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God, I was in deep.
“Nope.” She shook her head and lowered the phone. “That was a recording, telling me the office is closed and the marina doesn’t have a separate phone number. So start hollering, Parks.”
“I will after you say you’re sorry for mocking my holler method.”
“I didn’t mock, I was just agreeing with you on my method’s efficiency.”
“DEWEY!” I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, “OUR BOAT IS BROKEN! DEW-EEEY! OUR PEDALS DON’T WORK!”
“Love how hard you went on thee’s,” Sophie said around a giggle.
“DEW-EEEEEEEY!” I yelled again, just to make her laugh harder.
God, she had a great laugh.
But Dewey’s eyes didn’t even raise from the phone in his hand.
Fucking wonderful.
“Well,” she said brightly, “he has to notice us eventually, right?”
“I suppose.” I leaned back against the seat, not hating the idea of just floating around the lake with her. “So... now I guess we just wait for a bit.”
“At least it’s a nice evening,” Sophie said, amusement in her voice. “Not too hot, not dark yet, the view is... what is that?”
I followed her finger to the right side of the lake. “Is that—”
“Oh, dear God, that hawk is really going to town on what’s left of... whatever that poor creature was,” Sophie said disgustedly.
There was an enormous red-tailed hawk pulling...innardsout of its prey, right at the edge of the field. “Well, this view is certainly memorable as fuck.”
Sophie snorted, holding a hand in front of her face so she couldn’t see the carnage. Giggling, she said, “Can you dip one of your shoes in the water and use it to turn us, so we’re looking atanythingother than this horrifyingly goryWild Kingdomdinner buffet?”
“Why not one ofyourshoes?” I asked, looking out at the green algae all over the surface of this side of the lake.
“Because,” she said, reaching down to protectively slide her black high heels farther underneath her. “And don’t you want to be chivalrous?”
“But these are my date shoes.”
She snorted again. “Do you seriously consider them your date shoes?”
“Kind of,” I admitted, giving in to a grin as she smiled at me like she found me absurdly childish. “I live in my Nikes when I’m not at work, so these leather bad boys are pretty much only worn to family brunches and hot dates.”
“That isadorable,” she said, tilting her head and pursing her lips. “Like a little kid with his church shoes, terrified to get a scuff.”
“I wore them for you, Soph, so you should be honored.” Her face was so close, so pretty, that I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out a hand to tug on a wavy blond curl.
“Oh, is this a hot date?” she teased, her eyes sliding over my face in a way that made me lean in a little closer. “The entrails threw me off, but every player has his game, I guess.”
“Admit it, Steinbeck,” I said, lowering my mouth toward hers. “It’s totally working.”
She swayed toward me, running her tongue across her bottom lip like she was thinking the same thing I was as her eyes dipped to my mouth. “Parks, do you—”
The hawk chose that moment to screech.
Which made Sophie gasp and turn her face away from me and toward the hawk, who was still picking apart his supper.
She sounded entirely unaffected when she said, “That bird is never going to stop, is he?”
