Page 44 of The Rookie

Her smile is forced. “You don’t need me tagging along. You want some quiet time with your friends, don’t you?”

“I want you tagging along.”

She frowns. “I might have to work. Can I get back to you on that?”

I nod, but unease works its way through my body. Does she not like that restaurant? Or maybe getting dressed up isn’t her thing. Maybe she doesn’t have fancy clothes. Hell, she can go in her rubber boots for all I care.

“Ready?” she asks with a smile.

I nod and a few minutes later, we all have our backpacks on, and Charlie leads the way along the pathways, telling us how they’re privately owned on Nature Conservancy of Canada land. She definitely knows a lot about a lot of things. Heck, I’m just a farmer who is good at hockey.

We walk for a long time along the windy pathway, the ocean breeze keeping us cool. Charlie comes to an abrupt stop and since I’m behind her, I bang into her. “Sorry,” I say and slide my hand around her waist. Her entire body reacts, and my cock notices.

She turns and her cheeks are pink and I’m not entirely sure it’s from the hike. She puts her fingers to her lips, and points. She crouches and we all follow her down. “That’s Whipple Point,” she explains. “It’s a bird nesting area.”

As birds take flight, Jules’ face lights up and Charlie identifies all the different birds as they go overhead. “There are over one hundred and seventy species.”

“I wish I had binoculars,” Jules says just as Charlie unzips her backpack, reaches in and produces a pair. She hands them to Jules and for the next twenty minutes or so, we all take turns with them.

Charlie stands and brushes grass from her knees. “Follow me.” We hike a bit longer, and then we come to a big grassy clearing.

“Um…is that a sheep?” Jules asks and Charlie and I turn to find her pointing at a fluffy sheep. Jules looks totally perplexed. “How did a sheep get on this island?”

“That’s a South Down Babydoll.” Charlie grins as she explains. “Have you heard of hooking?”

“Hooking?” I glance around. “Like…Hooking? As in prostitutes?”

“Ohmigod, Wes,” Charlie says and whacks me. “Hooking, like in sheep wool hooking?” She glances at Jules and rolls her eyes. “Like I said, I’m older by maturity. Now come on, I want to introduce you to Victoria. She’s going to give you a hands-on experience with the process.”

I grin at Charlie, and like the ass I am, I put my mouth near her ear and tease, “When I get you back to the dome, I’m going to give you your very own hands-on experience.”

She bites her lip and I damn near come in my shorts.

14

Charlie

The bell over the door rings and I glance up, half expecting Wes to come sauntering in. We’ve been back from Brier Island for four days now, and not a day has gone by that I haven’t seen him, or hung out in some way. He’s always popping in, making excuses as to why he’s on the docks, but I think in my gut—and hope in my heart—it’s because he wants to see me. Because he enjoys my company as much as I enjoy his. Who knew, huh? Who knew the infamous NHL player and the lobster girl would hit it off so well? Then again, he’s really just a farm boy at heart, isn’t he?

The truth is, I’ve gotten in deep with the farm boy, deeper than I should have allowed myself, because when he leaves for Seattle, I’m afraid I’ll be going to Toronto with a hole in my chest and he’ll be on a plane with my heart in his hand. We haven’t spent a lot of time together, but we did spend quality time together, enough for me to realize just how amazing he is, and I have to admit, back in the day, despite the names he called me those few weeks during that hockey season, I always had a thing for Wes Hatfield.

A group of tourists come in and disappointment settles in my stomach. It’s late afternoon and he’s usually by long before now. My sister Jane comes from the backroom, and we ring in our customers. When the last person leaves through the door, I pull my phone from my back pocket and check my messages for the hundredth time. No matter how many times I read the messages from the two firms I interviewed at, they’re still the same. It’s been a few days now since I found out both firms want me, and both are awaiting a response.

As I tuck my phone back into my pocket, the sudden, desperate urge to divulge the information to Wes grips me hard. I’m not sure why I urgently need to tell him. Heck, I’ve been sitting on the news since we came back from Brier Island. I haven’t even told my family, and I’m not sure why, since I know they’re all waiting to hear, too. I tug my hat off and shake out my hair.

“Do you think you could close up for the day?” I ask my sister, as I remove my yellow gloves and drop them into an empty gray lobster bin.

Eyes that match mine twinkle. “Oh, off to see a hot hockey player?” she asks.

I roll my eyes at her and resist the urge to tell her he’s so much more than that. “I’m actually going to see Jules. I want to talk to her about the festival tomorrow.”

“Yeah, sure.”

I step out from behind the counter, my stupid heart beating a little faster as I try to walk, and not run, to the door.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Say hello to Wes for me,” Jane calls out.

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