Page 4 of Flirting with Sunshine

“What do you mean, you can’t? Oh, because you have no feelings? No heart inside that chest of yours?”

I knew she was teasing as she stared right where my heart used to be. She was right. I didn’t have one anymore, but admitting that to her would lead to a conversation I never planned on having.

“I can’t feel bad about how I earn a living. And you shouldn’t either.” It was a scolding she didn’t need, but I gave it to her anyway. “We’re a damn fishing community. This entire town exists because of it. Without this ocean, we’d all starve to death.”

It was a bit of an exaggeration, but there was also truth in what I’d said. Our jobs fed this town. There was a small market, of course, but if they went out of business tomorrow, we’d all live off the things we could grow and catch. Simple as that. This ocean sustained us.

“Well,” she started to argue, her voice rising, “you think I don’t know what we provide here? All I was saying was that I’m a woman. Killing things isn’t natural to me. We’re nurturers by nature.”

“So, you don’t feel bad about cooking the fish?” I glanced at her body, giving her a once-over from head to toe. The things I could do to her started flashing in my mind, and I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

“You already murder them for me. I have to do the dirty work myself when it comes to the lobsters.” She visibly winced, as if cooking them caused her visceral pain. And honestly, it probably did, knowing her.

“You know that lobsters don’t have brains, right? Brains are what allow us to process and feel pain.” I was actually trying to be helpful, but my tone betrayed me, sounding the exact opposite.

“I know all of this, Tony. But they still do this little tail-twitch thing. No matter what I do to minimize their discomfort and quicken the process.” She shuddered, her body jerking in response to the visual playing out in her mind.

“I think you might be in the wrong business, Ava.”

“I think you might be right.” She narrowed her eyes at me, and I wondered what I’d done.

If she quit and closed the restaurant, this town would never forgive me. I’d have to pack up and head out as quickly as I’d moved in, and I wouldn’t blame them one bit.

INFURIATING AND SO DAMN HOT

AVA

Tony Garcia was hands down the most frustrating man on the planet. Why was it so hard for him to have a normal conversation with me? Or to be actually kind whenever we spoke?

He hates me.That was the only logical explanation for his complete asshole behavior.

Then again, it wasn’t like I’d seen him be friendly to other women here in town. But I had seen him smile before. Never at me, of course, but at least I knew his mouth could make the movement. I shouldn’t be even remotely attracted to a man who wasn’t nice to me, but here I was… dying to kiss the guy and run my fingers down his muscular chest.

What is wrong with me?

I’d literally learned nothing from my past. A good-looking guy did not equal a quality one. And being attracted to someone was merely that—a mixture of chemicals, lust, and maybe some good old-fashioned loneliness thrown in for extra measure.

There was something else there between us too even if I couldn’t place it or give it a name. Something about Tony Garcia nagged at me, pulling and refusing to let go. It was like the universe didn’t want me to give up on him—that was how it felt.

The faint tan line around his ring finger, which seemed to fade a little more each time I saw him, let me know that he had a past with someone, and it must not have been that long ago. And the way he’d shown up here with nothing but his truck and his dog said a lot too. Tony was a man starting over. Or one running away. I wasn’t sure which, and I really wished I could stop caring what the correct answer was, but I was a curious creature.

I started heading toward the restaurant, lugging the heavy coolers, when I heard the pounding of feet running up behind me.

“Let me get those for you,” the voice said, and I knew it was Rory without even having to turn around.

Stopping, I let him take only one of them from my hands, his dirty-blond hair falling into his eyes.

“You don’t have to do that, but thank you.”

Rory and I had been friends forever. He used to be Liam’s best friend, had even been the best man at our wedding, but after everything that had happened between us, Rory had picked a side… and it wasn’t Liam’s. He was one of the few single guys in Port Rufton, and while I appreciated his friendship, I definitely didn’t have any of those kinds of feelings for him.

“You should just ask everyone to drop off your deliveries, like I do. You know they will,” he suggested.

I had thought about it briefly once, but my dad had never asked for special treatment, so I tried not to either.

I refused to swallow what little pride I had left and ask anyone for help or admit that I was still learning how to navigate certain details of running the shop on my own.

“I know. You guys are the best, but it’s okay. I just need to come up with a better way. At least during tourist season.”

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