Текст книги "Reckless"

Автор книги: Nicole Edwards

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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

Seven

Possibly for the first time in his life, Cam was at a loss for words. He didn’t know what to say to Gannon, didn’t really understand why the guy was there. Gannon had said it was to see him, but Cam wasn’t sure what that even meant.

Yes, maybe Cam was being a little cynical, but he couldn’t help it. This wasn’t the first time he’d met a man who lived a good distance from the small town Cam called home. From his experience, relationships—sexual or otherwise—didn’t work with long distances between them. An hour, in Cam’s opinion, was a long distance. And that made Cam wary.

Probably not fair to Gannon, but it had been the first thing that had popped into his head.

So, what was Gannon really after? Did he want to ask him out? Was he hoping for a quick hookup? Did he simply want to talk?

He would’ve started pelting Gannon with those very questions, but silence had descended, and it wasn’t as uncomfortable as he’d expected it to be. So rather than dig in to the man’s reasons for showing up, Cam sat there, staring out at the water, sipping his beer, inhaling the sexy-as-fuck cologne Gannon wore, and listening to Gannon breathe.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday evening.

While his body hummed from their proximity, every cell aware of Gannon beside him, Cam told himself that this was definitely an interesting turn of events.

Yeah, he had dated clients before, once or twice, but usually he’d been the one to make the first move once he got the green light. In fact, most of the men he’d dated, he’d been the one to ask them out, not the other way around.

Not that Gannon had asked him out, but he got the feeling that was coming. Or maybe it wasn’t, and now his cynicism was masquerading as optimism. Then again, how could he not think that when the man he’d been fantasizing about nonstop for two days just showed up out of the blue and was now sitting on the dock drinking a beer with him because he’d wanted to see him?

Cam still couldn’t believe it.

“So, is this what you do on Sunday nights?” Gannon asked, that deep baritone sliding like warm water over Cam’s skin.

“Sometimes,” he said, not bothering to look over at him. “What about you?”

Gannon laughed, and again, the rough sound had a spark of awareness shooting through him.

“You mean do I show up unannounced and ask an attractive man if he’d like to go out sometime?”

Cam smiled, hiding it behind his beer bottle. “Is that what you’re doin’?”

“Maybe. And if I was?”

Cam peered over at Gannon, lifting an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. He damn sure wasn’t going to make it easy on the guy. Not because he didn’t like him. He did. More so because he was skeptical about anything that could possibly come from this.

“What would you say?”

Cam shrugged. “Depends on if it’s hypothetical or not. I don’t do hypothetical.”

“What do you do?”

Ah, hell. A frisson of awareness streaked through him, attacking every nerve ending, lighting him up like a football stadium on game night, and instructing his blood to make a quick detour south. Cam’s cock swelled, the obvious intent of that question making his blood heat.

Was this cute guy really hitting on him?

Then it occurred to him. Maybe Cam wasn’t actually sitting on the pier. Maybe he was in his bed, sleeping. And this was a dream and when his alarm went off he’d wake up.

Reaching down, Cam pinched his hand. Ouch.

Nope. Not a dream.

He took another drink, trying to fight the smile.

He had to admit, Gannon wasn’t what he’d expected. The man he remembered from the other day had been rather shy when he’d come into the marina with his assistant, but this guy … the one sitting beside him now was anything but shy.

“I don’t do one-night stands,” Cam finally told him.

“Good,” Gannon said, but he didn’t expand on it.

For a few minutes, the two of them sat like that, no one talking. With each passing second, the awkwardness seemed to be intensifying; however, it was rather nice. Cam didn’t feel pressured to have to say anything, though there were plenty of questions running through his head. Yes, part of him was flattered that Gannon had come here looking for him. The other part was curious what the man had in mind. Based on his response to Cam’s statement about not doing one-night stands, he had to think that Gannon wasn’t looking for one, either, but he couldn’t be certain.

