“What’s the bad news?”
He gave a small grin, the skin around his eyes crinkling in the corners. “I suck at putting on bandages, so you’ll need to reapply one when you get home.”
I looked down at my foot, which looked like someone had done a bad Christmas wrap job. This guy definitely wasn’t dainty, and I suddenly became more aware of his rough hand that lightly squeezed my ankle and then released it.
“I need to go get the lawn chairs and other supplies. Be right back.”
A few minutes later, he returned with the chairs and shoved them in the back of the truck. He stood in front of me, again putting his hand on my leg. “Hope you’re not in too much pain.”
“I’m good. Barely hurts now.”
Ryan cleared his throat and backed up a step, looking unsure of what to do next. What was there to do? Payton and Blake would probably head back to the truck soon, and walking on the beach with this doozy of a bandage was out of the question. Guess we’d just have to park it here until they returned.
“Thanks for fixing me up, doc.” I plucked the hat off his head and shoved it over my hair. It was big, warm, and smelled like coconut. Something about him turned me into a sixth grade girl. Pretty sure next I’d be hiding his binder or carving Mrs. Jules DeShane in my notebook.
“You’re pretty damn cute in that.” He smoothed his thumb across the corner of my lip, his gaze pinning me to the truck bed. For a split second I thought he might lean in and kiss me, but something in his expression changed. Maybe I’d imagined it, hoping for something that wasn’t there. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and hopped up in the truck bed next to me. Leaning back on his elbows, he stared up at the cloudless sky, millions of stars dotting the darkness. “It’s a beautiful night.”
Oh-kay. Clearly, I was misreading these signs if he’d resorted to talking about the weather. Dating drought at an all-time high. Sound the emergency sirens. How was I supposed to flirt properly if he wasn’t interested?
“I used to go stargazing a lot when I was younger.” Eric and I used to make forts in the backyard and pore over the astronomy book my mom had gotten us. He was always into all the stories that went behind the constellations while I was more interested in the designs.
I leaned my head on the crook of Ryan’s shoulder, enjoying the moment with this one guy who had no clue about my past.
Ryan lifted my hand and traced across the freckles on the inside of my arm. “Have you ever heard of the constellation Cassiopeia?”
I shook my head, burying deeper into his shoulder. “No.”
He traced the freckles again. “See how your freckles spell out a W? That’s the same shape as Cassiopeia. She was considered one of the most beautiful women, the queen of Aethiopia. Very fitting on you.”
It clicked. My high school astronomy instructor had once given a lesson on this constellation. The queen who got in a heap of trouble and was banished to her throne in the stars.
I knew that I’d wanted him to flirt back with me, but this had my player alert siren blaring. I’d met a bunch of smooth talkers, most of them not able to back up what they were saying, always playing the good guy until they got what they wanted. Then I’d be discarded like beer cans after a night of partying. Was Ryan different?
“Is that something you use to woo all potential conquests?”
He chuckled, his deep voice rumbling as my ear was pressed to his chest. “Did it work? Maybe I’ll try it tomorrow with my next date,” he teased.
He seemed to be joking about the date, but I couldn’t help the tiny thread of jealousy of the potential mystery girl that knotted in my stomach. I shoved his chest, his taut muscles flexing beneath my hand.
“Any other constellations on me? Need to make sure you’re sufficiently prepared for your hot date tomorrow.”
His thumb tracked down my arm, over my shoulder, and swept a loose strand of hair behind my ear. He shifted, my head cradled in his bicep as he hovered over me. His blue eyes blazed as he said, “I’d have to do a thorough inspection.” He tugged at my sweater. “Right now, there are too many clothes in the way. Wouldn’t want to miss any. Purely for the sake of research.”
Please, research me, my body screamed.
I mentally side-eyed my all-too-eager body. Play it cool, Horny Jules. “Such a shame.”
His hand skimmed down my side, his warm skin burning a trail to my hip. “A travesty.”
“I don’t think that line will work on your date tomorrow.”
“What about you?”
Stick a fork in me. Totally done. If words counted as foreplay, I was sufficiently ready to move past this base, on to the next. He seemed to like the straightforward type, so I went for that. “Yes.” I ran my finger along his muscular forearm. “All that big talkin’s gonna get you in trouble with the ladies.”