"What?" I wrinkled my eyebrows.
"You’re just interesting to watch." He shrugged. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
"It’s okay, I guess." Looking back to my book, I still felt his eyes on me. Looking up again, I raised my brows at him.
"What? You said it was okay."
"I meant it was okay for making me uncomfortable, not to keep doing it." I shook my head laughing lightly. "I mean, come on…aren’t you bored with looking at me yet? You’ve seen me before." I laughed harder.
"True, but no." I looked at him confused. "No, I’m not bored looking at you." He grinned.
"Well stop. You’re making me self conscious." I scowled playful.
"You have a habit of sucking your bottom lip," He blurted. My face heated up as I fought the reflex to suck my lip. He started to laugh. "You’re trying to do it now, aren’t you?" He laughed harder.
I tossed my book at him.
"Shut up!" I laughed. He doubled over in laughter.
I stood up and walked out onto the deck of the boat. Leaning on the side, I couldn’t help but close my eyes and absorb the warmth surrounding me. The air and sun were so warm. I opened my eyes and looked out into the turquoise and light blue water surrounding us.
Aidan approached in my peripheral vision.
"Hey," I smiled and turned back out to the water.
"Hey," he leaned next to me.
"The water is ridiculously pretty." Not hiding one ounce of the awe I felt.
"It’s definitely a break from the murky skies and water surrounding New York." He stood tall. "You want a drink?"
"Sure." I shrugged.
"Have a seat, I’ll go grab…what do you want?"
"Water’s fine." I sat on a lounge chair.
Aidan returned a few moments later with two bottles of water. We sat talking about the island and how his grandfather had acquired it through a bet.
"You’re kidding, right?" I looked at him in disbelieve.
"Nope," He shook his head. "At least that’s the story my grandfather always told us and to be honest I haven’t heard anything to conflict with the story." He chuckled a little.
"What the hell was the bet?" I exclaimed, with utmost curiosity.
"Not quite sure. Once he said it was over a woman, another was a poker game and another time it was a horse race." He shrugged and his smile seemed to falter a little.
"I’m sorry." He looked at me confused. "It must bother you to talk about him. I mean, you were close, right?" Completely aware I was sucking on my lip, I would probably always be aware now he’d pointed out my habit.
"It’s okay." He smiled bigger. "It’s kind of nice to talk about him. I just…" he stopped.
"Just what?" I pressed.
"I guess I feel guilty for being so pissed about his conditions." He looked at me nervously.
"Well…in your opinion, what do you think your grandfather thought your reaction would be to this?" I raised one brow.
"He knew I would flip the fuck out." He laughed loudly.
"Then I think you are safe from feeling guilty." I kept my smile large as I wiggled my brow line.
"Lilli –"
"Is that the island?" I blurted as green and brown appeared on the horizon. Aidan’s eyes moved to where I was looking.
"Yeah, I didn’t realize we’d been sitting here that long." He sighed and stood up.
As I stood the boat’s engines changed into lower gear, causing me to stumble. Reaching out for the railing, I caught it just as Aidan wrapped his arm around my waist to steady me.
"Thanks," my cheeks warmed.
"No problem." Without removing his arm from my waist, he grabbed the railing next to me. I shifted a little uncomfortably, mostly because the feel of him so close was doing dangerous things between my thighs.
The boat shifted again and I focused out in front of us, we were pulling up to a dock. I could just make out the house set back off the beach.
"Huh." I breathed out.
"Not what you thought it would be, huh?" His warm breath on my ear caused me to shiver.
"Um…no. It’s not –"
"Over-the-top?" He finished for me. With a nod, I smiled.
The boat came to a complete stop and we grabbed our things. Aidan led the way to the house.
As we approached I got a better view of the house. It was more like a beach bungalow, though it clearly cost a great deal of money. It was one story and most of the walls of the house were made up of windows.
We entered through large glass doors into an open living room, dining area and kitchen. Everything was cream, tan and white. The doors we entered were large glass panels that folded into each other, opening the living room up completely to the outside and the patio. You could literally open up the whole side of the house this way. It was amazing, simple, yet completely beautiful. Aidan showed me down a hallway with four doors. He pointed out rooms as we went.
"This is the storage and maintenance room. The laundry machines are in there as well." He pointed to a second door across from it. "This is the bathroom." Pushing the door open, I peeked around his body. It was a simple powder room, no bath or shower, just a sink and toilette.