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As soon as I held my hand up to knock, the door swung open. Judging by the note of surprise on his face, he had not opened it for me.
“What the fuck?” he said, taking a step back.
His hazel eyes were ablaze with shock at the sight of me. He had a tiny scar over his left eyebrow.
“You say that a lot around me.”
“That’s ’cause you just keep showing up,” he said, still looking confused as hell.
“Well, if you’d stop storming off, maybe I wouldn’t have to.”
He grimaced slightly. “Look, I don’t know why you did what you did, but it wasn’t necessary.”
“Wasn’t necessary?” I laughed. “You were getting your ass handed to you.”
That scarred eyebrow rose as he leaned against the doorframe, those muscled biceps slowly folding across his broad chest. “I can assure you, I never get my ass handed to me.”
No, I bet you don’t.
His voice was as smooth as hot chocolate, and I didn’t know why, but suddenly, my legs felt jiggly.
“Well, you don’t have to go, but a littlethank youwouldn’t hurt.”
He pushed off the doorframe, and it was the first time I realized how tall he was. He had at least a foot on me, and with our bodies this close, I had to crane my neck upward to look at him.
And what a view.
Stop it.
You’re mad at him, remember?
“Athank you?” He scoffed. “Seriously? You didn’t do me a favor. If anything, you just made things worse.”
“What?” I took a step back. Now, I was the one confused. “Why? Just find someone else to go with if you’re so worried.” With a body like that, I was sure he had options.
Does he work out? ’Cause damn.
“Well, in case you forgot in the five years you’ve been away or maybe you just never figured this little tidbit out since you’re a dingbatter?—”
“I hate that term,” I said, referring to the word people used to differentiate ex-mainlanders, like me, from the real locals who’d been born here.
“Yeah, well, I do, too, in most cases, but Ocracoke is set in its ways. And one thing it excels in is gossip. And it spreads like wildfire. You standing there today at Billy’s, telling everyone we’reinseparable? By tomorrow, the entire island will be planning our wedding.”
My eyes widened. Shit, I hadn’t thought about that. “I just wanted to wipe that stupid grin off the sheriff’s face.”
The dark shadow hung like a cloud over him. “I’ve been trying to do that for years. Never works. He always gets the upper hand.”
“So, if you wind up at the gala alone or not at all?”
He shrugged. “Just add it to an already-long list of shit he likes to throw in my face.”
“How do you put up with him?” I grimaced.What a slimeball.
“He’s my superior. Don’t exactly have a choice.”
I mulled over my next words for a moment before I spoke. “So, then we go to the gala.”
His eyes met mine before he shook his head. “No,” he insisted. “It’s fine. It will blow over in a few weeks, and he’ll have his fun. I’ll figure it out. Besides, I don’t want to be anyone’s charity case.”
