“Exactly.” Jacen seemed to understand that something wasn’t adding up. He put his hand on Mireille’s shoulder and smiled at me. “Well, sorry to interrupt your dinner. The food was great here. Maybe we’ll see you around?” The last question was definitely directed at me and I noticed that Blake hadn’t missed that fact.

“That would be cool.” I smiled at them, completely torn about them leaving. They needed to go. I couldn’t talk to them in front of Blake. But what if I never saw them again?

“But, we just—”

“C’mon! I promised you a night swim, remember?” Jacen cut off Mireille. Looping an arm around her neck, he steered them back toward the building. He smiled at us over her shoulder as I watched them walk away.

“That was…” Blake shook his head.

“Weird. Awkward. Incredibly uncomfortable.” I knew my eyes were big, but I hoped I didn’t look as freaked out as I felt.

“All appropriate descriptions.” Blake narrowed his eyes. “You’re sure you don’t know them? Maybe you’re in some club with them and don’t realize it?”

“Club?” I laughed. “What kind of club?”

“Save the Porpoises? You guys get together and make posters to send to China and Japan, maybe?” I kept my face expressionless and just stared at him until he started to squirm. “You know, because of the swim thing? And you love dolphins so much. It makes sense.”

I couldn’t help it. Watching him squirm was fun, but I couldn’t keep from laughing when he looked away and cursed under his breath.

“Smooth, Weathering. Very smooth.” I giggled when he pursed his lips and glared at me.

Grabbing my hand, he tugged me out of my chair. He laid two fifties on the table, even though I knew it hadn’t cost that much, and waited for me to put my purse over my shoulder. We retrieved the helmets and went back to his bike. He plucked the helmet from my hands and brushed the hair away from my face. Slowly, he slid the helmet on and buckled the strap. His fingers lifted my chin so that I was looking up at him.

“We know a little more about each other now. And I’ve been dying to do this since I first saw you.” His voice was hushed as he stared into my eyes. “Tes lèvres sont irresistibles.” The lull of the French words made my head spin. Very slowly, so that I would have time to object, he lowered his head.

His lips were like a caress as he brushed them across mine: slow and soft. He lingered, inhaling in deeply as if he couldn’t breathe without me. Eventually, he moved on to plant a tender kiss on my bottom lip, before pulling back and looking at me. His cocky grin was gone, replaced with something tender and nervous. His thumb ran over my lip once, before he let go, and smiled.

“It’s getting late, but I want to take you to one more place.”

At that moment, he could have taken me anywhere. I nodded and waited for him to mount the motorcycle. When he was ready, I climbed on behind him and held on as we maneuvered out of the parking lot. He headed back toward my house, but stopped in a small lot off the side of a long curvy road. Taking my helmet, he led me through some brush to a trail that ran down to a beach.

After a moment, we came across a small stone bench and put our helmets down before he took my right hand in his. We navigated down the trail, the crash of the waves, soothing to my soul. Despite the fact that it was getting late, my skin didn’t hurt as much as it usually did.

Once we hit the sand, we kicked off our shoes and started walking. We didn’t go far, just until we hit the water and the warm waves lapped at our ankles. I looked up at the cloudless sky and stared at the sparkling stars. It was a beautiful beach, quiet, and serene. There were no drunken tourists milling about and you couldn’t see the tall cruise ships that docked downtown. All I could hear was the sound of the water and the beating of my heart.

“This is my favorite place.” Blake’s thumb ran up and down my hand. “I come here when I have projects I need to think about, or when I just need to be alone.”

“It’s beautiful.” I looked up into his eyes, watching the twinkle of the stars reflected there.

“My mother gave it to me for my birthday last year.” He looked down at me and smiled. “We used to come here all of the time before she left. I didn’t even know that it was up for sale when I got the deed in the mail.”

“That must’ve been a great surprise.” I wondered why he had brought me here. It seemed like a very private place for him.

“It was.” He looked away from me and out at the water. “I’m going to miss it when I’m gone.”

