“Creeped out? No, not at all. I’m really glad to see you.”
Her face brightened as she moved out of his arms. “Good, so whatcha doing?”
“Sitting, thinking.”
“Sounds like fun,” she said, walking toward the ocean. “Man, it’s beautiful out here.”
“It really is,” he agreed, following close to her. “How long can you stay?”
“Just a couple days, I gotta be back Friday night for Aiden’s game.”
Tate nodded. So he had two days with her. It wasn’t near enough, but it would hold him until he got home on Saturday. He watched as she sat down, crossing her legs before sliding her heels off and dumping the sand out of them. He sat down beside her, stretching his long legs out in front of him.
“So from what Elli told me, you’ve been killing in goal lately,” she said, looking over at him with a bright smile.
Tate laughed before pinning her with a lusty grin. “I would love to ask more about what she said about me, but what I really would like to know is how I came into the conversation.”
For once he wasn’t worried about what his team owner thought. He was more worried about what Audrey thought. When her cheeks reddened, he knew that she had brought him up. “Talking about me, I see?”
“Oh hush, I was just trying to tell you Elli is really happy with you.”
Tate nodded, his eyes never leaving her face. “Good, thanks for checking on me.” When she glanced up, he winked before pressing his tongue against his teeth. Audrey smiled, shook her head, and gazed out toward the ocean.
“Anyways,” she said, making him chuckle, “I ran into Phillip in the lobby, he’s the one who directed me to you. In parting, he said that you’re hitting the club.”
“We are. It’s a salsa night. Erik and Phillip are looking forward to the Latin women, apparently.”
Audrey giggled. “I bet you are too. Maybe I’ll stay in. I don’t want to rain on your Latin parade.”
He shook his head. “Actually, I’m not and you won’t. I want you there.”
She eyed him a moment before grinning. “Oh, all right, if you insist,” she joked before digging her toes in the sand.
They sat for a long time, talking about her trip, falling back into their rhythm as if they hadn’t been apart for almost a week. She was animated as always, and seemed happy to be there. He couldn’t help but wonder why she came. Was this her way of trying to move things forward? Did she want to move things forward?
“Okay,” he eventually said, cutting off her story about the bellboy who told her she was a sexy piece of southern ass. Not only was it pissing him off, but he had to know or he was going to drive himself mad.
“Whoa, was I boring you?” she asked, and he could tell he’d offended her.
“No, not at all, but big question,” he said. He hated that she was hiding her eyes, so he reached out, and took the glasses from her face. When her wide, gorgeous, caramel eyes locked with his, he flashed her a shy grin.
“Well, hurry, because I am trying to tell you how I got a bellboy fired and that we might need to watch our backs for the Latin mob.”
Tate gave her a look and then they both burst out laughing. He had to hold his gut as he leaned against the sand, and she let out a snort before covering her mouth and laughing harder.
When they both calmed down, Tate looked over at her and she smiled. “What did you want to question me about?” she asked.
He swallowed loudly. “What brought you here, Audrey? And don’t say it’s ’cause you were bored.”
She averted her eyes and shook her head. “I asked myself that same question when I was standing behind you.”
“What answer did you come up with?” he asked, still looking at her.
“I wanted to do something that would make me happy.”
Tate smiled. “So I make you happy.”
Audrey smiled. “Cocky ass.”