Page 69 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

“It’s not all you do when you’re with me. You fed me and my dog the other night, and doofus just scratched the hell out of your father’s car. Who, by the way, is a great guy. I enjoyed my afternoon with him.”

“He must’ve enjoyed his day with you too. Bodhi told me to tell you he ordered four boards.”

“Really? Wow, that’s fantastic. That in itself earned you at least an hour of ranting time.” He motioned with his hand. “Don’t hold back.”

“I thought you had to work.”

“You’re right, I do. How do you feel about an omelet?” he asked, getting up from the couch. “I’ll cook and you can talk.”

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She followed him to the kitchen and took a seat on a barstool at the island. As he got eggs, cheese, cream, and ham out of the fridge, she told him about the he-said, she-said shower game and how she had totally bombed, and how not only had she failed miserably, but her last few answers had made it sound as if David was in love with her, but she wasn’t in love with him.

Luke turned with a yellow ceramic bowl in his hand, whisking together the eggs and cream. “It’s just a shower game. Anyone can have an off day.”

“I know, right?” She dragged her gaze from his biceps. The man had incredible arms. She cleared her throat. “They were ridiculous questions. Like what’s your favorite color and your favorite flavor of ice cream. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Lila, even I know your favorite color is purple and your favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla.”

“How did you know purple’s my favorite color?”

“Because you said so the other night when we were watching the sun set.” He turned away and placed the bowl by the stove, then bent over to pull out a frying pan from the cupboard. “Is that it?”

She shouldn’t be surprised he knew. Luke paid attention, and he was also a great listener. And it definitely shouldn’t be giving her the warm fuzzies that he did. Although the warm fuzzies might be because she was at that moment admiring the way he filled out his jeans.

“Lila?” He placed two plates and utensils on the island.

She looked up and met his gaze. “Sorry, I was just admiring your…stove.”

He rubbed his earlobe between his thumb and forefinger. Then he turned back to the stove, melting a large glob of butter in the pan. “So, was that it?”

“I wish. But no, it got worse. I knew what my family was thinking, and I got nervous about what was to come, and when I get nervous, I get sick to my stomach.”

“Okay, I see where this is going. You had another meltdown, and now your family knows you’re expecting.”

She nodded. “Pretty much.”

“That’s not a bad thing. The stress isn’t good for you or the baby. Maybe now everyone will back off. You don’t need this.”

She wished David were here right now listening to Luke. He could learn a thing or two. “There’s one problem. I didn’t stop there. Sage and Willow were trying to talk me out of marrying David because of that stupid quiz, so I told them I was pregnant, and when they still didn’t seem to get why I was marrying him, I told them what it had been like for me growing up.”

He turned with the pan in his hand, cutting the golden omelet down the middle with a spatula. It smelled incredible.

She held up her hand. “That looks and smells amazing, but I won’t be able to eat half. I ate a lot at the shower.”

He didn’t try to talk her into eating more, sliding a third onto her plate. She glanced over her shoulder. “Admiral’s nose is twitching.”

Luke smiled as he plated his part of the omelet. “Don’t worry, he won’t steal yours. The twins wore him out, and they also fed him half his treats when I had my back turned.”

He put the pan, bowl, and spatula in the sink and then came around the island, taking a seat on the barstool beside her. “What was it like for you growing up?”

She told him everything she’d said to her cousins. “The worst part was finding out my mother was listening at the door and heard everything.”

He winced. “That must’ve been hard for her to hear. You never said anything to your parents when you were growing up?”

“No, I didn’t want to hurt them.”

“I get that.” He nodded. “But in the end, it’s probably better that it came out. How did your mom and dad handle it?”

“They didn’t seem fazed by it at all, from what I saw. They were making out in the hot tub.”

---