My throat closed up as I was hit with panic. I knew he was planning on leaving. I knew that this was going to be a short-lived whatever, but it hurt to think that this time was all I was going to get with him. I swallowed and looked down at my feet. I was overreacting, the feeling too intense for me to understand.

“Is that why you brought me here?” I finally looked up at him and felt my face stiffen. “To remind me that you’re leaving?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted to share something important to me with you.” He looked down at me, his hair falling over his eyes.

“This was your idea, Blake. If you are worried I’m going to get too attached, don’t.” My words were harsh, but they were more for myself than for him. I didn’t like the feeling that I was experiencing. It was lonely and painful. Everyone was leaving and I would be stuck on the island doing what I always did.

He sucked in a deep breath and I wondered if I had hurt him with my words. “I want to enjoy my time with you, but I also want to be upfront and honest. I plan on leaving.”

“Why? What’s so wrong with the islands?” His hands ran up and down my arms in a soothing motion and I wondered if he was trying to calm me or himself.

“I can’t stay here.” He lowered his voice. “There are too many expectations and obligations. I can’t be myself here.”

“I can’t imagine you letting anyone tell you who you can and can’t be.” I stepped closer to him. There was something agonizing in his expression and I wanted to help make it better.

He just snorted and looked away from me. “You haven’t met my father.”

“Is that why your mom moved away? Why didn’t they just divorce?”

“I don’t want to talk about that.” He ran a hand through his hair and looked back down at me.

“I thought we were getting to know each other better.”

“We don’t have to know some things. Some things don’t matter when it comes to us.” He tugged me closer to him, but I stayed firm. My heart had kicked pretty hard when referred to us as a unit, but there was a great deal of bitterness in his words, too.

“I don’t do things halfway, Blake.” I knew it would cause trouble, but I asked anyway. “Why did you beat up that guy?”

“You don’t need to know.” His eyes grew hard the way they had the last time I asked. “He deserved it, though. Trust me.”

“How can I trust you if you won’t be open with me?” My heart was giving painful little jerks. Our date had started out perfectly. I hated seeing it turn downhill.

“How can you hold your breath for so long? I’ve been watching Meena.” His eyebrows pulled together. “And you’re nails are blue. No nail polish in the world looks like that.”

“I…I don’t know what you mean.” The panic I had felt earlier swooped in, but for an entirely different reason. “I think you should take me home.”

“Meena…” He trailed off and took a step closer. “I don’t want to end things like this tonight. I’ve had a really good time.”

“Me too.” I bit my lip. “But I really do need to go home. We have to be up early.”

He looked at me and nodded his head. “Okay.”

We picked up our shoes and headed for the motorcycle. He didn’t take my hand again and I wondered if that was for the best. My heart hated it, but my mind was scared.

Chapter Twelve

- Blake -

Last night had been perfect. Until I fucked it all up. I sat on my motorcycle in front of Flukes with my helmet in my lap and looked up at Meenas’ window. I hadn’t meant to bring anything up last night, hadn’t meant to push her away. Hell, we weren’t even in a relationship and yet, we were in a way. She was different. So different from the other girls I had dated. Down to Earth, sensible, but gorgeous. And that kiss… it had made me think about skipping the beach and taking her straight back to my bed. But she wasn’t the kind of girl you screw real quick. Meena was meant to be savored, and I didn’t have much time to do that.

I ran my hands over the grips of my handlebars and frowned. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to touch her again last night. I didn’t know what I would have done had she pushed me away, but I knew it would have hurt like hell. Shit. She probably hated me at this point. I’d asked about her nails, and it was probably something like a blood disease, or something from before she was adopted. No wonder she hadn’t wanted to tell me. She had to hate me. I saw Ben open the front door and head down to the tool shed, so I swung my leg over the bike and went to join him.

“Morning.” I leaned against the wall of the shed. “Do you need help out here today?” Shit. That sounded like a cop out.

“Are you done with the logo already?” Ben looked at me, his face confused.

“Not yet.” I looked down at the helmet in my hands, hoping my expression didn’t give me away.

“Something go wrong last night?” Ben crossed his arms over his chest.

