Page 18 of Tease Me

It suddenly hit me. “You weren’t just watching boats from this tree, were you?”

“Huh?” He raised his eyebrows but continued smiling.

“You were spying on people.” I playfully slapped him. “Who?”

“Nobody.” He turned his attention to the bag, pulled out a large picnic blanket, and ripped a tag off it.

I frowned. “Did you buy that today?”

“Yeah. I did a bit of shopping before I hired the car.”

He indicated to me to sit by patting a corner of the blanket.

I put the cardboard carry-tray down and then, trying not to get sand on the blanket, sat with my butt on the edge and then peeled off my cork heels and wiped the sand away.

Wewere sittingside by side under the shade of the ancient tree, glancing out across the water.

He handed me a coffee. “Cheers,” he said, and we thumped our takeaway cups together. The coffee was the perfect temperature to take a decent sip. It was good and strong—exactly how I liked it.

Henry handed over my breakfast, and I unwrapped the wax paper and practically salivated as I took my first bite.Considering the dubious-looking little café we’d bought it from, the breakfast was delicious.My wrapwas loadedwith bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, egg, andmy favorite sauce, barbeque. I couldn’t have done a better job if I’d made it myself.

“So tell me,” I said, halfway into my meal, “who were you watching?”

He turned with a look that said he’d expected me to ask again, then he licked his lip, lowered his wrap to the tray, and reached for his coffee. “As I said, my family came hereevery yearfor about fifteen years. But we weren’t the only families to do that. Over the years, we got to know the regulars.There wasa family with three girlsthathad an annual trip here every Easter, too.”

“Ooooh,I’m thinkingyou were sweet on one of those girls.”

He chuckled. “You could say that.”

“So, what was her name?”

“Kimberley Tucker. Kim.”

“What did she look like?”

He frowned. “What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?”

“Nope. It’s the Memphis Inquisition.”

He laughed, and as he bit into his breakfast wrap again, I assumed he was stalling.

I took a few more bites of mine. I could wait all day if I had to. It wasn’t like I had anything else to do.

Henry wrappedupthe remainder of his breakfastinto thewax paper and tossed it into his bag.He reached for his coffee and changed his position on the blanket so he looked more toward me than the beach.

“Kim had long, dark hair, silky smooth, and in the sunlight, little streaks of copper would shine through, just like yours. Her eyes were incredibly green, like freshly podded peas. Again, like yours.”

I couldn’t help the smile curling on my lips as the expression on his face changed during his description of Kim.Obviously,she’d meant a lot to him.

“Kim’s lips were this lovely shade of soft pink, like fairy floss, and her skin was milky white. So white that she spent most of her time at the beach hiding from this sun.”

“Ahhh, like under this tree.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

I tilted my head. “Was she your first girlfriend?”

He nodded, and I waited for him to continue his trip down memory lane.

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