Page 11 of Try Me

“Yeah.”

Neither of them made a move to leave. Neither one of them broke eye contact. The staring match between them stretched on, and Declan felt his heart pump faster as the seconds ticked past.

Finally Pearl blinked and looked down at her tray, then glanced up at him almost shyly. Declan felt his pulse spike as their eyes collided again.

“I know you probably don’t want to hang around with a bunch of nobodies,” she said. “But maybe, you’d like to come surfing with me and some friends tomorrow?”

She paused to take a breath, and Declan interrupted her. “Yes,” he said.

He was supposed to do an interview tomorrow, but he didn’t care. McKenna would be livid, but there was no way he was denying Pearl anything she asked of him. He still couldn’t figure out how he knew her, and more time with her was exactly what he needed.

“You at the Clairmont Hotel with the other surfers?” Pearl asked, already stepping away, already disappearing into the crowd.

“Yeah,” he said.

“I’ll pick you up at 9:00 a.m.,” she said. “We have plenty of boards, but bring your wet suit.”

Declan forced himself not to follow her. “Okay,” he said, trying to sound nonchalant even though his heart was pounding out of his chest.

He watched her until he couldn’t see her anymore, then he returned to the table to find Claudia. Guilt pricked his conscience. If something happened to her, he didn’t think she would handle it half as well as Pearl.

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