“No… I don’t know. I’m not staying long, you know?” I shrugged and ran a hand over the back of my neck. I was already sweating and it was barely eight in the morning.

“Meena doesn’t trust very easily.” Ben sighed. “And she has good reason. But she’s worth the trouble. And I’m not just saying that because I’m her dad. She’s a great girl, so don’t yank her around.”

“She is.” I’d have to be blind and deaf to not know Meena was great.

“Then man-up.” Ben turned away from me and I shook my head. “I want that logo tonight. It will take a week or more to order everything we need.”

“Yes, sir.” I took the steps up to the house two at a time and knocked on the door after kicking my shoes off.

“Come in!” Marion’s voice called, so I opened the door and set my laptop and helmet down on the table. The house smelled delicious, bacon and waffles were piled on the counter. “Grab some!”

“You’re spoiling me.” I sat down at the kitchen bar and filled my plate.

She set a glass of orange juice down in front of me and smiled. “I like spoiling people.”

“Is Meena up?” I didn’t hear anyone else in the house.

“She’s already gone down to see Mitch. I think Ben is having the crews powerwash and paint some of the buildings, and she didn’t want any chemicals to run in the pools.

“I should go help her then.” I downed the orange juice and snagged one more piece of bacon before heading out.

I found her at the fish shack, filling up a bucket. She gave me a small smile when she saw me, but I could tell there was something bothering her. If I could dropkick myself, I would have right then. Her hair was loose today, hanging down her back in soft waves that made my hands itch with the need to touch them. Her little shorts were in place, but she was wearing a large t-shirt instead of a sexy tank-top. It wasn’t that it didn’t still look good on her, but I recognized it for what it was. A sign that she wasn’t playing anymore. No more teasing or daring.

“Hey.” I took the bucket out of her hand and let her walk in front of me.

“Thanks.” She didn’t say anything else, just went straight to the dolphins and hopped down onto the platform.

We fed the dolphins and Meena checked on Jallia. I didn’t know how she was so certain about whether or not the mother was going to give birth any time soon. Her hands ran over the dolphin’s belly and she made soothing sounds. She looked like a water goddess in that moment. There were flecks of water on her cheeks and the sun shimmered in her eyes. When she sent them off to play, we sat there for a while, watching. The rocking of the platform was a soothing contrast to the nervous energy in my gut.

“I think we should stick to being friends.” Meena didn’t look at me and I caught a tremor in her words.

“Why?” I wanted to grab her and make her look at me. I didn’t want to be friends. I wanted her in my arms, telling me her secrets, tangled in the sheets of my bed. Every day. Every night.

“Everyone’s leaving. Violets leaves tomorrow and if we start something now, it’s just going to hurt when you go too.” She looked at me, her lips pressed in a hard line. “I don’t want to feel like the one left behind.”

“It wouldn’t be like that.” I turned toward her and reached for her hand. As my fingers traced over hers I thought I saw something white drawn on her wrist, but when I looked closer there was nothing there. It must’ve been a trick of the light. “I don’t want you to hurt.”

“I… I like you.” She frowned. “And if we get any closer it’s going to hurt. There’s no way around it. So it’s better this way.” She pulled on her hand gently and I let go.

“I don’t want to just be friends.” I watched as she swallowed. Her eyes were already so sad I wanted to punch myself.

“Then there is nothing else.” She stood up and wiped at her shorts. “We’ll work together for Dad, but that’s it.”

“Fine.” I stood up and fought the urge to grab her and kiss the pain away. “We’ll be friends. But it’s going to be hard.” I had to be around her some way and if this was all I was going to get, I’d be stupid to throw it away.

She nodded her head and climbed back up the ladder. I followed her to the house and we worked on the logo. She picked a teal, but I didn’t think it was quite right. I selected a lighter one but didn’t tell her it was because it matched her eyes. After getting the approval from her dad, she worked on ordering shirts from a local business while I worked on designing a website and flyers.

She leaned over my shoulder to see what I had come up with and I had to fight to not turn my face and bury it in her neck. My fingers cramped on the keyboard and I concentrated on straightening them from the clenched position they had been in.