Romance on the Edge 01 - Hooked

bit more gas and breathed a silent sigh of relief when the heavily treaded tires climbed through the muck. “I’m not going that fast. If you need to hang on to something, there’s the rack behind you.”
    Damn it, she needed to concentrate. This was hazardous stuff she was driving through. Sonya wrinkled her nose as the acrid smell of burning mud, splattering on the muffler, suffused the air.
    “The rack’s not nearly as nice to hang onto as you,” Garrett said, bringing her attention back to him and the incredibly sexy way he nuzzled her neck.
    “Garrett,” she growled his name and tightened her hold on the handle bars. Her neck tingled where his five o’clock shadow lightly scraped against her skin. It didn’t take long for that tingle to ignite others farther south in her body.
    “Have I told you that when you get upset, it’s sexier than hell?”
    “Will you shut up so I can pay attention?” The mud grabbed at her wheels again and this time she had to let up on the gas so the tires didn’t dig in. She stood, straddled over the seat, and rocked the ATV, keeping steady on the throttle, until it worked free.
    After she regained her seat, Garrett’s hands stroked up her sides, flirting with the undersides of her breasts. Her breath caught in her throat. “Garrett,” she warned.
    “Drive, Sonya. Don’t worry about what I’m doing.”
    She sucked in a much needed breath. “All I can think about is what you are doing.”
    “You’re too wound up. A good massage would do wonders for you.”
    “Are you volunteering to give me one?” Now why did she go and ask that? Didn’t she have enough problems at the moment?
    “Anytime.”
    She slowed the 4-wheeler as they reached the skiff and parked it behind Peter’s. She sat there stunned. “We actually made it without getting stuck.” It was a first for her.
    Garrett leaned in and stole a kiss alongside her neck as he got off the 4-wheeler. “You handled the mud like a pro, Sonya.”
    Who was the pro, she wondered. “You irritated me on purpose,” she accused.
    He crooked a smile, his icy-blue eyes full of fun and fire. “Be honest, babe, the last thing you were feeling was irritated.” Then he sauntered through the mud as though it was packed sand toward the skiff.
    For the first time that day, she felt like laughing. Irritated was the last emotion she felt in regard to Garrett.
    Hot and bothered came to mind.
    Sonya tucked her scattered feelings away and dismounted the 4-wheeler, holding onto her machine, and then Peter’s until she made it to the skiff. She wasn’t taking any chances of putting her full weight on the mud.
    Garrett had jumped into the skiff, having already told Gramps and Peter he needed to be the first to board the boat. Gramps and Peter waited, looking over the side. She joined them, after transferring her hold from the ATVs to the edge of the skiff.
    “Got an extra plug?” Garrett asked, investigating the stern. “Looks like whoever did this, helped themselves to yours,”
    “Yeah, I brought one.” Gramps pulled the plug out of his pocket and handed it to Garrett who screwed it into the bottom of the boat. “Figured if I wanted to sink a skiff, that’s how I’d do it.”
    Sonya mentally kicked herself. She should have been the one who remembered to bring a plug. She probably would have if Garrett weren’t occupying so much of her thoughts.
    Garrett investigated the rest of the boat. “Whatever evidence the guy left behind, the ocean took care of it.” He still scrutinized every inch of the skiff, taking his time to examine the dry holds. Then he removed the top cover of the engine. “Someone’s had fun with duct tape here.” He fingered one of the many tape-wrapped parts.
    “That’d be me,” Gramps said. “That engine’s lasted us a long time.”
    “Time to bury it,” Sonya muttered.
    At least something good might come of the boat sinking. They could finally replace the relic with a new, more dependable model.
    Gramps arched his brows in a challenge. “Just you watch, young lady. I’ll get that engine up and running again.”
    Crap. She was afraid of that. Gramps would try to get milk from a bull if he was challenged enough.
    The men unbolted the outboard from the stern and strong-armed it into the trailer. Peter double-checked the painter line’s knot tied to the running line and they all bailed out the leftover water. Then they returned to the 4-wheelers.
    Sonya followed, glad there wasn’t any