Stealing Haven

Here’s an excerpt from the prequel “Stealing Haven”.  Jamie and her best friend, Linda, are on summer vacation in South Haven.  Linda’s golden retriever, Logan, is always at her side. In this scene, they are enjoying a ride on Lake Michigan, with Randy, a guy they met earlier that day.  Linda and the dog are relaxing while Jamie is beside Randy, watching him pilot the boat.

Randy glanced over his shoulder to check on Linda. “She and Logan look pretty comfortable back there.”

I looked back and waved. Linda wiggled her fingers at me. By now, I’d slid up onto the seat beside Randy, close enough so our thighs brushed. Turning back around, I caught him staring at me. Neither of us wore sunglasses.

“Aren’t you supposed to be watching for other boats?”

“I can multitask. But no other sailor would blame me for being distracted by such a beautiful woman.”

My face warmed. I was about to make a smart-ass comment when he leaned over and kissed me, lightly on the lips. Now, my whole body was blushing.

Randy straightened up and quickly checked the water around us. “Hope I didn’t upset you. I’ve been wanting to do that all night.”

“I’m glad you did.”

He dropped his left hand from the wheel again and took mine. “Actually, that’s not completely true.”

“A partial truth?”

“I thought about kissing you at lunch today, but didn’t want to scare you off.”

Reaching up with my free hand I ran it through his thick blond hair. I stalled, not sure what to say. He watched me closely, shifting his gaze to the water briefly, then coming back to focus on me. “So is this your routine, how you pick up women on vacation?”

“Never done it before. I’m not the Casanova type.”

“So you’re just drawn to scrawny redheads?”

His hand squeezed mine. “You are not scrawny. You’re slender. I’ve always been attracted to slender women.”

His words charmed me. “I’m invisible when Linda’s in the vicinity.”

That earned me another kiss. This one lasted for about an hour. Well, maybe it was a minute or two. My hand tangled in his hair, keeping him close.

“Glad I’m different from most guys,” he said quietly as we separated. His hands returning to the wheel.

Part of me was still locked on his kiss. Was this really happening? I looked back at Linda. She flashed a wide grin and made a show of slowly clapping her hands together. I wondered if she knew how to drive a boat so I could drag Randy to the cabin below deck. With an effort, I reined in such thoughts.

“So I’m supposed to believe you don’t find young women out looking for fun on their vacation and charm them with that smile?”

“You like my smile? I always thought it was kind of lopsided.”

I took his face in both hands and turned it toward me. “Maybe a little crooked. But that’s part of the appeal.”