No Strings Attached by Jaci Burton

Author:Jaci Burton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781101603253
Publisher: Heat Books
Published: 2013-02-04T22:00:00+00:00

Seven

“Grip it harder, Ella. That’s it, babe. Oh, yeah. Just a little bit longer and you’ll be there.”

Ella braced her feet on the edge of the boat’s stern and yanked hard, the muscles of her arms straining each time she pulled back to reel in the fish. It wasn’t a marlin—the crew said it was a mahi mahi—but it would be her first big fish and she’d been excited as hell about this expedition. They’d set out before dawn this morning and had traveled to the deep part of the ocean where the best fish could be found.

Clay had caught a big one a few hours ago—a nice-sized blue marlin. Ella had been so excited watching him fight for that baby she knew she had to experience it herself. The pure power, the exhilaration of human against powerful fish—it was primal and fierce watching the two of them battle it out. And when he’d won and reeled it in, she’d seen the gleam in his eye, the pride…Oh, yeah, she wanted a taste of that, too.

She hadn’t minded at all the hours of sitting there trolling along slow and easy with their lines in the water. It had given her time to sit and talk with Clay.

This was their last day in Hawaii, their last day together as lovers before reality—real life—set in again.

“Okay, looks like he’s going to play dead in the water for a while.”

She looked to Clay. “What?”

“Your fish is resting. Go ahead and relax the tension in your arms. But don’t let go of the rod just yet. He may decide to take off.”

“Okay.”

“So I just sit here. And do what exactly?”

“Well, it wouldn’t be a good time to paint your toenails. Just chill. He’ll come around in a few minutes.”

She laughed. Talking with Clay was so easy, so natural. Not at all like talking to a stranger. They’d had conversations about work, about projects coming up and ones they were finishing. Though she hadn’t broached anything personal with him. And maybe she should. After all, other than work stuff, she really didn’t know all that much about his personal life.

“You’ve owned Mansfield Builders as long as I’ve been in the business,” she started.

He tore his gaze away from the trolling lines and onto her. “Yeah?”

“Is that all you’ve ever done?”

He nodded. “Pretty much. I started out in construction as a punk when I was eighteen. My dad worked construction, said it was an honest living. It just seemed natural to do what he did. As soon as I got out of high school, I wanted to get down and dirty alongside him.”

“He died young, though?”

“Yeah. When I was twenty-one.”

She laid her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

Clay shrugged. “He’d been in the business a long time. Never wanted to move up the ranks or become a foreman. Never saw himself on the business side of things. Just liked the physical aspect of the job. It was hard on him.”

“How old was he when he died?”

“Fifty-four.”

“That’s really young.

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