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CHAPTER ELEVEN
Tim was an opportunist at heart. That was why instead of having his ass on a tractor every day of his life, he ran a boat company with millions of dollars in annual revenue. He took calculated risks to get what he wanted. The risks didn’t always pan out, but rarely ever did he regret trying.
So, when he retrieved Valerie’s pleading voicemail from his phone upon landing in Norfolk after his ten-day-long Bermuda trip, he put aside his hesitations and heeded Heidi’s go-for-it advice.
“Dear God, get me out of here,” Valerie had pleaded. “Please.”
It seemed like an opportunity to him, so he was going to try to make somethinggoodhappen. He went home, swapped out the dirty clothes in his suitcase for clean ones, and then burned up the road to Shora with the bag in his backseat.
He stepped into the office and found her on the phone.
Her eyes widened as if with shock, and then she furrowed her brow, scoffing.
“I’m not letting you change your mind.” He leaned against the doorway and crossed his arms over his chest.
She hung up the phone and stared at him while drumming her fingers atop the desk.
“Trying to think up an excuse to back out?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“You calledme.”
“That was nine days ago, and I wasn’t in my right mind at the moment. I was delirious. Anyone would have been.”
“So, youdon’twant me to take you away for a while?”
“Oh, I definitely want to go away.”
Just not with me, huh?
He drew in a calming breath and raked a hand through his uncombed hair. “All right. Tell me what happened.”
She sighed and her stiff posture relaxed a bit. “Okay. Look. My sister is on the way here to check out the lowdown dirty shenanigans at Clay’s. I think she had her mind set on it two weeks ago when your brother decided it’d be a good idea to invite her.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he and Carine apparently went to the same school of meddling, and they’re all friends on Facebook now. Of course he told her what happens at his house.”
Tim pinched the bridge of his nose.
Jesus, Clay.
“My sister is probably the single most uninhibited person on the east coast. She’ll get herself in trouble and then say her exploits will make her memoirs that much more interesting.”
“How old is she?”
Valerie’s cheek twitched. “A year younger than me.”
Which told him absolutely nothing. He still didn’t know exactly how old she was, but he could guess that her sister was a consenting adult. He took another bracing breath. “If she’s a grown woman, what’s the big deal if she shows up? Knowing Clay, he didn’t beat around the bush about what happens at his place.”
Valerie shook her head slowly. “Oh, no. He didn’t hash his words at all.”
“And yet she wants to come anyway?” Tim wasn’t quite grasping the problem.
“Yeah. This kind of thing is right up her alley. She likes to experience new things in a big way, and she’s definitely not a prude.” Valerie swiveled her chair for a couple of seconds, and added in a mumble, “Like me.”
“Of all the things you are, I don’t think prude is one of them.”
