Page 11 of June 7

She spent a lot of her free time cooking on the grill outside.

But there was never a moment when she looked out at the ocean and sensed the calm she witnessed come over others who spent time on the coast. Maybe she'd seen the beauty at one time, but now the coast was just a continual motion in her peripheral vision during the day and her nightmare at night.

Carrying the tray outside, she found smoke drifting from underneath the grill hood. She set the food on the table and picked up the flipper. Thankfully, the meat wasn't ruined and was still edible.

She waved him to make his burger. "Do you want something to drink?"

"I'll take a beer."

She paused and softened her voice. "I'm sorry. I don't have anything with alcohol. I don't drink."

"Ever?" He studied her.

She put a piece of cheese on her burger, keeping busy so he couldn't see through the lie. "Nope."

Hidden amongst his whiskers, his mouth tightened. Pretending to ignore his irritation over her not having any beer, she squirted ketchup on the hamburger bun. The urge to explain her reasons why she never drank ate away at her, but she held them back. The more attention she brought to the subject, the more he wondered what was wrong with her.

"Do you care if I grab a beer from my place?" he asked.

"No, go ahead." She exhaled in relief. "I have nothing against other people drinking."

"You're sure you don't want one?" He paused. "I have tequila."

She glanced at him. He seemed overly concerned about drinking around her. And why would he bring up tequila?

"I'm good." She laughed off the awkward conversation, holding up her hamburger. "I'm going to enjoy my dinner."

A couple of minutes later, he returned with a bottle of beer and sat in the chair beside her. She used the moment he picked up his plate and put together his hamburger to study him. He skipped the tomato, used mayo and mustard, piled on the dill pickles, and barely put enough shredded lettuce on the bun to taste it.

He, too, skipped the onions.

Goosebumps covered her arms. Usually, she loved onions and would always eat them on her burger. Subconsciously, she refrained from adding them because he was a sexy guy within her personal space. Maybe after she knew him better, she'd eat onion, but for now, she wanted to make a good impression, and she couldn't do that if her breath stank.

Not that she was trying to impress him.

She wasn't planning or wishing anything to happen with him. But she wouldn't stop him if he wanted a kiss. Stranger things had happened to her before.

One time, on a date with a guy who'd recently moved to Seaglass Cove, she struck up a conversation with the bartender, who kissed her when her date was using the restroom. That was crazy and a little exciting, even though nothing came of the encounter. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that maybe the bartender had a habit of kissing a lot of women in his line of work. Maybe he got his jollies off being sneaky like that.

She wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand and shivered. Yuck.

"You okay?" Bane tilted his head.

She swallowed the bite. "Yes."

"You think a lot." He took a drink. "Work stuff?"

"Never work stuff. I have the easiest job in town. I love what I do." She wiped the corners of her mouth. "What about you? What do you do for a living?"

"Ride." He grabbed a few chips out of the bag. "When I'm not riding, I work at Havlin Motorcycle Parts, which is what will be going in the building next door from the pool once we're done with the construction."

"So that's what's going in the old bus barn." She set down her half of burger on the plate. "Everyone thinks it's a clubhouse for your motorcycle club."

"It is." He finished the hamburger. "There's room for the business and the club."

"The building is huge."

He nodded. "It's perfect for us. Now."

---