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It’s not how I wanted to start this trip with him. We said nothing would happen, and I meant it. I can’t go down that road. Not with him. Not with all he’s told me along with what I already know of him and his lifestyle.

He’s a famous celebrity with a movie star glimmer in his piercing, mischievous gray eyes. He’s a bad boy. One who secretly whispersI’m a dirty sex godwhile smiling and charming you. He’s all of that, and I’m, well, I’m me. I’m Keegan Fritz, the nerdy girl with frizzy red hair, a few too many freckles on my face, and a curvy body I stopped making excuses for a long time ago. I’m a doctor with a heart that gets me in trouble and a mouth that’s notorious for making big promises, especially under stress.

Hence how I found myself here with him.

So I can’t allow myself to imagine that last night, him in the shower, was anything more than a crime of opportunity. I’m here and easy porn fodder that doesn’t require a lot of mental bandwidth. It doesn’t mean he’s attracted to me.

“What are your plans for the day?” he asks, interrupting our silent reveries.

“I have some, uh, some work to do on my laptop if I’m able.” I better fucking be able. “And I was thinking I’d explore the island a bit. What about you?”

He chuckles. “Other than trying to find a proper gate for Fen, not a whole lot. I thought I’d take him swimming and see how he enjoys the water. And maybe I’ll have him chase a rooster or two.”

The thought of little Fen chasing a rooster makes me giggle.

“I think I’ll go shower and get myself ready for the day. No way I can go back to sleep now.”

“And since we both already know I showered last night, I think I’ll go down and brew some coffee for us.”

My mouth drops, and my head whips in his direction. He’s smiling down at me, his eyes sparkling, and I huff an annoyed breath to cover my blush and my body’s reaction to his shower last night.

“You do that,” I snap, and he laughs.

“That wasn’t a very goodcomeback.”

“Really? You’re going to keep taunting me with this? You’re the one with the inappropriate fantasy.”

“But it was lovely. Would you like me to tell you about it? Show you, perhaps?”

“Loomis! I thought we agreed not to talk about it.”

He laughs. “True. We did do. My apologies. I won’t mention it again. Probably right, that is. I can’t have you thinking about my cock that way now that I know you’re afraid of them. He is quite the beast.” With that, he walks back toward his room.

“Jerk!” I call out, and he laughs just as he shuts the french doors behind him. Ugh. I smile to myself as I walk back inside, shut the doors, and go to my bathroom to brush my teeth and shower.

Today, I need to focus on my writing. I have a loose outline for the next book I want to solidify and maybe even plot out a bit more so I can start it. I signed the contract. I read it over on the plane and digitally signed it last night.

It’s done. I’m doing this. I still don’t know what that will mean for me as a resident and a doctor after that, but I’m going to put the time, energy, and emotion into writing this series. What comes after that, I don’t know. I don’t even know if this series will sell, and what that will mean for me if it does or doesn’t.

Much of my family doesn’t know. How do you tell your very prim and proper grandmother, the queen of Boston, to whom appearances—the right appearances—are everything, that you write very steamy paranormal romances? Romance is often scoffed at and brushed off as fluff or not substantive. It’s viewed as porn and trash. No one takes us seriously, yet romance outsells any other genre.

And while I love romance—everything about it—I’m still a Fritz with a name and reputation to uphold and protect. There’s a reason I have a pen name.

I figure that’s a problem later Keegan has to sort out, and only if this series does anything. For now, I focus on what’s in front of me, what I need to get done, and what I have control over. My wrist and hand were bothering me a bit last night. I think the day of travel, lifting things, and doing more than I should wasn’t the best for them. I just hope it didn’t set me back more.

The shower might just be the greatest thing ever, and I change into a bikini, a tank top, and a pair of cut-off shorts since my weather app tells me it’s going to be eighty-three in Key West today.

I twist my long, red hair on top of my head into a bun, use a clip to secure it since that’s easier to manage than an elastic with my hand, and don’t bother with makeup or contacts because I think that’s the smarter play here for me, and frankly, it’s also much easier with my bad wrist. I head downstairs, my bare feetpadding on the wooden steps, only for me to come to an abrupt halt.

Loomis has Fen in his arms as he holds him off to the side and stirs some eggs around in a pan with his other. He’s singing to him. A Tinsley song they both seem to know by heart since Fen is all but humming along. Bacon sizzles in one pan and eggs cook in the other, and Loomis sings and sways, keeping Fen’s little body safely away from the stove the way any good dad would.

It’s a sight that has my ovaries legit punching my lower abdomen and me automatically sagging and sighing. It’s the tattoos beneath a fitted white T-shirt and messy blond,I just rolled out of bed after having wild sex all nighthair in stark juxtaposition to the adorable baby clinging to his daddy and staring at him with pure adoration and wonder in his eyes.

Plus, I mean, Loomis is singing Tinsley Monroe. It’s pure pop perfection, and he’s hitting all the notes like he was always meant to duet with her. I slip my phone out of my back pocket and take a quick video that I shoot over to Tinsley.

Loomis catches me out of the corner of his eye, and a smile curls devilishly up his face as he takes me in from head to toe. “A redhead wearing red. I approve.”

“Huh?” I follow his gaze to my boobs and notice my red bikini is visible beneath my tank top. “Oh.” I laugh and shrug in a self-deprecating way. “Can’t hurt to get some sun on these pasty legs.” I enter the kitchen and drop a kiss on Fen’s cheek as I peer over Loomis’s shoulder. “Smells good.”