“But I bet there have been hordes. Since me, I mean.”

Were they really going to do this? He’d been willing to call a halt to the proceedings if she wanted lunch, but he wasn’t so keen on derailing them to have this discussion. But still. He had to correct the record. “There have been two.”

“Two girlfriends?”

He studied her face. She didn’t seem upset. And it wasn’t like he was going to lie to her. “Yes.”

“But probably more than that who have laid back and looked at the sky.”

Ah, he saw where she was going with this. “Are you asking me what my number is?”

“I guess I am.”

“Including you?”

“Yes. Total number.”

“Five.”

Her eyes widened. Yeah, it wasn’t a very manly number, he supposed, but he didn’t see any need to lie. “So me plus two girlfriends. Who were numbers four and five?”

“Tourists.” Just like he couldn’t make purchases in town without everyone commenting on them, he couldn’t make other transactions, either. Occasionally opportunities had presented themselves. Even less occasionally, they had presented themselves when he hadn’t been on duty or needed by Clara. He’d always intended to get on one of those apps, but life got in the way. It just never seemed urgent enough. Unlike now, when he suddenly started to feel like if he didn’t get inside Evie Abbott right now, he was going to lose his mind.

“So I’m the sixth,” she mused.

“No. You’re the first.”

You’re the only.

Sawyer flipped them so he was on his back and she was lying on top of him. Surprised, Evie squealed. His eyes sparked with a mixture of amusement and lust.

“How about we talk about this some more later, if you still want to?”

She didn’t want to. She angled her face for a kiss, and he obliged. It was slow. Lazy, almost. But deep, so deep. She sighed into his mouth as her body relaxed. When his lips left hers and roamed across her cheek, she said, “So there’s not a weekend janitor who could pop in at any moment?”

“Nope.” His lips tickled her ear as he spoke.

“Lifeguards looking to brush up their skills?”

“Nope.” His beard slid along her neck—he was doing that on purpose—as he moved down her body. “But do you want to stop?”

She responded by undoing the front clasp of her bikini top. This suit was ridiculous—she had bought it online at a post-Christmas sale but hadn’t had a chance to wear it. As they had at his house, her breasts ached, and she needed him to touch them.