Page 16 of Off Plan

I ran my tongue over my teeth. His hair was getting curlier every minute he spent in the humidity, and he looked rumpled and sweaty andhuman.Not atotalasshole. Plus, my eye really did feel better.

“Thanks,” I said. “For this.”

“You’re welcome.” Loafers turned in his seat and gave me a critical once-over. “Just to say, if you’re going to go around getting beaten up, I might be a handy person to have around.”

“I didn’t get beaten up,” I grumbled. “I… dropped a wrench on my eye.”

“You—” His forehead wrinkled in disbelief.

“I’m not repeating it.”

“But how does one—”

I glared at him over the console.

“Right. Anyway. Is there any way I can convince you to give us a fresh start? Since we’ll be colleagues?”

He looked so damnhopeful, the poor bastard, all dressed up in his stupid, stupid shoes, wanting to befriendly.

How the hell was I supposed to tell him he’d made a monumental mistake in trusting my uncle? Where did I even begin?

Then again, this wasn’t my responsibility, was it? It was Rafe’s and it was Mason’s. Time for Big Rafe to deal with his own shit.

I shook my head slowly. “Why don’t you hold off on making any firm plans about that, okay? I have a feeling you might change your mind in time.” As in, exactly as much time as it took to drive to Whispering Key and find out what he’d tied himself to for the next thousand-odd days.

“If you mean that I might leave during the three-month probationary period…” Loafers sat back in his seat and shrugged. “You should know that once I’m committed, I’mcommitted. Unless Mr. Goodman hasinventedthe resort—” He snorted at the very idea.

“There’s a three-month probationary period,” I repeated slowly around the ice pack. “So, as long as you leave in the first three months, there’s no harm, no foul.”

“But I won’t, is my point. Not unless there’s some kind of emergency. Or I suddenly win the lottery and can pay off my loans.” He rolled his eyes. “And I don’t plan to give Mr. Goodman any reason to terminate my contract in that time either, so I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”

We’d see how long that lasted.

We drove down the road in silence for long minutes while Loafers stared out the window eagerly, like he’d never seen a palm tree before. It was kinda weird and also weirdly hot.

“What in the world…?” Loafers pointed at the road sign in front of us. “Cooter Key Bridge? Is that a tasteless joke?”

I snorted. “Nope. Real sign, real place.”

“No,” he breathed.

“Yep.”

“But…cooter. Like, as in a…” He made a rolling motion with his wrist, like he wanted me to finish his sentence. “You know?”

I fought the urge to smile. “As in a cooter,” I said blandly.

“Yes! Exactly! Who names an island after a…” Loafers snort-giggled, like a thirteen-year-old boy discussing porn, not a cold-fish doctor with more luggage than common sense. “You know.”

His green eyes lifted to mine and… oh, damn. They were dancing.

Dear Universe, if you’re even remotely as real as Beale says you are, do not make melikethe cute, soulless doctor.

But because I’d started developing masochistic tendencies the minute Loafers wandered into my life, I couldn’t help teasing him. “It’s named that because of its shape.Duh.”

His jaw dropped and he stared at me. “You’re telling me the island is shaped like a… And they named it after…”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a doctor?” I demanded, tossing the now-melted ice pack to the floor at his feet and enjoying myself immensely for the first time all day. Possibly all week. “You can say the word, Loafers.”