“His name’s Troy and I served with him,” Ryker said, alluding to when he’d been in the Marines. “He’s a mechanic now, only works on the high-end luxury vehicles. Does pretty well, I think.” He stopped and pointed. “That’s his boat there.”
Shading my eyes since not even my dark sunglasses were doing the trick in the blazing sunshine, I looked where he was pointing. It was a beautiful cabin cruiser yacht, large enough for several people, and spotless. Yes, it looked like Troy did pretty well, indeed.
“C’mon,” he said, tugging my hand.
There were three women and two men already on board, along with two kids running around.
“Hey, Dean!” One of the women approached us. She was wearing a one-piece suit with a pair of cutoff shorts, and was obviously several months pregnant. She gave Ryker a hug. “Good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too, Sammy,” he said. “How you been feeling?”
“I’m doing well, thanks,” she said, resting a hand on her stomach. She glanced expectantly at me.
“This is my girlfriend, Sage,” Ryker said.
“Nice to meet you,” I said as I shook hands with Sammy. She was a cute girl, probably about mid-twenties like me.
“Same here,” she said with a friendly smile.
“Where’s Cody?” Ryker asked.
“He’s still at work. He should be here soon.”
“Hey, Dean! About time you got here.”
One of the men had approached. He was a big guy with massive biceps and a bald head gleaming in the sun. His sunglasses hid his eyes from me, but his white teeth flashed in a grin. “Looks like you been busy.”
“Tyrone, my man, this is my girl Sage.”
“’Bout time you brought a lady ’round here,” Tyrone said. Rather than take the hand I held out, he wrapped an arm around me and squeezed. “You need to make an honest man outta him, Sage.”
I grinned back, liking Tyrone immediately. “Thanks for the advice.”
“Tyrone, leave the girl alone.”
I turned to see who I assumed was Tyrone’s wife. She slapped his arm playfully and he let me go, then introduced herself as Anisha.
The last couple on the boat were the boat owners—Amy and Troy—who also were the parents of the twins, Robin and Ricky. They were just as nice as the other friends of Ryker’s that I’d met. Cody showed up pretty quickly after that and it was obvious he was smitten with his pregnant wife, solicitously making sure she was comfortable and had everything she might need within easy reach.
And only as I watched Ryker help Troy unmoor the boat did it occur to me that all of Ryker’s friends were married, several already with children. Could it be I’d actually found that elusive creature … a man who wanted to settle down? We hadn’t talked marriage and family, as I was a faithful adherent to the rule to never be the first to bring that up. Too many commitment-phobic men ran scared at the mere mention of the M-word.
The women were nice and easy to chat with as Troy steered us out onto Lake Michigan. Ryker reappeared with two beers, handing me one.
“Mooching off your friends?” I teased. I took a sip of the beer and tried not to grimace. It wasn’t my favorite drink, but I could choke one down if I had to.
He shot me a look. “You should see how much of my beer they drink when they come over to watch the Bears.”
I laughed and his lips lifted in a lopsided smile that made my breath catch. He’d taken off his tank and I got a real good look at Ryker’s sweat-dampened chest.
“Let’s see the suit,” he said, nodding toward my T-shirt. I’d gone shopping at the end-of-season sales and picked up a bikini I’d teased him about, but not let him see.
“Okay, but it’s fragile and for display only,” I warned him. “Don’t get me wet.”
Ryker’s grin widened and I blushed at my unintentional innuendo. He leaned closer. “No promises, babe.” His raspy voice in my ear sent a shiver down my spine.
I crossed my arms over my chest and tugged the T-shirt over my head. My apprehension over how the barely there beige crochet tie bikini looked was immediately set at ease when Ryker eased his sunglasses down to peer over them. His eyes drank me in and I didn’t hesitate to shuck the shorts, too.
Handing him my bottle of sunscreen, I asked, “Put some lotion on my back?”
“I’d rather put it on your front,” he teased.
“I’m sure you would.”
The guys all gathered together once the boat was out a ways and the women likewise were stretched out side by side on the deck.
“So where did you and Dean meet?” Amy asked me, adding water to Robin’s tippy cup.
I hesitated, wondering how this was going to go over. “He knows my boss,” I said. “I guess they used to be friends.”
“Who’s your boss?”
“Parker Anderson.”
Amy glanced over at me, her eyebrows raised. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Talk about a small world.”
Anisha had glanced over, too, from where she was stretched on the deck. “You work for Parker? What’s that like?”
I bristled since it was obvious that neither of them liked Parker. “It’s great, actually,” I said. “He’s a good boss. I love my job.”