Burned (2 page)

And very unlike him. He probably hadn’t really offered. It was probably that Max had made the request.

“That would be great,” I said, pushing myself away from the countertop again.

“Max will be home in a little bit. I think we’re going to the café for dinner. Do you want to come with?”

The Harmony Bay Café was within walking distance. The décor was questionable but the food was fabulous. I’d worked there for a few months when I’d first arrived. Mostly, I’d worked out of boredom. A few months ago, luck had totally been on my side. During a dinner with Max’s grandparents, I’d mentioned that I was interested in becoming a real estate agent. I had a little bit of experience in that field. My mom was an agent. The summer after high school, I’d been hired as a secretary at her agency to cover a maternity leave.

One thing led to another. Max’s grandparents knew someone who knew someone else that owned Grove City Realty. Within a week I’d turned in my apron and ordering pad. I now worked part-time answering the phones, helping out now that the busy season was upon them.

Eventually, I planned on getting my license but for now, I just wanted a better feel for the town and the people.

“That sounds good. I better get some packing done before we go,” I said as I moved across the kitchen.

Holly laughed at that. “I can’t believe you haven’t even started yet.”

“I don’t have to pack a lot. I left a lot of clothes at Mom’s.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth either.

She was satisfied with that answer. I left the kitchen, making my way down the short hallway that led to the two bedrooms. The spare bedroom, which I’d overtaken, was directly across from Max and Holly’s room. I went in, blowing out a sigh as I crossed the room to the closet.

My suitcases were tucked away in the back. I yanked the biggest one out and tossed it on the bed. I stared at it for a few moments, not moving. Then I tugged my hand through my hair and dropped down onto the edge of the bed, next to my luggage.

I was
such
a liar.

I was
not
going back to Chamberlain tomorrow. Not even for a visit.

The only question was how in the hell I was going to get out of it.

The Harmony Bay Café was a weird mish-mash of retro meets the beach. Retro came in the form of the black and white checkered tile and booths that consisted of a whole lot of chrome, covered in turquoise vinyl. The tabletops were white Formica speckled with an inlaid silver glittery look. The tribute to the beach came in the form of aqua-colored walls. Cutesy sea life stencils— jellyfish, starfish, sand dollars and anemones—created a border near the ceiling. A large fishing net hung from the ceiling in one corner. It held an overabundance of plush, stuffed sea animals. Last of all, a huge mural of sea life on the back wall coordinated nicely with the border.

Tourists loved this place.

So did the locals.

We had to wait a little bit before we were taken to a booth. Once seated, the service was fast. I didn’t recognize the guy waiting on our table. He had to have been hired just recently.

“Did you get everything wrapped up at work?” Holly asked Max after our food was placed in front of us.

“It’s as good as it’s going to get,” he said.

Most likely, he’d left everything in perfect order.

“I’m sure Villette and Charles are looking forward to you being gone,” I teased as I squirted some ketchup onto my cheeseburger. “It gives them an excuse to hang out at the winery all day.”

His grandparents were supposedly retired, but it seemed that they were always looking for an excuse to go back to work. They missed the winery and took every opportunity to encourage Max to take time off so they would have an excuse to be there.

“Probably,” he said with a laugh. He turned to Holly who was sitting next to him. “What do we have planned for the first night back?”

“Dani sent a text the other day. She and Felicia want to get together. They thought a girls night out would be fun. So if you want to make plans with Mike or see if any of your friends are around, that would be a good night to do that,” she said.

“Sure, that’ll work. I’ll see what Mike has going on,” he said before taking a bite of his burger.

“I don’t think we have definite plans though.” She swung her gaze to me. “Unless you’ve talked to them lately?”

Dani and Felicia were high school friends of ours. We’d all kind of drifted apart the past year. Time and distance tend to do that. Of course it didn’t help that I was actively avoiding Chamberlain and everyone who lived there.

I shook my head as I pulled a fry through my puddle of ketchup. I avoided looking at Holly, paying a great deal of attention to my meal. “Nope. I haven’t talked to either of them for awhile.”

“It’ll be really fun to see them again, won’t it?” she asked.

I stuffed my fries into my mouth and nodded so I wouldn’t have to fake cheery excitement. I wanted to change the subject to anything other than the impending trip. I glanced around the crowded café. The dinner rush was in full swing.

