“I think it’s time to go.” Rhys nudged me toward the exit.

“Why?”

“Because you’re fucking miserable, and if Fairchild realizes that, he’s not going to be impressed.”

True.

“Argh,” I half-growled under my breath.

Rhys shook his head, smirking. “Come on, Angry Tink, we need to say goodnight to our host.”

Fairchild was disappointed to see us leave. Okay, he was disappointed to see Rhys leave. Jackson, on the other hand, looked envious of our departure. And everyone else… well, who cared about any of them.

“Freedom,” I said melodramatically at the bottom of the boarding ramp.

My date snorted and then led me across the lot to where he’d parked his Harley. It really was a hot bike. As he handed over my helmet, Rhys held onto it a second.

His gaze was searching.

I squirmed. “What?”

He shook his head slightly. “You aren’t what I expected.”

Truthfully, Rhys wasn’t what I’d expected either, but those thoughts were dangerous. “What?” I yanked on the helmet and straddled the bike. “Awesome?”

With a grunt of amusement, his gaze flickering over my legs, Rhys got on the bike. “That wasn’t the adjective I was looking for, no.”

“Boo!”

He glanced over his shoulder, his expression incredulous. “Did you just fucking boo me? First a shoo, now a boo?”

“Your lack of deference required a boo.”

“You know what requires a boo? I forgot to kiss you in front of all those pricks.”

I shivered at the thought. “There was no need.”

Rhys huffed. “You might not have noticed but there were assholes eyeing you as soon as Fairchild told them you were my woman.”

“Boo to that too. Misogyny at its finest. ‘A woman is only as interesting as the man who dates her.’ Where’s a bucket to vomit in when you need it?”

“Don’t you be vomiting anywhere near my baby.” He patted his bike before craning around to look at me again. “Seriously. Next time we’re around these people, you’re going to have to let me kiss you and do it without swooning like it’s our first time.”

I wrinkled my nose in the face of such cockiness. “I think I can manage not to swoon over a kiss. Even if it is granted by the all-mighty Rhys Morgan.”

“Oh, Tinker Bell, you’re making my ego swell.” He reached for his helmet.

“If it swells any bigger, it’ll explode all over your sweet ride.”

“You think my ride is sweet?”

“I can’t confirm that until I research its emission levels.”

I felt his body shake with laughter. “Of course you can’t.”

And then his helmet was on, the engine started, and the bike purred between my legs as Rhys drove us away from the yacht. With every second, I felt myself relaxing more and more into him as he took me away from a world I’d never fitted into.

Seven