Mystic Tides

by Kate Allenton

Grey shoved the lust-filled haze from her mind and snapped her fingers. Instantly a green cotton shirt with a high neck covered her body, taking away the silky canvas he’d been enjoying.

  His lips tilted at the corners as he took a step back, his gaze going instantly to her legs.

  He dropped to his knees, planted his warm, big palms on her legs, and slowly raised them up her thighs. “Do I need to tell you what will happen to these sweet babies?”

  She snapped her fingers and instantly covered her bare legs with cargo pants, along with black combat-style boots on her feet. She grinned.

  Beck rose to his full height, trying unsuccessfully to hide the satisfaction that he’d gotten his way.

  “That’s fine.” She sidestepped him and grabbed her little clutch with phone, keys, and gum. “I’ll be changing into a bikini when we’re done for a night swim, and don’t you dare think of touching me like that again.” She glanced over her shoulder with a smirk on her face as she threatened, “I’ll fry your ass.”

  She stormed out of her house and down the steps. He wanted a girlfriend. Well, he was going to get himself a girlfriend, just without any of the benefits that came with it. They’d see who cracked first. Game on.

  * * * *

  Watching the flame flicker in her eyes had been worth risking her wrath. Touching and tasting her had been a bad idea, but damn, it was fun proving his point. She was a force to be reckoned with, and if the spell was true, he’d have the time of his life with fights and hot make-up sex.

  Beck locked her door and pulled it closed. He jogged down her steps to find little Miss Hot Pants leaning against his truck, tapping her foot impatiently. When he’d walked in and found her in that skimpy and oh-so-sexy outfit, his body had responded in kind. Her perfume had drifted to his nose, and he’d breathed in everything that was Grey. Everything about her called to him and made him want to forget about their obligations, toss her over his shoulder, and carry her to the bedroom. He almost had. Pushing her buttons was easy. Getting her to admit there was a spark between them that still needed exploring was going to be much more difficult, if not impossible.

  He unlocked her door and pulled it open, his gaze going to her ass as she climbed up and into the seat. His hand tightened on the doorframe while he fought the urge to help her. His Grey didn’t need help, his Grey would fight tooth and nail, his Grey was in for a long week. His Grey….who was he kidding? He chuckled to himself as he shut the door and then moved around the truck to slide into the driver’s seat.

  Grey slowly crossed her legs before glancing his way. “You can’t say I didn’t warn you. These were your terms. You wanted a girlfriend. You’ve got one.”

  Her words were probably meant to scare him, but they’d done the opposite. He kept a straight face and kept his mouth shut, not adding fuel to her fire, at least not yet. There was plenty of time to stoke those flames and see how hot he could make her burn.

  Beck pulled into the port where the barge for their use was currently housed. Cappy had mentioned the barge was being donated and borrowed from the Janzen family, as it had every year. Another cousin he’d yet to meet.

  Grey popped a piece of gum in her mouth, grabbed his hand, and lifted it around her shoulders, a move he’d not been expecting, but one he wouldn’t complain about. Talk about taking the lead. They walked toward the plank and boarded the boat loaded with hundreds of fireworks. His co-workers were already on board double-checking the equipment.

  When they stepped on board, all work stopped. Josh’s mouth hung open, along with several others. The only one that didn’t seem fazed was Cappy. He just cleared his throat and went back to whatever he’d been doing.

  Josh was the first to approach. He gestured between Beck and Grey. “This is a new development.”

  “I know, isn’t it great?” Grey leaned into Beck’s side and glanced up at him with dreamy eyes. She blew a bubble with her gum then popped it. “Maybe you can help us solve our argument.”

  Beck pulled her deeper into his side, his grip tight while Josh stared on, trying not to smile. “Sure. What’s the argument?”

  “He wants a dozen babies, and I only want two. Don’t you think two would be enough?”

  “You’re…getting married?” Josh all but choked on his words. “To each other?”