Nor could he bring himself to ask.

“It wasn’t hypothetical,” Gannon finally said, drawing Cam’s attention once more.

“No?” Another smile formed on his lips.

“Well, maybe a little.”

Cam laughed. While he was entirely too buttoned-up, and a definite ten on the nerd scale, Gannon came off as confident and self-assured, but for some reason, the slight hint of insecurity in his tone was endearing.

Cam still wasn’t sure what to think about all of it. He was enjoying the flirting, but he wasn’t sure he wanted it to go further than that. Not yet, anyway. He’d met plenty of men, had a few relationships that had gone zero to sixty in three-point-five seconds, and that wasn’t what he was looking for, either. In those cases, the fiery crash had been imminent, something Cam had absolutely no interest in repeating.

So rather than sit there and entertain the notion of jumping at the opportunity to go out with Gannon, he decided it was time to call it a night before things did get awkward.

Finishing off his beer, he tossed the empty bottle into the cooler and then got to his feet. It was impossible not to look down at Gannon, who was staring up at him. Heat infused him as Gannon’s dark eyes slowly raked over him from head to toe, but he ignored it.

Okay, he tried to ignore it.

“It was good talkin’ to you,” Cam said, lifting the cooler. “But I better go.”

“Me, too,” Gannon said, getting to his feet.

Rather than walk away, Cam found himself nearly face-to-face with the taller man. At five eleven, Cam wasn’t short, but Gannon still had a couple of inches on him. And though Cam probably outweighed Gannon by twenty, maybe thirty pounds of muscle, he found he liked that for some reason.

“I guess I’ll see you on Tuesday?” Gannon sounded uncertain.

“You’ll see someone on Tuesday,” Cam clarified with a small smile. He didn’t plan to be the one to take Gannon and his crew out on the water, but he wasn’t going to say as much.

He’d been tossing around the idea since Gannon had showed up at the marina on Friday, but now, with this strange attraction, he knew he needed to put some distance between them. He’d learned the hard way that rushing things didn’t usually work in his favor. Add to that the distance thing…

Reckless or not, Cam wasn’t interested in gambling with that area of his life. Not at this point.

Gannon’s dark gaze searched his face and Cam felt a tightening in his groin.

“Well, I hope it’s you I see,” Gannon said softly.

Cam didn’t know what to say to that, so he offered a smile and a casual tilt of his chin before forcing himself to walk away.

“Can I get your number?” Gannon called out after him.

“Maybe next time,” Cam said, not looking back.

“So there will be a next time?” Gannon hollered, his deep voice following Cam on the breeze.

Cam shrugged and kept walking.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see the look on Gannon’s face; it was that he didn’t want Gannon to see the smile he couldn’t seem to wipe off his own.

Unable to stop grinning like a fucking school boy, Gannon finally made his way to his car after standing on the pier and looking out over the water, replaying the strange turn of events over and over in his head. Once settled inside, relaxing against the cool leather with the air conditioner on high, he took several deep breaths to calm himself. His body was humming from the brief interaction with Cam.

There was no doubt about it, the man fascinated him to no end.

The attractive, tattooed bad boy had snagged Gannon’s attention for sure. It had been a long damn time since he’d had to play the cat-and-mouse game, and he had to admit, it was better than he’d remembered. Especially with Cam.

Maybe it was the fact that Gannon could tell Cam was interested that made it worthwhile. Even though he seemed hesitant, Cam couldn’t completely hide his reaction. And Gannon liked that. Or possibly he simply liked that Cam was making him work for what he wanted, something he was very familiar with. As far as Gannon was concerned, the best things in life didn’t come free. And he’d learned that lesson well over the years.

When he pulled out onto the main road that would lead him back to Austin, Gannon’s cell phone rang. He answered the call with the Bluetooth.

“Where are you at?” Milly asked. “I’m sitting in front of your house and you’re not here. I thought you said you couldn’t go out because it was a work night.”

