engine as they coasted toward the starboard dive platform on the yacht. “Just get on the boat, Murphy.”
Lauren rolled her eyes and climbed out of the dinghy. “You think you’re funny.”
“I’m hilarious,” Grey said as she tied the little inflatable off to a cleat near the platform.
Lauren looked back at Grey as the brunette leapt gracefully onto the dive platform, and was about to respond when she was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. “That’s weird,” she murmured as she pulled it from her pocket.
“There is cell service here, ya know,” Grey pointed out as she followed Lauren up the stairs to the back deck. “Big tourist resort and all. But, it’s a British tower…”
“I added international roaming for the month. And that’s not what I meant,” Lauren said, frowning as she looked at her best friend’s name on her screen.
Jen Collins worked with her at Clarke’s, and was taking care of her cat for her while she was gone.
“What’s up, Jen?” she answered the call, shooting Grey an apologetic look.
She knew that Jen would only call her if it was something important.
“Oh, thank god,” Jen said without preamble. “What vet do you take Jenks to?”
Lauren’s frown deepened. “West Side Vets. It’s just down the block from the restaurant. Why?”
“Because the little bastard snuck out the front door and into the hallway when I opened it to get the paper, and then decided to try and throw down with old Mrs. Schwartz’s terrier.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. He just got bit on the paw when he was trying to use George’s nose like a punching bag. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but I want to get him checked out anyways, just in case.”
Grey gave Lauren’s waist a light squeeze as she eased past her into the salon. “I’m gonna go get cleaned up.”
Lauren nodded and sat down at one of the outside banquettes. “Okay.”
“Is this a bad time?” Jen asked.
“No. You’re fine. I’m just about to make some lunch,” Lauren told her. “Is Jenks using the paw?”
“Yeah, and the bleeding stopped, but…”
“Just watch him. If he doesn’t act bothered by it, you don’t need to take him to the vet,” Lauren told her. Her cat had a habit of sneaking out and picking fights, and George the terrier was far from his first sparring partner.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive,” Lauren assured her. “Is everything else okay?”
“It’s all business as usual,” Jen said. “Nothing exciting to report. How about you? How’s it going there?”
“It’s going well,” Lauren said. She smiled as she looked at Grey, who had the first aid kit on the peninsula counter. Grey's injured leg was propped on a barstool, and she was cleaning it with what looked like a damp paper towel. “Really well.”
“You got laid,” Jen said, her tone both amused and congratulatory. “Who’d you bone?”
“I did not…” Lauren started to argue.
“Not buying it, I know that voice,” Jen interrupted her. “So, spill. Who? When? Was it good?”
“You should not be this invested in my personal life,” Lauren pointed out.
“Shush. I’m married. I gotta live vicariously through you. So…tell me!”
“I can’t,” Lauren said in a low tone that she hoped would not carry. “She might hear me.”
“You boned one of the guests on the boat? Wow, talk about full-service!”
“I did not bone a guest. It’s a married couple and their three small boys…don’t be gross.” She sighed and, knowing that Jen was not going to let the matter drop, added quietly, “It was Grey.”
“The captain? I thought the captain was a guy?”
Lauren hummed under her breath as she looked at Grey. “Mmm, no. Grey is definitely a woman.”
“Well, then…was it good?”
“Incredible.”
“Is she hot?”
“Gorgeous.”
“Am I going to get more than a one-word answer out of you?”
Lauren smiled and shook her head. “No.”
“Will I at least get to see a picture of her when you get home?”
“Sure.”
“Sweet!”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“You love me,” Jen retorted. “And that was two words, so feel free to speak in complete sentences now. So, besides banging the super-hot captain, anything else happening?”
Lauren shook her head as she watched Grey finish bandaging her leg. “Not really. Am just enjoying a lot of fresh air.”
“And orgasms, apparently.”
“Jennifer Jean…”
“What?!” Jen laughed. “It’s good. You deserve to be happy, Lo. Really.”
“Thank you,” Lauren muttered, rubbing a hand over her forehead. “I, uh, should probably go, though. I need to make a picnic lunch for the guests.”
“Sounds good,” Jen said. “Have fun. Have lots of orgasms, and I will see you at La Guardia when you get back.”
“Right,” Lauren said, a small smile quirking her lips. “Thanks. Take care of my boy for me, okay?”
“Will do. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah…bye,” Lauren murmured, her eyes glued to Grey as she disconnected the call. Grey looked up and smiled at her, and she sighed as she pushed herself to her feet, purposefully trying and failing to ignore the feeling of unease that swept through her when she thought about returning to New York.