Veritas (19 page)

“I bet that didn’t go over well,” Lauren chuckled as they stopped beside Will and Kim’s loungers.

“It didn’t,” Kim confirmed with a smile and a pointed look at her husband.

“Totally worth it, though,” Will added with a smirk
as he high fived Peyton.

“Lauren?” Reid piped up.

Lauren looked down at the youngest boy and smiled. “What’s up, buddy?”

“Can we have a picnic on the beach?”

Lauren glanced at Kim to make sure that she was okay with the idea, and then nodded. “Absolutely. What do you want to eat?”

“Sandwiches are fine,” Kim answered
for him. “The boys just want to play on the beach a little longer, and then Pey and Max are going to try parasailing this afternoon with Will.”

“I’
m not old enough,” Reid pouted.

“What if,”
Lauren said, squatting down in front of the boy to catch his eye, “you help me make cookies when they’re doing that?”

Reid’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Can I lick the mixer thing?”

“If you can get to it before Grey does,” Lauren said as she threw a teasing look over her shoulder at Grey.

“Can I help make dinner
, too?” Reid asked hopefully. Out of all the boys, he enjoyed helping to cook the most and, more often than not, he wandered into the galley while Lauren was cooking just to watch.

“I’m sure we can find something for you to do.”

“What are we going to make?”

Lauren sighed, knowing that her answer was going to push Grey’s mind r
ight back into the gutter. “Tacos.” Sure enough, Grey sniggered, and Lauren rolled her eyes as she slapped at her leg and continued, “And those roasted veggies you guys like, and some rice, and maybe we’ll take those cookies you’re gonna help me with and make sundaes with them. Whattaya think?”

Reid grinned and threw his arms around Lauren’s neck. “Awesome!”

“Good.” Lauren hugged him loosely and gave his back a light pat. “So, you guys go play, and I’ll make you a picnic. And then later this afternoon you can be my sous chef. Sound good?”

Reid nodded and took off toward his brothers who were digging a giant hole near the water’s edge.

“Thank you for that,” Kim spoke up, giving Lauren an appreciative smile.

“Not a problem a
t all. So, I’m assuming PB and J for the boys since that’s their favorite,” Lauren said as she pushed herself back to her feet. “How about you guys? I can make a chicken salad, or…”

“Some kind of a sandwich is fine, really,” Kim said, shaking her head.
“Just throw in some snack-type things to go with them and some bottled waters and we’ll be good.”

Lauren nodded slowly. “
Okay, if you’re sure…”

“I’ll bring it
all back over to you guys in a few,” Grey told the Muellers with a smile as she and Lauren started toward the dock where their dinghy was tied up. “So…tacos for dinner, huh?” she asked once they were in the dinghy and on their way back to the
Veritas
.

“Shut up.”

“At least you didn’t say we were ‘eating out’ tonight,” Grey mused loudly.

“Damn it, Wells…”

“Going downtown?” Grey laughed at the annoyed look Lauren shot her, and killed the outboard engine as they coasted toward the starboard dive platform on the yacht. “Just get on the boat, Murphy.”

Lauren rolled her eyes
and climbed out of the dinghy. “You think you’re funny.”

“I’m hilarious,” Grey said
as she tied the little inflatable off to a cleat near the platform.

Lauren
looked back at Grey as the brunette leapt gracefully onto the dive platform, and was about to respond when she was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. “That’s weird,” she murmured as she pulled it from her pocket.

“There is cell service here, ya know,” Grey pointed out
as she followed Lauren up the stairs to the back deck. “Big tourist resort and all. But, it’s a British tower…”

“I added international roaming for the month
. And that’s not what I meant,” Lauren said, frowning as she looked at her best friend’s name on her screen. Jen Collins worked with her at Clarke’s, and was taking care of her cat for her while she was gone. “What’s up, Jen?” she answered the call, shooting Grey an apologetic look. She knew that Jen would only call her if it was something important.

“Oh, thank god,”
Jen said without preamble.
“What vet do you take Jenks to?”

Lauren’s frown deepened. “We
st Side Vets. It’s just down the block from the restaurant. Why?”

“Because the little bastard snuck out the front door
and into the hallway when I opened it to get the paper, and then decided to try and throw down with old Mrs. Schwartz’s terrier.”

“Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. He just got bit on the paw when he was trying to use George’s nose like a punching bag. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but I want to get him checked out anyways, just in case.”

Grey gave Lauren’s waist a light squeeze as she
eased past her into the salon. “I’m gonna go get cleaned up.”

Lauren nodded and
sat down at one of the outside banquettes. “Okay.”

“Is this a bad time?”
Jen asked.

“No. You’re fine.
I’m just about to make some lunch,” Lauren told her. “Is Jenks using the paw?”

“Yeah, and the bleeding stopped, but…”

“Just watch him. If he doesn’t act bothered by it, you don’t need to take him to the vet,” Lauren told her. Her cat had a habit of sneaking out and picking fights, and George the terrier was far from his first sparring partner.

“You’re sure?”

“Positive,” Lauren assured her. “Is everything else okay?”

“It’s
all business as usual,”
Jen said.
“Nothing exciting to report. How about you? How’s it going there?”

“It’s going well,” Lauren said.
She smiled as she looked at Grey, who had the first aid kit on the peninsula counter. Grey's injured leg was propped on a barstool, and she was cleaning it with what looked like a damp paper towel. “Really well.”

“You got laid,”
Jen said, her tone both amused and congratulatory.
“Who’d you bone?”

“I did not…” Lauren started to argue.

