The three texts came in quick succession about five minutes after I arrived at work. I grinned like a loon and stuck my phone in the back pocket of my jean shorts.
"Someone"s in a good mood tonight." Brenda eyed me with a smirk. "I don"t suppose a certain Hollywood hottie has anything to do with it?"
"Shhh, seriously Brenda, you have to help me keep this quiet." I reached to help her unload the rack of clean gla.s.ses she"d brought through from the kitchen.
"Of course I will, Hon, don"t worry. It seems almost impossible to believe anyway, and I don"t mean that toward you!"
I swallowed. Brenda was right though. It was insane that a celebrity of Jack"s caliber would be in Butler Cove, our tiny tourist town where nothing exciting ever happened. And not only that, but he wanted to be with me. Boring old Keri Ann. "You shouldn"t believe it." I agreed with her a.s.sessment of its improbability. "It"s beyond nuts. Honestly, I know underneath it all he"s a regular guy, but at times I just don"t get what he sees in me. I mean he"s ..."
"Jack-freakin-Eversea?" she supplied.
"Yes, and I"m ..."
"Probably the coolest thing to ever happen to him?"
I elbowed her playfully. "Thanks, Brenda."
She smiled and swatted me. "You should know that there were a couple out-of-towners in here today askin" "bout him."
I cleared my throat. Already?
"It was lucky Paulie wasn"t in, he would"ve been hootin" and hollerin" about it. Saying this was Jack"s favorite place to eat in Butler Cove." She pursed her lips in disapproval. "He"ll get a bra.s.s plaque at the bar, you mark my words."
"Unfortunately, you"re probably right. He got his picture taken with both of them, and made them promise to come back in and sign it so he can put it up behind the bar." My belly tumbled over with dread. The conversation Jack and I had this afternoon about the pictures of us rattled through my mind. We were going to have to be so careful.
My phone buzzed my b.u.t.t again. "Sorry, give me a minute," I said to Brenda and headed to the ladies" room.
Late Night Visitor: I"m bored. Do you have anything that needs fixing?
Me: Seriously?
Late Night Visitor: Seriously.
Me: It"s weird to be texting again. You don"t have any movie quotes for me?
There was a pause long enough for me to feel guilty about hanging out in the restroom instead of helping Brenda set up.
Late Night Visitor: But good right?
Me: Yes, Good.
I smiled and quickly texted Jazz.
Me: So ... I have news.
Then I texted Jack again.
Me: I meant to ask you. I saw the new tattoo on your foot. A sea turtle?
Late Night Visitor: To remind me of you.
Me: Whatever. I"ve already said I"ll date you, you don"t need to lay it on so thick.
Late Night Visitor: Unfortunately, I"m totally serious.
I paused, trying to think of something quick witted to cover my surprise.
Me: I didn"t realize you were in danger of forgetting me so easily that you needed help.
Late Night Visitor: You kill me. I wasn"t. Maybe I just like to torture myself. We"re not talking about this again.
Chuckling, I resisted the urge to rea.s.sure him that I was likewise in no danger of forgetting him either. But I resisted. For a split-second I gave into the heady feeling of knowing I had Hollywood"s s.e.xiest man alive never wanting to forget me.
How I made it through the next few hours was beyond me. I kept wanting to haul my phone out and send another text just so I might get one back. I was losing it. The antic.i.p.ation of seeing Jack later was killing me. Memories of our earlier kisses as well as the moment in the shower that I was now wishing I"d let turn into so much more, were outweighing all of my worries one by one.
The only break we"d taken from making out on his bed all afternoon was when he decided he should shave his stubble. I"d sat on the edge of the bath and watched him in the mirror as he lathered his face and neck and ran the blades over his skin. His eyes flicked to mine repeatedly as he worked, both of us knowing he was only doing it so he could kiss me again without making my skin raw. I didn"t think I"d ever seen a s.e.xier act than shaving in my entire life.
A tremor ran through me at the memory, and I touched my fingers to my still tingly mouth. I needed to focus on work, not Jack.
Luckily, it was a busy evening, and Joey showed up just before eleven as things finally wound down. He knew Jazz was usually here keeping me company, so it was surprising that he came.
Where was Jazz, anyway? She hadn"t texted me back yet.
"Hey, kiddo," Joey said, slinging his leg over a barstool.
I smiled a goofy smile at him. "Hey. Where did you run off to this morning?"