Ah, crap. “I’m driving.”

“Where?”

“Burnet.”

“Burn– Wait, what?” The high-pitched shriek in Milly’s voice told him she’d put two and two together. “You went to the marina? Oh, my God.”

Oh, my God was right, Gannon thought.

“Did you see him?”

“Yeah,” Gannon said with a sigh, his eyes focused on the road in front of him.

“And?”

“And what? I saw him. End of story.”

“There’s never an abrupt ending to a story like that. Did you talk to him?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you ask him out?”

“Kinda,” he admitted, still grinning.

“What do you mean, kinda? Either you did or you didn’t.”

“I mentioned it, but I didn’t come right out and say it.”

“Gannon David Burgess, do not tell me you let that man get away without getting a date with him.”

“I’m gonna see him on Tuesday,” Gannon told her. “Boat. Lake. Remember?”

“I can’t believe you went out there,” Milly told him.

He couldn’t, either, and now that he had, Gannon knew he wouldn’t have a minute of peace. Not from his own thoughts of Cam and not from Milly’s inquisition.

“So, how’d he look?” she asked, her voice resounding through his speakers.

Gannon thought about the way Cam had looked when he’d stood up to leave, that dark gray sleeveless T-shirt molded to his broad shoulders and wide chest, showing off the tattoos covering his muscular arms. The way the soft gray cotton had narrowed down over his slim waist. And the white and gray shorts that had hung down just past Cam’s knees, giving Gannon a view of his impressive calves.

The man made Gannon’s mouth water.

Not for the first time, he wondered what Cam looked like naked. Did he have more tattoos on other parts of his body?

“Christ,” he mumbled to himself, ignoring his dick as it stirred to life.

“What?”

“Nothing. He looked … good.”

“Liar. Did you check to see if his nipples are pierced?”

The question made Gannon choke, and while he sputtered in an attempt to catch his breath, Milly laughed at him.

“I’ll take that as a no,” she answered for him. “Okay, well, since it’s obvious you’re not gonna be back for a while, I’m going out. I was hoping, if I showed up, I could convince you to go with me, but I see you already had plans.”

“Are you going out with Gary?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “Maybe.”

“Milly, be careful,” he said softly. “If you need anything, call me.”

“I will, I promise. Bye for now,” she said in a singsong voice.

“Later.” Gannon disconnected the call and focused on the drive.

An hour later, once he’d parked in his garage and made his way into the house, Gannon didn’t bother turning on any lights as he went. There was no need. He was simply going to go to sleep. He had an early meeting tomorrow, and as far as he was concerned, the sooner he could get Monday over with, the faster Tuesday would arrive.

And that was the day he looked forward to most. Although he dreaded the idea of going out on a boat, he would get to see Cam. Maybe. And that was incentive.

Can I get your number?

Maybe next time.

So there will be a next time?

There would definitely be a next time.

Though Gannon had done something completely out of the norm by showing up at the marina tonight to see Cam, he knew he had to play it cool. He wasn’t going to chase after the man. Putting himself in Cam’s line of sight, sure. He wasn’t above doing that. But he knew that desperation wasn’t an appealing quality. In anyone.

“One day at a time,” he mumbled as he made his way to the bathroom.

He thought back to those dark blue eyes and the heat he’d seen reflected there when Cam had been looking up at him, their bodies just a few centimeters apart. It had taken every ounce of control that Gannon possessed not to reach for Cam, to feel those muscles, to slide his lips over Cam’s and taste the sexy maleness mixed with the beer he’d had while they’d sat there as the sun had gone down.

Tuesday was not going to get there fast enough.

For years, Gannon had put work first, rarely entertaining the idea of dating someone. And never someone like Cam. Now, it seemed to be the only damn thing he could think about.

Only he knew the key to getting Cam’s attention was by taking things slow, being patient.

