He carefully puts me on a bench, but I wrap my arms tighter around his neck, refusing to let go. My action must look desperate, but I’m beyond pride at this point. Ezra instantly shifts our positions, and I end up on his lap. I’m not ashamed to say I need it now. I need him. I don’t know anyone on this boat, including myself because this person is not me. He’s the only one I’m familiar with, so I’ll hold onto him until Mr. Hyde resurfaces.
He leans his back on the bench, pulling me closer to him. With my right side pressed firmly to his strong body and his arm wrapped around me, I finally manage to take a first deep breath and fill my lungs with enough oxygen to think rationally. He leans his chin on the top of my back and inhales deeply too.
We sit like that for some time until the island disappears from view and my breathing calms down. I pull away from his chest and look around. There’re small dots of islands here and there, but we’re surrounded by water. By a big body of water that can swallow this boat whole and spit us out on yet another uninhabited island to survive by ourselves yet again.
“Would it be so bad though?” Ezra murmurs next to my ear.
“What?” I whip my head to look at him. “How do you?—”
“I’m thinking the same thing.” His eyes dip to my lips. “I assume.”
I’m taken by a moment of weakness and his strong shoulder to cry on. By seeing the same Ezra from the island. I let my eyes trail over his face and land on his lips too.
And then his phone rings. With a sigh, he shifts his body to pick it up, and I take it as a cue to leave. I make a move torise, but his heavy hand lands on my lap and presses me down.
“King,” he replies into the phone, holding my eyes with his. “Yes.” I wiggle, trying to stand up again, but he presses me harder. “My place, yes. Everything from the list.” A pause. “I said everything.” He listens to someone saying something before adding another “Yes.”
When the phone is back in his pocket, his hand lands on my lower back.
“Are you okay?” Despite the roughness of his tone, it’s filled with concern.
“Yes. Thank you for, you know, helping me through that. I’ve never had a panic attack before.”
“They suck.”
“You’ve seen one before?”
He takes a moment to answer. “I’ve had them before.”
“Really?” I feel my brows disappearing somewhere deep into my hairline without possibility of it returning to my face. I’d never think a man like Ezra would admit that.
Looks like he didn’t think he’d admit it too because he carefully moves me away from his lap. His face shuts down instantly as he stands up from the bench.
“I need to make another call.”
“Ezra,” I call gently, but he’s already off the deck and inside the cabin, leaving me alone with the endless ocean.
35
Ezra
Why the fuck I decided to turn soppy and share some absolutely unnecessary information about having panic attacks is beyond my understanding. I’ve already learned that Maeve has a tendency to rob me of common sense. This is one more time I’m wondering if I made the right decision. A wife who makes mefeelis not a good thing in our line of business. I probably should have gone with the original one who stirred exactly zero interest. That way, I wouldn’t have had any distractions.
But no, I decided to follow my dick and insist on having Maeve or no one at all. How am I supposed to treat this as a business deal if her scent alone drives me insane?
Seeing her scared to get on the boat made me feel her fear deep in my chest. It fucking ached. And then that dickhead offered her his hand like a damn knight in shining armor, and I snapped. I wanted to throw her over my shoulder andcarry her inside the cabin and make sure she’s too busy with orgasms to think about her fears of anything. But when I moved closer to her, I felt that fear coming off in waves from her small, rigid silhouette. She wouldn’t deal well with roughness. So I found gentleness I didn’t know I had deep in me and was rewarded for that. Caring for her, holding her in my arms like her only lifeline made me feel larger than life.
Until I opened my mouth to spit out the truths no one needed.
I ring Noah’s phone. He’s staying on the island for another day to clean up the rest of the mess, and I’ll owe him for that big time.
“Yeah.”He sounds like he just climbed out of bed.
“Don’t tell me you just slept with someone.”
“Why? You jealous? You sure could sleep with that new wife of yours and do us all a favor and stop being a dick.”
“I’m not a dick,” I grit out.