"Went paddling. Needed to get some Lowcountry air through my head." He ran a hand through his dark blond hair and pointed at the Stella on draft.
I grabbed a gla.s.s and found myself grinning again. "How"s the studying going?"
"Fine." He looked at me quizzically. "What"s up with you?"
"What do you mean?" I frowned. "Nothing."
"Right," he said skeptically as I slid his beer toward him. "Where were you when I got back?"
I sucked on my lower lip. I wasn"t ready to tell Joey yet, but I could hardly lie to him. "I went to see Jack," I said quietly, making sure we weren"t overheard. The last patrons were leaving and Brenda was showing them out. She flipped the closed sign and headed back to the kitchen.
"I see." Joey pursed his lips with a slow nod. "So you read his letter then, and whatever he wrote just erased the last seven months of his not giving a s.h.i.t? Does it not matter what I, or any of your friends who care about you, think?"
"Of course it matters."
"G.o.d, I even hate to ask, because she probably cheered you on," he snorted derisively, "but what does Jazz have to say about you going to see him?"
"I haven"t told her yet."
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "But you"re going to think long and hard before you get involved with him, I hope. I"m sure it was all very convincing, but you"re going to think this through, right?"
I gritted my teeth in irritation.
"Right?" Joey pressed.
"Of course I"ve thought it through," I snapped. "I"ve done nothing but think about it, Joey. But seriously, at some point I have to follow my gut and my heart."
His head bobbed back. "So you"ve already decided?"
"Yes, and I"d really like you to be happy for me. In fact, he"ll be here in a few to walk me home."
He pursed his lips again. "He can walk us home, then. What about Colt?"
"What about him? Why don"t you ask Colt about me and Jack? I think you"ll find he gets "us" a lot more than you do." I reached forward and took his arm. "Joey, I"m not going to lie, I"m scared out of my freaking mind about embarking on a relationship with him. But if anything goes awry, I"m going to need you to support us, not offer a bunch of I told you so"s."
"So why do it?" he asked, pained. "I"m not here, I can"t protect you if it all goes to s.h.i.t. And we really don"t need to be raising our profile in this town. Or for you to be seen like one of those groupies, or whatever they call girls who hang out with actors, with everyone a.s.suming he"s onto his latest piece of a.s.s. We need approval ratings in this town, not judgments." His eyes flicked away.
"What else is bothering you, Joey?" I managed, trying to stuff down my surge of bile at the idea of people seeing me like he"d just described. "This can"t just be about Jack. If it"s about the town, I already know they raised the property taxes on us. It"ll be a struggle, but somehow we"ll make it, or appeal to get them to lower the taxes a bit. Me seeing Jack shouldn"t effect that. Anyway, we"re going to keep it secret. You know I don"t want to be in the spotlight anymore than you do."
Joey sighed and drummed his fingers on the polished bar top. "I didn"t want to freak you out, but I got a call from our insurance guy a few months ago. Apparently we"re in a storm surge one area, and with all the freak weather events in the last few years, they"re dropping flood insurance from our coverage, and we"ll have to buy it separately. It"s a fortune. And with our taxes going up too ..." He blew out a breath and left the sentence hanging. He didn"t need to finish it. With a huge insurance bill, if we could even pay it, there"d be nothing left to pay the taxes.
My mind whirled.
Brenda popped her head out from the kitchen. "Keri Ann, I have to head out. You okay to close up tonight? Hey, Joey."
"Hey," my brother nodded, distractedly.
I waved at her. "Uh, yeah, thanks, Brenda. See you tomorrow."
She disappeared, and I looked back to see Joey looking desolate.
"Keri Ann ... long term, I don"t know how we"re going to keep the house."
I gulped a breath as my heart took a nosedive. "Why didn"t you tell me before now?" I whispered.
"I am, now."
"No, I mean, before. You said you found out months ago. There"s no way I can go to SCAD. We"ll need every spare cent for the house."
Joey squeezed his eyes closed and then pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "I don"t want you to give that up. It"s your time, Keri Ann."
"But, Joey-"
"No, listen. There"s a small amount left of Mom and Dad"s money. We can use that to pay the insurance this year, and then I"ll take student loans out, too. That"ll buy us a year to figure out what to do. We"ve just got to hope I can convince the town to back us up on an appeal to the county about the taxes."
"What happens if they don"t and we can"t pay?"
