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While he was definitely enjoying this new, more confident version of his friend, he couldn’t help but wonder what was spurring it. Was all of this—the two-piece, the pedicured toes, the tight white tank top that had him drooling—for Sebastian?
Damn, itwasjealousy he was feeling. Where had it come from all of a sudden? He didn’t like it. In fact, it could take a hike anytime now.
He watched Carly laugh as she held on behind Tess on the yellow banana ride. Her braid had come loose and her long dark hair was flowing away from her face as the wind blew and the bright, carefree, happy smile radiating from her took his breath away.Shewas breathtaking.
How had he not noticed that before?
Tess looked so happy and—more importantly—safe, sitting there with Carly. His best friend had always been close to his girls, but in the last three years, Carly had truly stepped into the role of Tess’s female role model, confidante and friend. He didn’t know what they would have done without her.
Would dowithout her.
Which made the idea of leaving Port Serenity seem like an impossibility. Given no other choice, he may be able to leave the family legacy lighthouse and even the town and community that had always felt like home...but leaving Carly made his heart drop into his stomach.
He used to think it was just because they were best friends who relied on one another, but now he wondered if there might be more to it...
“She’s something else, right?” Sebastian’s voice next to him made his jaw flinch involuntarily.
He glanced at the man, holding a beer bottle of his own, his eyes locked on Carly out in the water. If the new two-piece was for Sebastian’s benefit, it had certainly caught the other man’s attention as well. Oliver didn’t like the way the guy was eyeing Carly, but what could he do? They were friends with a complicated history, and up until that moment, he’d been ignoring any other potential connection they may share—or could share. He’d never voiced any feelings to Carly. Hell, he’d never really acknowledged them to himself.
“We’re just really great friends,” he said. If he was starting to develop more than friendly feelings for Carly, Sebastian wasn’t going to be the first to know.
“Oh, I know. She told me all about it at dinner last night,” he said, taking a swig of the beer.
She had? Carly had revealed something like that to this guy? What exactly had she said? And why did the idea that she had confided in Sebastian upset him? Worse, why did her acknowledging that they were just good friends—the same thing he always claimed—bother him so much?
“She has so many fantastic ideas for next year’s tourism, and I think, up until now, she’s been really underutilized by the board committee,” Sebastian continued.
“Did you tell her about your intentions for the lighthouse?” he asked, unable to keep the edge out of his voice.
“Not yet. That’s still...in the works. Keep that between us, okay, buddy?”
Oliver’s hard stare drilled into the guy’s profile, but he seemed completely unfazed as his gaze drifted back out toward the water—toward Carly.
“You know what? That looks too fun. Callan, stop for a sec. I’m going in,” he called out, and Callan immediately slowed then stopped the boat. “Hold my beer?” Sebastian asked, handing it to Oliver without waiting for a response. It was either accept the bottle or let it crash to the deck. Sebastian quickly tore off his shirt and kicked off his loafers and dived into the water in the khaki shorts that were not meant for swimming.
Oliver clutched the bottle so tight he thought it might smash anyway.
“Whew!” Sebastian said as he resurfaced, wiping the water away from his face and slicking his dark hair back. “Alaska waters are no joke,” he said before swimming off toward the banana ride.
Oliver’s teeth clenched so hard it gave him an ache in his jaw. Seeing the guy climb onto the back of the banana behind Carly and wrap his arms around her waist made Oliver’s stomach knot in a dozen different ways.
When Carly’s gaze drifted toward the boat and landed on him, her expression held a hint of disappointment.
Damn, why hadn’t he jumped in? He should be the one on the back of the banana with Carly and Tess, relaxing and enjoying the day instead of freaking out and worrying and keeping this guard up around his heart that wasn’t serving him. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to lose the only person besides his daughter who meant anything to him.
Meant everything to him.
That realization hit him hard and he swallowed the lump of unease in the back of his throat as the boat picked up speed again, this time with Rachel at the helm.
Callan appeared next to him as they watched the group being towed. “Hey, man, I think you need to decide if you’re willing to always be thehold my beerguy,” he said, tapping Oliver on the shoulder before waving to the group.
The words echoed in Oliver’s mind as he continued to watch the fun he wasn’t a part of. Was he willing to sit by and let someone else enjoy the happiness and love he potentially wanted for himself? He wasn’t sure, but he knew his feelings for his best friend were definitely changing and developing into something a whole lot deeper, and he was running out of time to figure out what to do about it.
CHAPTER SIX
THESENUMBERSCOULDN’Tbe right.
Standing behind the counter in the bookstore the next morning, her coffee cup between her hands, Carly recalculated the cash register receipts.
