Wife Is A 4-Letter Word by Stephanie Bond Page B

brain had been scrambled from Pamela’s joyride, Alan reasoned as he pulled himself out of the water to straddle the Wave Runner. He took a deep, head-clearing breath before turning around to offer his hand to help Pamela climb up. Her mouth quirked left, then right, but finally she let him help her up. She slipped a couple of times, which made him laugh, then she went limp with giggles and sank back into the water.
    â€œYou,” he said, shaking his head, “are wearing me out.”
    â€œThen you,” she said, heaving herself up far enough for him to pull her onto the seat, “don’t have much endurance.” She handed him the wristband.
    â€œI never needed it with Jo,” he said as she slid behind him. He bit the inside of his cheek and turned over the engine, immediately regretting mentioning his ex.
    But Pamela simply reached around his waist and laced her hands together, then said close to his ear, “But I’m not Jo, am I, Alan?”
    Her breath felt warm against his cold, wet ear, and her words swirled round in his head, taunting him. I’m not Jo, am I, Alan? An understatement of gigantic proportions. I’m not Jo, am I, Alan? As if he weren’t electrically aware of the fact. I’m not Jo, am I, Alan? And he realized with a jolt that he was having fun, more fun than he’d had in a long time—and he was very glad that Pam was, well...just Pam.
    His heart strangely buoyed, he tossed a mischievous smile over his shoulder and said, “Hang on.” Then he leaned low over the handlebars and mashed the gas with his thumb, sending them lunging forward. Pam squealed in surprise and delight, ramming herself up against him, which tempted Alan to squeal with delight. He mimicked her earlier technique, driving fast, catching waves and landing with a spin, drenching them with walls of water that surged over the back. Adrenaline pumped through him and, combined with the sheer physical thrill of being close to Pamela, for the first time in his life he felt blatantly cocky.
    Alan threw back his head and whooped, reveling in the pressure of Pam’s thighs squeezing his. For several minutes, he sent them skimming and jumping over the sundrenched water, slowing at last as their time remaining slipped to less than ten minutes.
    Hating to see the ride end, he adjusted the speed to idle and guided them toward the rental stand several hundred yards away. All sorts of strange and inappropriate emotions were running rampant through his body, and they were all directed toward Pam, who hadn’t relaxed her hold around his waist. Waves slapped against the sides of the Wave Runner, and the sounds of beach music rolled out to meet them. Although sunset was still hours away, the beach was emptying rapidly as the locals. packed up their families to go home for the evening meal.
    â€œDid you have fun?” she asked, resting her chin on his left shoulder.
    For a split second, Alan considered lying—he had an uneasy feeling that admitting he enjoyed Pam’s company was not in his immediate best interests. But for the past hour, he had laughed more than he would have thought possible only a few hours ago, and for that, he owed her the truth. “Yeah, I did have fun. Thanks for taking my mind off...you know.”
    â€œWhat are friends for?” Pam asked lightly, closing her eyes and swallowing her guilt. She’d promised Jo she’d make sure he had fun. But at some point during their outing, she had forgotten she was supposed to be entertaining Alan because she was having such a good time herself. And now, putting back toward shore, she felt deflated and angry with herself for even thinking there wouldn’t be too many excuses this week to hold Alan so close.
    â€œMaybe we can take it out again tomorrow,” Alan suggested, turning his head and inadvertently bringing his smooth cheek next to her mouth.
    â€œSure,” she said casually, already