It would be worth the wait, he told himself.

And it was a damn good thing Gannon was a patient man.

Eight

Two days later, Tuesday

“I’m headin’ out,” Teague announced just seconds after he stuck his head in the door.

Cam offered a two-finger wave but didn’t look up from the appointment book he was reviewing.

Teague was one of the hardest-working men Cam knew. He never missed a day for any reason, and he didn’t bitch and moan about the chores that needed to be done. However, Teague did have one serious downfall when it came to the office. According to him, he was allergic to paperwork, so he preferred to come in about the time the first customer arrived, which—Cam glanced over at his watch—would be sometime in the very near future. Between spending his day on the lake and helping out in the boat repair shop, Teague was a busy guy, but he never seemed to run out of energy, just as long as he wasn’t asked to deal with paperwork. On the rare occasion that occurred, Teague was known to break out in hives.

Not that any of them had ever been witness to it.

But it explained why he opted to bolt rather than come inside.

Cam was doing his best to review the list of activities going on that day while ignoring the frequent interruptions. They were booked solid for the entire week, and although it was Tuesday, it felt like Monday all over again. Things were chaotic, and it was only nine thirty in the morning. Two cups of coffee in and he wasn’t sure he was going to make it. Being that it was the first week of June, school was letting out, and more and more people were descending on the marina, hoping to get a few hours out in the sun. That would be the case for the next few months.

“Me, too!” Holly called out. “I’ve got the retirement home outing today at the park. Keith’s helping Hudson on a repair.”

Hudson Ballard was their lone boat mechanic. The guy was reliable and efficient, but there was only one problem. Well, technically it wasn’t really a problem, more of an obstacle they’d had to learn to work with. Hudson didn’t speak. At all. Not once had Cam ever heard a single sound come out of Hudson’s mouth.

Though the guy had worked at the marina for the last year, Cam knew very little about Hudson, other than he was an ASE master technician, could identify a problem with an engine faster than anyone Cam knew, and he didn’t speak, having been born mute. Since Hudson hadn’t elaborated on the latter, Cam hadn’t asked.

That hadn’t stopped them from hiring him on, either. Hudson was good at what he did. Not only could he repair an engine in half the time it’d taken their last full-time mechanic, he was also good with a paint gun, which had helped Hudson build a rather lucrative little side business painting boats. And because they’d gotten along so well with Hudson, it had been Dare’s idea for them to learn American Sign Language in order to communicate more effectively. The only person who’d been hesitant had been Teague, but Cam wasn’t sure why that was.

“What about you?” Cam asked Roan, not bothering to look up from the appointment book.

“I’ve got one at eleven and another at three. Takin’ some guys out this afternoon on the PWCs.”

“PCWs,” Dare corrected.

“There’s no such thing,” Roan argued. “It’s PWC. Personal water craft. You can’t just switch the letters around because you feel like it.”

Dare lifted his eyebrows and smirked as Roan backed out the door. “I just did.”

“Whatever, man,” Roan grumbled, smiling as he left.

Ignoring them, Cam skimmed the book with his finger. That left… “Who’s takin’ the ten o’clock on the pontoon?”

“Which one’s that?” Dare asked, darting into the room and then back out before Cam could answer.

“Corporate thing,” he hollered. “Ten people.”

“No can do, man,” Dare replied, yelling from the other room. “I’ve got a lunch thing today. Will be gone from eleven to two.”

Great. That meant Cam was going to have to pitch in and take the group out. As it was, he hadn’t stopped thinking about Gannon Burgess since the moment he’d met the man, and especially not after the short time they’d spent together down on the pier. Spending a couple of hours in his presence didn’t seem like a good idea—not for Cam’s state of mind, anyway. But it looked as though he didn’t really have a choice.

“Who’s the lucky winner?” Dare inquired when he came back. “Who gets to hang out with you today?” Dare didn’t wait for Cam to answer, he simply dragged the open appointment book away and peered down at it. “Holy shit. Is that the Gannon Burgess?”

