“No,” she said. “They’re wild flowers.” She indulged herself and picked one off, threading it through her hair just above her ear.
That curiosity appeared on his face again. “Ah. It looks much prettier now that I get a better look at it.” He flashed a flirty smile, and she thought back to his laughter while they were eating their burgers yesterday, before she’d really understood who he was. Seeing all this tonight had changed her perception.
“Want to walk to the beach over there?” he asked. A sailboat bobbed on the horizon, the waves fizzing up the shore, beckoning her.
“Sure.”
To her surprise, Luke held out his hand to lead her down the few steps to the grassy area winding toward the shore. She took it, feeling the warmth of his grip, the softness of his touch, and the stillness in his fingers. While the gesture was just friendly, it felt so intimate that Callie found herself trying to hold her fingers casually when it would be so easy to intertwine them with his.
“We used to make bonfires on this beach as kids,” he said as they walked. “On any given night there would be at least fifteen teenagers all sitting around a giant fire. After school on Fridays, we’d throw our beach chairs in the back of our trucks and drive over here.”
Callie imagined a flock of privileged teenagers in their polo shirts and pressed shorts, laughing behind their designer sunglasses. “So you’re an old pro at bringing girls here then,” she teased.
“Of course,” he played along. “But now I’ve stepped up my game. I offer mojitos instead of strawberry wine in paper cups.”
“I used to drink strawberry wine too!” she giggled. “We’d sneak it into our friends’ houses. One of them had an older sister who would buy it for us.” She shook her head at the memory. “There was nothing like a bag of Doritos and a paper cup of strawberry wine to get a night going.”
“I might have some Doritos on the boat,” he said, pretending to turn back just as they reached the sand.
She laughed, pulling him toward the beach.
They walked down to where the waves were breaking and sat in the dry sand just close enough to get their feet wet when the tide came in. She slipped her sandals off and set them beside her.
“Yeah… I haven’t been to this beach in a long time,” he admitted.
“Who was the last person you were here with?”
Luke pursed his lips as he sifted through the memories. Then that crooked grin spread across his face. “Sally Johansen. I was eighteen.” He laughed and then turned to Callie. “Sally Johansen is married with six children—all a year apart.”
“Wow.” She let that sink in for a moment. “Just think, that could be you!”
“I want a big family, but I can’t imagine having six children, all that close in age. My God, that would be a lot of work.”
“Yes, it would.”
“It would be fun though,” he said, and she noticed that he’d moved his foot nearer to hers, only a small strip of sand between them.
“To be married to Sally Johansen?”
“No,” he said, with a burst of laughter. “Having a bunch of kids. That would be enough children to start our own beach volleyball team.”
Callie shared in his amusement before they settled into a happy moment of quiet.
“I was an only child,” she said, looking over at him. “I always wanted a sister or brother. It was really lonely sometimes.”
“Mmm.” Luke nodded. “I have a sister and I’m really close with her now, but growing up we were always at each other—I used to chase her around the house trying to tickle her even though I knew she hated it. Why do kids do things like that?”
Callie smiled. “I don’t know,” she said. “But I’ll bet it’s a funny memory now. I wish I had someone to share that kind of thing with. Olivia, my best friend, and I are sort of like that.”
“Did you ever do anything funny to her?”
She looked out at the sea and tried to think of something. “I froze her bra once as a prank. I filled a baggie with water and shoved it in there. It was a block of ice in the morning.”
They both laughed.
Then his eyes met hers. He leaned toward her, and to her horror, she realized by the look on his face that he might try to kiss her or something. The headlines flashing in her mind like an old movie reel, she realized she’d let her guard down. She leaned back, her mojito nearly sloshing out of her glass.
Luke stopped, clearly surprised at her response, but he covered it well. He seemed almost confused, and she wondered if he’d ever had to work for a girl’s affection in his life. She wasn’t going to throw herself at him just because he had a cool boat and a pair of sunglasses that cost more than her rent back in the city. By his expression, he hadn’t meant any harm, and he almost looked a little mortified.
Callie smiled to reassure him, trying to hide the fact that while she was totally annoyed that he thought she might be so easily willing to surrender to his charm, she kind of liked taking him out of his comfort zone.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asked, a new interest showing behind his eyes.
“I’m working on the house.”
His gaze dropped down to the sand but he quickly recovered and smiled. She wondered if he thought she was rejecting his possible suggestion to see her again, but she’d only been responding truthfully.
His eyes met hers, his head tilted to the side as he noticeably tried to gain footing in this new territory. “I’d like to help,” he said, to her surprise.
Was he just bluffing, dared by her resistance to his advances? “Olivia and I have it covered, but thank you.” There was no need to waste anyone’s time. She’d already spent far more than she should have aboard this boat, playing his little flirty games. “And we get started very early.”
Clearly ignoring her last suggestion that he couldn’t get himself up and ready in time, he said, “I’m serious.”
She smiled kindly so as not to upset him—he’d done nothing wrong. But she said, “So am I,” her words direct and clear.
“We’d better get back to the boat,” he said, looking over Callie’s shoulder. “Looks like a photographer.” Luke stood up and turned away from a man with a large camera, wearing trousers and a two-button shirt—clearly not an outfit for swimming. Was it always like this for Luke—being hounded in his private moments?
Seven
“He said what?” Olivia asked as she climbed down from the ladder in the center of the room. She’d been up early this morning, having already been in bed when Callie got home.