He just gave her a sly look. “We’ll pick this back up on the boat tonight.” Then he jutted his chin toward the house. “I do believe there is a classic Florida retention pond in the backyard. Does that count as a water view?”
“For the alligator that lives there,” she said, pointing at the ominous sign that was visible from the street.
They toured the house, but her heart wasn’t in it. The kitchen was beautiful. The pool sparkled. The third bedroom would be perfect as an office. But the pond was brown and brackish and filled her with dread.
As they stepped back onto the front porch, Dusty looked at her. “Not it?”
“No,” she said quietly. “It’s not. You?”
“Most certainly not.” He nodded slowly. “You okay?”
She just smiled at him. “I guess.”
He put a casual arm around her and walked to the truck. “Nothing a sunset cruise and a little free therapy won’t cure. You still up for it?”
She looked up and into his dark eyes, wishing she didn’t like him so darn much. But she did.
“Yes.” She added a smile. “How’s that for a straight answer?”
“In my business, we call that progress,” he said on a laugh.
“How didI not know this was what you meant by ‘boat ride’?” he asked. “I thought you had a little flats boat or something. You negotiated forthisas payment from a client?”
She gave a saucy smile. “I saved his butt and he owed me. She’s sweet, huh?”
He lifted his bottle in a toast. “As is her owner.”
“Thank you.” She adjusted the wheel as they rounded a sandbar, taking in the dramatic vista.
The sky looked like a watercolor painting—pink bleeding into peach, melting into soft gold. The harbor was so calm it barely lapped the hull, and the motor purred beneath them like a satisfied cat.
Tessa had slippedGood Time Girlout to the bay with Dusty sitting beside her at the helm, nursing a bottle of Heineken and looking impossibly at ease.
“I told you,” she said, nodding at the horizon where Destin shimmered like a mirage. “I know all the secret sunset spots.”
“You weren’t lying,” he murmured, eyes on two seagulls swooping overhead. “This is…whoa, I don’t even have the right words.”
“You’re a therapist. Don’t you haveallthe words?”
“I leave the pretty ones to people like you.”
“Is that a compliment or a classic Tessa Wylie-style deflection?”
“Yes. You ready for a drink now that you’ve navigated us away from land, Captain?”
“Yes, please. Same as you.”
He reached into the cooler wedged beside the seat and grabbed her a beer, opening it, then handing it to her.
She tapped her green bottle to his. “To free therapy.”
“Oh, you want some now?” he asked before taking a sip.
“Not me, my favorite idiot.You. You are going to unpeel your onion, and I’ll be the therapist. Come on, let’s drop the anchor and get comfy.”
A few minutes later, the Sea Ray was bobbing in the water, and they were stretched out on their backs, side by side on the bow.
He propped his arms behind his head, regarding her from under his lashes, which were easy to see since he’d left his glasses on the console.
