A Little Harmless Fantasy(51)
“Now, I have to agree that is a good thing to have. Along with that pineapple crack you fed me, that almost makes it worth it.
She snorted. “Yeah, you ate all mine. We need to make another pit stop because I love that pineapple stuff. But, to get back to what I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, this is the place to come for anything touristy. I always make sure I’m here on the weekend or on a Wednesday. It’s too much fun.”
He smiled. “And you needed that coconut bra for what reason?”
“It’s for Jennifer. She’ll love it.”
He thought of the former FBI agent. “Uh, do you know another Jennifer? I would never buy something like this for her.”
“That’s why she’ll love to get it. People like stuff like that.”
He raised his eyebrows. “They do?”
She stopped and huffed at him. “Of course they do. It isn’t the gift, but it’s the fact you thought of them while you were gone.”
“Is that so?” he asked but she ignored he disbelieving tone. She was already making a beeline to a tent with hats. Normally, he would get irritated with a sub who acted this way. Of course, he didn’t spend much time outside of the bedroom
“I need a hat, you should get one too. Not good for people who are fair like us.”
“You’re not really blonde.” He slipped his arms around her waist, pulled her against him and kissed her neck. “I have inside knowledge of that fact.”
She laughed and swatted at his hands. “Behave in public. I meant our skin. Turtles!”
She was working her way through the crowded tent by the time he caught up with her. She picked up a ridiculously large straw hat with a turtle pattern on it. She put it on and smiled at him. “What do you think?”
For a second he couldn’t actually think. She was smiling at him and his tongue was stuck to the top of his mouth. Her eyes were sparkling with happiness and her grin was bright and wide. He had never seen a human so happy with her lot in life as he did looking at Maura right then. And in that split second, the only thought that came to Rory’s mind was he wanted to see that smile every day for the rest of his life.
“Does it look stupid?” she asked apparently not realizing that he had a life altering thought. “I don’t care. We are in Hawaii and I can look like an idiot like other tourists.” She spied something behind him and grabbed the straw hat off one of the mannequins. She plopped it on his head.
“There, I like that. Now we need to get Zeke a hat. He can’t be left out.”
He stopped her by grabbing her hand and pulling her back to face him. He still couldn’t utter a word.
“Rory?” she asked, her smile dimming just a bit. “Something wrong?”
He shook his head and then brushed his mouth over hers. She sighed. It was noisy in the tent, crowded and hot, but he heard the small sound over everything. It feathered over him as if it had been blasted on a loud speaker.
He pulled back and she was watching him now warily.
“Are you okay?”
“Sure, love. Let’s get something for Zee. He really likes red.”
She smiled again and he felt like he owned the whole fucking world.
“You’re right. That would be fabulous. Let’s look.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the tent. This time, he went willingly as he tried to figure out just what the fuck he was going to do about her.
* * * *
“Rory and I decided that red is your favorite color,” Maura said as he pulled the red straw fedora out of her bag.
Zeke chuckled and took the hat. “It is.”
“I thought you would need it to keep you covered while on the island since you decided to go all bald a few months ago.”
Zeke nodded.
Maura smiled happy that he liked her gift. Zeke was one of those people who were so hard to buy for. Knowing that he had a rough time after his father had been killed. Money had been tight. So, once Zeke started making money, he never hesitated to buy what he wanted. He had what he wanted mostly.
“Did you and Conner have some good work time?”
He hesitated. “Yeah.”
She frowned and stopped going through her bags. She studied him and could tell that something had happened. “What?”
Rory glanced at her then at Zeke. “Yeah, what? I picked up on that too.”
“I got irritated with him and yelled at him.”
Maura didn’t say anything for a long time. Her fear was that her brother had found out about them. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of what she was doing, but she didn’t need a lecture about it. Of course, if Conner knew about it, he would probably be sitting here waiting for her when she got home.