Out of left field, Joshua heard his mother’s words replay in his mind. “You need a partner.” He’d spent so much energy trying to avoid entanglements, he didn’t know how to proceed with what could possibly turn out to be the missing link in his life.
“So, can I tell you a little bit about myself?” he asked. “Maybe then you won’t hate me so much.”
“Who said I hated you? I simply don’t know you.”
Her voice was so kind, it threw him. He was used to accusatory tones, sharp claws defending themselves and their motives. Soft, truthful words were almost as foreign as a different language. Jenny was out of his league. She deserved someone more like herself, not a warlock who was jaded by the big cities and blue bloods.
“I…I assumed. I apologize. I just can’t seem to find the right words when I’m around you. I’m messing this all up—again. Wow, all right. Let’s do this, start from the very beginning. Hi, I’m Joshua.” He held out his hand. “I’m from Vermont, and Bill and I have been good friends since freshman year of college.”
He took in every movement she made, from her unsure gaze on his hand to the methodical and tentative motion it took for her to reach for it. Once their skin touched, they both jerked back as if they’d been jolted by a static shock. The sharp intake of her breath was audible in her small bedroom, enough so Gonzo glanced up and one of his ears lay back as if he was perturbed.
Joshua rubbed his left hand over the palm of his right. It still tingled where she’d touched him. She was holding her own hand over her heart. “So, I’m not crazy. You felt that too?”
Jenny shook her head, then nodded, but worry lines crossed her forehead, and he’d put them there.
Damn it, I can’t read her mind. Shit. Not crazy? Yeah, she felt it? Which is it, or is she agreeing to both? Ball up, dude.
His internal pep talk was a joke and absolutely hopeless. He was the man. It was his responsibility to ease her nerves around him, and he was doing the opposite. If he were in a different part of the country, he would have cut bait and said ciao. His manners were too ingrained for that kind of behavior this time.
Forget introductions.
“So, are you going on a trip? Or did you just get back?” Joshua asked the fake question. He knew the truth from what little intel he’d gathered while listening to the two women talk before. But it was a safe subject.
“No.”
Fuck a duck.
Her answer was quick and left no opening for more conversation. Strike two. He’d never been a quitter, though. “No, not leaving, or no, you didn’t just return? Do you like to travel?” She shrugged. “Do you have a favorite destination?” She kept silent, only shaking her head to answer. Something was definitely off, and he made a mental note to ask Lessy if she knew anything.
He went for a different approach. “Give me a beach and the sound of the waves any day. I could walk for miles along soft sand or sleep for hours in a hammock next to the waves in a light breeze. Perfection, I swear. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to browse little shops in Europe, or go to museums and see all the natural wonders of the world in person. But when it comes to finding utter peace, nothing beats a hidden beach only locals know about, the quiet and serenity—you’ll never want to leave.”
She’d focused on his face so intently, he’d kept talking almost in circles, feeling like he was repeating himself. But he didn’t want to lose the connection. She was absorbing everything he fed her about islands. “Do you mind?” He motioned to her bed, easing back to sit across from her. He inhaled deeply, memories of the ocean’s scent rushing to him. “There is nothing like the smell of salt water early in the morning, walking at dusk, or wading just ankle-deep in warm water after you’ve eaten a meal and you’re so full, you have to walk, because if you sat down, you’d never get up again. Kind of like a Thanksgiving food coma, but over and over again, every night you’re away.”
Her eyes lit up like diamonds shining in the sun. Her pink lips tipped up with a slight smile, and the worry lines across her forehead disappeared as she listened to each word he spoke. Joshua realized he’d never had someone so interested in what he was saying before. Of course, there was business, and that was different. But this woman sat only a few feet away from him, her attention solely on him, and yet he felt deep down she wanted nothing from him—except maybe more details.
Jenny wasn’t hinting at him whisking her away to such a beautiful place. She wasn’t suggesting he romance her, wine her, dine her, spoil her until she was bored of him.
“If you had to name somewhere off the top of your head you’d like to go, where would it be?” he asked.
The joy slipped away, taking every trace of happiness lining her face with it. She swallowed hard. Joshua scrambled for one of his top five beaches he could describe for her.
“Hawaii. I think maybe Oahu,” she replied.
Her answer was quiet, but it was a full sentence, not just a nod.
“You have great taste. It’s unreal there. All the islands are gorgeous, but that one has my heart.”
“What you said about being on a beach matches the pictures in the book from my dad’s house.”
Were they really going to engage in a full conversation? Joshua had never felt like he was so unprepared for anything in his life. She stood, walked to her dresser, and opened a bag. He tried not to watch her like a complete stalker, but when he recognized the book she was retrieving, it was as if they’d been put in this town to meet on purpose.
“I have that exact book back home in my office. I sell real estate, high-end real estate, all over the world. It’s sort of my job to find unique, exquisite, one-of-a-kind places that no one else will find the buyer once they’re there.”
“Like movie stars?” she asked.
She returned to her seat, placing the book on her lap as she asked him about celebrities. Her fingers delicately touched the cover of the book, treating it as if it were fragile sea glass.
It was Joshua’s turn to nod. “Sometimes, yes. Some are just plain loaded. Sounds kind of bad when I put it so bluntly, but I make a damn good living off of pleasing them. So if they’re so rich they want a house in each part of the world, I’ll make it happen.”
He’d gone too far. He’d slipped into being the man she’d first met at the diner, the one he was trying to show her was not the real him. “I’m sorry. That came out extremely…” He paused. “Rude.”
“Who am I to judge?”
A five-word question and one sweet voice with a hint of a smile to match.
“You’re so unlike anyone else I’ve ever met, Jenny.”
Lessy cleared her throat. “Jenny, I hate to interrupt, but the cupcakes you had cooling for Bo are ready to frost. Do you want to me to help you out?”
“Oh, crap on a cracker, I’ve got to get those done and get back to work. Fuck a duck.” She jumped from her spot, handed the book to him, and practically jogged out of her own room.
“Well, fuck a duck is right.” Joshua smiled to himself, then realized he’d been caught by Lessy.
“Told ya.” She waggled her brows at him and followed her friend down the hall back to the blissful smell of warm chocolate.