Page 43 of Love At The Shore
Warmth coursed through her. It had been a long time since Nick had felt good about his swimming. Not making the team last year had crushed him.
“I’m glad, bud. I am. It’s just…” Why hadn’t he told her Lucas was helping him?
She swallowed. She knew exactly why he’d kept it a secret. This was all her fault.
Nick gazed up at her. “I’m sorry.”
She wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. “Let’s get your sister. We can talk about this more when we’re home. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Jenna looked over the top of Nick’s head, toward Ally leaning against the snack counter and chatting with her camp friends. “Come on, Ally. Let’s go.”
Ally waved goodbye to the other kids and hurried toward the bleachers.
“Grab your stuff, okay?” Jenna said.
While Nick and Ally gathered their things, she couldn’t help noticing that Lucas was still sitting on other side of the pool—watching, waiting, although Jenna wasn’t sure what for.
All she knew was that she had the sudden feeling that maybe there was more to the surfer next door than she wanted to admit.
Lucas knew he’d screwed up.
He’d known all along that keeping the swim lessons from Jenna was a mistake, just like he’d known that he wasn’t exactly her favorite person. But he’d underestimated exactly how much she’d disliked him, apparently.
There was no denying it anymore, though. She loathed him. Why else would she want to pick up her kids and move?
He stared at his answering machine, grinding his teeth as her message played aloud.
I mean, it’s one thing to live next door to a stubborn messy surfer when you’re single, but when you’re a single parent with two young kids you can’t have distractions day and night. And I’ve got a lot of work to do, so…
Lucas had already listened to the message three times. He wasn’t sure why he was playing it again. Obviously, she didn’t realize that the LM in LM Management stood for Lucas McKinnon. That was probably his fault, too. He’d failed to mention that significant detail. They’d gotten off to such a rocky start and pointing out that he owned the place almost felt like it would be pulling rank on her. She’d been so flustered when she’d lectured him about houseplants and ground rules. If he’d told her right then that he was the person cashing her rental check, she would have pulled her cardigan over her head and never shown her face again.
Lucas didn’t want that. Jenna had a lovely face…and even though she thought he was messy and stubborn, he wanted to see more of it. Every now and then, he thought the feeling might even be mutual and she just didn’t want to admit it. Clearly, that wasn’t the case.
I’m sorry. I’m rambling. But if you have anything, please let me know. Please?
Jenna wanted to leave the beach house. She couldn’t even tolerate him for five short weeks.
Lucas sighed. He didn’t like the idea of Jenna and her kids packing up and moving. He didn’t like it at all. Before he could figure out what to do, a knock sounded on his front door. He got up and dragged himself to the patio where, lo and behold, Jenna stood on the other side of his screen.
He started defending himself before he even let her in. He simply couldn’t help it. “All right, I get why you’re mad. I just don’t see what being messy has to do with it.”
Her brow crumpled in confusion. “I’m sorry?”
“Fine,” he relented. “You’re right about one thing.”
She blinked. “I haven’t said anything.”
He leaned against the doorjamb and studied her through the screen. Funny, she didn’t look nearly as anxious to move out as she’d sounded on the answering machine.
Did she really not know what he was talking about?
Impossible. She probably wanted to hear him admit how very wrong he’d been.
“We should’ve told you we were having lessons.” There. He’d said it. “But I was just trying to help the poor kid out.”
“I know.” Her voice softened.
