Page 55 of A Winding Wave of Magic
I looked away first. When I turned back, he had turned his back while I tugged on my jeans under the towel.
“Sometimes my concern looks more like aggression.” The implied apology was toneless, like he’d made it countless times before. “I didn’t mean to imply that you are unable to make your own decisions.”
Now clothed, I walked back to the trunk to fold the towel on top of the wetsuit bin. Then I grabbed my sneakers and closed the hatchback before putting them on. Jonathan turned around.
“You really are a lawyer,” I told him. “That sounded about as genuine as aspartame. Maybe you should run for Congress too.”
His brow fell into a straight line, but almost immediately relaxed into something resembling contrition. “Iamsorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just worried.”
I sighed, unable to hold quite so tightly to my anger. “I know. I Saw it earlier.”
“And you were angry. I could See that too.”
We shared a long look, as if both of us were trying to figure out what that meant. Why, exactly, he seemed to sense the same things I did. Why my emotions appeared to shake move him when nothing else did.
Why Icaredabout what he thought of me too.
No, I decided.Not now.
“It doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here, though,” I said. “Still not stalking me?”
“The innkeepers recommended this beach as a nice walk in the area.” He glanced around. “I might have agreed with them until the end.”
“You know I don’t buy that, right?”
“I had some time to spare, so I came to see it. When they mentioned it…I felt drawn to it. It’s possible it was you that drew me here.” His large green eyes blinked earnestly when he removed his glasses to polish the lenses.
I swallowed. I had always been a sucker for a man with good eyewear. The fact that he also filled out his jeans better than anyone had a right to and could pull off a cable knit sweater under his coat—the same kind of sweater Gran knit—wasn’t hurting anything either. The wind had tousled his hair in that way that only seems to look good on men.
Mine, bound at the base of my neck, slicked black from the ocean, and dripping down my neck, probably made me look like a wet rat.
It was then I realized Jonathan was eyeing me with the same attention to detail.
“Selkie,” he whispered before he blinked out of his daze.
I shook my head “Selkie, is it? Maybe I don’t need to be so afraid of the seals, then, if I’m one of them. Though I can assure you this is my only skin, and I haven’t come to shore to enchant anyone.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” he mumbled.
I frowned. “What?”
Jonathan just trained his gaze on his feet.
I shoved my hands into my fleece and pulled it tight around me as the wind gusted through the trees. “So. Now that you’ve calmed down, would you mind telling me why you were freaking out so much? What’s with the seals?”
He looked back up in surprise. “Penny really never said anything?”
I tipped my head. “No, she did, but I always thought it was just a quirk. In the end, she just gave up and accepted that I needed to be in the water to be happy.”
“If she didn’t mind…I suppose I don’t either.” He didn’t sound convinced. “We can talk more tonight.”
“Fine.” I was freezing cold and done with chitchat, especially since getting this man to release information was like pulling tree stumps from the ground. I marched to the driver’s door and opened it. “I’ll see you tonight then.”
“Until then,” he confirmed.
I didn’t hear him. I was already driving away.
18
