Page 13 of Deep Waters
Will Guzman was forty-something if he was a day. Bald in that Mr. Clean way, he paired it with a well-trimmed mustache and goatee. I glanced between Rae and Will. Did she want to go out with him?
She looked flustered by his question. Like she didn’t know what to say. Wasn’t used to male attention.
It hit me that nothing was stopping her from dating him. Certainly not Simon.
Rae was single. Free. And Will was probably only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the men who’d be flirting with her. She wouldn’t be single long unless she wanted to be.
“For sure, Will. We’re hoping Jia will be back for that. If not, we can probably get a sitter.” My use of ‘we’ was calculated. Possessive. A total dick move. And I couldn’t bring myself to care that I’d overstepped when Rae slid me a relieved smile.
Will’s lip twitched. He nodded, eyes dancing, taking my answer with good grace and reminding me why I’d always liked him.
“Great,” he said easily, lifting his coffee tray. “Gotta get these back to the crew. See you both around.”
I took a long pull from my Coke, watching Rae as she picked at her last taco. Did I apologize?
Before I could get the words out, she said, “Thanks.”
“For what?” I asked, trying to sound oblivious.
She gave me a knowing look. “For helping me out of that gracefully. I like Will, but I’m not ready to date yet.”
“Oh.”
Could she hear the disappointment in my tone? It should have been victory. But all I could think was that her words excluded me too.
“We’ve got too much going on this summer with the kids,” she continued guilelessly. “I don’t have time for dating.”
“Right,” I said, taking another sip from my soda.
A beat later, a familiar woman slipped out of Harbor Brews with a tall iced tea, eyes lighting up when she saw me.
“Hey, stranger,” she said, lush lips tilted in a secret smile. “It’s been a while.”
It’d beenyears. Monica and I had ended our no-strings situationship when she hooked up with a rich off-islander who bought a house near Roche Harbor. While our arrangement had suited me, I’d wished her well with her new man.
Rae stiffened across from me, something about the rigidity in her shoulders communicating that she had a fair idea of what Monica and I had been to each other. Even if it ended ages ago.
“Not sure if you heard, but Rob and I broke up.” Monica’s lips dropped into a tiny pout. “You should call me sometime.”
“He’s busy this summer,” Rae blurted out, flushing guiltily.
I hid my smile, pleased I wasn’t the only one with a possessive streak. Maybe it was only her revenge for me overstepping with Will, but I couldn’t help hoping her shutting down Monica meant more.
“Rae and I have a lot going on at the moment. I’m going to be tied up for the foreseeable future.” I held Rae’s gaze. “With Rae and the kids.”
Monica lifted one tanned shoulder. “No worries. It’s nice running into you.” Her smile encompassed Rae. “See you both around.”
Rae shredded her napkin in record time, avoiding my gaze. When she’d reduced her last paper towel to a pile of rubble, I gathered up our plates and trash, feeling lighter than I had since Rae revealed the end of her relationship with Simon.
“Can I walk you back to work?” I asked.
Slowly, she nodded. “You don’t need to head back inside?” She tilted her head toward Harbor Brews.
“Nah. Isa has me covered for a while longer.” I grinned. “Besides, apparently, I don’t know the difference between navigation and engine parts. I need to brush up on my mechanical knowledge if I’m going to ask you intelligent questions about your workday.”
She snorted, shaking her head. “Fenwick, we’d have to walk a few hundredmilesbefore you’d have the vocabulary you need, not just a few hundred feet. Besides, it’s not like I can tell the difference between Robusta or Arabica. I don’t expect you to be an expert on boats.”
“Hmph. Well can I just walk with you because I want to, then?”
