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It was for her, and another flutter of nerves hit her stomach.
And yes, actually, Curtis said next.They begged me to stay at Rippers, because they need drivers bad right now.I got a raise and everything.
That’s great, Bea sent him.You can keep your apartment?He had a private room in a house close to campus, where three other young men like him lived.
The picture popped up, and her handsome, towheaded son grinned back at her, his arm slung around a pretty brunette with an equally bright smile on her face.They both had such a good air about them that Bea couldn’t help returning their gesture.
She’s gorgeous, she sent to Curtis.What’s her name?
“Bea?”Grant called, and she flinched.She hadn’t exactly forgotten that he was there, but she didn’t need to be hiding out in the bathroom either.“You okay?”
“Yes,” she called back, quickly tapping to get to his texts.He’d sent three, each with a different picture of her flying that phoenix kite.“Oh,” fell from her lips, because she loved seeing herself like that.Carefree, happy, wild, and yet so in control of that huge kite.
She left the bathroom and stepped into the kitchen, where Grant looked up from his phone.“These are amazing,” she said, holding up her phone to show him the picture he’d sent.“I didn’t know you’d taken pictures.”
“You were pretty focused on that kite.”He tucked his phone away, his eyes never leaving hers.Bea didn’t know where else to look, or even if she should look somewhere else.The moment turned charged—absolutely full of energy and power—and it drew her toward Grant like he held a ball of gravity in his hands.
“Thank you,” she murmured, wishing she were brave enough to take his face in her hands and kiss him as part of her gratitude.But with that whisper of fear still flowing through her, she settled for moving into his personal space and embracing him.
“It was a picture,” he said with a chuckle, his voice tender and soft and yet reaching right inside her chest and imprinting on her heart.
“Yeah.”She stepped back, a new kind of happiness pouring into her heart now.“And I can send it to my friends, so they can see me achieving the things on my list.”She felt like rays must be flying from her face as she looked at him, and he kept laughing as he shook his head.
“I just found out about a beach bonfire tomorrow night,” he said.“Would you be interested in going?”
Bea fell back another step.“A beach bonfire?What’s that like?”
“Well, it’s on the beach,” Grant said, clearly teasing her.“Right down from your cottage actually.Pirate’s Beach?”
She didn’t know it, so she shook her head.
“Anyway, it’s put on by a friend of mine.A local real estate agent.He invites his past customers and friends, feeds them, and then we roast marshmallows or Starburst, hang out, drink, whatever.”He shrugged one shoulder, and Bea wondered if this was the kind of “hanging out” Curtis did with the girls he met at Baylor.
For a single moment, Bea wished she still had long hair so she could shake it over her shoulders.Instead, she made a strange bobble-headed move, and then wiped her fingers through her longer, fringier bangs.“What kind of food?”she asked, like the dinner menu alone would decide if she’d go out with him tomorrow night.
“Oh, Ty’s a pro,” Grant said.“He always gets something catered.The invite said he’d booked Wild West Dinners.They do Dutch oven everything.Even the dessert is made over the fire in a Dutch oven.”
She gave him what she hoped came across as a flirty smile.“How very Texan.”
“I knew you’d love it,” he said, his hand sliding along her hip to her waist.“So is that a yes?”He leaned closer to her, almost like he’d kiss her cheek or earlobe.He did neither, just held there while the two of them breathed.
“Yes,” she whispered.“That’s a yes.”
“Great,” he said, pulling back.“Listen, I’m going to run home and get some work done.I’ll be back for dinner tonight?Six-thirty?Seven?”
“Sure,” she said, not wanting him to go but also realizing he had a job to do.He’d spent most of the day with her already, and they had plans to be together all day tomorrow.
“I made you a list of possibly historical sites we can visit tomorrow,” he said.“You can look them up and decide which ones you want to go to.”
“Okay,” she said, falling back as her phone chimed again.Probably Curtis.She walked Grant to the door of the bungalow, and he stepped out first.She followed him.He didn’t head for his car but cut across the grass, walking to the right.
“Oh,” he said, turning back to her and walking backward.“I live right here.So if you need anything, just come on over.”He gave her a half-salute, turned on his heel, and continued walking.
“You live right next door?”she called after him, waves of surprise overcoming her.
“Yep,” he said.“See you in a couple of hours, Bea.”With that, he reached his house and jogged up the steps.He waved from the porch of the slate-gray house and went right inside like his close proximity to where she would be sleeping that night was no big deal.
Behind her, the air conditioner clunked on again, and Bea realized she’d been trying to cool the whole of South Carolina for an undetermined amount of time.She hurried back into the bungalow and closed the door.
