Page 7 of As You Crave It

Quin shrugged. “How does one close a beach?”

He was still standing, and she held up the wine bottle to him. “You didn’t happen to steal a corkscrew, now did you?”

“I got it.” He took the bottle from her, removed the foil from the top of the bottle and put it into one pocket, careful not to litter. He pulled his house keys from the other. She watched with interest as he pushed a key into the cork at an angle, until most of it was lodged inside. “And I didn’t steal anything,” he explained. “I paid for this.” With a couple of twists of the key, the cork was free, and Celia was impressed.

“You’re resourceful.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he told her, sitting on the sand next to her. He took a drink from the bottle and handed it over.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked.

“What?”

“Why’d you look so miserable when you came to the club?”

She drank from the bottle. “I didn’t really want to come out tonight. But my girlfriends nagged me to go.”

“Something wrong?”

She handed him the bottle. “Just work stuff. It’s been a long couple of weeks. I just wasn’t feeling the club tonight. Let me ask you—why were you hiding out on the patio? That’s not like you. You’re normally at the center of the party.”

He shrugged, before raising the bottle to his lips. “I was just getting away from the noise. Like you, I wasn’t having much fun. I was just about to leave when I saw you.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Me, too.”

“Of course, you weren’t exactly hiding out there, watching me through the open door.”

He laughed. “I guess I’m busted.”

“Did you think you were being slick?”

“A little. I was hoping it wasn’t too creepy.”

“If you were, I wouldn’t have come out to talk to you.”

He sidled a little closer, so that their arms touched. “I can’t believe you’re here. That we’re here together again. You just couldn’t stay away, huh?”

“Not really. I think it was inevitable that I would end up back here in Miami—the ocean, the heat.” She took in another lungful of the humid, salty air. “For years I thought about coming back, and I was finally given the opportunity to do it. I loved New York, but Miami is where I belong.”

“I know what you mean,” he said, passing the bottle back to her. “I can’t imagine calling anywhere else home.”

She took another swallow of the wine, and she looked at the man next to her. “You know, Quin, I really did miss you.”

He smiled. “I missed you, too.”

“Tell me about what’s going on. You told me about the distillery, but what about your personal life?”

Quin shrugged. “Nothing new really. Just work, parties—”

“Classic Quin,” she said. “Women?”

“Some women,” he confirmed. “Nothing serious. How about you? Any male models or Wall Street types going to come down here to bring you back to New York?”

“Hardly. I’m not really into the model or Wall Street types,” she said, laughing, relieved they were back in Quin-and-Celia territory. “But no. No guys. I’ve been trying to focus on work.” She’d seen men, dated somewhat frequently—she wasn’t a nun—but nothing that lasted, not one guy she’d wanted to form a connection with or that she wanted to stick around. She wouldn’t admit that it was because no guy could live up to the image of Quin in her head. “I’m not interested in anything serious right now. You?”

“No current relationships,” he told her. She couldn’t control the satisfaction she felt at hearing that. But she knew about Quin’s relationships. As a younger man, Quin had women in and out of his life, circling through a revolving door that led to his bedroom. She couldn’t imagine that he’d changed much since then.

They fell into a silence, but this time, it was more comfortable, not at all awkward. She instinctively moved closer to him, just like she always did when they were together, and rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She looked up and smiled, and he smiled back. She may have come back to Miami because it was what was familiar to her, but it finally felt like she was home.

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