There he was getting excited just thinking about taking her to a stupid drive-in movie when he should have been writing. He shook his head. What the devil was wrong with him?
He tried to block out Pepper’s incessant barking. A loud crash—glass shattering against pavement—broke through his thoughts. He turned as Pepper arrived beside him, barking, clawing at his legs. With his eyes, he followed the trail of rope hanging from Pepper’s collar to Leanna, standing among several broken bottles of jam, her legs splattered with red goo.
Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Walk away. Just get in the car and leave. Carey had staked claim to Leanna, and she obviously was interested in him. Kurt should climb into his car, drive away from there, and go write. Wasting time was not on his agenda. He had no business walking to the men’s room and filling his hands with wet paper towels. He shouldn’t have made a beeline for her, or gotten down on one knee to wipe off the jam from her lean, sexy legs. She wasn’t his to take care of, and Carey was right there beside her. But Carey was busy taking down his own booth, and other than handing Leanna a towel, he was doing nothing to help her—and that pissed off Kurt. He didn’t deserve Leanna. What type of man didn’t help a woman in a situation like this? Kurt wasn’t working on what he should or shouldn’t do. He was driven by something stronger—something he hadn’t ever felt before—the desire to be someplace other than in front of his beloved keyboard. He wanted to be right there, helping Leanna.
He picked up Pepper and put him in the van with a sharp, “Stay.”
“I’m okay. It’s okay. Really. Go write. I’m a total time suck,” Leanna said.
She had a sliver of a cut along the top of her right foot, and he knew she could handle a few broken jars—although the thought of Leanna with a broom and broken glass scared the life out of him. She’d be fine without him, but darn it, he wanted to handle it with her. For her.
“I’ve got this.” He borrowed a broom and dustpan from the snack bar manager and arranged to have buckets of water brought out to clear the sticky jam from the area.
Half an hour later, he returned the push broom and other supplies he’d borrowed, and Leanna’s booth was clean, her van full.
“So? Off to the beach?” Carey flashed a smile and ran his hand through his hair.
Leanna met Kurt’s gaze. The sun was slowly descending, and it cast a soft light along her hair, highlighting nearly blond natural highlights in her brown hair that he had somehow missed yesterday. Her skin glistened from her efforts, her tank top hung off of one shoulder, wet between her breasts from sweat, and her short, white cotton skirt was speckled with red jam. She looked like the most adorable hot mess he’d ever seen, and Pepper stuck his head out of the van window, panting happily, as if he hadn’t just caused the mess.
Kurt touched the edge of her skirt and tsked. “Make a paste with baking soda; soak those spots and then wash it. That’ll come out.”
Leanna tilted her head. “How do you know that?”
“I looked it up on the Internet last night before I washed your shorts. I didn’t think you wanted red handprints on your butt forever.” He nodded at Carey. “Have fun at the beach.” Lucky bastard.
As he walked away, he felt the heat of Leanna’s stare on his back, and while it brought a smile to his lips, it wasn’t nearly enough.
Chapter Six
HAVE FUN AT the beach? How could she have fun at the beach after he’d been such a gentleman and stuck around and cleaned up her mess knowing she was going someplace with Carey? She glanced at the passenger seat, where Pepper was fast asleep on top of the clothes he’d brought. And washed. And looked up how to remove the stain. Ugh. She’d never understand men. If he was interested in her, he could have asked her out or said something. Maybe he wasn’t interested. Maybe she’d misread all of his signals. And his physical reaction? No way. Not a chance. That much she understood about men. Leanna followed Carey’s van in her own on the way to Cahoon Hollow Beach and decided that she couldn’t change what had already happened, and she might as well enjoy the beach before the sun went down.
The sand was still hot from the afternoon sun. Leanna and Carey tossed their towels in the dry sand and ran toward the water with Pepper barking alongside them. Carey dropped his shirt and shorts along the way, and Leanna threw her shirt and shimmied out of her skirt, thinking about what the girls had said about her bathing suit. She’d have to watch Carey and see if they were right. She ran into the icy water with a squeal. Pepper followed her in.
“Cold!” She crossed her arms over her chest.
Carey popped up from under a wave and shook his hair like a puppy shakes its fur. “You’ll get used to it. Come on.”
She followed him deeper into the ocean, hoping she’d get used to the icy water. They rode the waves until their bodies were numb. Leanna loved the ocean, the bay, the beach, the mountains, snow, rain… There wasn’t much Leanna didn’t love about life. Maybe that’s my problem. I want to be in the thick of it, and most jobs make me feel like I’m missing something.
“Your lips are blue. We should get out,” Carey said with a wide smile.
He walked beside her as they made their way back to their towels. He was lean and fit and so tan that he looked like he lived on the beach, though Leanna knew he didn’t. He, like Leanna, moved around a lot, but unlike Leanna, he often slept in his van.
“That was awesome.” He wiped his face with the towel, and Leanna noticed his eyes lingering on her chest.
Yup, the girls were right. The bathing suit is a killer.
“So refreshing.” She sat down on her towel and slipped her T-shirt over her head.
Pepper plopped down beside her in the sand.
“Hey, so how do you know Kurt?”
Just hearing his name made her feel bad again. She wondered if he was writing, bare chested, sitting on the deck. She wondered if he was thinking of her. She liked the feel of his chest. A map of muscles and smooth skin, with that interesting tattoo. And those bright blue eyes that always seemed so focused and intense. He was…perfect. Oh my gosh. What am I thinking?
“Pepper got caught in the ocean the other night in the rain and he rescued him.” She shrugged, as if it were nothing, when in fact it had been the one thing all summer that had stuck like glue in her mind. Or more specifically, he had been the one thing that stuck like glue. She glanced at Carey and felt guilty for wishing he were Kurt.