Page 15 of A Real Good Bad Thing

A smile tipped her lips. “Yeah. I’m not sure I have the moves for a club.”

I’d bet she did. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that I was drawn to her, as much as I’d been drawn to her when she walked into the bar. And I didn’t deny the part of me that craved a little more time with her, especially after the way our first meeting had ended. “Can I walk you somewhere, Ariel?”

Her smile disappeared. She crossed her arms. “Actually you can answer a few questions.”

Well then. That was an abrupt turn. Someone, it seemed, had an agenda.

8

A VERY GOOD DRINK

Ruby

It wasn’t entirely true what I’d told him. Icoulddance.

I just needed a reason to explain why I hadn’t gone into the nightclub. I couldn’t very well say I hadn’t wanted to be caught scoping out my stepdad. My excuse was a good one, especially after Jake had scared the coconut lotion off me.

Not intentionally. But still.

Now that he was here though, maybe I could get some answers. I lifted my chin. “Was that a Mayday call earlier?”

It came out direct, a little tough. A woman protecting herself. Or trying to get to the bottom of something.

He knitted his brow. “What do you mean?”

“The phone call earlier that you got at the bar,” I said as I resumed walking. Standing and looking at his ridiculously handsome face made me feel a little vulnerable. I didn’t want to feel that way right then. “Was that yoursave mecall? Was it a girlfriend?”

Jake immediately pulled his phone from his pocket. “That was my sister. My little sister, Kylie.” He pulled up a shot of a twenty-ish girl who had his green eyes, his warm smile. “She needed my help.” A few taps and then he showed me the call list from a couple of hours ago with the name “Kylie” logged in the right timeframe.

Fine. As far as proof went, it wasn’t a hundred percent definitive and anyone could make things up, but this was pretty damn good.

Chagrined, I said, “Oh. I’m glad it was your sister.”

“She needs a tutor so she turned to me. She’s taking physics.”

“Well, physics is hard.” That was stating the obvious, but it lightened the mood.

“I have no idea how anyone can learn physics,” he said.

“Honestly, it’s kind of a miracle that anyone even knows what physics is if you think about it,” I said, a little playful once again, like we’d been at the bar.

“It is.” He swiped on his phone once more and showed me another photo. It was of him and his sister smiling, laughing, and licking ice cream near the water. The sweet photo ate away at my desire to be tough.

“That’s a nice shot,” I said.

“Thank you,” he replied. “It makes me smile whenever I look at it.”

I scanned the street ahead of us, the long stretch of this walk along the ocean back to my hotel. It was teeming with people. Women in sundresses and cute little shorts. Guys in board shorts and in Hawaiian shirts too, laughing, chatting, and savoring the warm night and the sea air.

What was the harm in walking with him after all?

I met his gaze again. “If your offer still applies, yes. You can walk me back to my hotel.”

“I would love to.”

A few paces in, I asked, “So what’s she like? Your sister?”

“She’s a hard worker. Very determined. She really wants to do well and I’m proud of her. But she’s a worrier. I’m just glad she turns to me for help when she does.”

---