Page 10 of The Magic of Sea Glass
Brody handed her his phone, and she immediately noticed the woman’s green eyes, the brown hair, similar in color to her own, although the woman’s locks were a little shorter. “I could see why you mistook me for her.” She handed it back to him.
“See? I wasn’t a creep.”
“I don’t think you’re a creep,” she said with a smile.
He slipped his phone into his back pocket, picked up his drink, and took a long pull of it. “Good. You had me worried.”
“I did?” She stopped stirring her drink.
“You seemed a little… standoffish when we met. I worried that you thought I was trying to pick you up or something.”
She shook her head, the idea the furthest thing from her mind at the time.
“So how do you know your friend?” she asked, gesturing toward the phone in his back pocket.
“I’ve known her since childhood. When I told her about the way you and I met, she mentioned that she’s had that happen to her before too. Someone thought she was the host of a TV show once.”
“Oh really?” Lauren said, laughing uncomfortably.
His gaze narrowed, immediately zeroing in on her reaction.
Lauren’s pulse rose in her ears, her body burning through the slight buzz of the rum. She took another drink to chase the comforting feeling once again. “Sorry, it’s just so funny. A TV show…” She was trying to explain her reaction but really only making it worse.
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “A wedding show. Know anyone who fits that description?” He gave her a sideways look that made her wonder if he was onto her. Certainly he’d told this person her name and she’d confirmed it.
“I do,” she admitted, her old life slithering back in, the wave of anxiety negating everything she’d just done tonight to relax. She gave him a look of warning to let him know that she’d rather not talk about it now.
He stared at her for a tick longer than she’d have liked. “Well, Mary also asked me to make sure you were fed. Wanna tell me about it over dinner?”
“Not really.” She set her drink down next to his on the wide railing.
“All right. Want tonottell me about it over dinner? Mary said she doesn’t think you’ve eaten anything since you got here, and she’ll get on me if I don’t take you somewhere.”
The fact that he knew who she was would make him curious and, even if he avoided the subject of the TV show, he would certainly want to ask her things about herself over a meal. The idea of that filled her with apprehension. She didnotwant to delve into her old life because she feared that she wouldn’t be able to crawl back out of it. The weight had already lifted just slightly, and if everyone would leave her alone, she might find some peace. But she was also starving. And she needed real food—not another sandwich from the market.
“Dinner’s been cleaned up already here at the inn, the cook’s gone for the night, and it’s peak summer hours. You won’t get anything in town without reservations right now,” he added.
“And you magically have them?” she asked.
That smirk returned, sending her to her drink for a long swig, her nerves prickling at the sight of that elusive happiness she wanted so badly to feel herself.
“You didn’t let me finish.Youwon’t get anything without reservations. I, on the other hand, know everyone here. They’ll seat me anywhere. I was already heading into town to eat anyway, so it’s no skin off my back if you tag along.”
“If I say yes, I don’t want to talk about myself,” she informed him.
His brows pulled together, inquisitiveness in those sparkling eyes. “Okay.”
While she absolutely did not want to have to spend an evening cornered by Brody Harrison, the decision came down to emotional risk versus her primal need for nourishment. Her stomach growled again. “Can you give me ten minutes?”
“Of course. I’ll be in the main room.” He held up his cocktail.
Drink in hand, Lauren rushed back to her suite, tied up her hair and jumped in the shower to wash her face and rinse the car ride off her. Wrapping herself in a white, fluffy towel, she sipped her cocktail and pulled out her makeup bag, the routine of getting ready like second nature. The ease of being on autopilot was comforting, given the situation. As she applied foundation and powder, blushed her cheeks, and swiped her lips with lip gloss, she could cut herself off from the new sensations she was feeling.
At every turn, she was facing new experiences and different conversations. In a strange way, it was both draining and refreshing.
She combed through her hair and then slipped on a clean sundress, this one a pale blue with a white lace-embroidered hem, and her favorite pair of sandals. As she stood in front of the full-length mirror, it was as if she were looking at a stranger. On the outside, she was put together, poised, stylish. Yet, on the inside, she was in a complete state of disarray. With a deep breath, she grabbed her straw handbag and headed out to the main room to meet Brody.
When she walked in, he stood up, the empty drink now sitting beside him. “Hey,” he said, as if he’d known her for years, something else she wasn’t used to.
