Page 49 of Blame It on the Bikini
Suddenly, he stopped abruptly, pointing to a weathered shack with picnic tables on the edge of the sand near a sign for Chuck's Chili. "What's this place?"
"They serve hot dogs, burgers, and fries—all with chili," she said with a laugh.
"Is it good?"
"I like it, but it's not fancy."
"I don't want fancy. I want a chili burger and some chili fries," he said with enthusiasm, his blue eyes lighting up. "Let's go."
"I don't have my wallet."
"I've got mine," he said, patting his pants pocket. "It's on me."
"Are you sure you don't want to go to a nicer place?"
"You said it's good. You're not lying, are you?"
"No. It's good if you like chili."
"And I do." He pulled her across the sand to the restaurant.
They ordered at the counter, then filled their cups with sodas from the fountain and walked outside, grabbing an empty table that was aglow with the setting sun.
"Look at that sky," Grayson said. "All those colors. You should take a picture. Wait, you don't have your phone. Here, take mine."
She waved off the offer of his phone. "It's okay. I've taken a million photos of the sunset over this beach. I need to start getting to other beaches and taking other sunsets."
"We're going to Joshua Tree on Sunday. We should make sure we stay until sunset."
"That would be a good idea," she said, a little chill running down her arms as a gust blew in off the ocean.
His gaze narrowed. "Are you cold? Here, put this on." He pulled his coat off his shoulders to give it to her.
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You just shivered." He got up from the table and came around behind her, helping her put on his coat.
She had to admit she felt toasty warm now, not just from the coat, but from the scent of Grayson's cologne that clung to the fabric. "Thanks."
"That's better," he said, sitting down across from her. "You’re so pretty, Lexie."
She flushed, knowing it was one thing to let him talk about sunsets and seashells and another to let him talk about her.
"You make it hard to stay away from you," he added.
"Why do you want to stay away from me?"
He met her gaze. "Because I'll be leaving in two weeks. It's not enough time."
"Enough time for what?" She really needed to stop asking questions, but she couldn't seem to stop. Grayson was normally so guarded. She had to take the opportunity in front of her.
"You know what," he replied.
Her cheeks grew warm at the look in his eyes. "I—I don't know what to say."
"There's nothing to say or do. It is what it is." He looked more somber now. "I just wish we'd met somewhere else, under different circumstances."
"If that were the case, you probably wouldn't have looked at me twice."
