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“What?”
He stared down at the remote control that operated the GPS for the anchoring feature that kept the boat in position by satellite. Finally, he set it aside and met her gaze.
“What made you take up with Chase Freeman after we broke up?”
“Chase?” She tried to think why such a short chapter in her life would inspire the obvious jealousy she heard in his voice. “The banker?”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Or whatever he calls himself these days. Last I heard from him he was a Wall Street super star.”
“I forgot you two would have graduated the same year.” In a small town, the dating options weren’t exactly abundant. No matter that the seasonal population swelled to astronomical numbers. The year-round residents in Chatham were only so plentiful.
“Yeah? I’m willing to bet he didn’t forget you were my ex-girlfriend.” He picked up her hand and held it, smoothing his fingers over her knuckles in a way that gave her shivers despite the mild weather.
“I’m sensing an old rivalry here?”
“It’s not a big deal.” He shrugged his shoulders even though they were still so taut and tense that the motion appeared decidedly awkward. “And it’s none of my business since we were broken up. I’ve just always wondered about it because it seemed so sudden. After I left for Rhode Island, you dated Chase and then Tom, one right after the other and… yeah. Why?”
Clamping her other hand on top of his roving one, she captured his palm between hers.
“You’re right about it being none of your business. But since I can see it upset you, I’m going to confess I thought that getting back in the dating pool would help me shake the funk of you leaving.” Memories of that summer were still painful. “My dad kept a close eye on me that summer to personally ensure I didn’t make the trip to Omaha for the Olympic team trials in swimming. He staged some kind of weird intervention with a bunch of his Wall Street cronies the week before the trials, where they all gathered to inform me there was lots of money to be made in business and none in amateur sports. Basically, dad wanted to be sure I knew my Olympic hopes were juvenile.”
“Wow. I didn’t know you were seriously considering trying out. Why didn’t you just leave? Get on a plane and fight for your dream?” Jack had always gotten along with her father, but maybe part of that stemmed from the fact that Bruce LeBlanc went out of his way to be affable with Jack.
“In retrospect, I wish I had. But I was tired of fighting about everything and I was so exhausted I knew I wouldn’t perform at my best level anyhow. Maybe my father had gotten into my head a little more than I realized.”
Jack raised his eyebrows but made no comment. Hating the personal confession time, Alicia retrieved her fishing pole from where she’d dropped it and slid toward the edge of the boat to recast.
“Dad blamed me for giving up my job with Murphy Resorts. And he blamed me even more for ‘losing’ you. You can guess how well that went over.”
“I’m still trying to process the fact that your dad stifled a shot at the Olympics for his own daughter. What the hell was he thinking? Ally, I didn’t mean to bring up--.”
“It’s okay. I was just getting to the point about Chase. But this is all relevant.” Staring down into the fathomless Atlantic, she searched for fish and answers. It had been a long time since she thought about that crappy summer. “By the time I told my dad I’d had enough of his plans for my life, I was determined to put on a front of having it all together. And I figured I needed to get out of the house as much as possible to survive that last summer at home. So I threw myself into a new job as a water sports instructor. I was at the beach every day and saw a lot of people, including Chase.”
“I couldn’t picture you being dazzled by the ‘Wall Street super star’ routine.” Jack sounded more accepting. Less jealous.
With good reason. She’d never lost her heart to anyone but him.
“We only went out a few times since he turned out to be incredibly self-centered and a little too much like my dad’s money-driven colleagues. But I needed a diversion. So when I broke up with him, I went out with Tom Rupert a few times. And a couple of other unmemorable guys over the next year.” She felt her line tug and adjusted her grip on the rod. “I guess I threw myself into dating with as much ambition as I tackle most things. I didn’t think about the fact that it might make me appear… undiscriminating.”
Standing, she welcomed the physical outlet of fishing when she felt twitchy and uncomfortable with too much self-revelation.
“It didn’t.” He put on a glove and grabbed the line to steer it away from the engine’s propeller. Even at a standstill, the blade could cut the heavy nylon if you weren’t careful. “You had every reason to move on.”
Because he already had by that time.
Recalling as much didn’t bolster her spirit, but at least she’d tackled the question. Been a good sport.
Reaching lower on the line, Jack jerked up her catch. A long, silver fish gleamed in the sun that had shifted closer to the horizon.
“What is it?” She sincerely hoped he intended to help her clean it.
“Dinner.” Grinning, he dropped a kiss on her cheek and removed the hook from the fish’s mouth. “I’ll go put this on ice so we can work on the moreinterestingpart of our bet.”
The sexual favor?
Her gaze flashed to his.
“You didn’t think I’d forget, did you?”
