Page 14 of One Summer Weekend
A heavy hand slapped him on the back.
“I’d tell you two to get a room,” Noah heard Jim say as he and Carly separated, “but I think some of my guests are enjoying the show.”
The show had been on its way to needing a for-mature-audiences-only warning, so Noah was reluctantly thankful for the interruption. He managed a somewhat hoarse chuckle and looked at his costar.
Carly was staring at him, wearing an expression one would expect to see on the face of a woman who’d just been thoroughly kissed by her boyfriend.
Only somebody who knew her as well as Noah did would notice that her eyes were a little too wide and her smile slightly forced. He could see theholy shit, what was thatin her eyes, and he guessed she could see it in his.
Becauseholy shit, what was that?
Then Carly looked at Jim and the eye contact was broken. “It must be the inn and this beach. It’s the most romantic place I’ve ever stayed and I can’t imagine a more beautiful place to get married.”
Noah snorted. “Your next boyfriend better have deeper pockets than your last one did, then.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he’d made a critical mistake. He didn’t need to see the questioning look on Jim’s face or feel Carly’s bare foot crushing the top of his to know that was a really weird thing for a boyfriend to say to the woman he’d been dating for six months.
“I’m kidding,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and yanking her close to him. “I’m not letting you get away.”
“And I already told you I want to get married on my grandfather’s dock with the lake and fall foliage behind me...uh, us.”
They needed out of this conversation, Noah thought as Jim gave him a look that loosely translated tostart saving up because your girlfriend’s planning your wedding, just like we said. “That sounds like a funny bride-in-the-water video waiting to go viral.”
“Don’t dig yourself too deep a hole,” Jim cautioned. “All the rooms are booked and it would suck to sleep in your truck in the parking lot.”
“Trust me, I know how to put her in a good mood,” he said.
Unfortunately, he said it just as Carly took a sip of her drink and she choked on it. Noah took her glass so she wouldn’t slop pink booze all over her dress while she coughed. Since he still had his beer in his other hand, it meant he had to take his arm away from her shoulders, which he did with inexplicable reluctance.
Once she’d caught her breath, she gave him a dirty look before smiling at Jim. “The truck has a five-and-a-half-foot bed. He can curl up a little.”
“Guess he’ll have his work cut out for him tonight,” Jim said, not even trying to hide his amusement at his friend’s predicament.
Noah decided a little more alcohol might help but he was so on edge, he accidentally took a mouthful of the pink vodka concoction and came close to doing a damn fine reenactment of Carly choking.
“Emily’s calling me,” Jim said. “I’ll catch you two later.”
Noah lifted his beer in a weak farewell, but his thoughts were still on the taste of the pink cocktail. The taste of Carly’s lips and the kiss that shouldn’t have blown his mind.
It was Carly. His buddy. His pal.
And yet here he was. Mind blown.
“You almost blew it,” she said when they were alone again, and then she laughed as she took her drink back. “It was fun to watch, though.”
“Now they’ll think I’m a shitty boyfriend.”
“They must not have seen you touching my butt.”
“Smart-ass.” They started walking along the edge of the water, taking their time as she skimmed her feet through the soft waves. “Why did you tell me to kiss you?”
“I was afraid we weren’t looking like a couple and I panicked.” She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. “Was it that bad for you?”
No, it wasn’t that bad. It was anythingbutthat bad, and that was the problem. “Remember that one time we kissed? When we were like twelve or thirteen, and then we laughed and swore we’d never do it again?”
“Yeah.”
“This time was better,” he said.
