Page 111 of The Work Wife

He slid the door open and stepped inside. It wasn’t big, but it was fitted with everything one could need in a sleeping area. A small closet, nightstands, and mirrors. On the ceiling.

“Ooh. Kinky.” She pointed up.

“They were already there. I was going to take them down, but I thought I’d wait until I got the chance to try them out. Although I will confess, the last time I took it out, I scared the hell out of myself when I woke up and saw my reflection.”

She laughed as his words fit together in her head.

“Wait. This is your boat?” she nearly shouted in surprise.

“Yeah.”

“How can you afford a boat like this? You’d better not make that much more than me. We do basically the same job. That’s not fair.”

“I’ve been with the company two years longer than you, so I should get a little more than you.”

“Not enough to buy a yacht.”

“No. I bought it with the money I inherited from my grandfather. And my roommate from college restores and sells boats, so I got a really good deal.”

She nodded, calculating how many trips to Virginia she would have been able to pay for with the money he’d used for this boat. Good deal or not, it couldn’t have been cheap.

Instead of thinking about it too much, she smiled and twined her fingers with his. She could tell he was proud of his vessel. He worked hard. He deserved it. And her dad was going to be fine. He’d gotten another glowing review from his oncologist that week. Wes had even checked with the nurse to make sure her father had the facts straight.

“It’s a beautiful boat, Wes.”

“Hey.” He bent down. “Why the sad eyes?” She couldn’t hide anything from him. “Are you thinking about your dad?”

She nodded and leaned into him. It was impossible to pretend differently.

“If you’re okay with this weekend trip, maybe we could take a week next month and take the boat down to Virginia. We could take your dad out fishing. What do you think?”

Looking up at him, she didn’t just see the man she’d married, or the man she’d been having sex with. She saw Weston, her best friend. The man who genuinely cared about her. And her father.

“That would be fantastic. Thank you.”

“So long as you don’t get seasick. I thought this trip would be a good test.” He checked his large watch and stood up straighter. “We have to get going. We’re going to miss it.”

“Miss what?”

“It’s a surprise.”

* * * *

He’d hoped to be out in open sea before the sun rose. He wanted to see her face the moment she met the new day. If he was being honest, he wanted to experience every new day with her. The last month since they’d come back from their trip was the happiest he’d ever been.

Everything with Jamie felt easy and right. It was simple, like their friendship, but now with sex and a good deal more. The “more” was the part that had him stumped.

A different person might have jumped to the conclusion it was love. But Wes didn’t want to confuse comfort and friendship for an emotion he’d yet to experience.

This was one of his reasons for their trip. Not only would he have time with her alone to figure out how he felt, but they would be spending the weekend with two people he felt confident were actually in love.

He slowed the boat and turned so they were in line with the pink horizon before dropping anchor and shutting everything down.

It was a little gusty, and he knew his warm-blooded wife would be chilly.

“Come see,” he called to her where she was huddled in the protection of the bridge. He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist to offer her whatever warmth she might feel through her thick parka. “You doing okay?”

“Yes. It’s not so bad when I’m not in the wind.”