Page 87 of Falling Overboard

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lucky

Could Hunter and I have what Georgia and Pieter did? I wanted it so badly that I couldn’t respond to his observation. We hung back a bit behind the rest of the crew. Emilie kept sneaking glances at us over her shoulder, even though Kai had his arm around her.

I looked up at the dark sky, studying the bright stars above me that reminded me so much of the freckle patterns on Hunter’s shoulders.

“Do you know anything about constellations?” I asked, desperate to stop my brain from remembering with perfect clarity what his back and skin had felt like when I’d massaged him.

“Of course.”

“What’s that one?” I pointed right above us.

He studied it for a moment and then said, “That is clearly a constellation.”

I elbowed him while he laughed. “That wasn’t what I meant!”

“I may not know the constellations, but I know what that heavenly body is right there.” He pointed at a bright star. “That’s my lucky star. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

His words rendered me speechless. And I couldn’t bring myself to ask the questions I wanted to.

Was that deliberate? Had he said that because of me?

There was a noise off to our left and we both turned to see that an elderly woman had dropped her large bag as she struggled with her dog, who was straining against its leash.

She was yelling at her dog in Italian and Hunter ran over to help. He picked up the bag, handed it to the woman, and then crouched down to talk to the dog. The dog started wagging its tail and then sat down on the ground, staring up at him adoringly.

Whatever he’d said seemed to have worked. The older woman kissed him on both cheeks and then hurried off down the street. The whole scene was so cute it made my uterus hurt.

“If that was for my benefit, I’m not impressed,” I joked as he walked back over to me.

It was a complete lie. I was very impressed with his kindness and thoughtfulness and how even unruly dogs fell in line just to please him.

He teased me right back. “This is just how I am. If you’re impressed, that’s on you.”

That was a true statement. It was just who he was. He was the kind of man who saw a need and took care of it.

Was he doing that with me? He sensed how I needed him and he was being that guy for me?

I didn’t like that idea. Better to keep things light and not think about depressing stuff. To remember that relationships never worked out for me. “I do like that you don’t try to impress me.”

He smiled. “I aim not to please.”

“I don’t believe that. I think you love to please.”

His eyebrows shot up his forehead, and I suddenly realized how that might have sounded. Then he gave me that infuriating secret smile of his that had me feeling like one of those fainting Victorian-era women.

Before I could launch into what most likely would have been a very weak and pathetic explanation, my phone buzzed.

Saved by the bell.

And again, Lily had the uncanny sense that I must have felt happy and wanted to wreck it.

I’m a bit behind on my credit card this month. Could you send me another six hundred dollars? I promise I’ll pay you back!

“What is it?” he asked.

“You get two guesses and the first one doesn’t count,” I said before I put my phone back in my pocket. I would deal with her later.

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