  “Well, of course, silly.” Grey cooed like a teen that had already planned her wedding. “Isn’t that right, baby?”

  Grey glanced up at him again and winked.

  Well, well, well. She wanted to play. He’d take the bait.

  “Of course it is, doll.” He lifted her in his arms and swung her around. “We were hoping it would be tonight. Do you think Mayor Helena-Marie will help us out?” He winked back at her. “We’d like to get started on those babies tonight.”

  This time it was Grey’s mouth that parted and Josh who laughed.

  “She’s supposed to meet us at the dock when we get back. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” He pulled his cell from his pocket and punched in some numbers. “I’ll just call her and tell her to be expecting us.”

  She laced her fingers around his neck and pulled him down until their lips were inches apart. Just enough that he could smell her minty breath.

  “You better bring your A-game, doll.” His words were whispered to her lips.

  “Oh, honey, I have.” She winked. “Just wait for it.”

  She closed the gap between them and kissed him like a wanton woman. He didn’t have to lick her lips for her to open. No, she was pressing her tongue to his, sweeping in a motion that pulled at every fiber of his being. He could do this all day, ignoring the rest of the world around them, not caring about the audience. He pulled her closer and rested his palms on her ass, squeezing her round globes.

  She gasped in his mouth, but that didn’t stop him from deepening the kiss and lifting her off her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he held her pressed to his body. He strained to be closer, wishing he could strip her on the spot. He felt his pendant lift from his chest and press against his shirt as if it were straining to reach hers.

  She relaxed in his arms and smiled against his lips, as she was the one to break the kiss. The fire of the kiss stolen away from him, his pendant fell to rest against his chest.

  “You two need to get a room, instead of being on this boat. We’re about to push off.”

  Reluctantly, Beck eased her down his body, almost taking Cappy’s suggestion to haul her somewhere private so they could finish what they’d started. The rapid rise and fall of her chest matched his as she stared into his eyes. Was she feeling the same way? Was it possible that she wanted him too?

  “So it’s true? You’re getting married?” Josh asked.

  His question instantly broke the brief connection they’d shared, and he turned to his friend, not knowing how to answer his question.

  “No,” Grey answered in a soft voice. “We’re not. That was a display of lust, not love.” She eased away from his side. A blush crept into her cheeks. “I won’t ever marry.” She stated as if it was a fact before walking away toward the other side of the barge to look out into the ocean.

  “Dude.” Josh grinned and patted Beck on the back as they both watched Grey from behind. “She’s something else, all that sexy fire and heat. I need to get me some of that.”

  Beck glanced over at his friend and saw the lust in his eyes. Instantly, Beck reached for the pendant and cursed beneath his breath. She was too far. Staying close to her might kill him, but being too far away while under the spell wasn’t an option either. Beck started in her direction, unsure what he might say. He swallowed down the apprehension and awkwardness, much like he would the morning after a one-night stand.

  He rested his arms on the railing next to her, their silence stale in the windy night air. He looked out into the sea for answers he knew would never come. “I’m sorry.”

  Glancing back over his shoulder, Beck spotted Josh working on the fire extinguishers, his obsession with Grey gone
from his mind as though it had never happened. Proof that once again the pendants were hard at work.

  “If you were sorry, you’d tell me you love me and release me from this hell.”

  Beck turned her face and rested his palm on her cheek. “When I tell you those words, I’ll mean them.” He held her gaze, wanting to make sure that she understood what he was telling her. “In the meantime…” He pulled his necklace from around his neck and slipped it over her head. “Accept this as my olive branch. A temporary solution so you can breathe a bit easier.”

  She ran her fingers over the glass, and her brows dipped before she looked up into his eyes. “You’d give me this?”

  Beck swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Consider it a loan.”

  Light sparkled in her eyes as she clutched the glass in her hand. “Thanks.”

