by Natalie Ann
“But he still works in Boston?” he asked.
“Remotely. He goes back and forth. This is their residence, but the home I grew up in is still there and available for any of us when we go to the mainland and might need to stay.”
“Do you do that often?” he asked.
He hadn’t gotten off the island much since he moved here. Only to fly out and see his grandmother and twice to Boston to pick up a few things personally. Going there on runs for work and straight to the post office for the delivery truck didn’t count in his mind.
“Not as much as when we were in the construction phase. There was so much we had to do then, meetings with lawyers and vendors. It was often easier to do it in Boston for them than us so Penelope and I would stay there and come here on and off to check on construction. With my father and Mitchell here though, they were monitoring things. We had it all covered.”
“I have a feeling it’s hard for you to let go of any of the reins on anything,” he said smirking at her.
“You’d be right.” She turned her head when the chief of police walked in. “Hey, Mac.”
“I can’t get away from you, can I?” Mac said, no smile on his face.
“It doesn’t look it. But I was here first so maybe you are following me.” Emily turned her head back to the bar. “Going to see some cutie at the bar?”
“Bye, Emily,” he said, moving away.
“Does that guy ever smile?” he asked.
“Not usually. He’s a stand-up guy though, just a little quiet and rough around the edges.”
“I’m not sure quiet is what I’d say about him. More like observant. He’s like the tiger that sits in the bush waiting for the right time to strike.”
She started to laugh. “He is ex-military police so you might be right. I don’t say this often because I don’t see it but others that aren’t family do. Mac and his brothers have had it harder than some of the rest of us. They’ve lived here their whole life too.”
“Harder how?”
“William’s side,” she said. “They tend to be judged. They are blue collar workers, but to me they have the most important jobs on this island. Mac as chief of police. His brother Jarrett is a state trooper stationed at the north end, and Alex is a fireman. They serve and protect the rest of us. Kind of like you.”
This time he laughed. “I don’t serve nor do I protect. But you got the blue collar worker right.”
He was glad that she didn’t look down on her cousins, but it did seem to come up more than normal. “I didn’t mean it as an insult. I get the feeling you think I did.”
She knew him a bit too well. “It is what it is. I am who I am. If you aren’t bothered by it, then I’m not. I don’t change my life for anyone.”
She frowned at him. “I’m not asking you to change.”
“Are we going to get into a pissing match right here in the bar?” he asked. “I’m what you’d call a little rough around the edges too. I don’t have any fancy education and come from hardworking parents. I’d probably get along great with Mac and his brothers even if I can tell the guy can’t stand me.”
She turned her head to see Mac staring at the two of them. “It’s not that he doesn’t like you or anyone else. He’s protective and I’m family even if I’m a distant cousin. Some of us around the same age grew up together. Mac’s father was chief of police before him. There is a working relationship with those with businesses.”
“Ah, I see how it is.”
“I don’t think you do,” she said, crossing her arms. “I’m not sure what it’s like in your family, but in our family—or at least the current generations—we watch out for each other. The Bonds stick together. This island is our legacy. Though we aren’t equal in many people’s eyes, in most of the family’s eyes we all have the same diluted blood and we all stand behind it regardless of the green in our bank accounts.”
He wanted to snap at her for making a comment about her family compared to his but then realized she might be right. “Good to know,” he said.
“So did we just have our first fight?”
He picked up his beer and took a sip and wondered why he was so sensitive about things. It’s not like he was a pauper and had to stop acting like he was. At some point he was going to crash and burn with his ass covered in road rash just like his grandmother predicted.
“I don’t know,” he said. “How do you feel about makeup sex?”
“I think I might feel pretty favorable about it, but I’ve never had it before.”
“What?” he asked. “Oh man, I think I need to show you how it’s done.”
“Should we fight some more?” she asked. “Is it better if we are really going at it? No swinging fists. I draw the line there.”
His smile went to a frown. “I hope to hell no one has ever hit you.”
Her smile dropped this time. “It was a joke. If anyone ever laid a hand on me he wouldn’t walk straight again. Not just because he got my foot in his balls but because someone in my family might have castrated him had they found out about it. With my sister probably leading the way.”
Well, that told him something he needed to know. If he had to win anyone over other than Emily, it had to be the younger sister.
“You don’t have to worry about me,” he said. “I hope you know that.”
“I’m not worried. I can take care of myself and have. I guess that is why I’ve been single so long. Not many men like a woman like me.”
“Strong independent women?” he asked. “Yeah, that’s a real turnoff.”
She smiled. “There is sarcasm there. You’re good for me, do you know that?”
“Am I?” he asked. “Sometimes I wonder if I am or your family thinks differently.”
“Don’t go there again,” she said. “My family has no place here. It’s between you and me.”
“But I don’t think it is. You’ve talked about how close your family is often.”
