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Dune leaned forward, close enough to share the same air. “You’re right. It doesn’t fit you.”
“Thank you,” she said, relieved.
“You’re the Instagram Model of my dreams,” he said with a chuckle despite his eyes telling her he was dead serious.
Caroline let his words seep in. Surely, she misheard him. She wasn’t on Instagram, and she definitely didn’t look like a model.
“You’re beautiful. I hope you know that. And if no man has ever told you as such, shame on them.”
She couldn’t form a response, but every part of her lit with desire for the man across from her. Caroline swallowed hard and felt heat rise not only to cheeks but between her legs.
“Everyone in town thinks so. The locals have noticed you. So have the tourists. They know your name and the ones I’ve run into think you’re nice. They like that you’re trying to get know the town. It means something to the people who live here.” Dune drowned his beer and then abruptly stood. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the thick of the crowd and left her there pondering his words. Everyone in town thinks so. So, people talked about her? How? Why? She’d only been there a couple of days.
“Is this seat taken?” a voice which was not Dune’s said.
Before Caroline could tell the man it was, he set his drink down and leaned close to her. “I’ve been watching you all night.” He wore one of those Hawaiian printed shirts and had a head full of tight blonde curls. Something about her made her stomach roll.
“Uh . . .” Caroline looked around for Dune. For Wilson or Speed. Anyone who could help her with the unwanted man across from her.
“What do you say we get out of here? You can do so much better than Dune Carter.”
“Is that so?” She finally mustered a few strangled words.
“What’s a pretty girl like you doing with a boat captain?”
Caroline wished her happier than sunshine boat captain would return. She scanned the crowd for him and then looked down at the man across from her. His fingers trailed up her arm and she pulled away.
“Come on, don’t be like that.”
“I’m not like anything.”
“Get out of my seat.” Dune’s booming voice caused Caroline to shiver. She didn’t care how irked he made her feel with his sass, she trusted him.
“Come on now, Dune. We’re just talking.” The man held his hands up in front of him, as if to surrender.
“Nah, man. My girl isn’t talking to the likes of you. Get up before I remove you myself.”
Caroline locked eyes with Dune. She couldn’t believe he would lie like that.
Before her eyes, the man stood, but not on his own volition. Dune picked him up by the shoulders and shoved him off to the side. He sat back down and took a swig of his beer.
“I’m not your girl,” she said, needing to make sure he knew where they stood.
“You are tonight.” He slammed his pint glass down and looked at Caroline, challenging her to disagree with him.
“You know what,” she said after a pause or two, “let’s get out of here and go dancing.”
Dune laughed hard. “You’re joking, right?”
“No, why would I joke?”
“Well, for one, you’ve been on your feet all day. Aren’t you tired?”
“Not really,” she told him.
He shook his head slowly. “There isn’t a place to go dancing. Not around here.”
“What about the Sea Shanty?”
Another shake. “I mean, sometimes, if they have live music, but generally no. And Seaport doesn’t have any nightclubs or anything.”
“Oh.” Disappointment set in. She really wanted to go out dancing. Mostly, she wanted to feel what it would be like for Dune to hold her, without sending the wrong message.
“I’m sorry.” Dune reached for her hand and squeezed it.
“No, it’s okay. I don’t know why I thought there was a club around here.”
“Honestly, most people go into the city for the night or just . . . I don’t know. I can ask my brother. He’d probably know.”
“You have a brother?”
Dune nodded. “Three of them. I’m the oldest.”
“Your mom is so lucky,” Caroline joked. If Dune took offense, he didn’t let it show.
Over the course of the evening, Caroline learned as much as she could about Dune Carter aka Captain Blue Balls—except of course why he’s called that—and life in Seaport. Caroline told Dune about her sister, after he asked if she had any siblings, and their strict father, and how he didn’t want Caroline to take this trip, but it was something she had to do.
They ordered a couple more rounds and sat at their table until last call. Dune paid the bill, even though Caroline wanted to split it. “I asked you out,” he reminded her.
“I thought you asked me out because I refuse to get paid for working.”
“Same difference,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
