Breaking Waves
Page 2
ridicule he was about to heap on her, she reluctantly found herself glad to see him.
“Well, first of all,” he said, his voice smooth and casual, “I think ‘little’ is a bit of an understatement. Secondly, losing Mr. Needs–A-Clue is, at worst, a minor inconvenience.” She couldn’t help but notice the way he stressed the word minor. “And if you want my honest opinion,” he added, “I’d say you dodged a bullet, because he could barely hold down a job, let alone a mature relationship.”
Amy gulped. This wasn’t going as badly as she imagined. She bit her lip to keep from ruining the moment. Hold it in. She had a bad habit of defending herself before she even got chewed out. Which only gave Chris way more ammunition to trash talk the kind of men she chose. This time, she ate her words and willed herself not to give him the upper hand.
Luckily, his calm and inviting demeanor put her more at ease and she lowered her guard. Maybe he could see how upset she was and had decided to be more of the friend she needed than a pesky big brother-type. Maybe he knew it was just going to take some time, and maybe even a hug, to get through this one. Of course, she couldn’t be as considerate back.
“I’m sorry,” she countered, pretending to be confused. “Did you just use the words ‘mature’ and ‘relationship’ in the same sentence? I wasn’t aware you knew either of those words.”
“I’m all about mature relationships,” he said with an amused grin. She had seen that smile before. His whole face lit up and drew her in when the corners of his mouth hitched that way. For a moment, she felt like he might be flirting.
“Really?” she said, letting her skepticism show. “Do you even remember the name of the redhead you were with last weekend?”
“My memory has never been that good,” he teased, shooting her another charming smile. “And besides, your choices in men are notoriously poor. What is it with you and guys without jobs? Does it make you feel needed or something?”
“What!” she exclaimed defensively, although she knew the answer weighed more heavily toward the ‘or something’ side. “If my memory serves me correctly, he had a job!”
“You mean the one you asked me to give him?”
“He just needed a break,” she argued.
“Really? I managed to go from a busboy to a business owner in just a few years and I didn’t have half the opportunities he’s had. Besides, why are you defending him anyway?”
She immediately squared her hips and planted one hand on each. “I’m not, I’m defending me!” Despite her argument, she knew Chris had a point. When she met The Creep, he was in between jobs just like half of her exes. She’d asked Chris to help him out. And he did—under one condition. That she not take care of anymore men if this one didn’t work out.
Amy shrugged her shoulders, deflated. She’d run out of excuses already and prepared for the chew-out. But Chris seemed to back down from her hostility and suddenly dropped his antagonizing tone. “I’m just saying,” he said softly, “you can do better.”
His hooded stare softened as he set his jaw in a hard, determined line. She had never seen him like this before. So serious, and so…she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Was he nervous? No. That couldn’t be right. He was never nervous. Not Chris.
“Anyway,” she said, hoping to immediately change the subject because it was actually making her nervous, “how did you find me?”
“Well,” he told her, “I’m not going to lie, it was pretty tough.”
Her brow rose automatically. “Really?”
He gave an exasperated sigh. “No, not really. You do realize you have been coming here to ‘be alone’ since we were kids right? It wasn’t exactly a giant leap to find you here.”
Dang it, he was right again. “Okay,” she offered, “I think it’s fair to say we both know why I’m here. But why are you here?” She tapped her left foot casually, hands still planted firmly on her hips.
The corners of his mouth curved up in the most adorable way. “Well, once the bar was destroyed....”
Amy rolled her eyes dramatically and cut him off. “Don’t you think saying it was destroyed is a bit of an exaggeration? I mean, c’mon Chris, I threw one little drink inside your bar and as far as I could tell, my aim was nearly perfect.”
Chris laughed and shook his head. “Um, Amy, that was only the beginning.”
She frowned and shot him a look. “What do you mean, the beginning?”
“I wasn’t there to witness the whole thing, but by the time I came out of my office, the place was completely trashed.”
