Page 8 of Nights at Seaside
He stood by the register, running his finger over Sky’s poetry book, and called into the back room, “Hello?”
He walked to the edge of the reception counter and called out again, admiring the iron railing to his right—the kind that belonged on the front porch of a 1970s-style house. It might look out of place anywhere else, but there were glass beads and tiny lights wound around the railing, giving it a festive glow and somehow making it fit right in with the eclectic little shop. The walls in the work area were painted pastel peach, accented with wine-colored molding. They were faded, as if they hadn’t been freshened up in decades.
He’d been so focused on not staring at Sky’s full lips and alluring eyes earlier that he’d failed to notice the incredibly detailed sculpture by her work area. A sturdy steel sculpture of the moon and stars sat atop a counter, with a metal vine wrapped around the moon leading up to the stars. It was a unique sculpture that reminded him of Sky. It was ethereal and beautiful.
Hanging from the ceiling were various wind chimes made of glass and wood. He’d also somehow missed the artsy screens with scarves hanging over the top in the back of the room. He wondered how many people undressed for their tattoos—which made him wonder about what body parts Sky had tattooed. The idea of her seeing guys undressed and tattooing them in private places made his gut twist.
He reached up and touched a glass chime, sending a soft serenade into the room, as hanging beads in a doorframe off to the left in the back of the store parted and Sky appeared. She flashed her gorgeous smile. She had changed from the outfit she’d had on earlier. His breath caught in his throat as he took in her oversized green shirt, which she wore open with a cream-colored shirt beneath that hugged her curves and stopped just short of her cutoffs—revealing a sliver of skin that made Sawyer’s mouth water. Her chunky amber necklace matched her knee-high suede boots, and as if that outfit alone wasn’t enough to send his body into a frenzy, she’d lined her seductive eyes with makeup, which gave her a dark and innocent appearance at once. It took all his efforts to resist taking her in his arms and kissing the innocence out of her right then and there.
He’d been with plenty of women, but never before had the mere sight of someone made his body simmer.
“Hi,” she said as she came to his side. “Sorry. I was just locking the back door.”
He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Hi. You look stunning.”
She glanced down at her outfit, wrinkling her nose adorably. “Really?”
“Stunning doesn’t even come close to what I really wanted to say. But I’m pretty sure that telling you those boots make your legs look a mile long, and those skimpy little shorts bring all sorts of titillating ideas to mind wouldn’t be appropriate on a first date.”
Where the devil did that come from?
Her cheeks flamed, and a sweet laugh escaped her lips. “Geez, Sawyer. Don’t feel like you need to hold back or anything.”
He scrubbed a hand down his face, hoping he hadn’t just messed up their date.
“I’m sorry, Sky. I never say stuff like that, and I don’t know where it came from. I’m really not a pig. Honestly. I just…You’re…” He shifted his eyes away, feeling like he was sixteen again and sticking his foot in his mouth at every turn. He did the only thing he could to save face. He blurted out the truth.
“Those things were true, but don’t worry, I’m not going to act on them.”
“Way to squash a girl’s hopes.” The playful look in her eyes told him she was only half kidding.
He reached for her hand. “We should go before I get any antsier and my mouth gives me away.”
“I kind of like your antsy mouth,” she said as they walked outside. She locked the door behind them and tucked her keys into her purse.
“I have a feeling it’s going to get me in trouble if I keep hanging out with you. I’m really not the kind of guy who thinks about sex all the time.”
“All guys think about sex all the time,” she said casually.
He laughed. “I’m not going to touch that comment. I’m sure I’ll only get myself in trouble.” He laced his fingers with hers, and they walked across Commercial Street toward the pier. It felt as natural to hold her hand as it had to blurt out his inappropriate thoughts, which was how Sawyer knew that Sky Lacroux was indeed very different from any woman he’d ever dated.
He was lucky she hadn’t slapped him and canceled their date on the spot.
Sky waved to a group of men and women standing at the entrance to a nightclub as they passed by.
“Hi, sugar. Have fun,” a tall man with long dark hair said, and blew her a kiss.
“We will,” she called over her shoulder, then turned to Sawyer. “That’s my friend Marcus.”
Good to know.“I could have picked you up at your place,” he said as they followed a group of people around the corner, past a pizza parlor, and across the road toward the parking lot. The scents of the sea swept over the pier.
“You kind of did,” she said as he unlocked the door to his old Land Rover.
“You live at the shop?” Sawyer remembered that Blue had mentioned her cat was upstairs.
“I have an apartment above the shop, but I’m renting from my friend Amy at Seaside in Wellfleet while Blue’s renovating the apartment and doing a few last-minute renovations to the shop.” She climbed into the truck.
He settled into the driver’s seat and drove out of the parking lot. “I wouldn’t have minded picking you up in Wellfleet. We’ll drive right past on the way to Brewster.”
