Chapter 6
“You ready to eat some real food?” Rad draped his arm over Lauren and gave her shoulder a squeeze after they had resumed their journey and strolled quite a while without speaking. She loved how he spoke when words were needed and shared her silence when they were not. Although she hadn’t been on many dates, she found men usually tried to fill every minute of dead space with their voices rather than being content to enjoy a quiet moment.
“By real food, do you mean popcorn?”
Rad chuckled. “No, I was thinking more along the lines of a sandwich or something.”
“Sounds good.” Lauren scanned the signs in front of them. “But I can’t leave here without some Fisher’s popcorn.”
“That’s a deal. There’s a place up ahead. Ever heard of it?”
Lauren studied the sign. “No, but looks good to me.”
After they sat at a table overlooking the Boardwalk and ordered their food, Rad leaned forward in his chair and put his arms on the table. “Okay. I have a confession to make.”
“Uh, oh.”
“Yeah.” He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket with a solemn expression on his face. “Remember when I told you I was completely unattached? That there were no females in my life?”
Lauren blinked as her heart did a flip. “Yes. I remember.”
He pulled out a picture and laid it on the table. “I lied.”
Is he really going to show me a picture of someone now? Just when I’m starting to like him? Seriously, God?
Her gaze drifted slowly down to the table, and then she smiled with relief.
“You have good taste. She’s beautiful.” She picked up the photo. “Purebred Shepherd?”
“Yep. That’s my girl, Tara.” He took the photo and put it back in his wallet. “I wanted to come clean in case anyone brings it up.”
“Like who?”
“The guys you meet tonight. They like ribbing me about my Tara.”
Lauren shook her head in exasperation as she took a sip of water. “Oh yeah. I almost forgot about the guys.” She glanced up at Rad and noticed he was studying her with a strange, guilty expression. “Looks like you might have something else you want to share with me.”
“Now that you mention it.” He smiled and leaned back just as the waitress brought their food.
Lauren waited until she left, and then leaned forward. “Out with it.”
“Okay, so I told the guys I would be bringing someone I ran into on the beach.”
“So? What’s wrong with that? It’s the truth.”
“Yes. I told the truth.” He took a sip of his drink. “But I may have insinuated I knew you longer than that.”
“Oh, you may have insinuated?” Lauren thought about that for a moment. “How strongly did you maybe insinuate?”
Rad had already begun to dig into his food as if his conscience was clear now that he had told her. “Pretty strongly, I reckon. They probably think we go way back.”
“And by way back, what exactly do you mean?”
“You know, like forever.” He shrugged. “I didn’t give an exact time.”
Lauren took a deep breath and rolled her eyes as she thought about it. Does it really matter? I’ll meet them, say goodbye, and then never see them again anyway.
She shook her head and picked up her fork. “I guess I’ll just have to go with it.”
“Yep. I knew you’d understand, babe.”
Lauren raised her gaze and expected to find Rad smiling at his joke, but he simply took another bite of his sandwich as if he had no idea he had just sent her head spinning again.
“Holy cow, I’m full.” Rad leaned back in his chair.
“Let’s walk on the beach a little instead of the Boardwalk. That’s more of a workout.”
“Lead the way.”
Lauren didn’t bother to argue. She knew it would be useless.
They both took off their flip-flops as they walked close enough to the breaking waves to let the foamy water surge across their toes.
Lauren finally broke the silence. “So, what’s your favorite song?”
“You’re going to try to analyze me by my song choice?”
“Just curious.” She cocked her head as she regarded him. “Trying to get to know you better.”
“Off the top of my head, I’ll say ‘Time in a Bottle.’ Jim Croce.”
“That’s interesting. I would have taken you for a rock and roll guy.”
“See? You are trying to analyze me.”
Lauren tried to remember the words to the song and sang a few lines. “Yeah, that’s a good one,” she admitted. “If you’re into sappy love songs.”
Rad kicked some water on her. “Love song, yes. But it’s really not that sappy.”
They both paused a moment and watched a large kite as it spiraled toward the beach and then rose into the air again.
“Your turn. Favorite song.”
“Don’t know what this says about me, but I’ll go with ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow.’”
“Seriously?”
“Can’t help it.” She gazed up at him, challenging him with her eyes to tease her.
