Page 25 of One Last Time?
“I hear you, and I assure you that won’t happen,” he promised. “We started off on the wrong foot, completely.”
“Which time?” I bit back a smile.
“Every time, but maybe this time can be a better start, and I’ll start by clarifying that I definitely didn’t follow you to the bar last week. I just saw you, and yes, I recognized you, but that wasn’t why I helped you. I was genuinely concerned and wanted you to get home safe.”
I looked at him, taking a real good look, and decided to believe him, and maybe this was the wrong thing to do, but I opened my mind too. It was because he was here. Abby had pointed it out, and I recognized it for myself too, much as I didn’t want to acknowledge it, but he was here. He came to see me, apologized, and offered to fix things.
It was admirable. Didn’t mean I would jump onto the ‘We love Dylan train’, but it would take the tension off a little.
“Okay… I believe you.”
He looked relieved and straightened. “In the spirit of starting over, I was thinking it would be nice to go for a walk on the beach.” He smiled.
“To talk about work?” I raised my brows.
“Nope. I don’t want to talk about work anymore. But… there was that wild, crazy kiss that neither of us is talking about.”
The wild, crazy kiss…damn.
My cheeks burned from the memory. “I’m not sure what to say about that.”
His smile turned up a notch. “Well, that was some off-the-charts chemistry I’m not sure I can ignore. Maybe that part of you that wanted to kiss me would consider giving me a chance.”
I held his gaze, and I couldn’t help but smile. “And what about the part of you that wanted to kiss me?”
He stood up. “That part sent me here. It wants to walk on the beach like normal people who just want to enjoy the day and get to know each other. It also wants some context to what sent you to the bar last week, more context to the cheating ex story.”
I straightened and gazed at him. “Is this the nice part of you? I’m not sure I want to get to know that part and then get the asshole part tomorrow.”
He looked a little thrown by that. “There was a reason for that part of me.”
That was an interesting thing to say. “A reason?”
He stood up and nodded. “A reason.”
“Do I get to hear it?”
“Come walk with me, and maybe I’ll tell you.” His gaze drifted over me and seemed to touch me everywhere, like invisible fingers caressing my skin.
This felt like it could be a bad idea, but something compelled me to go. A simple walk on the beach wouldn’t kill me. I’d go for a little while, then come back.
“I’ll go get dressed,” I stated.
A smooth, cocky masculine smile slid across his lips, and desire filled his eyes when I stood up. “I’ll wait.”
I got the feeling that this was going to be one interesting afternoon.
Chapter 9
Taylor
* * *
Iliked when the beach was like this. Quiet with a few people here and there.
Dylan and I had walked out to the beach and were heading down the path to the rock pool.
“You should go first,” Dylan said, glancing at me with a smirk.
