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And whimper, covering it up with an awkward cough.
Palmer is wearing one of his collarless polo shirts, this one black and white, tucked into a pair of fitted black golf pants with a black-and-white belt secured low around his narrow waist. There’s a white hat on his head facing the right way, he’s got one hand tucked into the front pocket of his pants, and the other one is resting on the end of a putter he’s leaning on. It’s been so long since I’ve stood in front of him when he’s been in “uniform” that it takes me a minute to gain my composure and remind myself I stopped having these feelings for him a long time ago. May 24, 2018 to be exact.
“Hey, Tess, how’s it going?”
“Fuck you, Putz!”
I glance back at Tess long enough to see that at least she put a big smile on her face while she returned Palmer’s greeting with her middle finger.
“Seeing you is always like a warm hug, Powell.” Palmer smiles right back at her, showing an odd display of sarcasm that does something tingly to me I refuse to think about, before the smile falls and he’s all serious again when he looks at me. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Bar doesn’t open for another forty-five minutes, and you know your way to the private course,” I tell him, refusing to look at him as I gather up all my paperwork, my phone, two pens, and my cup of coffee Tess quickly tops off for me. “It’s right past Tee Time’s outdoor deck and that ridiculous poster advertisement of you holding the sports beverage.”
That stupid poster was framed and hung on the outside of the deck railing years ago, back when Palmer still visited the island. I used to kiss my fingertips and quickly press them against the glass every time I walked by it.
“Yeah, I noticed someone drew devil horns on it and gave me big googly eyes,” Palmer says as I finally turn back around and force myself to look at him.
“Huh, weird. I’ll have to have someone look into that,” I tell him with fake concern, considering I keep a Sharpie on me at all times in case the sun and salty ocean air starts to fade my artwork. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
With my arms full and trying not to spill any hot coffee on me, I carefully walk across the room and right by Palmer, even though I want to run as fast as possible so I can get away from him and breathe.
“Yeah, about that—”
“Gotta go. Work to do!” I chirp, cutting him off and moving a little faster as I hold my stack of paperwork up in the air and wave it around to indicate just how much work I have.
“Birdie, will you just stop for a minute and talk to me?”
Hot coffee splashes over my hand as I walk a little faster when I hear him right behind me as I get to the hallway that leads to the pro shop, and I curse under my breath. I just need to get away from his hot guy smell, and then I’ll be able to think clearly again. Is that too much to ask?
“There’s nothing to talk about. You made it perfectly clearly two years ago how little you had to say to me. Go do whatever it is you came here to do, and leave me out of it.”
“You’re seriously just not going to talk to me? At all?”
Curse this stupid hot coffee and my need to bring it with me!
His voice and his smell are too close, and I need to walk faster and make it to the safety of my office where I can close the door and lock his ass out.
“Yep. God forbid I get accused of stalking you again.”
I’m stepping into the pro shop and thankful it’s empty when Palmer replies loudly from right behind me.
“What in the actual fuck are you talking about?”
It’s not just Palmer’s rare use of the F-word out loud that has my feet stuttering to a stop and my damn vagina clutching her pearls again, but the fact that he actually has the nerve to pretend like he doesn’t know what I’m referring to. Slamming my mug on the counter of the pro shop and not even caring how much coffee I spill, I whirl around to face him to see that Tess followed us. She’s currently miming slamming a blunt object into the back of Palmer’s head from behind him, where he stands looking at me with his arms crossed in front of him.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. This island is big enough for the both of us. You stay away from me like I prefer it, and I’ll stay away from you, like you ordered it.”
