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JoJo was a mystery I couldn’t begin to solve.
And this game of questions only deepened my curiosity. I wanted to know more. I wanted to peel back another layer until I knew her. Knew if she was someone I wanted to stick around or have disappear again.
The intensity between us was thick and tangible. And it was too much. I’d asked a loaded question and gotten an answer I wasn’t ready for.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. Need to kiss that spot pulsed beneath my skin.
She wasn’t mine to touch.
And I was already dangerously close to going past the point of no return.
I drew in a ragged breath, but couldn’t bring myself to step out of her space. I wasn’t afraid to tackle hard topics. This? This was too much feeling. I needed to get my head back on straight.
“Let’s go walk on the beach.”
She blinked. “It’s freezing out.”
“We won’t go far. I need air.”
She eased off the washing machine. “I think there are some heavy coats in the front closet.”
Her voice was affected, as if the words had been dragged from her throat. She sounded like I felt.
Off-balance.
As I followed her, I drew comfort that I wasn’t alone in whatever this was.
We were silent as we tugged on coats and hats and scarves and gloves. I wondered if the items I wore had been her father’s or grandfather’s.
“I learned a lot from both of them,” I said as we wandered to the back door.
“Who?” She hesitated with her hand on the handle of the French doors.
“Your father and grandfather.” I held open the door and a gust of wind blasted into the house.
JoJo released a little squeak as she huddled into her coat. “You walk in front of me to block the wind.”
“No way.” I gently shoved her and closed the door behind us.
“Never the gentleman,” she muttered, though it was playful.
“Never.”
We edged past the patio and pool area, down the boardwalk, which was dimly lit. Beyond it was a black hole. The moon was shrouded in clouds, and the sound of the waves rang thunderous above the howling wind.
“What did you learn?” she asked as our shoes hit the sand.
For someone so terrified of the water, she never seemed to have a fear of being near it. In fact, she seemed soothed by it.
“They taught me how to invest. Where to buy property. Who to trust with my money.”
“I know the answer to that.” She grinned. “No one. And Grandma Josephine told you that.”
“Yeah. She was actually better at investments than your grandad.”
She shoved her hands in her pockets as the wind whipped a lock of hair in her face. “She was so sharp.”
“All three of them showed me how to run a business.” I didn’t dwell on the loss very often, but there was a void where they’d been.