“I get it—it’s the ‘dreams that you dare to dream,’ part. Right?”
She threw her hands in the air. “Of course. Dreams coming true. What could be better than that?”
“So, I take it The Wizard of Oz is your favorite movie, too?”
“I’ve probably seen it a few hundred times, so yes.”
“Hmmm. Definitely not sure what that says. That you like sparkly red shoes, maybe?”
“Now who’s trying to analyze whom?” She laughed. “Anyway, what it says is I believe the power to achieve lies within us. Poor Dorothy spends the whole movie looking for the wizard when, all along, she had the power to get back home.”
“Well, you gotta admit, the red shoes helped.”
“Oh my gosh. Stop with the red shoes.” She punched him good-naturedly in the arm. “Anyway, there’s another theme in there too—”
“There’s no place like home,” he finished for her.
“Exactly.” She nodded and stared out at the ocean. “And since Dorothy lived with an aunt and uncle, I think the message is that home is wherever you feel comfortable and loved.”
“Yeah, I get that. I’m kind of at home right now.”
Lauren raised her gaze to search his eyes for the meaning in his words, but he didn’t give her time analyze them.
“Anyway, not to change the subject, but I bet you have a pair.”
“Of what?”
“Red shoes. Heels.”
“Geez.” Lauren shook her head and gave up trying to get his mind off red shoes. “As a matter of fact, I wear them almost every day to work. They go perfectly with my short black skirt.”
“Umm. That’s what I figured.” He remained silent for a moment. “I could tell you were a bank executive or something, a take-charge person.”
Lauren suppressed the outburst of laughter that almost consumed her. “You nailed it. That’s me.”
They walked along in silence for a few moments, both perfectly comfortable in the quiet company of the other. Yet there was a subtle energy in the air neither one could deny, or on the other hand, outwardly admit.
“I hate to see it end,” Rad finally said.
“See what end?”
“Today.” He turned and glanced back at the sun lowering in the sky. “It feels like time is flying faster than usual.”
Lauren remembered watching the sun come up, seemingly only a few hours ago. “Yeah, it does.”
“Hey, there’s Pops and Annie.”
Lauren saw a man with salt and pepper hair helping a young woman put up a canopy. They were laughing, but it appeared things were not going smoothly.
“Hey, we’ll give you a hand.”
Rad grabbed one of the poles and Lauren grabbed another, and with all four lifting at once, the canopy maneuvered into place.
“Thanks for the help,” the woman said shyly. “We would have been at each other’s throats in another minute.” She gazed at Lauren with big, brown eyes that were full of friendliness, and stepped forward with her hand out. “I’m Annie.”
“Oh yeah, sorry,” Rad said. “Lauren, this is Annie, and that’s Pops.” Pops gave her a nod as he continued pounding stakes into the sand. Even though his hair had some gray in it, he didn’t appear any older than Rad. “They’re the old, married couple of the crew.”
“We’re not old!” Annie rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I swear, sometimes I think he needs someone to knock some sense into him.”
“Yes, I’ve thought the same thing.” Lauren gazed over her shoulder and gave him a sly smile.
“That’s just great.” Rad threw his hands in the air. “Two women ganging up on me already, and the party hasn’t even started.” He turned back toward Pops. “Where is everyone anyway?”
“They’re coming. Getting prettied up, I reckon.”
Rad rolled his eyes. “That could take a while.”
“Actually, that sounds like a good idea,” Lauren said. “I need to change into a pair of jeans at least.”
Annie talked while setting up chairs under the canopy. “Yes, the mosquitoes get bad at night, and it’s supposed to cool down later.”
Before Lauren had time to say anything else, a group of men came into view. A couple of them lugged coolers, others carried a lawn chair in each hand, and at least one carted a case of beer on his shoulder.
“Looks like the gang’s arriving.” Annie stood with her hands on her hips, eying the boisterous group, then turned her head toward Lauren. “I hope you aren’t offended by foul language and bad jokes.”
“She can take it.” Rad came up behind her and put his arm around her waist possessively while leading her toward the men.
“Hey guys, this is Lauren.”
Lauren noticed a slight pause as they all surveyed her, as if they were taken somewhat by surprise, but then they smiled and nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
All but one, that is. He put his cooler down inside the canopy and then strode up to her, looked her straight in the eye and said, “What in the hell is a good-looking dame like you doing with him?”
