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Chapter
Five
Bea’s stomach writhedat the same time it swooped, which made her tears flow a bit faster.Then she reined everything in and wiped both hands across her eyes and down her face.“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” Grant said, his voice fringed with kindness.“What can I do for you, Beatrice?”
She took a long, deep breath in and exhaled it out.“For starters, you can call me Bea.”
Grant’s face lit up, and he nodded.“Noted.I don’t work at The Mad Mango.”
“I figured that out,” she said.“A bit late, but I still figured it out.”Like so many other things in her life, including how unhappy her husband—ex-husband—had been inside their marriage.“I couldn’t eat the one I got.”
“No?Why’s that?”Grant cocked his head, his perfectly combed hair moving slightly.It was just the color of golden brown she liked, with a pair of dark, deep, rich eyes that almost seemed to contrast with the lighter hair.She called men like him “dipped in gold,” because they looked like their mamas had held them over a bucket of liquid luck, but they’d gotten interrupted, and the gold only stuck to their hair.
“Too much banana,” she said, her stomach now rumbling at her for something to eat.“But then I couldn’t find the restaurant I put in my phone.Well, I did, but they were closed.Something about the off-season?”
“Ah, yes,” Grant said.“Not everywhere is quite open yet.Or they opened for Spring Break and then shut down for another month before the true summer tourism season starts.”
“Hmm.”He wasn’t dressed like a tourist, but he’d obviously jetted home to change out of his puree-covered shirt.He now wore a dark green polo with yellow and white stripes near the hem.He wore khaki shorts and a pair of loafers which had clearly seen more sand than Bea had in a long time.He was business-beach casual, and Bea really liked it.
“I tried to find the grocery store after that,” she said.“But I’m…I couldn’t.”The truth was, she had trouble with directions, and she’d gone a couple of miles in the wrong direction—no grocer in sight—before she’d realized it.At that point, she couldn’t stop and run in to get the microwavable meals, fresh fruit, and dairy products on her list.
As she passed the grocery store—only a block from the house—the first trembling of tears had started in her stomach.
“Let’s go to dinner,” Grant said.
Bea blinked at him, at the enormous smile on his face, at the kindness in his eyes.“No,” she said, her voice a bit blunt even to her own ears.“I mean…thank you, but I’m tired after all the traveling today.”
Grant’s brightness dimmed, and Bea hated seeing that.He had to be close to her age—at least in his late thirties—but she couldn’t see a stitch of gray along his hairline.He simply spoke and acted more mature, which gave away his age.
“Where did you come from?”he asked.
“The Coastal Bend of Texas,” she said.
He tilted his head again, this time reminding her of Cass’s golden retriever.“One beach for another?”
“I lived out on a farm,” she said.“Not too close to the beach.Probably an hour from it.”
“Lived?”
“I still live there,” she said, heat filling her face.She ducked it away from him and looked for her purse.“I’m only here for a few days.”She couldn’t find the cow-spotted thing on the coffee table or anywhere on the kitchen cupboards.
“Ten,” he said.“Ten days.And your purse is out in the car.”
She met his eyes again, and his smile must’ve been laced with Bea-nip, because she wanted to get nearer to it.She wanted to return it, and she wanted to form her mouth into the same shape and press it to his.
She blinked rapidly, trying to push the traitorous thoughts from her mind.She did not want to kiss this man.At the same time, Bea could hear Sage in her mind, urging her to get outside her comfort zone.
Lauren would remind her she wasn’t married anymore, and why shouldn’t she have a little fun with the rental manager here on the island?
Why not?Bea asked herself.
She didn’t have a good answer for that question, and she’d been staring for a solid few seconds.“Right,” she said about the purse.“Well, I do need to go grab some food.I saw the grocery store on my way here, so…”
“Yep, you can’t miss it.”The joy on his face fell as if he’d pushed it off a cliff.“I mean, obviously, you can, uh…people do…miss it.”
Bea offered him a smile.“I’m a bit directionally challenged.I went the wrong way is all.”
