Travis gripped the handle and turned his attention to the strokes of the broom across the store’s hardwood floors. “Got it.”
She hadn’t meant to snap at him. He was just being Travis, and she was doing what she always did—lashing out at him when he was only being nice. But, it was too familiar, too intimate. True, things had taken an awkward turn since they had made out after Ben Jordan’s bonfire party, but somehow Haven had convinced herself they could do those things to each other in the dark under the influence of too many red cups, and it would magically disappear when they worked together at the store. It didn’t go as planned. It never did.
“Trav, I’m—” Before she could complete the apology, her father barged through the back hallway. She bristled when he appeared.
“Haven? You late again?” The white-haired man avoided his daughter’s eyes and looked at Travis.
Unbelievable. This happened almost every morning and every morning Travis covered for her, but this time she didn’t deserve her ass to be saved. Her eyes darted toward the dark-haired boy as if to say, “It’s ok. I know I’m toast.”
“Haven was here, sir. Right on time.” Travis circled around, concentrating on the dust pile and not Haven’s wide eyes.
“Good. Travis, would you mind giving me a hand? There’s a delivery out back on the docks. Bait shrimp’s in.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Owen.” Travis winked as he handed his broom to Haven. “Maybe you could finish this for me.”
“Uh. Sure.” She took the handle and watched as the two men disappeared into the hallway’s delivery entrance.
Travis would certainly give her a hard time about the whole exchange; he always did. If he thought covering for her would lead to more alone time, he had the wrong idea about what happened between them. Haven couldn’t deny they had chemistry and the night at the beach was hot—hotter than it should have been.
Things had gradually escalated in the past month since she arrived home from college graduation. It started with an accidental kiss in the shadows of the employee parking lot after work, and then one night the kiss moved to the backseat of the car when Haven thought they had technically rounded second base. It was as if Travis had transformed into the hot new guy when she was gone last semester. Everything about his body was new to her.
She secretly admitted she liked getting to know this side of him, but the there was one thing about him that hadn’t changed. He wasn’t interested in stepping one toe off the island, and Haven didn’t want to keep one toe on it. No amount of flirting or hot kisses could change that.