More than Sometimes (Summer Lake Silver Book 6)

by SJ McCoy

  “Oh.” She knew she should say something more than that, but she had no idea what it might be. She could hardly tell the others that he was the creepy dude from this afternoon. It just didn’t make any sense.

  Nina nudged her arm, as if she were being rude. Teresa ignored her and took a sip of her drink. There was no way she was going to say she was pleased to meet him.

  Manny shot her a puzzled look. What could she say?

  Blake, Cal—whoever the hell he was sat down across from her and studiously avoided her gaze. Silence descended around the table—this was going to be awkward.

  She caught Manny giving Cal a questioning look. Should she put them all out of their misery and explain? She shot a glance at Cal. No. She wasn’t going to tell them that he’d been hitting on her. She frowned as she thought about it. She didn’t want to tell them that their friend was asking other women out while he was away from his wife. But she was almost certain that their friend, Cal, wasn’t married. It didn’t make any sense.

  She looked up to find those piercing blue eyes watching her warily. Why would he be cautious of her—unless he thought she was going to land him in it?

  Manny got to his feet and held his hand out to Nina. “Abbie’s over there; we should go and say hi.”

  Teresa swallowed as Nina got up and followed him. It wasn’t like Nina to abandon her. Next, Ryan looked at Cal and then at Teresa.

  “I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m out, too.” He gave Teresa a half smile and followed the others.

  Teresa had half a mind to go after him. She was disappointed that they’d all abandoned her to her fate with the creepy dude—but they didn’t know he was the creepy dude; to them he was Cal, a great guy.

  She sucked in a deep breath and looked at him, deciding to let him speak first and maybe help her figure out just what was going on.

  There were no signs of the attraction or interest he’d shown in her this afternoon as he met her gaze. He looked wary—almost as if she might be the creepy one.

  She bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from asking questions.

  When he finally spoke, it only reminded her how sexy his voice was. “Whatever I did this afternoon, I’m sorry.”

  “Pft!” She couldn’t help it! But then she realized that he didn’t know that she’d seen what he was texting to his Darl. “There’s no need to apologize to me. I just feel sorry for your wife.”

  He leaned back, and the lines around his eyes deepened. He looked at her as though she might be crazy. “I don’t understand.”

  She blew out a sigh. “Then let me explain. When I answered the phone this afternoon, you were texting. When I came back, I saw what you’d written. And I’ll hold my hands up; it was wrong of me to read it over your shoulder.”

  His eyebrows knit together, and his lips puckered—she really wished that she were the kind of woman who could be so turned off by his behavior that she didn’t notice his looks anymore—but he was a handsome brute.

  He reached in his back pocket and pulled his phone out. Without a word, he scrolled though it, and she saw the moment understanding dawned on his face.

  “You get it now?” she asked. “You can see why I didn’t want to go for a drink with you? Why … you disgust me?”

  His head jerked back at that. “I disgust you?”

  She nodded. She should clarify that she meant his behavior, but what was the point?

  He nodded slowly. “Are you interested in the truth?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Sometimes.”

  “Now? About this?” He held his phone up.

  “I’m not sure there’s any need for you to explain.”

  “I think there is.” He got to his feet and came around to sit beside her. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to ignore the effect his closeness had on her—was she just a terrible person? Another woman’s husband shouldn’t be able to affect her like that.

  She started to move away from him, but he put his hand on her arm and she froze. His big hand sent warmth coursing through her veins.

  “Look.” He held his phone up in front of her and scrolled through his contacts. He stopped at Darla.

  Oh. Not darling then. She pursed her lips and watched as he opened the conversation. She saw the same words at the end:

  love you and miss you, too, Darl.

  Hmm, capital D there. He scrolled up a little further to the beginning of the conversation:

  How are you liking California, big brother?

  She swallowed. Brother? Uh-oh. She continued to stare at the screen. Oops! She waited, but he didn’t speak. Eventually, she turned to look at him.

  “But you can see why?”

  He nodded curtly. “I can.”

  She held his gaze for a long moment, trying to figure out what this meant. He wasn’t married then. But … she cringed at how she’d behaved since she’d read—make that misread—his text. “I wasn’t very nice to you, was I?”

  He shook his head.

  “You must have thought I was a crazy lady—changing so fast on you and you had no clue why.”

  He nodded, looking as though he might still think she was crazy.

  Crap! Wasn’t this just her luck? A guy like him landed in her lap and she went and blew it, big time.

  “I’m sorry.” She peeked at him.

  His expression didn’t soften. “So am I.”

  Chapter Four

  Ryan caught up with Manny and Nina just as they reached the bar. “What’s going on?”

  “That’s what I want to know,” said Nina. “Abbie’s not over here. She’s outside with her friends.” She gave Manny a puzzled look. “I know you must have a reason, and I trust you. But I don’t like leaving Teresa like that. She didn’t look happy.”

  Ryan nodded his agreement. “She didn’t, and neither did Cal. What’s going on?”

