Page 112 of Never Tell Secrets

I took a deep breath, pushing my insecurities away. Alfie was pulling out all the stops today and I was determined to have fun with him. No more worrying. “Yeah, I’m ready. What’s the surprise?”

“Do you promise not to laugh?”

“No,” I answered honestly.

There was a slight pause. “Okay, fine. Do you at least promise never to tell any of my Tellers about this?”

“No,” I repeated, biting back a laugh. “Get out here.”

He opened the door and my jaw dropped. His body was as beautiful as I’d remembered, my skin growing flush at the sight of it but my gaze was drawn lower, to the bright Hawaiian print shorts he was wearing.

Alfie…

“Do you remember the joke you made about these? I wasn’t sure you’d remember…” he trailed off.

I remembered. We’d been in his suite the morning after our first night together, I’d watched him dress in his suit with militant precision and joked about seeing him in Hawaiian shorts. It was just a joke, an off hand comment…and he’d remembered it.

I stared at those ugly shorts, tears filling my eyes.

“Jesus, Lo don’t cry! They aren’t that bad, are they?”

“Yeah, they’re blinding me, my eyes are watering.” I laughed, wiping a tear from my cheek. I pushed up onto my knees until I was eye level with him. I tugged the hem of his shorts, bringing him closer. “You’re so fucking beautiful to me, Alfie Tell.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and let his gaze ground me, feeling the warm peace that came with him wiping my anxieties away. It had been this way before, I could always getlost in him, just one look and the world slipped away, but now, it was healthy. He erased the bad and left me with the good. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, baby.” He pressed his forehead to mine for just a moment, our lips a breath away from touching. It was Alfie that pulled away first, taking my hand he led me out of the room.

We headed down to the lower deck, making for the stern of the ship.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He opened a door and suddenly, we were out in the open. Elliot was below us at the bottom of the stairs, operating a control panel that seemed to be lowering a platform into the water. On the platform were a pair of jet skis.

“Alfie?” I looked up at him to find him grinning, eyes shining with excitement.

“We’re going jet skiing, baby.”

“Seriously?” Excitement mixed with a tinge of fear crept over my skin. Before he could answer, a snort of laughter greeted my ears. I looked down to see Elliot staring up at Alfie in shock.

Alfie scowled at him. “Don’t say a word.”

“What the hell are you wearing, boy?” Elliot spluttered.

“Don’t judge me. You’d dress up as a teletubby if Ada asked you to.”

I snorted a laugh, enjoying the mental image Alfie had just painted.

“Are we good to go?” he asked as we descended the steps.

“We’re good.” Elliot nodded and handed Alfie two life jackets. Alfie turned to me, slipping the jacket over my head and fastening it.

“Are you good, O’Connell?”

“Excited,” I told him and he shared my smile as he slipped his own life jacket on.

“Get on,” Alfie ordered. I climbed on, giving him enough room to sit in front of me. I gasped as he grabbed me from behind, lifting me forward so he could sit at the back. “You’re driving, baby.”

I looked up at him over my shoulder. “Are you kidding? I’ll kill us!”