Rad shook his head. “This is Wynn, Lauren. Do your best to ignore him.”
Lauren laughed and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Wynn.”
He winked at her to let her know he was kidding, and then went back to the cooler and grabbed two beers. “Ready for a cold one, Miss Lauren?”
“Sure.” She watched Wynn twist the top and hand her the bottle. He wasn’t quite as tall as Rad but was just as broad shouldered. His hair was dark, and even with at least a week’s worth of facial hair, he was still incredibly handsome.
“Guess I have to get my own.” Rad reached into the cooler, shaking his head.
“Yeah, I’m not waiting on you, bro. You’re on your own.”
“Where’s your better half anyway?” Rad straightened and twisted the cap before taking a quick sip. “She leave you before the wedding?”
“No, she didn’t leave me.” Wynn shook his head. “She stopped to buy something on the Boardwalk. You know how women are.”
Another one of the guys walked up and nudged Rad. “Wondered where you’ve been all day.” He glanced over at Lauren and gave her a big smile. “It just wasn’t the same without Rad around.”
“Yeah, right.” Rad slapped the man on the back. “You probably didn’t even notice I was gone until just now.”
“Someone say there’s cold beer in here?” Another one of the men strolled up to the canopy.
Rad turned toward Lauren. “That’s Bipp on the left and Reese looking for beer. And stumbling up the beach, that’s Tork and Crockett.”
Lauren tried to memorize the names and features. Bipp was a little shorter and huskier than the others but still athletic looking. Reese had a couple of tattoos on his arm and was as big as a bear. Tork and Crockett were shorter, but lithe and trim.
She couldn’t help analyzing them because it wasn’t hard to see they were all Alpha males. Probably all cops—maybe even specialized SWAT.
“Uh oh,” Reese said as he lifted his gaze from the cooler. He locked eyes with Rad who stood right beside Lauren. “Trouble at your four o’clock.”
Lauren automatically turned her head over her shoulder to the right, as did Rad, and saw two young women wearing very short shorts carrying a cooler between them, struggling to walk through the sand.
“You said you wanted to go change. Right?” He started to lead Lauren away.
“Hey, Rad!” The girls set the cooler down with a loud thud, and one of them ran over to Rad. “Where have you been all day?” She threw her arms around him, though he didn’t exactly return the gesture.
“Jackie, I’d like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Lauren.”
Jackie turned around slowly and studied Lauren as if noticing her for the first time. “Nice to meet you.” Despite her words, there was no mistaking the animosity in her gaze as she perused Lauren from head to toe.
Lauren nodded and forced a smile. “Same here.” She sensed a history between this girl and Rad, and a feeling almost like jealousy crept up her spine. She scolded herself instantly. So what if Jackie was an old girlfriend?
“And that’s Jasmine.” Rad nodded toward the other girl, who had taken a beer out of the cooler and was already chugging it down.
“We’ll be right back.” Rad took Lauren’s arm and led her away. “Going to change clothes,” he said over his shoulder to Annie.
When he took her hand this time, it was with a tight clasp that afforded no refusal.
“You seem to be in a hurry all of a sudden.”
“Just want you to get into some warm jeans,” he answered curtly.
Lauren could tell he was lying. “That’s nice of you.”
As if sensing her sarcasm, Rad relaxed his grip, and by the time they made their way through the sand to the Boardwalk, he was acting normally again. “Your hotel’s right down there, right?”
“Yeah, about two blocks. I think I can make it.” Lauren grinned playfully, glad he was back to his old happy-go-lucky self.
“You sure?”
“I’ll meet you here in thirty minutes.”
Rad studied her a moment as if testing the truth. “Okay. What time you got?” He looked at his watch.
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Really? We’re going to synchronize our watches?” She glanced down at her phone. “See you at 1730.”
“Okay. Don’t be late.”
Lauren turned but could still feel his gaze on her. She wondered what he would do if she didn’t show up in thirty minutes. She began to hurry.
Back in her hotel room, she hopped in the shower to rinse off, and then threw on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. After running the hair dryer over her hair, she pulled it back into a loose ponytail and left the ball cap behind. With time running out, she applied a little mascara and some lip gloss and still had a few minutes to walk the two blocks back to where she was supposed to meet Rad.