Page 38 of So Close

Even as flustered as he felt, that made him smile.

19

Auburn unlocked the shed and they dragged the recumbent bikes and a pair of helmets out and hauled them down to the beach.

It was the perfect early summer day—warmer than average for the beginning of July, with the sun sparkling off the water and turning it the same blue as the sky. The sand was burnished white-gold all the way down to the tide line. They tugged the bikes to the packed wet sand near the water.

“So? What do I do?”

“You sit. And put your feet on the pedals, and your hands on the handlebars.” She indicated the two short poles sticking out on either side of the seat. “These are how you steer.”

He eyed them suspiciously, and she grinned.

He tried to sit in the bike’s slung canvas seat and promptly tipped over and deposited himself in the sand.

He laughed.

Like, actuallylaughed.

Rich and deep and genuinely amused. And oh, fuck, she liked it way, way too much. She’d thought she was a sucker for the all-business version of Trey Xavier, but it was nothing compared to how much she liked the rumpled beach-ready version.

“This is a plot to take me down a notch, huh?” he asked, turning his smile on her and taking years off her life.

He hauled his ass out of the sand, brushed himself off, gave her a bemused look, and tried again, managing it better the second time. He pedaled around, gingerly at first, then gaining both speed and confidence.

“See that?” She indicated the monolith in the distance. “Breaker Rock. That’s where we’re headed.”

They set out side by side. It had been a while since she’d taken the bikes out, and she’d forgotten how much work it was. But fun too. He was faster than she was—which made perfect sense because his body was a finely tuned machine. His new trunks had ridden up a little, and she had a full-on view of his thighs, bulging with muscle, dusted with dark gold curls. Nghngh.

She was still unsettled by their exchange in Sea Stuff. It had taken almost the whole walk back from town for the pulse between her legs to quiet. For her nipples to soften so they weren’t so sensitive against the lacy cup of her bra. And for her brain to start working again. Slowly, but surely.

Nothing hadhappened. But she wasn’t sure what would have transpired if the salesclerk hadn’t shown up at that exact moment. There had been something in the way Trey had said her name, to say nothing of the obvious evidence of his interest …

And it hadn’t been one-sided. She’d felt the tension drawing tight between them as they’d tussled verbally, and she’d stepped over the line first. Even if she’d regretted her words—“shut up and get naked”—a second after they’d popped out.

She had to be more careful. She wasn’t one of those people who could get physical with someone and not have it mess with her emotions, and she wasn’t one of those people who could ignore her emotions and make antiseptic, logical decisions.

Ergo, there could be nothing physical between her and Trey. She could never close the circuit, connect those two sparking wires, feel his power jump the gap into her body.

Nope.

He struck out ahead of her, then came back, once, then twice, the third time riding around her in a circle. “I’m your satellite!” he called.

His playfulness tugged in her chest. This—thiswas exactly what her plan depended on. But more than that, it satisfied the part of her that loved Beachcrest. The part that loved cooking for people, taking care of them, and watching them bloom and relax under the vastness of the ocean sky.

She hadn’t fully realized it, but she’dwantedthis. To see him shed the seriousness. Trey playful was something else.

Abruptly she stopped the bike. “This is beach magic.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

She threw her arms out. “How big it feels. How airy. Like it can swallow everything. You could take everything in the world seriously, but not out here.”

She thought he’d fight her—if only on principle—but he just looked thoughtful.

“I did this once before.”

“Rode beach bikes?” she asked.

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