“I don’t understand.” Amy blinked, trying to compute this. “What happened?”
“Well,” he said, “I hate to tell you this, but your favorite bartender wasn’t just sneaking around on you. It turns out that he was involved with several of the girls there.”
“What? And you didn’t tell me?” She nearly shrieked. If she felt betrayed by her creep of an ex-boyfriend, it was nothing compared to the way she felt now when she was faced with the thought that Chris had been keeping a secret.
His hands went up in a defensive motion. “Whoa, don’t go crazy on me. I had no idea!”
“No. Of course not,” she answered, willing herself to relax. Unlike The Creep, Chris had always been trustworthy. It was just that finding out her boyfriend was cheating was a major blow to her heart. But somehow, Chris knowing about it and not telling her almost broke it in two. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but it felt so much worse.
“Frankly, I don’t think anyone knew,” he added. “Apparently, they each seemed to think the relationship was their special secret. That was until you showed up. Then everything came out.” He ran a hand over his face in exasperation, “And boy, did it get messy.”
His words only made her more curious and she wondered what she had started. “So, tell me what happened.”
He drew in a long, deep breath and smiled. He almost seemed amused. “You would have loved it, Ames. Your ex apparently dodged more than just one Sea Breeze today. Things escalated to the point where one girl actually threw a glass that shattered half the Vodka bottles. That’s when my manager stepped in and by the time I got out there, she had fired everyone on the floor and threw them out.”
“Oh, no,” she said, her hands flying up to cover her mouth while she tried to stifle a laugh.
“Oh, yes,” he answered simply.
“I’m sorry,” Amy lied, and realized she didn’t seem at all sincere while she was giggling.
“You look it,” he teased, his smile matching hers.
She suddenly felt a bit of her earlier anger fade. Of course, Chris always had that effect on her. Even if the look on his face was funnier than what he was saying.
“So, come on, Ames,” he suggested, tugging on her arm. “You can’t just sulk here all day. Let’s go back to town and I’ll buy you a drink. You can tell me all about what a terrible disappointing surprise Mr. Unemployed Bartender turned out to be.” He tugged harder, mumbling under his breath, “And I’ll say, ‘I told you so’.”
Amy buckled her brow. “Not so fast. I really don’t feel like going back to the bar right now.” She pulled away, planting her feet firmly in the sand. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”
“Oh no, no, no. I’ve heard that one before and I’m not falling for it. C’mon we can…”
She cut him off, whipping her hair behind her right shoulder. “You’re welcome to stay, but I’m not going anywhere right now.” Folding her arms, she stood her ground.
“Look, I’m not staying down here, Amy. I’m not dressed for this. Just come back up and…”
“Oh c’mon, you look perfectly ready for the beach in your khakis!” Her eyes made a show of looking him over. He was shoeless, but that was the only concession he seemed to have made for the hot weather. Cuffed khaki pants and button-down pinstriped shirt were hardly beach attire.
“And you are dressed for what, exactly?” he asked as he looked her over with the same appraising glare.
She willed herself to feign a confident smile. “I’m dressed to go swimming.”
He arched one brow, forcing his gaze from her hips to her breasts, and back to her stare. “Oh you are, are you?” he taunted, reaching out to tug on the strap of her bra. “Then what’s this?”
“My top,” she answered firmly, trying to ignore how his eyes seemed to take in every inch of her. Shaking her head, she tried to remember that the increasingly suggestive stare was coming from her best friend.
“Right, okay.” His eyes moved to the ocean and back. “So, would you be willing to join me at the bar after you swim then?”
She frowned, not quite sure about the mischievous glint in his eye. “Yeah. Sure. But only after I swim,” she answered, fully expecting that her declaration would end the conversation.
Instead, she immediately felt his strong hands around her waist as he swept her off her feet and into his arms. Amy gasped, barely able to breathe as he squeezed her tight and headed toward the water.
“Put me down!” she squealed, flailing her arms about. She whipped her eyes around