Page 40 of The Love Haters

That’s when Benita picked up my towel, and the little hibiscus hair clip, and came over to me. She set the clip on the table and wrapped the towel around my shoulders. It was bigger than I remembered, and I sank into it so gratefully—just as Rue said to Hutch, blithely spilling all my secrets, “She needs to learn to swim before Monday. Could you give her some private lessons?”

How did she makeprivate lessonssound so provocative?

“I’m pretty busy,” Hutch answered, glancing in my direction.

As he said it, George Bailey appeared by my side and then leaned against me like he was mooring to a dock. I stroked his head.

Maybe this whole splinters-in-the-haunch situation was a blessing of sorts. Maybe it would help with my swimsuit phobia. I mean, how hard could it be to work with this guy now? He’d seen more of me, at this point, than I’d seen of myself.

“You need to learn to swimbefore Monday?” Hutch asked.

It was Friday.

“I just need a refresher course,” I said, fully lying. “I’m a little rusty.”

Hutch frowned in earnest.

“I don’t need to win any gold medals,” I went on, quoting Beanie. “I just need to beef up my dog paddle.”

“I’m not sure that’s enough time,” Hutch said, “even for a dog paddle.”

“I’ll take anything,” I said. Anything was better than nothing, right? “Whatever I can learn before Monday, I’ll take it.”

But he was shaking his head. “I’m busy this weekend.”

But, as I thought about it, it didn’t even have to be that soon. I started at the air station on Monday, but the first few days were always just getting the lay of the land. “Actually even a couple days after Monday could work.”

Hutch kept his serious expression. “I guess we can manage something.”

“Thank you,” I said. “And thank you,” I added then, “for pulling all those splinters out of my ass.”

Hutch stifled a smile and said, “Anytime.”

Six

BEANIE COULD NOTbelievethat in all that time I never introduced myself to Hutch as his future videographer. She was aghast. “That man had his hands all over your backside for all that time, and you never found a moment to mention it?”

“I prefer the termhaunch,” I said.

“You should have told him,” Beanie said, undeterred.

“Um. I was a little swamped by all the soul-crushing humiliation at the time,” I said. “And getting busted for lying.”

“He doesn’t know you lied about being able to swim.”

“Not yet. But he will.”

Beanie nodded. “It’s going to beindescribablyweird when you see him at the air station.”

“I couldn’t have told him, anyway,” I went on, still defending myself. “Cole told me not to say anything about anything until after the job started.”

“To theold lady,” Beanie pointed out. “This guy is not an old lady.”

No. He certainly wasn’t.

“She was nearby,” I said. “She would’ve heard me.”

“I’m just saying Monday morning is going to be weird as hell.”

---