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I walked over and scratched behind Larry’s ears. “Hello, buddy.” The dog plopped his butt down, and his back leg banged on the ground.
“He’s more excited to see you than he was me.” Bennett sounded miffed. “I think you found his spot.”
I chuckled. “Don’t take it personally.” I smiled coyly. “And if you’re lucky, maybe I’ll find your spot later.”
Bennett leaned his head back and laughed. “Now who’s the one with the awesome lines?”
I grinned. “I thought you’d appreciate that one.” I enjoyed Bennett’s company because I could be silly with him in a way that wasn’t ever possible with my New York City associates. Everything was so highbrow there, and I doubted they would find humor in the lame pickup lines and ridiculous innuendo.
We piled back into the truck, with both dogs vying for space on my lap while Bennett yelled at Larry to get in the back seat. Larry was deaf to the command. Judging by the thin layer of dog hair that coated the passenger seat, I was the one in his place and not the other way around.
It was cold and windy on the beach, but the sun was shining, and neither dog seemed bothered by the less-than-optimal temperature. After checking to make sure we had the beach to ourselves, we let the dogs off leash. Larry raced straight to the water and rolled in the crashing waves. Sadie wasn’t far behind, but she pranced in the water instead of rolling around in the wet sand. Larry found a piece of driftwood and sprinted toward us with it in his mouth. I shrieked and hid behind Bennett. At the last second, the dog veered to the left, and instead of being knocked on my ass, I was only treated with a few drops of water on my legs.Goofy dog.
We walked along the shore, and after much hesitation and deliberation, I slipped my hand into Bennett’s. He squeezed it, and the small gesture warmed me against the cold. This might not have been what he’d had in mind, but I didn’t know if he could have come up with anything better.
CHAPTER 13
Bennett
GRANDPA CHARLIE SATat the bar, sipping the newly improved Sunwheat IPA. The old man couldn’t get enough of the new recipe. It was good, but it wasn’t that different from the old version. He was giving me too much credit.
“Do you have any other ideas?” he asked, not for the first time.
“No.”
I didn’t usually lie to my grandfather, but this time, it was warranted. Just because I’d changed one small thing didn’t mean I was ready to revamp the whole damn menu. We’d spent years developing our recipes, and many of them were fan favorites that patrons came back for year after year. It made more sense to develop new formulas rather than alter the ones that worked.
“Uh-huh.” The old man was onto me. “You won’t offend me if you change things.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“Then what are you worried about?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
I’d always loved how close my family was, but times like these made me wish we were a Christmas-card-only kind of family. When I’d dropped Claire off at her rental house that evening, I felt fantastic. Hell, even after being peed on by a dog earlier in the day, I’d been in an unusually good mood. Claire—or more to the point, the fact that I’d let myself be with her—was responsible for that. No resort, no end date on her time in the Carolina Banks—just me, her, and our two four-legged friends. It was a perfect afternoon.
Well, nearly perfect. Claire was fully clothed the entire time, so there was that. We traded stupid pickup lines that shouldn’t have turned me on. But hell… everything about Claire turned me on. I loved that we shared a sense of humor. I took the long way home, going right past the Zook property, and everything I’d managed to forget forced its way back in. I’d let my guard down with Claire, which was a mistake. I was perfectly willing to have fun with her, but I couldn’t forget that she was leaving. The second I did, I could feel her working her way into my heart, like ivy that overtook a wall until it was all that was visible.
With her sweet, silly nature, Claire was just as dangerous to me as a siren luring sailors to their deaths. I refused to regret the short time we’d already spent together, and I wanted to enjoy whatever time we had left, but I needed to keep things in perspective.
“You seem worried,” Grandpa Charlie reiterated.
“I’m fine,” I insisted.
The door to the Brew Co. opened, and despite my warnings to myself, I smiled at the sight of Claire coming in. She met my gaze and smiled shyly as if the two of us shared a secret, which we did.
Grandpa Charlie twisted to see what I was looking at. He turned back to me with a knowing look. “Ah. Say no more.”
“That was the plan,” I muttered. I’d been foolish to think this new development between Claire and me could be kept under wraps. It was only a matter of time before the news worked its way through the entire Ramsey-Croft family.
Claire stepped up to the bar, with Stephanie just behind her. “I hope it’s okay that we came for dinner.”
Fuck it.If everyone was going to know anyway, then I might as well enjoy myself while it lasted. Instead of answering her, I walked around the bar so I could cup her face and kiss her. “It’s more than okay.”
When I released her, Stephanie was beaming. “I told you this was a good idea, just like it was the first time we came here for dinner.”
I laughed. “Actually, I’d have to disagree with you there. That was a horrible idea.”
