The Naked Fisherman (Fisherman 1)

I laughed, nodding without lifting my head from his neck. “Are you trying to speak my language? It’s kinda sexy.” Lifting my head, I kissed his jaw. “Yes. You can shower now.”

Things I never told Fisher …

After he left me to take his shower, I sat in the corner of my own shower and cried. It was more than I could handle.

My faith.

My thoughts.

My beliefs.

My desires.

My emotions.

They all took different paths. I felt pulled in so many directions, each feeling equally right and equally wrong for many different reasons. As strong as I felt my faith was, there wasn’t a day that passed when I didn’t question it. Question Him. His existence. His role in our lives. And our interpretation of His words.

What happened with Fisher didn’t feel wrong. We weren’t hurting anyone. We weren’t harming anything. We were two souls enjoying our physical bodies. Why did it have to be a form of immorality?

The rest … the guilt … the lecture I could recite on my own? It felt awful. Was that the point of life? To walk a line of righteousness and feel guilty and sinful for occasionally stepping off the line? Why give us freedom of choice if there was only one right choice?

After drying my hair and applying a little makeup, I slipped on a tank top and a pair of shorts before climbing the stairs. Did I need to knock?

I knocked.

“It’s not locked.”

I grinned, slowly opening the door.

Wearing only a pair of shorts hanging low on his perfect hips, wet hair, lean, cut body casually resting against the kitchen island with one ankle crossed over the other, Fisher glanced up from his phone. “Hey.”

“Hey.” I closed the door and fidgeted with the hem of my tank top.

“My parents invited us to dinner.”

“Us?” I narrowed my eyes. “You told them about us?”

With a slight shake of his head and a tiny grin, he set his phone on the counter and crossed his arms over his bare chest. “Is that a problem?”

“I … well …” I felt everything inside of me tremble. Age didn’t matter, but it did matter.

“They know you’re Rory’s daughter. They know you work for me. And they know we were going to grill tonight since neither one of us has plans.”

I didn’t know we were grilling. “They don’t know about …” I pressed my lips together. What was I supposed to say? That we had sex? We didn’t. That I got off on him? That. I did do.

“No. I left that part out, but if you feel obligated to tell them, that’s your prerogative.”

“No.” I inched my head side to side. “I don’t feel a particular need to tell them or anyone.”

“Are you ashamed of me?” He cocked his head to the side.

I padded my bare feet to him and collapsed into his naked chest, pressing my face directly over his heart and inhaling his clean scent. “I don’t know what I am.” I kissed along his pec muscles as he snaked his arms around my waist.

“So we go as friends. My sisters will be there. Nieces and nephews. No big deal.”

My head jerked up. “Your whole family?”

“Not everyone, but most of them. Why?”

“No reason.”

“Think you can keep your hands off me for one night?”

“Depends … will you wear a shirt?”

“Yes.” He grinned.

“Then I’ll be fine.” Taking a step back, I slipped my hands into the front pockets of my shorts.

“Is this solely about my body?” He narrowed one eye.

“Of course. Your personality is just okay, and as a boss, you’re kind of grumpy.” I put on my best mask and tried to act mature. Cool. Controlled. On the inside, I hadn’t stopped reeling from what took place on my bed.

Was Fisher too experienced and mature to let his thoughts linger on something as trivial as what we did?

“I’m ignoring your bullshit. Just like this is the only day that I’m going to let your Happy Meal catering slide.”

“I did it to finish off the collection for my mom. I’m done. And if you’re upset that I spent your money on them, then I’ll pay you back. Are you happy now?”

Wearing a smirk, he cocked his head to the side. “I don’t believe you’re done. I don’t believe it’s for Rory anymore. You’ve allowed this to become your hobby, your addiction. It’s cute. Really. But I can’t have you stealing toys from some of the Happy Meals. It’s going to cause fights with my crew if everyone doesn’t get a toy.”

“Kiss my backside, Fisher.” I narrowed my eyes.

“Your ass? You want me to kiss your ass?”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head.

“Turn around.”

Releasing a nervous laugh, I eased back a step. “It was a joke because you were giving me a hard time over the Happy Meals.”

“Yes.” He crooked a finger at me. “But now I want to kiss your ass.”