“What in the world—” the inhabitant muttered.
Cassidy cringed and looked up, wondering exactly who she’d just tangled herself with.
It was none other than—
“You,” she seethed. She tried to push herself away from him, but the sides of the hammock cradled them, causing their bodies to collide.
Ty.
Of course.
“Why do you look mad?” he muttered, drawing his face back away from hers. “You’re the one who just invaded my hammock.”
“I thought it was empty.”
“But it’s still not yours.”
“I thought they were public.”
“They’re not public. And just because I carved an ice cream cone for you doesn’t mean I’m ready to take our relationship to the next level.”
“Our relationship to the next level?” Cassidy nearly screeched. This man was infuriating.
Then she saw the sparkle in his eyes.
“Now, if you don’t mind.” He made a little walking motion with his fingers.
She couldn’t leave. Not yet. Which meant she needed to somehow buy time without raising Ty’s suspicions.
Before she could think of a good diversion tactic, she got a whiff of Ty’s cologne. It was . . . surprisingly nice. Woodsy and leathery. And his chest was surprisingly hard. Firm. Muscular.
Not that she cared.
“This is your way of socializing,” she said.
“I can socialize however I please.”
She glanced up. Just as she thought, the hammock surrounded her. But she could get a glimpse every now and then of people who were passing.
Had Larry and his family gone by?
His familiar voice filled her ears. No, he hadn’t gone by. In fact, he’d stopped to talk to someone about what fish were biting.
Wasn’t this just great?
“Why are you still lying here?” Ty asked. “This is really just meant for one person. Me.”
“Because . . . it’s hard to get up.” Lame, Cassidy. Lame.
“Well, that’s true.”
“Believe me, I would never lie here on purpose with someone like you.” She practically snorted.
“Like me?”
“Yeah, like I said earlier, I know your type. I’ve worked with them.” Oops. Had she just said that? Did it fit her cover?
He let out an amused chuckle. “I thought you said you were an interior designer.”
She swallowed hard and averted her gaze—because their faces were entirely too close. “I am.”
“And you worked with a lot of men?”
Dang it! How was she going to get out of this one? “That’s right. But they were . . .” Were what, Cassidy? “They were girlie men.”
His chuckle came again. “So you worked with girlie men who think they’re better than their female counterparts?”
She was digging herself into a hole and fast. She was usually much more guarded than this. But she had to be careful or Ty was going to see through her.
Cassidy cleared her throat. “It was an interesting workspace.”
“It sounds like it. And in Texas too? It sounds like you could have your own reality show. Watch out Chip and Joanna Gaines.”
She wanted to smack him. She really did.
Before she could say anything else, a noise caught her ear and she sighed. Not again. Not now.
“Your ice cream truck is calling you,” Ty said, amusement lining his eyes.
Why did that annoying music keeping playing out of nowhere? It was only causing more attention to be drawn to her—and that wasn’t going to work. She needed to turn it off—now!
Using Ty’s chest as leverage, Cassidy pushed herself up, ignoring the fact that Ty let out a groan.
She glanced around and saw that Larry and his family had joined a bonfire on the other side of the pier. This was the perfect time to slip away.
“Have fun out here,” she muttered.
“Oh, I will.”
She clumsily tried to climb out but tumbled onto the sand. She heard Ty’s chuckles behind her.
Loser.
She brushed the sand from her shorts and stormed toward her ultra-annoying ice cream truck.
“Cassidy!”
She kept walking.
“Cassidy!”
She stopped cold. Cassidy. That was her name. How could she have forgotten? She’d been so caught up with her thoughts that she’d lost her focus. She couldn’t let herself do that again.
She turned around and saw Skye walking toward her. “I was wondering where you went.”
“Long story,” Cassidy said.
“Were you just lying with Ty?” A wrinkle formed between Skye’s brows.
“Not on purpose.”
“I’m not really sure how you do that on accident.”
“One day, I’ll explain.” But would she? Or would Cassidy leave here one day without a word and without looking back? The thought was strangely unsettling.
Skye seemed to accept that explanation with a shrug. “I see. Ty’s an interesting guy.”
“Is he?” Surprisingly, Cassidy really wanted to hear her answer.
“He came home from the Middle East broken and battered, apparently. One of his knees was shot up, and he was honorably discharged. When he got back, he discovered his fiancée had left him and given away his dog to an animal shelter. She couldn’t handle the fact that her perfect military hero was no longer perfect.”
That made Cassidy stop in her tracks. “What?”
Skye nodded, a sad and disgusted look in her eyes. “I mean, that’s what I’ve heard. Ty doesn’t like to talk about it. He can be social, but he also thinks lounging in his hammock while people are around is being social.”
“I noticed.”
“He is pretty handsome, though, isn’t he? In a rugged kind of way.”
“I suppose some women might think so.” As Cassidy said the words, she remembered his scent. The feel of his chest beneath her. The twinkle in his eyes.
Guilt flooded her. Ryan was waiting for her back in Seattle. How could Cassidy even let herself think about any appealing—however slight they may be—aspects of Ty?
Besides, she couldn’t stand her neighbor, and he couldn’t stand her.
So those intriguing thoughts were really nothing. Nothing at all except for an odd flash of attraction.
Cassidy would not allow her thoughts to go anywhere beyond that because she was a faithful type of gal. She wasn’t going to let herself follow in her father’s footsteps. If there was one thing she hated, it was a cheater.
The music from her truck clashed with the gentle tones of the guitarist in the distance. As she caught a whiff of some crab cakes being sold, she suddenly felt hungry. Famished.
She just needed to turn her music off. Then maybe she could grab a bite to eat before disappearing—before Larry Blackwell found her. She tuned back in to Skye.
“Ty? He pretty much could date any of the single women around here. I mean, he’s the whole package. He’s not only handsome, but he’s kind and he looks out for others and he can even cook.”
“Really? He seems a little crude to me,” Cassidy finally said. That seemed safe enough.
“Why would you think that?”
Her mind went to their very first encounter. “His truck, for starters.”
“His truck?” Realization lit Skye’s face. “Oh, that truck. It’s not his.”
Her heartbeat slowed. “What do you mean?”
“Ty is helping his cousin fix up his truck, so they switched vehicles for a while. No, Ty would never own a truck like that. But his cousin Buck totally would.”
Cassidy squeezed her eyes shut for a minute. “You mean . . . those stickers on the back aren’t his?”
Skye snorted. “What? No. Of course not. Ty’s not like that. If anything, he’s the opposite of the messages those stickers represent. He’s a true gentleman.”
Calling him a true gentleman seemed like a bit of a stretch, but Cassidy did feel guilty about making assumptions. Wasn’t that what she’d fought against for her entire life? People making assumptions about her? And here she’d gone and let her emotions get the best of her.
“Are you and Ty . . . ?” Cassidy shouldn’t ask. She knew she shouldn’t. But she did anyway.
“Oh, no. He’s not over having his heart broken by Jacqueline yet. Besides, he’s totally not my type.”
Why did Cassidy feel a sense of satisfaction in her answer? It made no sense. “What’s your type?”
“The artsy kind of guy. Ty is a little too straitlaced for me. I like the painters and musicians and poets.”
Cassidy finally reached her ice cream truck, and she turned the music off. Again.
What was up with this truck? And why didn’t anyone want to tell her?
There was more than one thing in this town that was a mystery to her. And she was having a hard time letting it go.