Page 32 of Crossed Lines

“Anytime.”

Then he does something that I didn’t expect. He reaches out and grabs my fingers. It’s barely anything, but to me it’s everything. He squeezes them gently before letting go. Like he’s just trying to say he misses me or something.

He finally looks away from me, and I can take a breath. Holy fuck, this man is going to kill me.

He gives Jade a quick kiss and waves goodbye to Macy before he leaves the pool. I watch him go and then try to figure out which sandwich the girls left for me.

I sit down next to Macy, on the other side of the table from Jade. She wastes no time leaning into me and whispering, “Um, what was that?”

“What was what?” I ask, nonchalantly.

“Uh, the eye-fucking? The Mr. Darcy finger touch. I felt the tension from over here,” she says, fanning her hand in front of her face.

My face heats. It feels too intimate for her to have seen, even though no one else probably noticed anything.

“It was nothing,” I say.

“It was definitely not nothing. Are you kidding me?”

I shrug and take a bite of my sandwich. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Wills, I love you, babe, but you cannot sit here and act like that man isn’t completely down bad for you. He couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

I could feel him watching me, but it makes me unreasonably happy to know that someone else saw it too. It’s like the confirmation I needed that I’m not making this up in my head. Even with Beck confirming that he’s attracted to me, it still hasn’t felt real. But an outside party noticing feels important.

After a quick glance at Jade to make sure she’s not listening, I lean in to Macy and say, “There’s… something there, but he’s not willing to take the risk. I can’t really blame him either. Sawyer wouldn’t be happy about it, and it doesn’t make much sense to potentially ruin a friendship when I’m leaving at the end of the summer anyway.”

I can tell she doesn’t like my response, but she understands it. “Well, that’s lame.”

“What’s lame?” Jade asks from across the table. My eyes widen, and I shake my head at Macy. I don’t want Jade to know we’re talking about her dad. While I don’t know much about having a child, I do know that adding another person into the mix is always complicated. I want Jade to see me as her nanny, not as her dad’s girlfriend. My current role as her nanny is temporary, and having a more permanent role in her life is not something I want to talk about with her unless it’s a hundred percent serious. I’m sure Beck would agree.

“Macy didn’t have enough pickles on her sandwich,” I say in an attempt to change the subject.

Thankfully, it works. “Ew. I don’t like pickles.”

“We can’t help what we like, Jade,” Macy says, but I see her subtly look in my direction. I know what she’s implying. As much as I like flirting with Beck—teasing him and having his eyes on me—I would never want to push him past his limits of comfortability. Beck has always been there for Sawyer and me. I don’t want to jeopardize that because my lust has overtaken my brain.

This summer would be a lot easier if he weren’t so damn hot.

“We should go out tonight,” Macy says. “There has to be some place here we can go to have some fun.”

I chuckle to myself, thinking about the only bar in town. “There is, but I don’t think you’re gonna like it.”

Macy and I stand in the doorway of Roadside. Me with a huge grin, and her with a look of disbelief.

“This is the hangout spot of Blue Haven?” she asks.

“Yep. Come on, let’s get a drink.” I usher her toward the bar. Our outfits earn us several looks. I’m wearing a jean skirt with a short-sleeved crop top, but Macy went for Daisy Duke-style shorts and a very tight vest. She fits the stereotypical small-town country vibes, but unfortunately, no one around here actually dresses like that, so all eyes are on her. And me as well, because I haven’t been out much since coming back to Blue Haven.

We order our drinks and find a standing table towards the back of the bar.

“I’m not going to lie, this is not what I was expecting,” Macy tells me, taking a sip of her drink.

“What were you expecting?”

She thinks about it for a minute. “I guess I don’t actually know.”

“This is the only bar in Blue Haven. Locals come here all the time. There are the regulars at the bar. Then there is the younger crowd that comes out mainly on the weekends. Give it a bit, and the music will really get going.”