“You’re right. But I am my own person. Though I take their advice into consideration, I don’t always follow it.” She put her hand up when he went to speak. “And before you say anything else, no one in my family has had anything negative to say about you or our relationship. Some think it’s romantic.”
All he heard was one word. “Relationship?”
“Figure of speech,” she clarified.
“I don’t think it is. I think it’s a Freudian slip.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You really want to go at it again and get me annoyed, don’t you?”
“Anything for sex.”
Emily had been trying to hold back some of her frustration over dinner. First with Mac and his words and his glances. Then Crew’s reaction to it.
Had she put her foot in her mouth worse than a contortionist? Probably. It was a bad habit of hers and she had to get over it.
But she hadn’t expected him to get so defensive. Then she had to remind herself that she had seen how Mac and his brothers were over judgments growing up. And that maybe Crew didn’t feel like he measured up but she didn’t want him to be like that.
“Well, then. Makeup sex it is, but I’d prefer to change the subject before we go from being annoyed to downright pissed at each other. I’m hungry and don’t want my appetite ruined.”
“I don’t know that I could get too pissed at you,” he said.
Which was downright sweet. “You say that now, but you never know.”
“We all have our limits. I know that. So subject change. Penelope is your marketing person you said. What do you do? My guess is you do it all, but something has to be your strength that she doesn’t want to touch.”
“Well played. A subject change and a possible compliment.”
“Oh, sweetie. I plan on giving you all sorts of compliments as soon as this dinner is done.”
It was as if the waitress had exceptional timing and brought their food out to them, placing down a large burger for him and a Reuben sandwich for her. They both dug in while she trie
d to figure out her words.
“Penelope hates dealing with money and budgets. I guess that is my strength. I know you might not think it with all the packages delivered to my house, but I’m pretty firm with budgets and haggling prices down.”
“Really?” he asked. “I don’t picture you as a bargain shopper.”
“I wouldn’t call it bargain shopping as much as getting the best deal. There are quite a few cheap Bonds in the family. How do you think so many got their wealth? We spend it, but spend it wisely.”
“I like wise women,” he said, winking at her.
And forty minutes later they were pulling into her driveway and walking through the front door. She turned to look at him. “So, what do you do to wise women that annoy you? Are we back on good ground and I blew my shot at makeup sex?”
“You are something else,” he said, then picked her up and put her over his shoulder. Man, no one had ever done that to her before. She’d always thought it’d be sexy and it sure the hell was.
“Where are we going?” she asked when he turned to the living room rather than going to the stairs and her room.
“You’ve got a nice big couch right here. No reason to walk all the way up the stairs when I’m going to bend you over the arm and show you how it’s done.”
Holy shit, she was pretty sure she just creamed her panties with those words and found herself squirming.
“Well then,” she said, clearing her throat.
“You’re turned on, aren’t you?” he said, then set her on her feet, his hands going in her hair as his mouth moved close to hers.
“I think that goes without saying since I was wiggling on your shoulder.”
“I think you’re wet,” he said. One hand moved from her hair and slid down her pants, into her panties and found her dripping. “Fuck.” He moved between her lips and pushed two fingers in her and her knees buckled.
“Oh God,” she said, her eyes all but crossing. “Keep doing that.”
“No,” he said. “You’re going to come over that couch.”
Her legs were shaking, but she found the strength to reach for his shirt and pull it over his head.
The two of them started to dance around pushing clothes out of the way quickly and she did find herself bent over the arm of the couch, her ass in the air. “Are you going to take your jeans off?” she asked when she turned to look at him. He was sliding a condom on, his pants just down around his ankles.
“I think you want it like this,” he said. “I think in your mind it’s kind of dirty if I’m still partially dressed.”
How could he know her so well? Not that it mattered when he found her opening and slid right in, a sigh escaping her mouth. “So makeup sex is in the living room and dirty?” she asked surprised she could voice those words with his cock filling her up so much and sliding in and out.
“It’s hurried. It’s spontaneous. And it’s explosive,” he said, gripping her hips and then slamming into her hard and fast enough that she had to just hang on and take what he was giving her.
And man, it didn’t take long before she was screaming out his name, and he was jerking and then grunting himself.
When he pulled out, she rolled off the arm and flopped on her back on the cushions, sucking in great gobs of air while he pulled his pants up to walk into the bathroom downstairs.
He came back out a few minutes later and she was still lying there with her eyes closed, naked. She felt the couch shift where he sat down next to her. “You seem pretty pleased with yourself.”
“I was thinking the same thing about you,” she said.
“Do you want to find something else to fight about?”
She laughed. “Who would have known what I was missing out on so much in life?”
She’d fought plenty with Simon and others, but none of them made her want to do what she and Crew just did on the couch and now she was starting to wonder if she really did have a relationship going and was deathly afraid to admit it.
18
Back To Crew
Two weeks later Emily was in her office when Penelope came running in. “You are not going to believe who I just saw enter the hotel when I was walking around.”
