Page 9 of Embraced at Seaside
“You’re married. You got a woman to marry you, Clark. There had to be romance involved.” Didn’t there? From what Sky said, everything Sawyer did was romantic. Maybe he was asking the wrong guy.
“I don’t know. I guess I did some things.” Clark sounded mildly annoyed. “I brought her flowers a few times. Made reservations for dinner, stuff like that.”
Thinking of the flowers he’d picked from his yard earlier that morning, he said, “That’s romantic? Any jackass can do that.”
“But that’s what romance is. It’s doing stuff like that because you’re thinking about her and you want to see her smile, not doing crazy things like taking her to Paris to show off.” Clark turned in his chair and typed something into the computer. He spun the monitor so Hunter could see the wikiHow page How to Be Romantic. “Here, study this.”
Hunter skimmed the headers:Be Thoughtful, Be Creative, Keep Things Fresh, Keep Growing Together.
A picture of a gift was beneathBe Thoughtful. He thought of her panties and chuckled, then thought of the flowers.Done.
There was a picture of a dude playing a guitar and a woman hanging over his shoulder smiling.Yeah, that totally doesn’t equate to getting sex. Moving on…The next picture featured books with a note tucked between them, sporting lipstick marks.Jana has an incredible mouth. Now we’re getting somewhere.She could put those luscious lips anywhere she’d like on him, but putting them on paper would be a waste.Next…
The next picture showed a couple texting.Done.And a picture of a dude cleaning out a car.Not happening.
Be Creativelooked more interesting, with a picture of a couple lying in bed. The woman wore a red bra and panties as she rubbed the guy’s back. He was smiling. Well, Jana hadn’t rubbed his back, but she’d rubbed other things.Done.
More pictures of couples followed: reading together, drinking wine, holding balloons.Balloons?He skimmed over the next few images underKeeping Things Fresh: holding hands, shaving…He reached up and touched his whiskers.Really? Shaving?
He heard the front door open, and Grayson’s voice filled the lobby. “What on earth are you reading?”
Grayson’s face was freshly shaved, his thick hair neatly brushed.
“You shaved,” Hunter said.
“I also manscaped. Wanna see?” He pulled out the front of his pants. “Got a date tonight.”
“You shave for dates?” How did he not realize that before now?
“Sometimes. You think women like razor burn?” Grayson shook his head like Hunter was an idiot. Maybe he was. He’d never once shaved his face for a date. Manscaping, sure, but his face?
Grayson pointed to a picture on the computer under the headerKeep Growing Together. The picture showed a man lying on his back with his feet up in the air doing some crazy acrobatic position with the woman. Her butt balanced on his feet as she hung upside down, legs in a cheerleading pose he’d seen girls do way back when, hands flying out behind her…while they kissed.
What. The. Hell?
Grayson read the caption aloud. “Do activities that raise your adrenaline.” His eyes rose to the title of the article. “Seriously, dude? Whatareyou two doing?”
Clark held his hands up in surrender. “It’s all him, man, not me. I just got out of this crap.”
Grayson’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, about that. You and I have to talk. You can’t leave your wife and kid, Clark.”
“Agreed,” Hunter said emphatically, just as he had last night about a billion times.
Clark opened his mouth to respond and Hunter said, “Don’t even try,” as Grayson chimed in with, “Get over it.”
“Whatever. Neither of you are married,” Clark responded. “So don’t give me a hard time. Things are different once you get hitched and have a kid.”
“Yeah, it’s called owning up to your responsibilities,” Hunter said. “Why do you think I don’t have a girlfriend?”
“Because you don’t shave,” Grayson said with a laugh.
“Because you’re a male slut,” Clark added.
“Because I don’t want that responsibility. You think I want to be the person a woman relies on to listen to her and talk about girl stuff? Really, the thought of listening to drama turns my stomach, and sleeping with the same chick year after year? Man…” He shook his head, although he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a woman next to him besides Jana. Had they been hooking up for that long?
Grayson pointed to the picture on the monitor of the acrobatic, upside-down kiss. “If you’re doing stuff like this, I’m not sure you ever have to worry about getting married. Besides, if you’re trying to learn how to be romantic, you reallydoneed a lesson. Romance comes from the heart, not from an article.”
“How do you know?” Hunter asked.