  He gave a slight nod and linked their hands together. “Now you can relax and enjoy the week because I’m still holding you to it. You’re stuck with me.”

  Grey rolled her eyes, but her smile contradicted her aggravation. “If I must.”

  “You must. A deal’s a deal.”

  Grey lifted on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek. The move was so unexpected and so unlike Grey that it set him back, leaving him stunned and confused. “Match point.”

  She winked and walked away. Damn, she was good.

  Chapter 6

  “You’ve been holding out on us,” Sydney teased in a schoolgirl voice over the cell phone.

  Grey pushed the speaker button and laid the phone down on the kitchen counter and went about making her third cup of coffee.

  “Explain,” Grey called out, her voice filling the kitchen.

  “We heard about the kiss that almost brought the barge down last night. You lucky little shit.”

  “It was just a kiss. It didn’t mean anything.”

  “It didn’t mean anything?” Grey could hear the excitement in Sydney’s voice. “You don’t go around kissing people.”

  “True.”

  Grey sipped her coffee and leaned against the counter. She didn’t go around kissing people, and she’d never played games before. Her life was cut and dried. Games were something she tried her best to avoid, but Beck, and his kiss… Well, that had been something that started out as part of a game and had turned into something more. Not that she’d admit it, to him or anyone else. Grey set her cup on the counter. Her stomach flipped at the thought. Too much coffee. She dumped the rest of the contents of the cup in the sink.

  “I wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you. I need those three little words, and he pushed my buttons, so I upped the game.”

  “Grey…” Sydney’s voice held a hint of reprimand, as if she were teaching her second graders the difference between right and wrong.

  “Don’t Grey me. You don’t get to judge me. You three are the reason I’m in this mess.”

  Grey picked up the phone and jabbed the speaker button off before putting it up to her ear. She wanted Sydney to hear her words. There wouldn’t be any confusion about the anger still riding in the tendrils of her heart. A knock sounded on her door, and she walked into the living room as she continued.

  “Let me be perfectly clear. I wasn’t looking for a husband, I don’t want a husband, and I refuse to have a husband. No matter what the damn spell suggests”—she opened the door—“he isn’t my soul mate.”

  Beck stood on her deck. He held a dozen flowers in his hand, and a frown marred his perfect face.

  “Syd, I’ve got to go.” She didn’t even wait for her cousin’s reply before she hit the off button. “What are you doing here?”

  “Picking you up.” His voice was deep; his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “You owe me more time, and I’m here to collect. So pack a bag to last a couple days and bring the pendants. You’ll be back by the ball, and I’ll be waiting by the truck.” He shoved the flowers into her chest and turned, jogging back down the stairs.

  “Wait, where are we going?” she called after him, only to be met with silence as a response.

  Grey closed the door and walked into her room feeling like the tool he’d always thought her to be. Her heart fell into her stomach, not because he was taking her somewhere but because he’d overheard her conversation.

  Grabbing a duffel bag from her closet, she tossed in her toiletries and a small array of clothes, knowing she could easily produce more if needed. She draped the pendants around her neck and gave one last look around her place before heading to the living room. She pulled out her phone and sent Sydney a text.

  Beck is taking me out of town. If I’m not back by the ball, start scrying for my dead body and the ditch he left me in. He overheard our conversation and is pretty ticked. Gotta run. Cover for me.

  She sent the text and turned off her phone, shoving it in her purse, along with her keys. “This should be interesting.”

  Without a second thought, Grey put her trust in Beck and left her house. Her insides twisted and turned as she stepped off the last step. He was already in the truck with the engine running. She walked over to the driver’s side door and rapped her knuckles on the window.

  His brow hitched as he opened the door.

  “Before I go anywhere with you, we need to talk.”

  “We don’t have time for this, Grey.”

  “Make time,” she said, throwing the words that he’d used on her at the fire station back in his face.

  He stepped out of the truck. His jaw ticked, but he waited, silently and seething.

  “I know you overheard me.”

