“Hmm,” she said, pursing her lips and looking down.
This was a problem, of course, that she was scared to fix, and dying to fix at the same time. Being with Erik for only a few stolen minutes every night before she made the trek home wasn’t enough for her either, but the structure of their relationship—meeting in the shadows of Buxton, where no one knew her—had given her a false sense of security. They learned a little more about each other, they held hands, they flirted, they kissed, they fell harder and harder every night . . . all without having to mesh their worlds.
But going out on a date during the day could be risky. Where would they go? Who might see them? How in the world would she explain what she was doing with Erik Rexford if she was caught? And what if her father or sisters somehow found out?
He slipped his fingers under her chin and tipped her head up so he could look into her eyes.
“Laire, I just want more time with you.”
“I know.” Me too.
“Well, let’s make it happen. What days are you free?”
Most any day worked, honestly. She was free every day from nine until three, occasionally helping her sister with wedding plans or working for a few hours at King Triton. Carving out the time to meet Erik wouldn’t be a problem. Where and how she met him were much more worrisome matters.
“I have to help my sister a little this week,” she said, evading the question.
“Kyrstin, right? The one gettin’ married?”
She nodded. “In a week.”
“Well, is there a day that’s better than the rest? Whatever it is, I’ll make it work. I’ll come pick you up at your house, say hello to your father and sisters so they know you’re in good hands, and then we’ll go spend the day together.”
Her blood went cold and her breath caught. Her father and sisters? Out of the question. They would forbid her to see him again, and she’d be forced to quit her job immediately. Pick her up? No. Absolutely not. He could not pick her up in his fancy antique all-wood speedboat. Even if her father was working and her sisters weren’t around, someone would see them. Questions would be asked. Rumors would be started.
“No.”
She slid her fingers from his hair and leaned away from him, picking up the rose on the arm of the chair.
“No?” His voice was gentle but confused. “What do you mean? I thought—”
“No. You can’t come to Corey,” she said, leaning away a little more, concentrating on the delicate red petals and ignoring the sting of the thorns.
“Of course I can.”
“No,” she insisted, looking up at him, one of the rose’s thorns biting into her skin as she clutched it tighter in her fist. “You don’t understand. You can’t, Erik. There would be q-questions and rumors and—”
“Hey! Hey, hey, hey,” he said gently, cupping her cheeks and forcing her eyes to look into his. “I like you. I really like you. I know we’ve only known each other for a week, but I only want to be with you this summer. No one else.”
Even though this conversation was tricky and upsetting, she allowed herself a moment of pleasure that he wanted to be with her only because she couldn’t imagine being with anyone but him.
“Do you want to spend time with me, Laire?”
“Yes,” she whispered, unable to look up at him.
“Then why can’t I come to Corey and pick you up for a date?”
“Because it’s . . . it’s complicated.”
“Wait a second,” said Erik. “Does your family know about me? Do they know we’re seein’ each other?”
She gulped, forcing herself to look up at him as she shook her head.
“Oh,” he said softly. He sighed, and she heard a hint of hurt in his voice when he said, “I’m a secret, huh?”
“Yes,” she said, her heart racing, her fingers tightening around the thorny stem. One of many.
She still hadn’t had a chance to tell her father that she was working in Hatteras, not Ocracoke, although Kyrstin, who was happily waiting bar, was turning out to be a master of deception, lying to their father with a finesse that should have scared Laire. But they’d have to come clean sooner or later, wouldn’t they? She’d more or less promised herself to tell him right after Kyrstin and Remy’s wedding next weekend. He’d be good and mad, but maybe she could convince him to let her keep her job when he understood the kind of money she was making.
That said, more and more, keeping her job was the least of her worries.