Kate Hoffmann - Riley

“You did? What’s it about?”

“About a monster that lives in a little girl’s closet. After my mother died, I used to be so afraid to go to bed, afraid that I’d wake up the next morning and my whole world would be changed.” She paused. “My mom died in the middle of the night and my dad woke me up in the morning to tell me.”

Riley slipped his hand around her nape and pulled her into a soft kiss. “I’m sorry.”

Nan smiled. “Before she got really sick, she used to sit and read to me every night before I fell asleep. And before she walked out of the room, she’d tell all the monsters to go away and come back another day.” She shrugged. “It’s just a silly story. I don’t have any illustrations for it. I’m not very good at art.”

“You could find someone to illustrate it. Danny went to art school.”

“Is he an illustrator?”

Riley shook his head. “He studied sculpting. But I’m sure he’d know someone to contact.”

“He must know how to draw if he went to art school.”

“I’ve never really seen him draw, except when he does his designs. He makes iron fences and gates and andirons. And these wild sculptures fashioned out of junk. People from all over the world commission him to work for them. He’s kind of famous.”

“As famous as you?”

“With a different crowd,” Riley replied. “His fans are all really rich people with big houses. Mine are all drunkards and pub rats.”

“I’m your fan,” she murmured, reaching out to slip her fingers beneath the waistband of his jeans.

“Come on, now. Get yourself up out of bed and into the shower. We have a busy day ahead.”

“I think jet lag is starting to set in.”

“You’ve had four nights to recover. I’m starting to believe you’re just a layabout.” He grabbed her coffee and set it on the bedside table, then threw the covers back and scooped her naked body up into his arms. “Shower first, then breakfast.”

“No,” Nan cried. Being with Riley was much easier without clothes, since he always seemed to be determined to take them off.

When they reached the bathroom, he turned on the shower and waited for the water to warm, then gently pushed her inside. “That will wake you up.”

But Nan wasn’t about to lose her advantage. Grabbing the front of his jeans, she unzipped them, then shoved them down over his hips. “Don’t you want to join me?”

“Nan, that shower is like a bleedin’ coffin. It barely fits one, much less two.”

“It will be fun trying, though.”

He kicked out of his jeans and stepped inside, pulling the curtain shut behind him. “See, I told you. Cramped quarters.”

Their bodies were pressed so closely together beneath the water that just the slightest movement became incredibly erotic. “Can you reach the soap?” she asked.

He wrapped his arms around her and grabbed the soap, then struggled to put it in her hand. “Maybe if we swapped places,” Riley said, gripping her waist and trying to turn them both around.

But as they moved, Riley backed against the shower curtain. Off balance, Nan bumped into him and he began to fall back into the curtain, which was caught under his foot. He reached out to steady her, but Nan was in no position to help him regain his footing.

The rod popped off the top of the shower and in a tangle of arms and legs, they fell onto the bathroom floor, their slippery bodies skidding on the vinyl curtain. The scene was so utterly ridiculous that all Nan could do was laugh.

Riley growled. “Look at what we’ve done. I’m going to have to take this out of your deposit.”

“It wasn’t my fault. You’re the one who fell.”

“You’re the one who insisted I join you, even after I warned you it wouldn’t work.”

She lay on top of him, wriggling her hips against his in a provocative way. “Oh, poor thing. It is such a hardship to take off your clothes and have a shower with a naked and willing woman. Whatever will you do?”

Riley grinned. “Willing? Willing to do what?”

Nan leaned close and pressed a kiss to the center of his damp chest. “I don’t know. What do you have in mind?”

He was already hard and he moved beneath her, his shaft rubbing against her belly. “I’m sure if we lie here for a little while longer, something will come to us.”

“WHERE ARE WE GOING?”

“To Bantry,” Riley said as they strode along the waterfront in Ballykirk. “We don’t have a lot of time, but the weather is fine, so I thought we’d go by water instead of driving.”

“Really. We’re going on a boat?”

“We’re going to go on this boat,” he said, pointing to a small fishing vessel tied up at the end of a weathered dock. Riley untied the stern line and tossed it onto the deck. “Hop on.”

He helped Nan on board, then stepped into the tiny wheelhouse and started the engine. Nan stood next to him, watching everything he did with curious eyes.

“Is this your boat?”

“No, it belongs to my uncle. It’s an old boat he restored, one that my great-grandfather used for the family fishing business. It’s too small to use for commercial fishing now, but the family uses it for fun.”

She ran her hand along the gleaming brightwork. “It’s beautiful.”

“I have to get the bow line. Open that locker there and grab a mack and a life jacket.” Riley slipped past her and tossed off the last line to the quay, then returned to the cabin. He carefully maneuvered the boat away from the pilings and headed out into the harbor.

Nan pulled on the mackintosh, but it was so huge she looked ridiculous. She held her arms out, her hands completely hidden by the oilskin. Riley chuckled. “There has to be a smaller one in there. Give that one to me.”

She slipped out of it, then searched the locker and came out with a jacket more her size. Riley helped her fasten the life jacket over the mack, then put on the larger size. “Now, Wellies,” he said.

“Wellies.” She peered into the locker and pulled out a pair of rubber boots. “Wellies?”

He nodded. Though they were usually worn over stocking feet, she pulled the pair on right over her shoes. Riley nodded as she did a model’s turn in front of him.

“How do I look?” she asked.

“Adorable.”

He’d been with a lot of women over the past ten years, and some of them he’d liked a lot. But he’d never met anyone quite as game as Nan. No matter what he suggested they do, she seemed to take it in stride, happy to simply spend the day in his company.

He’d always wondered how his parents had managed to make such a success of marriage. But now, he realized that they loved to spend time with each other. It didn’t matter what they were doing, as long as they were doing it together. That’s what it was like with Nan. Easy, relaxed, with nothing but fun in front of them.

Riley navigated out of the harbor at Ballykirk, then turned inland into Bantry Bay. As the boat chugged on, he scanned the coastline, searching the gray rocks for movement. When he finally caught it, he pointed. “Look. Seals.”

Nan stepped out onto the deck, bracing her hands on the rail. “Right there,” she cried, jumping up and down in childish delight. “Oh, look, there’s a baby, too.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Can we get closer?”

“Not here, it’s too shallow,” Riley said. “But maybe a bit farther down the coast.”

She came back into the cabin and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I didn’t realize there were seals in Ireland.”

“They’re the stuff of legends here. Haven’t you ever heard of selkies?”

“No,” she said. “There wasn’t anything in my guidebooks about that. Tell me.”

“Well, by day, selkies are seals. They swim in the sea and sun on the rocks. But at night, they shed their skins and become human. Not just average humans, but extraordinarily beautiful men and women, seductive, with dark hair and pale skin. Ordinary people see them and they instantly fall in love. But the only way to keep a selkie is to find their skin, which they always carefully hide after they come out of the sea. If you can hide a selkie’s skin, then you can keep them human.”