“No idea,” Cam answered. “Who is the Gannon Burgess?”

“Seriously? You haven’t heard of Burgess Entertainment? The gaming conglomerate. Rise of Vengeance. Damn, dude, where you been? Hidin’ under a rock?”

Apparently.

“Hold up,” Cam said, glancing over at Dare. “Roan’s the gamer. How the hell do you know about this shit?”

Dare shrugged, looking sheepish. “I might play. A little.”

Until now, Cam had thought Roan was the only gamer in the group, spending a vast amount of his time with a keyboard. Not that anyone said anything about the man’s video game obsession considering he made a nice chunk of change off those things. Who would’ve thought that they’d actually pay people to beta test and beat video games?

Dare smacked Cam on the back. “Looks like you’ll be spendin’ some time in the sun today, man. Good thing, too. You’re lookin’ kinda washed-out.”

Cam laughed. If anyone looked washed-out, it certainly wasn’t him.

Dare’s tone turned serious. “So, you got an issue with this Burgess guy?”

“Not at all,” Cam lied, feeling his face heat.

“Wait a minute.” Dare’s eyes narrowed, his mouth curling upward. “Was he the one who showed up on Sunday?”

Cam didn’t get a chance to answer. As though summoned, Gannon opened the front door and, he and Milly walked in, the ding of the alarm not going off until after the door was closed, which meant it was quite possible that they’d heard Dare’s question.

If they had, they were pretending they hadn’t. And Cam was okay with that.

“Mornin’,” Dare greeted the pair. “Y’all ready to get out on the water?”

“We are,” Gannon confirmed, his gaze sliding over to Cam briefly before returning to Dare. “Will you be the one going out with us?”

Dare grinned and slapped Cam on the back. Hard. “Not me. Cam’s your man today. You’re gettin’ the best of the best.”

Cam’s your man today? Seriously? He couldn’t believe his friend had just said that.

If Cam wasn’t mistaken, that was a slight blush that washed over Gannon’s youthful features. Obviously he’d heard the double entendre the same way Cam had.

Hoping not to give away his own interest, Cam did a quick visual sweep of the man’s body. Gone was the starchy suit, and in its place were a pair of shorts, a white T-shirt that reflected his company’s logo, and yes, a pair of—wait for it—boat shoes. All of which looked as though they’d never been worn before, which amused Cam. The guy clearly spent too much time indoors.

Regardless, Cam still found him sexy as hell. Even the boat shoes. And the glasses.

Especially the glasses.

“The rest of our team’ll be here in the next few minutes,” Milly informed them. “I figured I’d give you a heads-up first.”

Cam’s eyebrows lifted as he waited for her to continue.

“They’re a bit of a nerdy bunch,” she relayed with an affectionate smile.

Dare nudged Cam’s elbow, causing him to look over.

Milly continued, “Not that they’ll attempt to hide it. They’re gamers, and they don’t get out as much as they should. And yes, don’t worry, I advised them to bring a sufficient amount of sunscreen.”

The corners of Dare’s mouth slowly turned up as Milly spoke, his eyes dancing with amusement. “Well, they’re in good hands,” Dare told them before turning his attention to Cam. “I’m headin’ over to help Holly set up. Then I’ll be out for a couple of hours. Holler if you need me.”

Cam nodded to his friend, then said to Gannon and Milly, “The boat’s in slip fourteen. I’ll meet you there in a few, if that’s cool?”

Gannon didn’t respond, simply turned and headed out the door. Cam watched as the couple walked outside, the door closing behind them.

Instead of following them out, Dare took the opportunity to do what Dare did best. “Holy fuck, man. That guy’s a helluva lot younger than I thought he’d be. And hotter. Please tell me he’s single. And gay.”

