Page 63 of Maneater (The Mavens #1)

“What’s wrong?” he asks, brow furrowing as he sits up to look down at me. He leaves a hand on the beach blanket beneath us before using one hand to brush back some stray strands of hair. I let out a deep sigh before confessing.

“It’s just…right now, like this, it’s perfect.

We’re stuck together, with minimal distractions, because our work is kind of the same.

But it won’t be like this in a week. And we both have admitted we work a ton, much of it traveling around.

I just…” I feel so silly spilling this out right now, during this perfect afternoon, especially since everything is so new with us.

However, I also know that bottling things up never ends well for me.

When he gives me a soft, reassuring smile, some of my nerves ease.

“We’ll figure it out, Josie,” he tells me, not a hint of doubt in the words.

“Will we?” I ask, and I can even hear the nerves in my voice.

Nerves because the reality is, I like Rowan.

I like him, and I like what we have right now, right here.

As we draw closer to solving the case and nearing the end of our stay, the reality that this bubble will burst soon feels suffocating.

“Of course we will. You get vacation time?”

“I never use it,” I admit.

“Well, it sounds like we’re a perfect pair because I’ve been told if I don’t start using mine, my boss is going to lock me out of the system.”

I let out a laugh, this one a bit easier, and he smiles down at me before his face goes serious. “Vacations together every other month, at least four days. Besides that, I work in Hudson City a lot, and that’s where I live.” I smile before telling him something I already know.

“A lot of my assignments are near home.”

“So when we’re both home, we spend the night in one of our beds.” I squint at him.

“What size is yours?”

He chuckles at that. “King.”

My mind moves to my bed, which, while comfy, is only a full. I’ve never really needed much room for more, what with my never taking a man home.

“How do you feel about sharing counter space if I double up on my toiletries?”

His smile turns to a full-blown megawatt grin that makes my belly go warm. “I have double sinks and only use one. More than enough counter space for your mess.”

“My mess?” I ask, pushing his shoulder. He laughs then, light and happy, before his hand moves to my hip as he falls back, tugging me up and over onto him until I’m straddling his waist. My hair falls in a curtain around us, and he gently shifts it all to one shoulder.

“I don’t think even you can argue you’re a bit of a mess, Josie.

” I can’t, and we both know it, especially when it comes to my vanity and bathroom sink.

He sees that he’s won this battle, but he doesn’t push.

Instead, his hand cups my cheek reverently before he speaks again, his voice low and filled with care. “We’re going to make it work, Josie.”

I bite my lip, nerves taking over again.

We talked about assignments yesterday, and he seemed okay with it here, but when we’re back home in Hudson City, it’s different.

He’s bumped into me on assignments, and each time, he knew who I was in some way, shape, or form.

It’s a big city, but not that big. I suppose now is as good a time as any to tackle this as any.

“I, um.” I roll my lips between my teeth before I speak.

“I can’t stop. The dates.” He doesn’t speak, so I keep talking, hoping to explain, hoping he’ll understand.

“I know it’s a lot, your…girlfriend out with other men, much less ones you might know in some way.

One day, I can talk to Gabriel about expanding beyond Hudson City, taking things out of town or something, but not for a while, and?—”

He moves then, cutting me off as he rolls me to my back on the large blanket and pinning my arms down, forcing me to look at him.

“Are you mine?”

His words take me aback. “What?”

“At the end of the night, are you mine? It is my bed you’re going to crawl into when I’m home?”

“I mean…or mine.”

A small smile plays on his lips as he rolls his eyes before sighing. “Am I the only one invited into your bed?”

I lift a hand then, cupping his cheek, rough with a five o’clock shadow. He looks good with the scruff, though I love his clean-shaven face just as much. “Yes, Rowan,” I answer.

“That’s all that matters.” I open my mouth to argue, but he continues speaking.

“The rest we can figure out as we go, Josie. Am I going to love avoiding whatever restaurant you’re at that night, because if I bump into you, I won’t be able to resist coming over to you?

Absolutely. Do I get a little hot thinking about you playing men for a living, but sucking my cock at the end of the night?

Abso-fucking-lutely.” I smile because I never really thought of that perk, though I should have.

I fucking love when Rowan gets all jealous.

He sees my look and mirrors it. “We’ll figure it out, Josie. ”

“How are you so fucking perfect?” I ask, confused because there are very few men in this world who would respond that way.

