Page 49 of Love At The Shore
“Kids are like parrots,” Maureen said in her teacher-of-the-year voice. “They’ll repeat everything you say.”
Ian nodded. “Oh, yeah.”
“He must have taken it out of context,” Jenna said, but she stumbled over her words.
“It’s not a big deal. Hey, I would’ve assumed I was unemployed too.” He raised an eyebrow and she laughed.
She also did her best to ignore Maureen and Ian’s curious glances. Not an easy task when the two of them were clearly under the impression Lucas was flirting with her.
Was he flirting with her?
“You’re funny,” she said.
Lucas’s smile faded, replaced with an earnestness that made Jenna’s heart skip a beat. “How’s that?”
“I don’t know. I just can’t figure you out.” There, she’d admitted it. Everything she thought she knew about Lucas was wrong. She wasn’t sure what to think anymore, except that she might actually like him. A lot.
He shrugged one shoulder. “What can I say? I’m full of surprises.”
Then his gaze fixed with hers for a long, breathless moment, and Jenna forgot all about her noise complaints and Tank jumping in the middle of her manuscript and Lucas’s lack of houseplants. She even forgot about the nagging reality of her book deadline. Every bit of her awareness was centered on Lucas’s dark eyes and how very alive she felt when he looked at her like that—like he really saw her. Not just as a mom or an author or an obsessive control-freak of a neighbor, but as a woman. No one had looked at her that way in a very long time.
Lucas was full of surprises indeed.
And they kept on coming. After they’d listened to the band for a while and eaten a few of Maureen’s legendary pimento cheese sandwiches, Lucas joined Nick, Ally and Grayson for a game of catch. He tossed the ball with the kids while Tank leapt in the air, trying his hardest to get a bite out of the football.
Jenna kept trying to remember how she’d come to believe that he didn’t like children. He was a natural. She felt like she’d been spending the past few weeks with her head buried in Tybee’s fine white sand.
“See. He’s not such a bad guy once you get to know him,” Kayla said as she stepped beside Jenna in line for ice cream at one of the food trucks lining the park.
“Oh, hi.” Jenna looked away from Lucas, but apparently it was too late. She’d already been caught watching him play with the kids. “No, I didn’t think he was a bad guy.”
Did the entire island know about the fence? Terrific.
“No?” Kayla’s forehead creased. She’ddefinitelyheard about the fence.
“Okay, I wasn’t a huge fan at first. But he’s been really amazing to my kids, so there you go.” Across the grassy field, Tank yipped and ran circles around Lucas as he caught a wobbly toss from Nick. Jenna cleared her throat. “I actually thought you two were together.”
“Please. I’m so not his type.” Kayla let out a laugh. “And he’s not mine.”
“Really? Because I think you’re everybody’s type.” Kayla was lovely. And kind. And young. Sometimes Jenna felt one hundred years old around her.
Maybe it was the cardigan.
But Jenna liked her cardigan. Just like she enjoyed staying home with a good book or playing board games with her kids. It was simply who she was.
“We’re just good friends.” Kayla shook her head.
“That’s good. I mean, either way would’ve been good. But…”Stop talking. If she kept stammering like this, Maureen wouldn’t be the only one who thought she had a crush on her neighbor. “…good.”
Kayla started to say something, but before she could get it out, the ice cream guy asked for her order. They’d reached the front of the line.
“Can I get the lemon sherbet, please?” Kayla said.
Jenna breathed a sigh of relief. Talking to Kayla about Lucas made her profoundly uncomfortable.
But Kayla wasn’t finished. She turned back to Jenna while she waited for her order. “Can I just give you a friendly warning?”
“That sounds ominous.”
