The King (Gentlemen Rogues 2)

She wasn't saying the one thing I was curious about. "We're meant to be a married couple, Saff."

She nodded absently.

I continued. "The thing about married couples is they have to, um... You know, touch at some point. Is that going to be okay with you?"

She nodded curtly. "Get ready. We're landing soon. Welcome to the Winston Isles."

* * *

Saffron

I was stressedand it showed.

Yes, I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to this. I just had to get used to being locked in a house with Mr. Sex on a Stick. Ever since the incident in his cottage, I’d been careful with him. Distant. At least as best I could. It wasn’t like he made it easy.

I hadn't even told Tabatha what had happened at the cottage. Because Lord only knew that she was inclined to forget about the rules and insist that I needed to have some sort of torrid affair. Sometimes Tabatha could be so by the book. And other times, when it came to me, she thought the rules didn't apply. Or that they shouldn't for some reason. That never made any sense.

Maybe because you need to live a little.

Lock drove us through the winding streets of the main island's old town, and it was beautiful. The sunlight on the azure blue waters was mesmerizing, and on the streets there was such a mix of new and old culture. There were traders along the road, selling everything you could possibly want from batteries to coconuts to sunscreen to fish. I loved it for its eclectic nature.

It reminded me of times when I’d traveled to Jamaica with my mum. The street hawkers were such a juxtaposition to the skyscrapers of steel and glass. All I could do was take it all in.

I'd have to come back to the Winston Isles for a vacation when I had more time.

Lock seemed to manage driving on the wrong side of the road fairly well. “You're actually half decent at this."

He lifted a brow. “I am surprisingly stressed out."

"Sorry," I winced.

“You're driving next time."

"Must I?" I whined.

He nodded. “Yup. You're the training officer."

"Oh, now you acknowledge that I’m your training officer?"

He gave me a tight smile at that one. “I acknowledge it. It’s just hard for me to take orders."

"Let me guess, every one of your school reports said, Lachlan has a problem with authority figures?"

He grinned then. A real grin. One I hadn't seen in a week. "Exactly. How did you know?"

"Because it's something I wrote in my report to Gabe on you."

He made a mock shocked face and clutched a hand to his heart. "Wow. And here I thought we were friends."

“Is that what we are?" I asked softly.

His gaze looked into mine for a brief moment, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. We hadn't talked anymore about what had almost happened. We hadn't acknowledged it. And honestly, I’d pulled back from him. Way back. I dragged my gaze away. If I had to, even for a moment, relive the feeling of his hard erection between my legs, I was going to lose it.

One more round with my battery operated boyfriend probably would have really helped me out. But mostly it just intensified the need, so I was going cold turkey.

Oh yeah, that sounds like a fantastic idea when you're locked in a house with him.

I had to do something. Lock on the brain was a problem. And I was finally getting what I wanted. A field assignment. Maybe it was just observation, but there was still a dangerous element to it, so it was something I could cut my teeth on. To show Gabe that his trust in me wasn't misplaced. Focus on the mission and not on my partner. Easy.