Pacey slammed the door of his Jeep shut behind him as he headed across the parking lot toward the white-shingled office that sat on the wharf next to the Public Landing. He was looking through a spiral appointment notebook in his hand and almost didn’t see Porter McGuire, one of the local lobstermen, pulling up next to him in his truck.

“Hey there, Harbormaster.” Porter called out in his thick New England accent.

Pacey looked up and nodded. “How’s it going, Porter?” Pacey suddenly stopped short. “Hey – how’s your uncle Pete doing?” The whole McGuire family had been fishermen and lobstermen in Capeside for generations. Pete was the oldest living member of the clan, and Pacey had just fished him out of the cold waters of the harbor a few weeks back when he had slipped in while pulling traps by himself.

“Oh. He’s okay.” Porter grinned. “They just pulled him out of the water off the Vineyard last week.”

Pacey shook his head, “I think it’s time to send that poor old guy on a vacation somewhere warm.”

“Yeah.” Porter chuckled, as he pulled away with a wave. “Either that or to a detox, huh?”

“All righty, then.” Pacey muttered to himself, raising his eyebrows as he entered his office, pretending he hadn’t just heard that.

“Hey Witter.” Murph was sitting at his desk with the phone to his ear, the chair tilted back and his feet resting on the windowsill. Pacey just gave him a wave, making his way over to his own desk and tossing the notebook down. Murph leaned back further in his chair, holding his hand over the receiver of the phone. “Do you want me to order you anything for lunch?”

Pacey just shook his head as he looked through the phone messages that had accumulated on his desk, but before he could answer he was interrupted by a sultry but rather annoyed voice.

“Well, that’s good, because I thought you were supposed to be having lunch with me.”

Pacey looked up. “Oh. Hey, Sarah.” The slender girl stood in the doorway, crossing her arms and tossing her long, dark blond hair over her shoulder. “Were we supposed to have lunch?” He raised his eyebrows, with a slight grimace.

She rolled her eyes as she came over to him, her cheeks still pink from the cold ocean air outside. “Yes. But, let me guess. You’re too busy now to go?”

Pacey shrugged. “It’s crazy with all these people applying for fishing permits this week, and then we have all the new moorings to assign before April…”

“And blah blah blah.” She sighed grumpily, sliding slowly in front of him to sit on his desk and turn her big almond-shaped blues eyes up at him. “I haven’t seen you in almost two weeks.” She pouted in a small voice, beginning to play with the zipper on his fleece pullover.

“Ahem…” Murph cleared his throat behind them as he stood up, scraping his chair back. “I’m just going to go pick up my sandwich and…ah, yeah.” He grabbed his coat, quickly heading for the door. “I’ll be back…um, in a while.”

“Bye Murph…” Sarah called after him in a sweet voice, not taking her eyes off Pacey. She smiled at him, unzipping her down jacket to reveal the plunging neckline of her tight t-shirt. “Haven’t you missed me at all?” She asked in a low, breathy voice, threading her fingers through the belt loops on his jeans and pulling him in a little closer.

“Hmm…” Pacey chuckled, as he pretended to consider this. “Not really…” He mumbled against her lips, before deepening the kiss. Their tongues swirled around each other, battling for dominance. His hands were resting on her sides now and he slowly raised one until he was just under her breast, cupping the heavy weight of it and just brushing his thumb over it. At the same time she released his belt loop with a sigh, running her hand down his thigh and then up and over the length of him, feeling him harden and thrust into her hand. He groaned softly, pulling his lips from hers to make his way over and down her neck, her heady perfume assaulting his senses. Just then he heard a loud rumbling noise outside his office window, and glanced over just in time to see a large truck making its way by on Water Street, with the words “Allied Movers/California” plastered on the side.

“I, ah…um.” Pacey stepped back from her, bumping into the chair that was still behind him, slightly flustered and quickly wiping the sleeve of his jacket over his mouth. “We shouldn’t get too carried away here. Murph is going to be back any minute.”

She raised a finely arched eyebrow, watching him carefully. “It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before.” She sighed, reaching for him again.

Pacey grabbed her wrists to still her, quickly raising one of her manicured hands to drop a chaste kiss on it. “Really. I have to get down to the marina by 2:00 and I have to return some of these phone messages first so…”

Sarah sighed, slinking off his desk. “Well, when am I going to see you? I’m teaching classes at the gym every night this week.” She leaned into him, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “Why don’t you come by my apartment tomorrow night? I should be home by around 9:00?”

Pacey grinned, nodding his head and kissing her just on the tip of her nose. “Okay. I’ll just see you then.” He turned her around and gave her a playful little shove towards the door. She glanced at him over her shoulder, tossing her hair again with a little smile and a wave before she left.