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His cheeks colored and he tossed the box into the cart. “It’s nothing,” he said again, avoiding eye contact.
She looked at the box and almost snorted, but managed to keep it inside. “Nose hair trimmers?”
His blush moved to his ears. It was actually really cute. She stepped toward him and he turned his head so she couldn’t see his nose. She giggled and grabbed his chin so she could make him turn toward her. “Yeah, I can see why you want one of those.”
He playfully swatted at her. “Stop it.”
She laughed and shoved his shoulder. “You’re adorable. It’s not a big deal. I wouldn’t even have noticed had you not tried to hide it from me.”
“It’s just an embarrassing problem to have.”
“I was totally kidding. I can’t see a single…” She peered closer. “Oh. Never mind.”
His mouth dropped open. “You’re t-terrible.”
“Did you just stutter?”
“No.”
He totally had, but she didn’t want to embarrass him any further, as his face was now a deep shade of burgundy. Dani shoved him forward, as the line had now moved and there was a large gap. “Go. We’re holding up the line.”
After they’d checked out, Austin loaded up the bags onto the golf cart. Dani climbed in and they were off. The sun had set, but the glow of twilight still lit the sky with a beautiful cobalt blue. The breeze blew her hair as Austin drove back to the resort. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the smells of the local restaurants, mixed with the salty air of the seaside.
“You look happy.”
She smiled at him. “Yeah. I am.”
“Even though you had to endure a shopping spree from SaleMart?”
Dani glanced back at the bags of cheap clothes and makeup they’d purchased. She never thought she’d ever be caught dead wearing that kind of trash, but somehow, it didn’t matter right now. She was genuinely happy, which made no sense at all. She was cut off. Her life was in the crapper. She had to clean other people’s bathrooms for tiny paychecks, and she was mooching off the maintenance man. By all rights, she should be miserable.
But she wasn’t. If she were being honest, she felt happier at this moment than she had in months. How strange. That was sure unexpected. She turned to Austin. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”
“I’m glad.”
“Not that I’ll be going back after my father gives me back my credit cards.” She shot him a grin.
He glanced at her, one hand on the wheel. “Would it be horrible if he never did?”
Dani gasped and clutched the golf cart seat. “Don’t say such things.”
He chuckled, but then sobered again. “I’m serious. You could learn to live on your own. You’re an adult.”
Dani thought about what living on her own might entail. “I don’t want to clean toilets for the rest of my life.”
“Why is that the only thing you can do?” He slowed the cart to take the turn into the resort parking lot. “You’re young and bright. You can go to college. Your entire future is ahead of you. You can be anything you want to be.”
A jolt of emotion swept through Dani, and she wasn’t prepared for it. No one had ever called her bright. She was usually the girl everyone made fun of for the stupid things she did or said. She’d never even thought about college. She wasn’t good at school. Skated by, really. Her tutors had treated her like she couldn’t do the work, so they’d gone easy on her. If she were truthful, she’d taken advantage of that.
Tears stung her eyelids, and she blinked to cover up her reaction to his words. What could she even say to that? She had no idea what she would even study to be. She wasn’t good at anything. To cover up the embarrassment, she just laughed and waved off his suggestion. “I’m feeling like getting in the hot tub. Want to join me?”
He stared at her a moment, but then shut off the golf cart and nodded. “Sure. Let’s order take-out first. I’m starving.”
“Sounds good.” Dani didn’t want to dwell on the fact that she wasn’t ever going to amount to anything in her life. She knew she was a failure in her father’s eyes. She didn’t need to see that same disappointment in Austin’s gaze as well.
Chapter 12
The loud sound of metal scraping on cement filled the pool area, and Austin cringed. He picked up the deck chair, moving it over by the hot tub. His physical therapist had said he should avoid heat on his knee, so getting in was not an option. But he would sit beside the pool and chat with Dani.