“Who?” she asked. Not only did Penelope look ruffled with her brown hair anything but perfectly straight on her shoulders, but she was also pissed off.
“Simon.”
“What?” she asked, sitting up. “I hope you’re joking. No way he is here. Why would he be?”
“I’m telling you. He walked in here with his chest puffed out and his hand on some woman’s back. He went to the front desk and I ran to my office quickly to check the registrations and, lo and behold, he’s here until the weekend.”
They’d run a Valentine’s Day special for the week and Simon was just the type that would take advantage of it and see how the hotel turned out. The one he thought that he’d own at some point.
“Dickhead,” she said, standing up.
“You swore. You never swear.”
“I wouldn’t say that was swearing. Crew would say that was a mild attempt at it.”
“Crew?” her sister said. “Your ex is here with some other woman staying in the hotel that he wanted to have a piece of and you’re talking about your new boyfriend. Damn. Good for you.”
It was good for her. It showed she’d come a long way even if she was annoyed. “Of all the hotels he could have stayed at on the island, why ours?”
“Come on, Emily. You and I both know the answer to that. He probably is hoping to see you or me and rub your face in the fact he’s moved on.”
“Well, I have too.”
“Again. You are bringing up Crew. What is going on with you two? Are you finally willing to admit it’s more than just dating?”
She hadn’t wanted to. Not yet anyway. It’d been a few months since their first date that he’d purchased at the fundraiser. Then they’d gotten a bit of a slow start, but since the holidays they’d been spending a lot more time together.
In some ways she knew so much about him and in other ways, she knew very little. It was beyond frustrating that he barely talked about his life or his past. And she was fearful of stepping on his toes or insulting him so she didn’t bring a lot of subjects up either.
“I don’t know what it is. It’s more for sure.”
“How often to do you see each other?” Penelope asked.
“A few times a week. We spend either Friday or Saturday night at my house but not much during the week.”
“Why don’t you go to his house?”
“I’m not sure. He always comes to mine. I went to his on Christmas Day. I told you that. It’s a nice place. He’s probably paying a fortune to rent it, but we don’t talk much about it. Maybe he feels it’s not good enough compared to mine. But mine isn’t anything special.”
Penelope laughed. “It’s not special in terms of some of the other Bond’s homes, but it is to an outsider. It’s a big house that had been remodeled after you bought it. You had specific instructions and drove Bode and his crew nuts with your design.”
She had, but she loved the charm of the place and the history of it. She didn’t need to be right on the water like so many others. This house had been affordable, but it had needed work and she knew she could put her stamp on it.
Her money was in the business, just like Penelope right now. They’d make it big and put their mark on the island like many of their other family members, but for now, it was more about surviving.
And she had to stop thinking things like that. No one would look at her and Penelope and think they had it tough or were struggling. They weren’t. They just weren’t on easy street like so many assumed.
Hard work and determination were what got them where they were and they were going to keep doing it.
“It is to many and you know it. And to someone like Crew, it might be intimidating.”
“What do you mean ‘someone like Crew’?” she asked, crossing her arms.
&n
bsp; “Now there is the anger I thought you’d have when I said Simon was in the building. Funny how you are showing it now. I only meant it as...I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do,” she said. “You don’t think he’s good enough for me.”
“I never said that. I like the guy from the few times I met him. The one time really at the wedding. But I like him more for the way he’s loosened you up.”
“I’m not that tight.”
“Please. You’re tighter than a rusty bolt on a five hundred-year-old ship that’s been underwater the entire time.”
“Not true.”
“Is true,” Penelope said.
Emily started to laugh. “We sound like we are six again.”
“Five and six,” Penelope said. “We drove Mom nuts when we argued like this. But back to Crew. Come on. Be honest. What is going on?”
“I really don’t know.”
“You like him, don’t you?”
“I think that goes without saying,” she said. “I guess I’m a little worried that I might mess it up. That we come from two different worlds and how we are going to make it work.”
“If you take money out of the equation, your worlds aren’t that different. You run a hotel. You deal with people day in and day out. You and me, we don’t hand stuff off to staff. We do things ourselves.”
“Because we like to be in control too much. And it’s not like we run a hotel. We own the hotel. It’s different and you know it. Our bank accounts might not be as flush as others, but we’ve got equity and a shitload of responsibility to a lot of employees. Sometimes it keeps me up at night. What if things fail?”
“Wow. You aren’t normally negative Nancy.”
“I’m not trying to be. Don’t you ever worry or stress that we took on too much?”
It kept her up at night for years during the construction when she and Penelope didn’t have much of an income. They were living at home and relying on their trust funds or money from the loans to pay the bills.
No, their parents and Mitchell weren’t going to let them fail, which was why, as much as she wanted to control it all like Penelope, they let Mitchell and her father have a lot of say.