He held the door open. “Too bad.”
I started to slide out of the SUV when he scooped me up. “Blake.” I yelped—actually, squeaked was probably a better word for it. I gripped his shoulder.
“Hang onto me, dammit.”
“I am.” He jostled me until I saw stars, but I didn’t make a freaking sound. One peep and he’d have me back in the Rover and ensconced in the townhouse like he’d planned. As it was I’d had to argue my way out of the house after we’d showered and changed into warmer clothes.
“You’re supposed to be resting this ankle. No part of that includes you traipsing across a quarter mile of sand and rocks.”
“You can’t carry me that far.”
“I did the other night.”
Okay, so I didn’t really have anything to say about that. I’d been unconscious for most of it, so I really couldn’t say anything. If I had to saw off my damn tongue with my teeth to keep my mouth shut, I would.
I hated being helpless. Hated it more than a fifteen-hour cycle in the annealing room at a glass shop. And the fact that I had to rely on Blake just made it even more frustrating.
But I also knew that the only way I’d get to the cove was if I let him help me. I was cranky and each of his long strides reminded me how limited my movements were.
He set me down on one of the large boulders at the mouth of the cave. “I’ll go in and—”
f*ck
, the rock was cold. Sea spray was already dampening my jacket. “No. I need to be in there.”
“What? So you can fall back into that rock fissure? I think not.”
“You don’t know what you’re looking for.”
He put his hands on his hips. “And you do?”
It wasn’t like I wanted to go back in there. “I know my grandmother.”
“I did too.” His chest heaved as he tipped his head back.
I frowned. “Just how well did you know her, Blake?”
His face blanked again. “Annabelle was one of the few people in Marblehead that was welcoming to me as a new resident.”
“You don’t even really live in Marblehead.”
“I do now.”
I jammed my cold fingers into my ski jacket. “Just had to go there.”
“Yes,” he growled. His hazel eyes were a little wild. “I’m f*ck
ing cold and I’m back at this godforsaken cave where I almost—”
Where he’d almost lost me. I reached for him. “It wasn’t that close.”
“You didn’t see it from my point of view.” He moved until we were toe-to-toe, him looming over me. “You were blue. Your skin was colder than marble—as cold as death. Don’t tell me how close it was, Grace.”
“I’m sorry.” I levered myself up, then pushed him back a step so I could put my hands on his chest. “I was stupid.”
“Yes, you were.”
“Sugarcoat it, why don’t you?”
“I am sugarcoating it.”
I slid my hands up until my fingers curled over his shoulders under his jacket. He was deliciously warm, and his shoulders were my second favorite thing about him.
“Good thing your blunt honesty makes my girl parts tingle.”
“Jesus.” He tried to pull away, but I held him still.
“We both can go in there.”
“And how am I supposed to climb the wet rocks with you in my arms?”
“Piggyback?”
“This is not a summer picnic,” he roared.
“We can try that kind this summer, too.”
His nostrils flared before he closed his eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“Counting to ten.”
“Probably going to need twenty.”
His eyebrows shot up as he looked down at me.
“Is it the idea that we’ll be together this summer, or that I want to ride your back instead of your front?”
His chin dropped to his chest, but I saw his lips bending up into a smile. “f*ck
.” He turned around. “Get on.”
“Yes.” I held his arm as I maneuvered myself up on a rock, then hauled him over to where I wanted him.
“Why do I put up with this?”
I slid my arms around his shoulders and hopped on. “Because we have fantastic sex.”
“Not a good enough reason.” He hiked me up until my cheek brushed his.
I was tempted to say because he loved me, but I didn’t want to press my luck. “Onward, great steed.”
“That’s it. I’m dumping you into the ocean.”
I laughed and locked my good leg around his hips even tighter. “You’ll do no such thing.”
It was slow going up the rocks that made up the wide mouth of the cove. There was a steep drop off down to a little swimming hole in the semi-circle of rocks, but what I was interested was a little higher and to the left of the pool of choppy water.
“Up that way.”
“This better be worth it,” he said with a grunt.
I wasn’t really sure I’d find anything, but I had the same feeling as I did the other night. There was something here, I knew it.
I tried to hang onto his middle, but the splint on my ankle and his every movement seemed to make my ankle throb. I was going to need to down a bottle of Advil when this was over.