“Not buying it, I know that voice,”
Jen interrupted her.
“So, spill. Who? When? Was it good?”

“
You should not be this invested in my personal life,” Lauren pointed out.

“Shush. I’m married. I gotta live vicariously through you. So…tell me!”

“I can’t,” Lauren said in a low tone that she hoped would not carry. “She might hear me.”

“You boned one of the guests on the boat? Wow, talk about full-service!”

“I did not bone a guest. It’s a married couple and their three small boys…don’t be gross.” She sighed and, knowing that Jen was not going to let the matter drop, added quietly, “It was Grey.”

“The captain?
I thought the captain was a guy?”

Lauren hummed under her breath as she looked at Grey.
“Mmm, no. Grey is definitely a woman.”

“
Well, then…was it good?”

“
Incredible.”

“Is she hot?”

“Gorgeous.”

“Am I going to get more than a one-word answer out of you?”

Lauren smiled and shook her head. “No.”

“Will I at least get to see a picture of her when you get home?”

“Sure.”

“
Sweet
!”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You love me,”
Jen retorted.
“And that was two words, so feel free to speak in complete sentences now. So, besides banging the super-hot captain, anything else happening?”

Lauren shook her head
as she watched Grey finish bandaging her leg. “Not really. Am just enjoying a lot of fresh air.”

“And orgasms, apparently.”

“Jennifer Jean…”

“What?!”
Jen laughed.
“It’s good. You deserve to be happy, Lo. Really.”

“Thank you,” Lauren muttered, rubbing a hand over her forehead. “I
, uh, should probably go, though. I need to make a picnic lunch for the guests.”

“Sounds good,”
Jen said.
“Have fun. Have lots of orgasms, and I will see you at La Guardia when you get back.”

“Right,” Lauren said, a small smile quirking her lips. “Thanks. Take care of my boy for me, okay?”

“Will do. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah…bye,”
Lauren murmured, her eyes glued to Grey as she disconnected the call. Grey looked up and smiled at her, and she sighed as she pushed herself to her feet, purposefully trying and failing to ignore the feeling of unease that swept through her when she thought about returning to New York.

Lauren was in the middle of preparing their lunch when Grey returned to the
Veritas
from delivering the Muellers’ picnic to the beach, and she hovered in the doorway to the salon to watch her work. Ever since Lauren wandered into the galley after talking on the phone, there had been a distance in her eyes that gave Grey pause. Lauren had joked and smiled while prepping the Muellers’ lunch, but it was clear that something was weighing on her mind.

Grey smiled when Lauren looked up to see her loitering on the threshold, and gave a small wave as she ambled into the salon to sit at one of the barstools facing the galley. “Lunch is delivered,” she reported. “Kim wanted me to tell you that a plain ol’ turkey sandwich would have been fine, but that the turkey melts looked great. And the boys were especially excited about the cookies you stashed in the bottom of the basket.”

“Well, you know, I promised Reid that we would make more later, so I kinda had to empty out the cookie jar to make room,” Lauren said with a smile that did not quite reach her eyes as she transferred their sandwiches from the grill pan onto plates she had already laid out on the counter.

Grey nodded as she watched Lauren cut the sandwiches into triangles. “Yeah. I figured as much. Thanks.” She took the plate Lauren nudged toward her. “Looks delicious.”

“It’s nothing special.” Lauren brushed off the compliment with a wave of her hand as she pulled a couple bottles of water from the fridge.

“Doesn’t mean it won’t be good.” Grey took the water Lauren held out to her. She twisted the top off as Lauren rounded the peninsula to sit in the empty chair on her right, and she arched a brow questioningly as she turned to look at her. “
Is everything okay? You’ve seemed a little off ever since you got off the phone.”

Surprised that Grey had picked up on her mood, Lauren shook her head. “Yeah. No. Everything’s fine. My cat is just a punk and decided to brawl with my friend’s neighbor’s dog.”

“Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.” Lauren rolled her eyes and picked up her sandwich. “The dog bit him on the paw and I guess it was bleeding
pretty bad, so my friend Jen who is watching him for me freaked out and was going to rush him to the vet. I told her to just watch him and see how he acts, because he probably doesn’t need to go in. He’s a jerk, but he’s tough.”

“Sounds like it. What’s his name?”

“Jenks.” Lauren smiled at the way Grey shook her head and chuckled under her breath. “What?”

“With that name, I would be disappointed if he wasn’t a total punk.”

“I’m impressed you know where I got it from. Not a lot of people do.”

Grey shrugged, her smile dimming as a memory of Emily, eyes twinkling with playful amusement as she threatened to withhold sex until Grey read those seven battered paperbacks flashed across her mind. Emily had sworn off the series at that point, but she still made Grey read and suffer through it all with her. “Emily made me read them.”

Lauren’s smile faltered at the mention of Emily. They had avoided talking about her ever since the night they had first kissed, and she was unsure how to respond. “Oh. Did…” She cleared her throat softly. “Did you like them?”

“I did, until it became obvious that the author was never going to give Ivy a happy ending,” Grey said. She rolled her eyes, because this was a conversation she had had many times over with Emily, and it never failed to leave her feeling frustrated and annoyed. “I mean, it would be one thing if they weren’t so perfect for each other. They made the damn bells ring, ya know? I just
, sometimes I really want to find the lady who writes the books and smack her upside the head.”

“Yeah, well, if you ever do decide to do that, lemme know. I’ll go with you. I wanna get a shot in too,” Lauren said as she took a bite of her sandwich. She chewed thoughtfully as she watched Grey out of the corner of her eye, wary of doing or saying something that might upset her.