Page 85 of Rough Fantasy
“No, go ahead, love,” Zee said.
She gave them each a kiss and then headed back into the house.
“Rory?”
“I think she’s having second thoughts.”
He was proud of the fact that he kept the panic out of his voice. It was crawling down his spine.
“She’s not having second thoughts.”
He didn’t say anything trying to keep his worries to himself. He had already said too much. Of course, Zee didn’t let it go.
“Rory.”
He sighed. “How do you know she isn’t having second thoughts?”
“Because, with Maura, if she truly was thinking about us she would say that when asked. You keep looking for some kind of hidden agenda from her, but there isn’t.” He stood. “Now, I think we clean up—because if you notice, she left us with the dishes again—and join her up in the tub. Of course, if you want to sit out here and brood, go right ahead. I’ll take advantage of having Maura to myself.”
Rory sat there for just a few seconds because he pushed his worries aside. There was one thing that would make him feel better for a little while and that was being in bed with Zee and Maura.
thirty-seven
“How did I end up at a bleeding mall?” Rory asked
Zeke gave him a smile and glanced at Maura who was getting a pretzel. “Not much you won’t do for her, huh?”
His smug tone irritated Rory. There were several things about Zee that drove Rory crazy—and not in a good way. Zee had never seemed to question his own feelings for Rory or for Maura. He also had one of those work ethics that had him up at six in the morning while he was on vacation. And, worst of them all was that Zee liked being right. He always made sure to remind Rory of the times he was right.
Sure, Rory practically wearing his heart on his sleeve with the woman. Last night had been overwhelming, even for a degenerate for him. It had been the first time in days there had been no real play in the bedroom. He didn’t realize it until that morning, and it scared the fucking hell out of him.
“Oh, now I know she has you by the short hairs because you won’t even say anything about it.”
Rory gave him a mean look but Zee shook his head. “Not scaring me, boy-o. I know what last night meant.”
“Yeah, why don’t you enlighten me, Einstein?”
Zee wasn’t deterred a bit by his nasty tone. “There was no play, none. You don’t do that with women.”
“Apparently I do because I did last night,” he said trying to quell the unease in his stomach.
“Exactly. Face it, Rory, you’re falling for her.”
He said nothing as he watched as Maura charmed the little Hawaiian woman behind the counter. This wasn’t just worry about last night. There was plenty there to keep him on edge, but this was something that had his other senses on high alert.
“What did she say about feeling like someone was watching her?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
He glanced at Zee, then back at Maura. “I’m not changing the subject. And it doesn’t matter. Here she comes.”
He still couldn’t shake the weird feeling. He’d been off since last night, but it had only gotten worse as they approached Kahala Mall.
“Face it, love. You’re in deep. That’s all that’s bothering you.”
He shrugged as he looked around the area trying to detect if there was someone watching them. It was afternoon on a weekday but that didn’t mean anything there. Tourists flocked to areas like this in the heat of the day. Kids screamed and ran through the area and there was always a motley crew of teenagers around.
“Rory?”