"Well, then they"ll auction it, and someone will be able to buy up the Butler House for the price of just the taxes, rather than what it"s probably worth, being an historic home and all."
"I wonder who that might be," I said, then added grimly, "Somehow, I don"t think we"ll have much luck getting the town to back us on an appeal." The town council, and especially Pastor McDaniel, had been after our home for years. I guessed they finally devised a strategy to make it happen. Why did there always have to be a villain? And my poor friend Jasper had him as a father. I shuddered.
"Look, don"t freak out yet. If we don"t pay them we"ve got until next April before they consider the taxes delinquent, and then if they go to auction it won"t happen until October. After that we have a whole year to redeem the house. So this is a ways away, okay? I just needed you to know what"s going on." Joey hung his head. "G.o.d, I"m sorry, Keri Ann."
I came around the bar. "What for?" I said and stepped into his big bear arms.
"For not keeping my promise to look after you. I went off to school and left you to get your heart broken, to get involved with someone like Jack Eversea, twice, and now I probably won"t even be able to keep our house for you."
Tears stung my eyes. I"d never heard Joey sound so distraught. "Joey, I don"t know who you made that promise to, but you need to let it go. We"re both grown-ups now. It"s not your job to look after me anymore. We"ll figure it out, okay? We"ve got time. We"ll figure it out," I repeated rea.s.suringly and squeezed him hard, then pulled back. "And you didn"t let me get involved with Jack, I did that all on my own, and it only happened once, I"ve never been uninvolved." I admitted the truth to both of us. "I need you on board, Joey. I think ... I think this is it for me."
A throat clearing behind me made us both jump. I turned to find Jack, in a black ball cap, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his eyes boring into mine.
"I came in the back way," Jack said quietly, his fingers stuffed in his jean pockets. His shoulders were hunched up under what looked like the sage green t-shirt I"d been wearing earlier.
My cheeks throbbed with heat and my chest expanded with embarra.s.sment. How long had Jack been standing there listening to Joey and me? Long enough to hear my declaration? Perhaps even long enough to hear the pitiful story of the house. I couldn"t tell by his eyes, but they looked intense.
"Hector said it was okay. Sorry to interrupt." As Jack stepped toward us with his hand out, his eyes finally left me and went to my brother.
That seemed to spur Joey into action. He approached Jack and took his hand.
Jack nodded at my brother, who matched his height. "Jack. We"ve never officially met. I apologize for that."
I bit my lip. The last time they"d seen each other in person was in Savannah, when I"d practically run into my brother"s arms after I"d said goodbye to Jack. Not to mention Jack had just decked my brother"s best friend.
"Joey. Good to meet you," my brother said and shook Jack"s hand firmly. Joey cut his eyes over to me a split second, and I knew he too was wondering how much Jack heard, and also acknowledging that he himself had heard me, understood what I was saying. We would talk about it again, I knew, but right now my brother was giving me his temporary blessing.
"I hear you"re walking my sister home tonight." He looked back at Jack.
Jack gave a slight nod and winked at me. One of those twinkling, slow and s.e.xy winks that melted my insides and made me instantly self-conscious that he"d done it in front of Joey. "If she"ll still have me."
"I do believe she will." Joey raised an eyebrow at me, but seemed to have missed whatever it was I"d just experienced from Jack"s wink.
"Yeah, uh, just give me a few." I quickly turned back toward the bar and tried to remember my close down checklist. "Joey, you finishing this beer?"
"Sure." He walked over and Jack followed. They both sat. Awkward.
"You want something, Jack?" I asked. Please say no, so we can get out of here faster.
"No, thanks, I"m good."
"Wow, I get it now," said Joey about twenty minutes later as we made our way home by the light of the almost full moon, chatting about everything and nothing. Joey, bless his heart, had politely been asking about Jack"s movie and making conversation while Jack tried his best to look engaged. He"d grabbed my hand as we left, his first contact since he"d arrived. And now his fingers wouldn"t keep still.
Hidden by the shadow of our bodies as we walked, Jack"s fingers were sliding up my wrist, skating my pulse, down my hand, skimming my palm, and then sliding languidly between my fingers, as if they were my legs.
I couldn"t breathe.
"Get what?" I managed to ask Joey and immediately cleared my throat, pretending my breathy response was just a vocal mishap.
"Being with you two is like being in the showers in the girls" locker room after volleyball practice. You have nowhere safe to look."
Both Jack and I burst out laughing, our moment temporarily suspended.