Page 103 of Banter & Blushes

I can’t help but grin sheepishly. The woman totally has my number, literally and metaphorically. All she has to do is smile, and I’m toast.

“That was my plan. Just need to make a stop at my car first.”

After I retrieve the small cooler and chairs I picked up for tonight, we head back toward the restaurant to a path that runs alongside to the beach beyond.

Mia seems startled when I take her hand in mine as we walk to the shore, but she holds onto me as if we’ve done this a thousand times before. Everything between us feels that way, as if we knew each other in another life or something.

I set up the chairs in the soft sand above the water’s edge so we can savor the sunset about to unfurl in saturated pinks and purples with steaks of iridescent blue. A seagull caws as it flies past, punctuating the rhythmic sound of the waves lapping the shore. I pull out a small platter of chocolate-covered fruits and a bottle of sparkling cider from the cooler, closing the lid so it serves as a table between our seats.

Mia tips the bottle toward her to look at the label and twitches a brow up.

It’s weird how I can almost read her thoughts. “I figured you’d probably prefer nonalcoholic since it’s a school night.”

“Good call.”

We sit in comfortable silence for a time, watching the sun dip lower. When I notice Mia’s not eating or drinking anymore, I brush her hand. “Let’s take a walk.”

Like me, she rolls her pants up above her knees and jumps up, but her slacks unfold and hit the sand, causing her to pout in the most adorable way.

I unroll my jeans. “There.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know.” I hold out my hand, and it feels like the Fourth of July when she slides her palm against mine.

The sun is about to kiss the water, and that’s all I want to do with Mia—kiss her. And hold more than her hair this time, too. But the niggling in my gut won’t let me until I come clean about my future.

As we reach the shoreline, I stop and take both her hands. “Mia, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“That sounds very serious,” she teases.

“It kind of is.”

“You have another girlfriend?” She’s joking, but I hear an edge in her voice.

I snicker. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here with you.”

“Great comeback.”

“Do I get bonus points?” I draw her closer because she’s so hard to resist, even with the truth about my team’s potential move sitting on my tongue like a sour grape. Her sweet floral scent weaves through me, leaving a permanent mark.

“Definitely. I have stickers in my bag, too, if that helps.” Mischief dances in her eyes, driving me crazy.

Her lips are there for the taking and I could, easily, but not until she knows what I’m facing and can decide if she wants to pursue something.

I take a deep breath. “There’s a chance they might move my team to another state.”

Her brows bunch over concerned eyes. “Who’s they?”

“The owner of the team.”

“She didn’t mention anything like that to my friend, Sophie, when she did the interview.”

“I think it’s still a secret. I only know because one of the guys overheard our GM talking to someone on the phone about it.”

The sparkle in her eyes dims. “So, you’re telling me this can only be a summer fling?”

And there it is, the third goal of my hat trick to win her heart—to convince her this isn’t just a brief flirtation. Something that would have been a lot easier if the situation with my team wasn’t looming over us.

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