  Manny folded his arms across his chest and watched Cal and Teresa for a moment. Cal had already moved to sit beside her, and he was showing her something on his phone. “I might be wrong, but I just have a hunch …”

  Ryan laughed. “I knew you must have.” He turned to Nina. “And believe me. When he has a hunch, just roll with it.”

  He didn’t understand the smile they exchanged as Nina said, “That’s okay, I already know. That’s why I came, but I still want to know what your hunch is.”

  Manny chuckled. “I hope I’m not wrong. I don’t want to blow your faith in me. But you both saw the reaction they just had to each other?”

  “Err, yeah,” said Ryan.

  Nina frowned. “I did but I don’t understand it. I was convinced that Teresa would like him. I know you said Cal wasn’t a ladies’ man, but I’d hoped …”

  “What did you see that we didn’t?” Ryan asked.

  “It’s not so much what I saw as what I pieced together. When he left the office this afternoon, Cal said he was going to get a haircut.”

  “You think he went to Teresa?” asked Nina.

  Manny nodded.

  “You don’t think he followed her around afterward?” Ryan didn’t believe that for a minute.

  “No. But he said he had some errands to run. And we all know how small this town is and how easy it is to run into people constantly.”

  “I guess that could be it,” said Ryan.

  “No.” Nina shook her head. “Cal’s not married.”

  Ryan and Manny both turned to her.

  “Teresa said that the guy in the salon this afternoon asked her out, but it turned out that he was married.”

  “How did she find that out? Married guys who ask other women out aren’t usually upfront about their circumstances,” said Ryan.

  Nina made a face. “She said he was texting his wife—she saw what he was saying, talking about the kids.”

  Manny chuckled. “I’ll bet he was texting Darla, his sister. Her kids love him.”

  Ryan had to laugh with him. “And for
all the years I’ve known him, it’s always irritated the hell out of him that before she lets him get off the phone, he has to say he loves her.” Now, it all made sense. He glanced over at them again. It might make sense, but it didn’t look like Cal or Teresa was happy.

  He looked at Manny. “Should we go back and help them out?”

  Manny’s eyes twinkled as he smiled. “No. Didn’t you hear what Nina said?”

  “Which part?”

  “That the guy this afternoon asked Teresa out.”

  “Shit!” Ryan grinned, then gave Nina an apologetic look. “Sorry.”

  She laughed. “No need to apologize but you can explain. I’m guessing your reaction means that he doesn’t often ask women out?”

  “No.” Ryan and Manny spoke at the same time.

  “And that’s why,” said Manny, “I think we should leave them to it. If we don’t go back over there, they’ll have to sort this out for themselves.”

  Nina smiled up at him. “I thought I had to behave myself and not try to set them up, and now you’re doing exactly what you warned me not to.”

  Manny wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I am, but only because he already asked her out.” He grinned at Ryan. “He wouldn’t be happy with us meddling—so we’re going to do the exact opposite and stay the hell out of the way.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Cal slowly put his phone back in his pocket. He didn’t know what else to do, what else to say. He looked around to see where the others had gone. He couldn’t understand them all leaving like that—especially leaving him to fend for himself with the crazy hairdresser. He slid a sideways glance at her. She looked embarrassed, not crazy.

  Then it hit him. She wasn’t crazy. Her explanation made sense. In fact … it made him like her more. No, not like … appreciate? He appreciated that she was the kind of woman who thought married men shouldn’t ask other women out. He risked another look at her. And like wasn’t completely the wrong word. She was beautiful. His opinion about that hadn’t changed even when he thought she was crazy.

  She set her drink down and turned to him. “I should probably go. I don’t know where the rest of them went and this is just too … embarrassing. I apologize again.”

  She started to get to her feet, but he put his hand on her arm and she sank back into her seat, her eyes wide. He got the impression that she felt it too. Every time they touched, heat and electricity coursed through him. He didn’t know what he wanted to say yet, but he did know he didn’t want her to leave.

  He held her gaze while he searched for words. Her eyes were fascinating. Light brown, green flecks … dammit. He was supposed to be figuring out what to say.

  “I’m sorry.” He’d already said that once. This time sounded a little more like he meant it.

  She nodded but didn’t give him anything to go on. She was embarrassed. He could understand it. She wasn’t the crazy he’d thought her to be—he was adapting to that revelation as quickly as he could. Where did it leave him? It left him back where he’d been before her total one-eighty in attitude in the salon this afternoon. It left him liking her, curious about her, and wanting to ask her out—although now, they were out.

  He smiled when he saw a way to maybe rescue the situation. He echoed her words from this afternoon back to her. “What do you think? Should we start again, from the top?”

  Her face relaxed and she smiled back. “Sure thing. Hi, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Teresa.”

  He took hold of her hand. Just like earlier, he liked the way it felt, so small and soft inside of his. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Teresa. I’m Blake.” He gave her a wry smile. “Blake Callahan. My friends call me Cal.”

  She chuckled. “I didn’t think you looked like a Blake.”

  “I’ve been Cal for most of my adult life.”

  She nodded. “You know that begs the question why you introduced yourself as Blake earlier.”

