“Now this is how you relax,” she said, pointing to a couple of plush lounge chairs. “Finding the time to sit out here with my book just became my number one priority.”
“Can we finish the conversation we were just having?” Griffin asked.
“And what conversation was that?”
“The one where we assure your family that I’m not a gold digger taking advantage of their sweet little Indina?”
She stared at him for a moment before she burst out laughing, interrupting the peacefulness surrounding them. She laughed until she felt a pinch in her side. Then she looked up at Griffin’s deadpan expression and laughed even harder.
Once she was finally able to catch her breath, she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes and held up both hands.
“Let me assure you that no one in my family would ever think that. They know that sweet little Indina can take care of herself.” She swiped again at the moisture on her cheeks. “Look, if you want to pay for your excursion, that’s fine, but I am paying for your cruise. I would have had to pay for the cabin whether you were here or not.”
Griffin stuck his hands in his pockets and tipped his head to the side. His dark brown eyes crinkled at the corners with the wry grin that curved at the edges of his lips.
“You seem amused,” Indina said. “Don’t keep it all to yourself. What’s so funny?”
“I just realized that there hasn’t been an occasion this past year where you had the chance to see just how stubborn I am.”
Her brows arched. “Oh, so you think you can out stubborn me?”
“Over this? No doubt.” Griffin leaned forward. “When it comes to a battle of wills, I always win, Indina. Always.”
Indina couldn’t stop the smile from traveling across her lips. “We’ll see about that.”
Chapter 3
By the time he and Indina arrived at dinner, nearly all of the seats were taken at the three tables the Holmes family occupied on the far left side of the massive dining room. There were two open spots next to her aunt Margo, but Indina walked past that table, instead going to where her brothers sat, along with Eli and Monica.
Damn. So much for a nice, relaxing dinner. He would have much preferred engaging in easy conversation with her aunt. Being stuck at a table with her intimidating as hell brothers, he was guaranteed to be on edge the entire time.
Griffin pulled out Indina’s chair, and then took the one next to the window, which afforded a view of the inky black night. A thumbnail slice of moon provided the only glimmer of light as it cut across the water.
“So, what were you two doing to have you showing up so late?” Monica asked. Indina told him earlier that Monica was an ER doctor at the same hospital where Eli served as the head of obstetrics.
“Napping,” Indina answered her.
“Napping?” Monica’s brows arched. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”
Harrison Holmes cleared his throat. “For the record, I don’t want to hear about anything you two were doing, napping or otherwise.”
“You’re damn right about that,” said the brother Griffin had yet to officially meet.
“Don’t start,” Indina said. She turned to Harrison. “Where’s Willow?”
“She decided to skip dinner,” he answered. “Said she had a headache.”
Indina turned to Griffin. “Willow is my sister-in-law. I’ll always be indebted to her for marrying this one and bringing a little more estrogen into the family. I’ll introduce you to her tomorrow.”
“So, I’m not worth an introduction?” Indina’s middle brother asked as he rose slightly out of his chair and stuck a hand out at Griffin. “I’m Ezra.”
“Griffin Sims,” he answered. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. I heard you’re her…uh…coworker, is it?” he asked, tipping his head toward his sister. The smirk on his lips indicated that he’d heard more than that. Apparently, that sugar mama rumor was making the rounds. Griffin would be damned if he let them all continue to think he was mooching off of Indina.
“I’m one of the head structural engineers at a top engineering firm downtown. We take on mostly large city and state government projects,” Griffin explained. “Extremely large and lucrative contracts.”
He was prepared to show them his damn bank balance if that’s what it took to convince the men in her family that he could pay for both his and Indina’s cruises.
“I wonder if we’ve worked on any,” her youngest brother, Reid, asked. “Holmes Construction just bid on several city projects.”
Griffin glanced around the table. “Wait a minute. Is the guy who owns Holmes Construction a relative?”
“He’s the one who thinks I’m your sugar mama,” Indina said.
Reid nodded toward the other table. “Alex owns Holmes Construction. I’m the lead plumber and sometime general foreman, depending on the size of the project.”
“You guys did the renovations on the Sewage and Water Board building. That was some nice work.” Griffin looked over at Indina. “How come you never mentioned you were related to those Holmeses.”
“I’m related to those Holmeses,” she said, her smile cheeky as hell.
He could only laugh at her flippant response. He could have guessed that she had this sassy side, but he rarely got to see it. Indina was the consummate professional during work hours, and outside of work they were usually otherwise occupied. He liked this side of her.
Hell, he liked every side of her. Except for the side that couldn’t seem to see them as nothing more than coworkers with benefits.
Reid, who sat next to Indina, reached over his sister and stuck his hand out to Griffin. “Well, I’m happy to have you around,” he said. “Especially after running into Timothy and his—hey! What the hell? Why’d you kick me, man?”
Ezra Holmes stared at his brother from across the table with downright murder in his eyes.
“What were