And Jake Thompson had just walked through the door. He was one of Max’s best friends from high school. He was a year old but it was a small town and they’d played football together. He was the perfect excuse for a topic change.

“Mmm,” I hummed. “Jake’s here.”

He was over six feet of male perfection. He was completely uninterested in me and that was just perfect too. I’d sworn off guys indefinitely and he made it easy to keep that vow. For now, I was perfectly happy with my self-imposed “look but don’t touch” policy.

Apparently Holly thought I was looking a little too much because she cleared her throat, demanding my attention.

“What?” I asked as I begrudgingly pulled my eyes from him. “He looks delicious. Like a hot fudge sundae with a cherry on top. Yummy.” She rolled her eyes at me, just like I knew she would. That’s what I got for being purposefully obnoxious. At least I had succeeded in redirecting the conversation.

Max cringed and immediately pulled his eyes away from Jake too. “I’m going to try really hard to forget I heard that.”

“Hey guys,” Jake said as he stopped at our table. “It’s kind of crowded in here tonight. Mind if I sit with you?”

Before I could answer he slid in, gently hip checking me over to the window.

“Have a seat,” I muttered.

He bumped my shoulder with his. “I knew you wouldn’t mind.” He reached over, intending to swipe some of my fries. I slapped his hand away, more than a little surprised by his brazenness.

“I will share my seat but I will not share my food,” I said as I held my hands protectively over the diminishing stack.

He shrugged good-naturedly and feeling secure, I reached for my cheeseburger. The moment both of my hands were preoccupied, his hand darted to my plate. He grabbed three fries and shoved them into his mouth.

“Hey!” I said around a mouthful of food.

He grinned at me as he chewed. I couldn’t even pretend to be mad. I didn’t know Jake well. But from what I’d seen of him, and the fact that he was Max’s best friend, I was led to believe he was a pretty decent guy.

Even if he was a fry thief.

“I’m starving and I haven’t even ordered yet,” he said, as if that gave him the right. “I’ll make it up to you. Get you a hot fudge sundae or something.”

“Oh, please, do that,” Holly said with a laugh. “Make sure she gets a cherry on top.”

Jake flagged over the waiter, placed his order and added four hot fudge sundaes to it.

“You’re in a good mood,” I said. He almost seemed playful. The Jake I barely knew didn’t do playful. Or fun. Or even sociable. He did aloof, standoffish and oh-so-serious. He even gave off this don’t look
or
touch vibe.

I knew this because during the short time I’d spent working at the café, Jake had been here a lot. As in an almost every night kind of a lot. He always chose the back, corner booth if it was available and unless he was with a study group, he always sat alone.

Not a real sociable guy, this Jake.

And he’d certainly never been playful or given off any type of flirty vibe whatsoever.

So the fact that his bare knee was resting against my bare knee felt like a bigger deal than it was. Because really, it was just a knee. So it wasn’t a big deal at all. Never mind that it was Jake. Jake, whom I may or may not have been safely crushing on from afar.

And who I may or may not now be crushing on up close, skin to skin. In the form of knee to knee. I cleared my throat, readjusting myself slightly to put some distance between us. I mentally rolled my eyes. It had obviously been w-a-a-a-a-y-y-y too long since my last date if I was getting all worked up over his damn knee.

Or maybe it was the scent of his cologne. That could definitely be the problem. I fought the urge to lean over and let the spicy scent wrap around me. Instead, I lifted my burger to my mouth, taking a big whiff of it before taking a bite. Very ladylike of me.

Holly noticed. She raised her eyebrows, clearing asking
What the hell?

Jake turned to me, either surprised by my earlier statement denoting his good mood, or by the fact that I was sniffing my burger. The fry stealing was probably the most interaction that had ever taken place between the two of us.

“Lanna’s right,” Max agreed. “What’s going on?”

He peeled his eyes from me. It was probably pretty easy to do. I probably looked disgusting with the big bite of burger in my mouth. He turned to Max and nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a good day. I just found out that I was accepted at McMillan and Sons, over in Grove City. I got the internship.”

“Congratulations,” I said, not sure exactly what that meant, just that it was obviously something he was happy about.

“Awesome,” Max echoed. “I was wondering if you’d heard back yet.”

He blew out a loud sigh, obviously relieved. “I was starting to get worried. I really need that internship.”

Max nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah,” he said, “I know you do. I’m glad things are finally working out. It’s about time something goes your way.”

