Chapter 340

• His father keeps a car ashore for mainland visits, and Jake’s as good at driving the low, rumbling sports car as he is the speedboat, effortlessly confident and capable, and it’s seductive. Seeing a man capable of driving an expensive, powerful machine is a turn-on. He drives fast, but I don’t feel unsafe. He molds to the roads and the curves like a pro while I’m left to ogle the surroundings in awe. The scenery is breathtaking, and we don’t talk much as music blares from the speakers, wind in my hair from the open roof.
• We don’t need to talk; we mastered this companionable silence through forced proximity long ago, and I’m glad of it now. We have scatterings of meaningless small talk but mostly quiet. I glance at his profile and watch the concentration etched on his face; he’s too handsome to be real sometimes.
• I can’t help but linger on his mouth and get lost in the memory of how his kiss had felt last night, of how it had made me feel. Allowing myself the brief memories before guilt and shame push them away. He glances my way, catches my eye, and smiles, all soft and relaxed, and I can’t help but return it shyly. Sometimes he looks so young and welcoming, and I forget that he is my boss and that this is beyond complicated and could never work.