  “It’s a fair question. I’m not sure I know the answer. Except perhaps …” He really didn’t know. No one called him Blake anymore. Andrea was about the only person who had since high school. But he wasn’t going to question that too deeply. “I can assure you that it wasn’t about trying to deceive you, though.”

  “Good.” She looked around. “Why do you think they all ran off like that?”

  He ran his hand over the back of his neck. He didn’t know, but he’d guess that the look Manny had given him when he left the table had something to do with it. “I think perhaps Manny sensed something was amiss. He’s perceptive.”

  She laughed and the sound seemed to reverberate in his chest. “It wouldn’t have taken much to see that there was something very amiss when they introduced us. I should warn you; I told Nina all about the creepy dude in the salon this afternoon who proceeded to follow me around town.”

  He sat back. “I wasn’t following you.”

  She laughed again. “I understand that now.”

  He frowned as he processed the rest of what she’d said. “Creepy?”

  She brought her hand up to cover her smile. “Sorry. But think about it. As far as I knew, you were asking me out one minute and the next you were texting your wife.”

  “I—”

  She put her hand on his arm when he started to explain. “I know. I understand now. But I’m telling you how it was, how I saw it at the time. I was so disappointed that—”

  She stopped abruptly, and he guessed that she’d perhaps realized she’d given away too much. She was disappointed? That was good. It made him believe that she would have said yes to that drink with him. He didn’t push her though. He just stored the information away for now.

  “So, Nina thinks you have a stalker?”

  She nodded. “And Manny and Ryan do, too.” She laughed again. She did it a lot, and he liked it. “They’re all planning to escort me home later to make sure that I get there safely.”

  Cal wanted to offer to be the one to escort her home, but he didn’t. He wasn’t one to move quickly when it came to women. He wanted to proceed with caution, but he was starting to wonder why.

  ~ ~ ~

  Teresa watched his face, wondering what he was thinking. She was still playing catch up herself. He wasn’t married. He hadn’t been following her. And now that she knew that, she could see why he’d been wary of her—why he might think she was the creepy one. It made her laugh again. And that probably didn’t help. She’d been laughing a lot, partly out of embarrassment, partly out of relief. When she’d first figured out that Cal and Blake were the same person, she’d thought it was going to make life difficult since he was such good friends with her best friend’s man.

  He raised an eyebrow at her.

  “I’m sorry. I promise you I’m not crazy. I just keep seeing the funny side of this whole situation.”

  That smile! It seemed to get better each time he used it. He was gorgeous. And she’d almost put her foot in it and told him how disappointed she’d been when she’d thought he was married.

  “I’m glad we got things straightened out.”

  “Me, too. Do you think we should find the others and let them know it’s safe to come back now?” She’d love to keep him all to herself. But that was hardly realistic.

  “Ah.” His smile disappeared. Perhaps he wouldn’t have minded being left alone with her after all? “We should.”

  He got to his feet and waited for her to join him. Her breath caught in her chest when his fingertips brushed the small of her back as he guided her through the bar. Whoa! Every time he touched her it sent her heart rate soaring. Shaking hands with him made her swoony—his hands were so damned big—she had to wonder about the rest of him. And when he’d put his hand on her arm earlier? There was no way she could leave—the heat from his touch had made her knees go weak.

  She frowned when they reached the spot where Nina and the guys had been standing. There was no sign of them. Cal stopped beside her, and she pressed her lips together a
t the feel of his palm against her back. Fingertips had been tantalizing. His whole palm resting there made her want to forget about finding the others and take him home.

  He moved closer when someone squeezed by on his other side. She looked up into his eyes. At five-eight, she wasn’t short, but it was still a long way up.

  He smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”

  She laughed. Man, she needed to stop doing that! “I’m not worried.” Oops. She needed to get herself under control.

  The corners of his lips quirked up. ‘You’re not?”

  She shook her head.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.” She was amazed that she sounded so calm.

  “If you hadn’t gotten the wrong idea this afternoon …”

  Crap. She was hoping that they could move on from that. Now she was less eager to hear what his question was.

  “Would you have gone for a drink with me?”

  His face was completely still as he waited for her answer. He should look intimidating, standing there all tall and straight and stern-looking, but for some reason he didn’t. Not to her, and then it struck her. He wasn’t interrogating her about her actions and motives. She smiled and wasn’t surprised when he did, too. “I would have. And …” She might be wrong, but she didn’t think so, and what the hell, it was worth the risk. “And now that we’ve sorted that out, I’m hoping that you might ask me again, sometime.”

  His fingers splayed across her back, and he leaned in closer. For one crazy moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. But instead of bringing his lips to hers, he brought them closer to her ear and murmured, “I’m asking.”

  She swallowed as she nodded. The man was dangerous! With shivers chasing each other down her spine and her whole body on high alert, he could be asking anything, and she’d say yes, eagerly.

  The stern face didn’t match the whispered words, but she knew she hadn’t imagined them. “Yes.” She wanted to say something more, something funny or … anything. But at this point all she could do was agree.

  He didn’t smile. She’d been hoping for another one of his killer smiles.

  “Can I ask another question?”