He smiles again before using his hand on my jaw to guide my lips to his, pressing them sweet and soft before whispering against them. “Because I was made to be yours, Josie. It just took us a while to figure it out.”

My heart skips a beat. Still, I don’t respond, the remnant of concern and worry still lingering. He senses them, as he seems to do often, and sighs, moving and shifting us so I’m sitting in his lap.

“Are you going to get mad when I have to work?”

“What?” I ask, confused.

“Are you going to be annoyed if I can’t take you out to dinner because I have late calls across the world?

Are you going to be mad when I basically ignore the world right before and after an opening?

I’m telling you right now, during that time, I’ll be a ghost in your life, barely reachable through anything but a text or email to prove I’m alive.

Are you going to question my loyalty because I have to schmooze some board member, flirt with her to convince her to trust that I know what I’m doing? ”

“Of course not, Rowan. I mean, fuck, with my job—” I start, my brow furrowed.

“Exactly,” he says as if that’s all the explanation he needs.

He pauses then, waiting for me to understand, and slowly, I do.

Then he explains, so it’s crystal clear.

“Our jobs are different, but they’re the same.

We both work a lot. We both aren’t going to stop that completely.

We both love our jobs, and, at least for me, that has been a big obstacle in finding someone in the past. We get that.

We understand that. We are going to make it work.

” Finally, like he can’t help himself, he wraps an arm around my waist and holds me closer to him, pressing his lips to mine.

When he breaks the kiss, he rests his forehead against mine. “Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it, Rowan,” I whisper.

And for once, I think I do have it: the job, the life, the man. All of it.

Reluctantly, hours later, we pack up our things and head back into the woods to move through the trees and back to the main resort. We keep a firm eye out for any more saboteurs, though we see none, thankfully.

That is, until a gust of wind blows, moving the trees and making them sway and, in turn, filter the light through them slightly differently.

That’s when I see it in the distance: a flash of light, like a slight reflection off metal.

Without a word, I veer off the trail and through taller grasses in the direction I saw it.

Another glint helps me narrow the area down, but it’s still a hundred feet of rocky and potentially dangerous terrain away.

I’m grateful I wore sneakers instead of sandals.

“What’s that?” I ask, tipping my chin toward the spot.

“What’s what?” Rowan doesn’t catch what I saw, but I move toward it regardless, ignoring him. It’s deep in the woods, but even now, even on a day when it’s just Rowan and me hanging out, doing nothing, my mind is still on work, still processing the case.

As I approach the area, I almost lose track of the spot, since it’s hidden really well, and the only reason I saw it was a perfectly timed glint of light on metal made possible by the fortunate sway of a tree.

I move slowly, never shifting my eyes from the spot now, as if I’m a predator and it is my prey.

“Josie, what are you doing?” Rowan asks, but I don’t respond, instead waving a hand to indicate he should follow me. I’m going with my gut, and that’s never led me astray, but I don’t have time to explain that.

”Josie—”

“I saw something,” I say.

My heart starts to pound as I see another flash of metal. My hands are shaking as I reach for it, trying to ignore the ick that covers the item. I push away that fear, swiping away leaves that were covering what I see is a towel of some sort, before I unwrap it.

And there it is.

The missing surveillance camera.

“Saw what?” he asks as his steps slow beside me. I point then and smile up at him.

“That.”

Beneath a swatch of tall grass and a few palm fronds that I believe must have slipped is the charred camera from the rental shack.

“What is that?” Rowan asks, leaning forward but not reaching for it as if he’s nervous it might bite .

“This is the biggest piece of evidence we haven’t been able to find,” I whisper, then reach into my bag for the towel I dried off with.

The universe has been in my favor the last few weeks, but my god , she is working with me today with this find.

If the trees hadn’t moved at just that moment, if we hadn’t taken exactly this trail, if we hadn’t left when we had, the sun wouldn’t have hit just right to catch my eye.

“That’s a security camera,” he says finally as I pull it up and inspect it. It looks to be in pretty good condition despite the char marks and grime on it. I’m hoping that the chip is preserved, as Rory said it should be, and that it will contain some usable footage on it.

“There was that big storm last night. Maybe it was better hidden, and now it’s revealed?” Rowan asks, and I nod.

“Probably. Rory might be able to salvage some footage from this, so now we need to get it back to her as soon as possible. She’s going to absolutely lose it,” I say, almost giddy at the new find. It seems my afternoon off was productive after all.

He smiles at me wide and shakes his head before grabbing the package and putting it into his backpack. “Then let’s get this back to her.”