I glanced at Holly, wondering if she knew what Max was saying between the lines. Things hadn’t been working out for Jake? What kind of things? Was that why he always seemed to be on edge?

She was no help. She was busy swirling a fry through her ranch dressing. No worries, I’d just quiz her later.

“Here you go.” Our waiter placed Jake’s double cheeseburger in front of him. He then slid four hot fudge sundaes our way.

“Thanks, Jake,” I said. “You really didn’t need to do that.”

Max and Holly echoed my thanks.

He shrugged. “Call it a mini-celebration.”

“So what is McMillan and Sons?” I asked.

He peeled back his bun and proceeded to drown his burger in ketchup.

“They’re a brokerage firm,” he explained. “The best in the area. They had nearly a hundred applicants. They only accepted two of us.”

“Wow, impressive,” I said with raised eyebrows.

To my surprise, he flushed slightly. Then he shrugged. “I got lucky.”

“I doubt that,” Max said. “You got it because you deserve it.”

“So when are you all heading out?” Jake asked. I got the distinct impression he wanted a change of subject.

I could add modest to the list of appealing characteristics this guy held.

Not that I was keeping track of them.

“Tomorrow after lunch,” Max answered.

“So you’re around tonight?” Jake asked and Max nodded. “Hey, we should go golfing.”

Max looked at Holly and Jake turned to me. “Do you golf?”

Me? Golf? Me do anything athletic?
Pfffttt
. “No.”

“I don’t either,” Holly chimed in. It was just one of the many things she and I had in common. “But you and Max should go.”

“Sounds good to me,” Max said.

We finished our meal and the guys took off.

Holly and I declined a ride from Jake. The café was within walking distance. As we neared the beach house, Holly gave me a nudge.

“You know, we could’ve gone with them,” she pointed out. “We could’ve made fools out of ourselves together. It would’ve been the perfect chance for you to get to know Jake a little better.”

I laughed at that. “I don’t think holding him and Max back from their game is a good idea. And I really don’t want him to see how uncoordinated I am.”

“
Ahhh
,” she said with a laugh. “I knew it.”

“Knew what?” I demanded as we turned into the driveway.

“You like him,” she said smugly. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t care if you made a fool of yourself golfing or not.”

I’d gone on a few dates since landing myself in Harmony Bay. But only a few. And I’d known at the start that they weren’t going to go anywhere. I had never been terribly interested in any of the guys I’d gone out with. But Jake? I could definitely be interested in him.

I shrugged. “He’s nice. What’s not to like?”

Her head bobbed in agreement. I waited for her to say more but she didn’t. I realized I was disappointed about that. I was curious about Jake. Maybe it had something to do with seeing the lighthearted side of him for a change. Or maybe it had to do with wanting to keep my mind off the airline ticket resting on my dresser. Either way, I wanted to know more.

“What do you know about him?” I asked as we bypassed the house and headed down to the beach.

I glanced at her as she bit her lip. The teasing look had disappeared. She was taking my question seriously. I could tell she was sifting through her knowledge of Jake, trying to come up with something to give me.

I already knew a little bit about him. I knew he’d been engaged. Max had shared that much. Obviously something like that was common knowledge, among the right people. I could see why, then, he would be aloof around girls. Getting out of a serious, long-term commitment was likely to do that to a guy. It was probably a good thing he was taking some time to himself and not jumping into another relationship.

“What do you want to know?” she finally asked. We dropped down onto the heavy, wooden beach chairs that were always left near the ocean’s edge. “You probably know almost as much as I do. Is there anything specific you were wondering?”

“Do you know what Max was talking about?” I asked Holly. “When he said that he was glad things were finally going Jake’s way?”

She shrugged. “Not really. I know that there’s been some big rift in his family. I’m not sure that’s what Max was talking about but I think it’s likely.”

“Family trouble? Like what?”

She shook her head. “Max has never gone into detail. I guess I never thought to ask. I do know he moved off his parents’ estate. I also know that he was supposed to intern at his dad’s firm. But that changed. That’s why he was really counting on the internship at McMillan and Sons. I heard him and Max talking once. Jake mentioned he didn’t know what he was going to do if it fell through. I do think that somehow, it all ties together with his fiancé calling off the wedding.”

I winced. “You make it sound like he got kicked out of his family. I can’t imagine what he could’ve done to deserve that. Not to mention,” I said as I reached down to sift some sand through my fingers, “what’s wrong with his fiancé?”