Page 26 of Him Lessons

“What you think?” he asked, not bothering to turn around. He was well-used to Dylan’s quiet energy in the shop. And his discerning eye and straightforward criticism.

“Too fem for Joe.” Dylan leaned in to study the image more closely. “But it’s rad, brother. One of your best. Save it for some bad-ass Betty who deserves it.” He tagged Luke’s shoulder with his fist just as Mary poked her head into the shop. “Speaking of… what up, sis?”

“Andalise is here.”

Luke glanced at his watch. It was a quarter past ten, and his sister had only just called the woman forty minutes ago. “She got here fast.”

“Yeah, she’s a real go-getter. Now get your ass up, little brother. Store’s open, and I need someone to cashier.”

“Oh, so now you want me up front?”

Mary blew him a kiss, then disappeared back into the store.

Luke cast a questioning glance at his boy.

“Sorry, brah.” Dylan slapped him on the back before striding back to work on their most recent order. “Gotta adjust the rocker on this beast. Have fun out there.”

With a sigh, Luke grabbed his sketch pad and unfolded his long frame from the stool. Out front, there was the usual batch of early customers popping in for snacks and sunscreen. After ringing a handful of sales, Luke parked it in Mary’s seat to resume his design work. Before he’d even set pencil to paper, a snippet of the conversation going on behind him caught his ear.

“…handled shipping and receiving, stocking, special orders, scheduling, merchandising…”

Luke swiveled around to face the office behind the cashwrap. He and Dylan had fashioned a sliding door for it that was essentially an oversized white surfboard with the company’s sand dollar logo emblazoned on it in teal. Currently, said door had been cracked open just enough for his sister to air out the stench left by her previous interview. Which of course made it easier to listen in on the one she was conducting now.

Even over the whir of a desk fan, he could clearly make out the feminine drone of the voice coming from the office.

“…and I’ve worked all major inventories.”

Mary chuckled. “That’s an impressive list, Andalise.”

“I know. And you can call me Andy.”

“Is that with ayor ani?”

“With ay.”

Luke snorted. He had a feeling his sister’s latest applicant had just been mentally upvoted.

“Well,Andy, it certainly sounds like you’re qualified for the job,” Mary continued. “Now I only have one more question for you.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have any plans to visit Black’s anytime in, say, the next six to nine months?”

“Black’s? You mean that nudist beach in La Jolla?” Andy sounded confused. As though she had no idea why anyone would want to visit such a place nor why his sister would be asking her this.

Mary laughed again. “I meant tosurf. Do you plan on catching any of the bigger waves over there anytime soon?”

“Oh. Well, uh, no,” Andy mumbled, suddenly sounding a lot less confident than she had when she was prattling off her list of retail accomplishments. “To be perfectly candid with you… while I do have some experience selling surfboards, I don’t have nearly so much actually using them.”

Nearly so much.

Luke would lay money she’d never ridden a board in her life.

His sister must have sensed this too because Mary was quick to reassure her. “I appreciate your honesty, and to be perfectly candid withyou, I don’t consider that a drawback right now. I imagine it will make you far less likely to pull somePoint Break–type bullshit that lands you in the ER while I’m on maternity leave.”

“Yeah,” Andy said, sounding relieved. “I probably won’t even step foot on the beach while you’re on leave.”

The comment had Luke smirking, his mind wandering once again to the girl from the beach. The girl who’d finally dipped her ugly combat boots in the sand. Hell, even something about Andy’s voice reminded him of that feisty little blonde. Though Andy’s was certainly a lot friendlier.

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