Page 99 of Wanting More

Heat flooded her chest and face. "Food!" she shouted, cutting him off.

Joel had the nerve to look disappointed, his shoulders slumping and everything, and Sapphire couldn’t help but laugh. Sometimes she couldn't help but imagine him as a beautiful golden child casting that beautiful face at people, hypnotizing them with his beauty and disguising his devilish intentions so he could get his way.

Not looking at him, Sapphire tried to bite back the smile on her lips as she began pulling out the food onto the countertop. "I mean," she began carefully, "I'll take that too, I guess, but later though."

Not able to resist, she looked back over her shoulder and felt her body heat even more at the mischievous wink Joel gave her.

Lining the ingredients along the short countertop, Sapphire lined the bread up on the tiny cooking sheet and spread butter and herbs along the top. Popping it into the tiny oven under the counter, she let it toast while she cut up the turkey meat and sliced up the vegetables. Layering everything together and spreading on the pesto, she piled the toasted sandwiches onto a plate.

As if watching and waiting, both Hayden and Joel stepped up beside her and grabbed the rest of the food. In a small procession, they carried the chips, drinks, and sandwiches outside, where one of them had set up the table in front of the built-in benches.

"Here, let's use this too," Joel called back excitedly from the door. With his hands full with bags of chips and three cans of sodas, he used one free finger to press the button on the wall. Above him, something began to whir. They all watched as a sunscreen slowly began to retract, covering the outside porch space.

"Show off," Hayden murmured to her as she scooted in first onto the bench.

As they ate, they watched the colorful sails of the other boats dotting the bay. From their isolated position at the far northeastern edge of the bay, Sapphire could only hear the occasional sound of blaring music and laughter as boats sped by. It was as if they existed in their own little bubble. Just the sounds of the breeze and the churn of the waves against the side of the boat as they gently swayed in the water. Squinting, she wondered if other boats moored down to their own bobbing sea buoy felt the same way.

Finished with his third sandwich, Joel leaned back in his seat with a satisfied look on his face and swung an arm over her shoulders. "What are you thinking about?"

Looking at both of them, she found the words slipping from her lips before she could stop them. "Do you think this," she motioned between the three of them, "will work out?"

The words were true and false in light of his question. Sapphire hadn't been thinking of it just then, but she knew that's where her thoughts were leading. Staring at the other boats and imagining the no doubt smiling faces on each one of them, Sapphire couldn't help but think how unreal this all was. Nothing, and she meantnothingin her life prepared her for this moment. She wasn't the girl who hung out on mini yachts on the weekend. Hell, she wasn’t the girl who dated more than one guy or had wonderful loving relationships. So how the hell was she here right now? It felt like a dream.

At her words, Hayden paused mid-tilt of his beer, and Joel put his chip, which he had just picked up, slowly back down on the plate.

Pulling off his sunglasses, Joel's hard blue eyes met hers directly. "Fuck yes, I do. Why?!"

She could sense the rising anger in him and already knew not to turn to look at Hayden's reaction.

She took a deep breath. "I'm not exactly talking about us, I mean…you know, with the rest of the town. With customers and your friends and stuff and what they will think. Eventually, people will catch on, I imagine."

Joel let out a relieved breath and picked his chip back up, and popped it into his mouth with a crunch. "Oh, don't worry about that, sweetheart," he said around a mouth full of a chip.

Confused, she shifted in her seat. "What do you mean? Just because you say not to worry doesn't mean-"

Hayden's fingers, cool from his drink, brushed along her shoulder, making her shiver as he gently grabbed and turned her to face him. "I promise you, if what we have going becomes an issue with anyone in town, we will resolve it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What does that mean? I don’t want you going around beating up people who-"

Tracing his fingers across the curve of her shoulder and up her neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake, Hayden stopped just below her chin and tilted her head back. "Physical negotiations will be unnecessary."

"And why is that?" she breathed, secretly wishing he would touch her more.

Now it was Joel who was turning her around, his wicked grin coming into focus. "Because we'll just raise their rent so goddamn high, they can either shut their fucking mouth or move out the goddamn town. Either or, it’s up to them."

The haze of momentary desire dissipated, and she blinked as she processed his words. "You can't do that to everyone! There won’t be anyone left."

"Wanna bet, darlin?"

"We sure can, and do you know why, sweetheart?" Hayden asked, and she shook her head. "Because Patrick, the city clerk, is also the only real estate agent in town gets tons of emails about possible vacancies each week."

"What? For Holter?" Sapphire couldn't hide the shock from her tone.

"Okay, I'm gonna need you to stop thinking of Holter as such a shithole." Joel reached out and strummed his fingers down her flank, causing a laugh to burst from her lips as she tried to wriggle away. The orange soda she had been holding sloshed out and hit her warm skin like a shock, soaking into her bikini top and splashing onto her skin.

"Aww, look what you've done," she moaned, setting down the half empty can on the table.

"Here, let me help." She should have known from Joel's tone what he meant.