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“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.” I coughed some more, and after a minute, the tiny particles threatening to kill me were gone.
Landon, however, kept a watchful eye on me, but it was more than that. There were questions brewing, as the vee between his brows deepened and the sparkle in his eyes diminished. He kept a respectable distance, but there was slight hesitation whenever he got close, he always pushed back further.
It was decidedly a good thing there wasn’t going to be much beyond a fling anyway, assuming it got that far; the age gap was going to be a problem in the long term, especially once he found out my true age.
Beyond addressing the ache developing between my thighs, I needed him to introduce me to Cedar and this was new territory for me. My relationships never developed beyond a roll in the hay, and that part happened way too quickly to even call the lead-up to it a relationship. But I knew what I was good at – sex and seduction – and if I wanted to use him to get closer to my sister, I was going to have to learn to keep my mouth shut and my legs open.
Chapter Six
The back patio of Amber’s Ale was deserted which shouldn’t have surprised me. The air had chilled, and fall was in all its glory, so only the diehards sat on the patio, facing the ocean, under the heat from a giant heater.
“So, let me get this straight.” Erin wrapped her hands around a mug of tea. “You pretty much came onto this guy, and he didn’t respond? What’s wrong with him?” She shook her head.
“Honestly? There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s perfect.” Sweet and kind, and a decent cook. “But I’m pretty sure it’s the age gap he’s noticing. He’s in his thirties.”
“Watch it. I’m in my thirties too.” Erin had recently turned thirty-three.
“Yeah, and he’s older than you, and I’m younger than you.”
However, deep down, I felt like it was more than that. Back at the tour company, he almost kissed me, and it was so close to happening again in his living room, but after his strange phone call, he backed down a bit. Lost a little of the flirtatious part of him I adored, and got a little into my business, but not of the pleasurable variety.
I flagged down our server and friend. “Hey, Iris, can I get a finger’s worth of fireball and another black coffee?”
“Sure thing, Jellybean.” Why she’d taken to calling me that, I never knew. “I’m on a break soon, can I come hang?”
“Of course.”
Erin tapped my arm. “How much older is he?”
“He’s thirty-six.”
“So what, you’re like twenty-five.” I’d never told my friends my true age, and they never asked for confirmation, so it wasn’t truly deceitful, right? Was there really that much difference between twenty-one and twenty-five?
“It’s still a huge age gap.” I split my hair into two and twirled each half into a side bun.
She waved her hands through the air. “David’s five years older than me. When you get to my age, it’s not that big a deal. Now, if you were fourteen and he was twenty-five, that would be weird, and he’d have a hell of a lot to answer to, but you at twenty-five and him at thirty-six? It’s all good. It’s not as weird as you’re making it out to be.”
Except it was. There weren’t eleven years between us, closer to fourteen, almost fifteen.
“Aside from the lack of physical, did you enjoy your whale-watching experience?” She picked up her phone, answering a quick text from her sister, Francesca.
“Definitely. And we’re going out tomorrow. He booked us a tee time for the morning.”
Her eyes widened and an even wider smile stretched across her face. “Ooh, that’ll be fun. Isn’t golf sexy? With all the talk of balls and strokes?”
Playfully, I smacked her on the arm. “What’s gotten into you? You’re normally super reserved.”
A sly smile spread from ear to ear. “Nothing.”
“Oh, no, there’s something.”
“But I don’t want to jinx anything. It still feels so fresh.” She tossed her gaze over to the rolling ocean and fiddled with the napkin underneath her steaming tea. “But it’s wonderful. Everyone should experience true love.”
“Is that what you’re feeling?”
Iris sat a tumbler of fireball in front of me. “What’s in the water around here?”