  “And?” he asked, seemingly unmoved.

  “And we need to clear the air. When I said you aren’t my soul mate, it had nothing to do with you. It’s all me. I didn’t want this, and the reason why I’m so dead set against it doesn’t have anything to do with you as a person. You’re great. It has to do with me and how I am. I’m the town bitch. I’m the person who pushes everyone’s buttons, and I’m not the kind of person you take home to meet mom.”

  His lips twitched into a smile, and she let out her first sigh of relief. He was getting it now.

  “Don’t you want to be loved, Grey? Let someone love you and care for you ‘til death do you part? Every girl wants a happily ever after.”

  “Are you suggesting that’s what we’d have?”

  Beck shrugged. “It won’t be easy, but I can guarantee it will be worth it.”

  He’d used the same words as the mayor. Had she known? Of course she had.

  “I won’t let anyone steal my independence. It defines who I am.”

  Beck stepped closer to her and laid his hand on her cheek. The warmth and sincerity from that single gesture traveled a straight path to her heart. “That’s a lonely place to be, but I respect you and who you are. That’s why we’re leaving. Now get in the truck.”

  Grey rounded the truck. “Are you always this bossy?”

  She slid into the seat and placed her bag at her feet.

  “Yes,” he assured her, and they started on their journey.

  She didn’t know where they were going, and at this point, she didn’t care. Regardless of what her cousins thought, she wasn’t a monster. She’d never intentionally hurt a soul, especially someone who understood her and accepted her, flaws and all.

  “Why are we at the private air strip?”

  He held out his license to a guard at a tall gate before the gate opened, and he was waved through. “All will be revealed in due time,” he answered, turning to her. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes,” she answered without hesitation.

  Beck pulled through the gate and drove down a maintenance road, only stopping when he reached a hangar where the doors stood open. A plane sat in front of it. Beck parked the truck and grabbed the bag at her feet before grabbing his own from the bed of the truck. He waited for her before approaching the man standing near the steps of the plane.

  “Mr. Marshall.” The pilot gave a nod of acknowledgement.

&nb
sp; “James. We’re ready when you are.”

  Beck dropped the bags into the belly of the plane and placed his hand on the small of Grey’s back. He led her up the stairs and ushered her into one of the leathers seats. She buckled her belt, her gaze at the window and the two men walking around the plane.

  She turned toward Beck. “Where are you taking me, and whose plane is this?”

  “It’s the family jet.” He pressed the button on his seat into a reclining mode and rested his hands behind his head. “And I’m taking you home to meet mom.”

  * * * *

  Less than three hours later, Grey followed Beck off the plane toward a guy who looked exactly like Beck, only wearing old dusty jeans with the biggest belt buckle she’d ever seen.

  “You never told me you were a twin,” she whispered into his side.

  “You never asked.” His smile was big and bright as he whispered back. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Red.”

  Beck pulled his twin in for one of the manly hugs that ended with a pat on the back. “Danny, I’d like you to meet Grey Sinclair. Grey, this is my younger brother, Danny.”

  “I may be younger by minutes, but I’m better looking ten-fold,” Danny corrected before pulling Grey into a tight bear hug and lifting her off her feet.

  “Whoa there.” She squirmed, trying to break his hold, her gaze pleading with Beck for help.

  “Welcome to Pilfer, Texas.” He tipped his hat. “Do you like younger men?” he asked playfully with a wink. “I’m the full package, younger and better looking.”

  “She’s off-limits,” Beck announced while tossing their bags into the back of the truck. He opened the back door of the big cab and held out his hand. “Grey.”

  She slid her fingers into his outstretched palm. Whether from the turbulence in the sky or from being shown a glimpse of Beck’s world, her stomach flipped, and her nerves were shot. She let him help her up before he shut the door and climbed into the passenger side. He turned in his seat. “Just ignore him.”

  “I get the feeling that might be hard to do.”