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“Thought I’d hang out for a bit.”
“It’s cool. You can admit you don’t have any other friends but me,” Parker jokes, sliding a bottle of beer to Smith.
Smith rolls his eyes, takes a slug of beer. I note the dark stubble on his square jaw, his high cheekbones, the thick lashes framing his light brown eyes. He’s definitely attractive, and I don’t buy for one second that he doesn’t have any friends.
“You remember Elise?” Parker nods in my direction. “The Bennett house? We were just talking about the property.”
Smith glances over at me and nods. “I’m Smith. I didn’t properly introduce myself earlier.”
He shoots his large hand out and we shake, his eyes never leaving mine. A frisson of something I haven’t felt in a long damn time travels all the way from my hand to my belly and all of a sudden, I’m extremely warm.
“Nice to meet you,” I manage to squeak out, my cheeks burning.
Pull yourself together, Elise. You’re as bad as the sorority girls at the end of the bar.
A few moments pass and it feels like the entire world stops.
“Ahem.” Parker clears his throat—loudly—and Smith drops my hand. The teak is cool compared to his warm palm. I shift in my seat, suddenly awkward.
“I should go,” I say, pushing my empty wineglass away. “I’ve had a long day.”
“You sure I can’t buy you a drink?” Smith offers, locking his eyes on mine.
God help me, I want to say yes. Honestly, I’d love nothing more.
But cold, hard logic kicks in. “Maybe next time.” I shoot him a smile. “Put that on my tab. Bungalow Four,” I tell Parker. “See you tomorrow.”
I wave and head back to my room before I do anything crazy. I’m not even officially divorced yet; the last thing I need right now is getting tangled up with anyone, especially someone as gorgeous—and young—as Smith.
CHAPTER5
Smith
Walking up and seeing Parker’s hand touching Elise’s sets my blood boiling. Insane, considering I don’t even know her and sure as hell have no claim on her.
But you want to.
I squash that notion, taking another long, cold slug of beer while Parker flirts with the co-eds before sidling back to me.
“Too bad you scared Elise off. I was getting intel on the Bennett house.”
“I’ll get the scoop tomorrow morning. Don’t worry.”
“Why’d you really come out tonight, Smitty? You’re usually in bed by nine, old man,” he teases, even though we’re the same age.
I shrug, not wanting to divulge the real reason for my spontaneous trip to the Seaglass Inn: seeing Elise again.
“Bored. Between sports seasons right now.”
“Uh-huh, right. Nothing to do with the hard-on you have for a certain woman who just left?” He narrows his eyes at me.
“Absolutely not,” I lie, picking at the edge of the label on my bottle.
“Smitty, never take up poker. You’ll lose your damn bank account.”
I scowl, but he keeps on. “Wanna guess how old she is?”
“Probably early thirties.”