He was hot, all right. Cam couldn’t deny that. And gay, as far as Cam could tell. As for single, Cam honestly didn’t know, but based on their flirting, he assumed so. Still, he was also the polar opposite of Cam’s type.

Then again, Cam didn’t necessarily have a type these days. He spent most of his time working, the rest hanging out on the lake. He’d come to the conclusion that he’d entered a phase of his life where he wasn’t interested in one night with a guy he’d likely never call again. He’d had more than enough of that shit when he was younger. Instead of serial dating, he’d become more isolated, although his friends had dubbed this new phase as his reckless phase. Instead of promiscuity, Cam spent his time testing his own limits, mostly taking on adventures that he’d added to his bucket list years ago.

Sometimes it was still hard to believe he even had a bucket list, but at his age, he figured it was time to start checking those things off. He wasn’t getting any younger.

And nailing a young, hot guy wasn’t on that list.

“Have fun out there,” Dare said as he pressed his back into the glass door that led to the outside. “Don’t do anyone I wouldn’t do.”

Cam barked out a laugh. It wouldn’t have been so funny if Dare hadn’t been as sexually inactive as they came. Seemed they’d all been going through a drought these days. All except Teague, but the guy was young and … well, Cam tended to think of him as the reckless one, although he’d never be the one to tell Teague that.

“See ya,” Cam called to Dare as the door closed behind him.

After unlocking the box that housed the keys for the boats, Cam grabbed what he needed, relocked the box, snatched his sunglasses from the counter, and headed out. He flipped the sign on the door to show they’d be back later before locking it behind him.

As he headed down the pier to the boat, Dare’s words replayed in his head.

Don’t do anyone I wouldn’t do.

He smiled to himself as his eyes scanned the group for Gannon. When he found him, he had only one thought: Houston, we might have a problem.

While his group of geeky gamers—as Milly so lovingly referred to them—chatted about whatever it was that had sparked their interest this morning, Gannon kept his eyes trained on the pier, waiting for Cam to join them. He wasn’t disappointed when the man appeared, either.

From the instant Gannon had stepped into the Pier 70 Marina office a short while ago, he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off Cam. For the third time in less than a week.

Cam looked … just as he had last week. Only hotter. If that were possible.

His short, dark hair—cut a little longer on top than the sides and back—had been mussed as though he’d run his hands through it a few times. Gannon had initially wondered if it was due to stress, but when their gazes had collided, Cam’s navy blue eyes had sparkled with mischief and curiosity. With his rugged good looks and massive physique, he was pretty damn irresistible, which was part of the problem.

And the tattoos on his muscular arms…

Yeah, those were sexy as fuck.

The mostly black ink curled over his sun-bronzed skin in various designs. Gannon had never been quite so compelled by tattoos, but on Cam, they only drew his attention, made him wonder what other parts of his body were tattooed and whether or not he’d get the chance to find out one day.

The hell of it was, Gannon couldn’t stop thinking about him. About what it would feel like to slide his tongue past those smooth lips, about how Cam would respond from beneath him, begging and pleading for Gannon to give him what he needed.

As Cam came nearer to the group, Gannon did his best not to continue eyeing him. Not that Gannon had to worry much about anyone paying attention to him today. The people who worked for him tended to be centrally focused on one thing, and it definitely wasn’t him. Thank the video game gods for that, because Gannon was positive his interest was written all over his face. He’d thought about Cam nonstop for days, half tempted to do a little more digging, find his number, and call him up just to hear the sound of his voice.

But he’d managed to avoid doing that for this reason. He’d wanted to feel—just to assure himself it hadn’t been his imagination—that same powerful, gut-clenching punch that he’d felt the first time he’d seen Cam.

He hadn’t been disappointed.

Today was going to be a test, though. As much as he wanted to draw out this stage, Gannon doubted he could keep his distance for too long.

“Y’all ready?” Cam asked when he approached. “I stocked the boat this mornin’ with life jackets and supplies.”

