All's Fair in Love and Mastery (Masters Unleashed 5)

This can’t be much more difficult than driving a truck, right?

He steered away from shore without incident and aimed the prow of the fancy fishing boat toward what he assumed was their destination.

The sun hovered just barely over the horizon as they started out. Gulls followed, wheeling overhead, diving into the w

ater then emerging triumphant with their quarry. The land here seemed so wild compared to the forests he’d been to in the States. Before they’d even parked they’d seen two deer and about ten rabbits. Such a different world.

Grant wasn’t enough of an idiot to believe that owning property would be like going to summer camp as a kid. He had money to hire help, but he’d be damned if he’d hire someone to show him around his own property and tell him how to do things. He’d save that money for when he actually had guests coming.

From the pictures he’d seen and what he’d been told it was a turnkey operation as a fishing lodge. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too much work to make the shift to a kink retreat.

On the water, the air was even cooler than it had been on shore. It was strange how the weather wasn’t all that different than what they were getting back home. According to what he’d read, they got more snow here and it stayed longer, but he’d felt very superior when he’d assured Arabella she wouldn’t need a heavy coat and snow boots for this trip. Thankfully he hadn’t been talking out of his ass.

As he approached the shore directly across from where they’d started, looking for another dock, Arabella shook her head and pointed back toward the left. It looked like the lake ended there, but she shook his phone at him emphatically and pointed at it. He shrugged and followed her directions. As he got closer he saw the lake narrowed then opened up again into a body of water far larger than the first one. They shot each other a look of amusement and kept going.

Thankfully, Arabella had loosened her death grip on the life jacket she wore and was grinning now. Even if the island turned out to be shitty and run-down, this was the most fun he’d had in ages—maybe the most fun he’d ever had out of bed. He couldn’t imagine getting this much excitement and satisfaction from buying the mansion down the road from Will’s, no matter how much he loved his brother. They just didn’t want the same things in life.

“Over there!” Arabella yelled, pointing up ahead about twenty minutes later, just as the fourth or fifth island came into view. The others had all been small and uninhabited from what he could see, but this one looked huge even from this distance.

“Are you sure that’s it?” he hollered back, glad to be shielded from the spray by the windshield. He was getting damned cold. It was supposed to warm up later in the day, but he could still see his breath in the air once in a while.

She nodded, pointing at the phone then back at the island. “That’s your new den of iniquity, Master Grant.”

He smiled back at her and forced his gaze back to the island even though the way she’d looked at him made him wish he could drop anchor right there.

As they reached the end of the long dock, he slowed the boat to a crawl. The dock was in good repair, and from where they were they could see the blue tin roof of the main lodge between the trees. His heart was drumming fast; he was excited, but also worried. What if the place was a dump? What if he hated it there? What if it wasn’t workable and he couldn’t sell it all of a sudden?

He went through his mental files, trying to remember the island’s layout. There were several other docks around the perimeter of the more or less oblong island, as well as canoes, kayaks, and several small fishing boats.

It was hard to believe that he owned a canoe, let alone plural canoes.

He hopped out onto the dock, impressed that he’d only banged into it a little. He tied the boat off, then helped little pixie Arabella out. She was so short he was afraid she’d fall in without help. Arabella grinned up at him when both feet were safely on the dock, her sweet face pink from the wind and maybe from the excitement of their adventure. She threw an enthusiastic arm around him and gave him a hug.

“What do you think?” he asked, looking around for the path that would lead them to the lodge. There was a gravel walkway that was just wide enough for something the size of a golf cart, but there were no golf carts in sight. He sort of hoped there weren’t any.

A big, hand-painted sign at the end of the dock welcomed them to the Lucky Muskie Lodge, complete with a picture of a hooked fish jumping out of a prettily painted lake. The hook in the fish’s mouth made him wonder how exactly it was lucky for the muskie—maybe the fish had a thing for hook suspension?

“I think I’ve seen more trees in the past twenty-four hours than I have in my entire life before this. It’s hard to believe you own acres of trees. Look at the size of them!” She looked around in wonder, her deep brown eyes shining.

“Go figure, you’re not impressed about the island, the lodge, or the boat, but you’re impressed by the trees.” He shook his head in mock disappointment. “Hopefully the beach will meet with your approval.”

“Unless it warms up a helluva lot later today, I have a hard time imagining myself putting on a bathing suit.”

“We’re alone here and you brought a bathing suit?” He tsked and shook his head. “When did you turn into such a prude?”

“I thought we were going to try to keep things platonic.”

“I can look and not touch. I’m a big boy.”

“Oh, I remember.” She winked at him and gave his crotch a meaningful look before turning away to study the path uphill. “At least it’s not super steep. A lot of waterfront property is very irritating when you’re my height. Stairs make me so tired.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him, and he smirked. She had to be one of the most energetic people he’d ever met.

When he gestured for her to lead the way, she shook her head.

“No, you should be the first one to see it.” She got behind him and gave him a push toward the path.

He headed uphill, dragging her along by the hand. They could come back for their stuff later. There was time to explore for a while first.

It was so right having Arabella by his side for this.