“Don’t tell me you’re scared, snookums.” Parker’s voice drifts down to me. “It may cause irreparable damage to your so-called street cred.”
“Have I mentioned that I hate you?” I call back, climbing slowly up the ladder. As soon as my head pops out into the brisk air, Parker grabs me under the arms and lifts me up onto my feet.
“Only about a million times,” he says, kissing me until I’m breathless and panting against his lips. When he pulls back and whispers, “Look,” I turn around and lose my breath all over again.
The entire ocean is at our feet, stretching for miles as far as my eyes can see. We’re so high, Parker’s sixty-foot sailboat looks like a toy, bobbing along the dock far below. The giant bulb flashes just above our heads, illuminating the coastline in rhythmic intervals like a massive flashlight shining in the dark. Boston glows in the distance, small and insignificant. Beyond that, a million stars blanket the sky — far more than you can ever see inside the city limits.
It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.
“You live here,” I say, laughing as I spin in a circle. “You literally live here.”
Parker shoves his hands in the pockets of his waterproof jacket. “I could live here. Right now, I mostly live on my boat in the harbor and come check on this place every few weeks. I pay a guy to keep an eye on it, the times I can’t get here.”
I stop spinning and look at him. “Why wouldn’t you stay here all the time?”
He smirks and gestures out at the ocean surrounding us on all sides. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, Zoe, but it might get kind of lonely out here. They say no man is an island but, in this case, I would have to disagree.”
“True,” I murmur. “Still… it seems a shame, to have a place like this — a view like this — and not wake up to it every single day.”
“Maybe…” He trails off, as though he’s afraid to finish the thought.
“Maybe what?” I ask softly.
“Nothing.”
“Please… tell me. I want to know.”
His eyes find mine through the darkness and even in the shadowy light I can see the stark longing in his eyes. It’s enough to make my knees buckle.
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so lonely if I had someone to share it with.” He takes a step toward me. “If I’m being honest, since the moment I found out you were in trouble, the only thing I’ve wanted to do was pick you up in my arms and bring you out here, where I know nothing can get to you.”
I close the last bit of space between us. “And now that you have?” I murmur.
His eyes flare. “I might never let you go.”
I wind my arms around his neck. “Good answer, sailor.”
His mouth crashes down on mine — a warm contrast to the cool wind. I don’t care that it’s freezing, or that there are a million things I should be worrying about.
Because I’m standing on top of the fucking world, kissing a man I’m dangerously close to falling in love with, and nothing else matters.
Not one damn bit.
18
The Reason
We’re lost in each other, devouring with lips and hands and teeth against the rail of the lighthouse, until the sun sets entirely.
Parker pulls back to look at me. “It’ll be Christmas in a few hours.”
“Think we’ll be able to see the sleigh go by from up here?”
“Oh, definitely. I slipped Santa a twenty – he’s going to do a fly-by, just for you.”
I roll my eyes.
“What do you want for a present, Zoe?” He nuzzles my neck. “Jewelry? Lifetime supply of chocolate peanut butter cups? A new computer strong enough to hack the CIA?”
“Nothing.” I laugh. “Nothing at all.”
“Well, I fully expect a gift of some kind.” His tone goes husky. “Want to give me my present now or later?”
“Definitely now,” I say, arching up to kiss him again. “Right fucking now.”
I feel him grin as he scoops me into his arms, throws me onto his back in a fireman’s carry, and proceeds to climb down the ladder like a crazy person with me draped over one shoulder.
“You’re going to drop me!” I screech, watching the ground get closer as I hang upside down. I pound a fist against his back. “You caveman!”
He chuckles, never breaking his careful strides. When we hit the ground, he sets me gently on the bed. “I’d never drop you, darling.” His grin is wicked. “Back in a flash.”
He scampers back up the ladder to close the hatch as I lay there contemplating my near-death experience.
He almost killed me, the idiot!
I’m going to murder him.
That’s clearly the only option.
Shockingly, as soon as Parker’s frame hits the mattress beside me, all concerns of mortality vanish. He unzips my insulated jacket in one swift tug and rids me of my suspenders and weatherproof pants in record time.
“If I’d known you were only in underwear beneath those, I would’ve crashed the damn boat against the rocks,” he growls, his hands making quick work of removing his own coat and pants.