“Did you get my list?” Milly questioned.

Cam smiled at her, and for an instant, Gannon wished that grin had been directed at him, but he shoved the notion away.

“I did. The first-aid kit is all stocked up, and we’ve got nine Pier 70 hats waiting. We’re all set.”

Gannon glared at Milly, but she didn’t look at him.

Instead, she made them both laugh when she offered Cam a fist bump that he returned with ease and then turned toward the boat. She was always telling them they were too nerdy for their own good, something Gannon couldn’t dispute, but the trying to be cool part… Nah. He knew he couldn’t pull it off, even if he’d wanted to.

Minutes later, they were all safely on board the large pontoon boat, filling the benches that lined the outer walls, pulling on the Pier 70 caps that were, indeed, waiting for them. Taking a seat in a chair near Cam, Gannon stared at the hat and pretended to relax while Cam masterfully steered the boat out of the dock, heading for open water.

The day couldn’t have been nicer. Although there was a chance of storms in the forecast, you couldn’t tell it based on the cloudless blue skies overhead. If they were lucky, Mother Nature would hold off for a few hours. Despite the fear of falling in, Gannon actually found himself looking forward to a little time on the lake. It’d been months since he’d taken any time off. Not that he considered today a day off with the top video game designers at Burgess Entertainment sitting less than ten feet away, but still. It was something other than his regular fourteen-hour day in the office, which was a nice change.

“So, Dare tells me you own a video game company,” Cam prompted, a clear attempt to make conversation once they were in open water.

Gannon nodded, watching the way the wind blew Cam’s hair back, those mirrored sunglasses reflecting the brilliant blue of the sky. Gannon was grateful he’d thought to bring his sunglasses, because it allowed him to watch Cam without anyone noticing.

“What’s that entail?”

Gannon could tell Cam wasn’t at all interested, but unfortunately for him, he’d asked the question, which meant he was going to get an answer. Eight of them, to be exact.

Listening with a smile, Gannon waited while his team gave Cam in-depth responses to the question, enlightening him on far more than the man obviously cared to know.

“The simple answer,” Gannon said, motioning to the others when they’d finished talking.

Cam smiled in return, a flash of white against his sun-bronzed face, and a blaze of heat seared Gannon from the inside out.

“And you…?” Gannon prompted. “You and your friends own the marina?”

“We do,” Cam said with a mischievous smile, likely realizing Gannon had done some digging of his own. “My dad fronted the money when I was twenty-four. Told me that he’d sign it all over to me if I graduated college. I started a little late, but I did.” Cam’s smile widened. “The rest is history.”

“What’s your degree in?”

“Sports management.”

That definitely didn’t surprise Gannon. It seemed to fit Cam. It would’ve contributed to his business acumen and had probably proven to be beneficial since he owned his own company.

The boat continued to cruise at a steady speed as they traveled farther out from the shore. Gannon watched Cam, impressed with how he moved with such ease. “So you spend most of your time on the water?”

“In the water,” Cam corrected. “I’m not much for boats, unless one is draggin’ me behind it.”

Gannon peered out at the wide expanse of dark water surrounding them. He could picture Cam out there, expertly maneuvering behind the boat on skis or whatever people used these days.

“What about you? What do you do for fun?” Cam asked.

Glancing over at the others, Gannon realized they were in a heated conversation about a glitch they’d identified in their latest development, or more simply, they were ignoring him completely. Milly had taken to sitting farther away from them all, holding her iPad in her hands while getting a little sun.

No ears were paying any mind to their conversation.

“Work,” Gannon replied.

“Not fun, Gannon.”

Once again thankful for his sunglasses, Gannon locked his eyes with Cam’s, wondering if the other man knew just how much Gannon liked the way he said his name. Cam looked away quickly as though reading Gannon’s mind, and for the first time, he was convinced that this chemistry wasn’t only one-sided.