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“Maybe.” She bit back a grin, looking ridiculously pretty in another tacky tourist shirt. “Everyone says Californians can’t drive, but this is next-level ridiculous.”
“You’ll get used to it.” I pulled into a spot in front of the rental office. “You’ll go back to California and feel like there’s no personality on the roads.”
Kenna shook her head at the idea, getting out of the truck and heading inside. Honestly, I couldn’t really envision her going back to California right now. She clearly hadn’t accepted living in Florida quite yet, but the idea of her not living next door to me any longer didn’t sit well. Somehow I’d gotten used to the spitfire.
“Good morning, Irene!” Kenna called out, placing a potted plant on the filing cabinet in the corner of the office.
Irene didn’t even look up from her cell phone as she sipped the largest cup of Wawa iced coffee I’d ever seen. She grunted, which was her customary version of hello anytime before noon. After that magical hour, she progressed to using actual words.
“I think we better skip the boating today,” I drawled, leaning against Irene’s desk just because I knew it would piss her off. “My clothes are just now drying out.”
“Hardy har,” Kenna answered. “I actually wanted to go over the books today anyway. Maybe talk to whomever runs the Captain’s social media?”
Irene’s head snapped up, her owlish eyes trained on Kenna. “Books? Social media?”
“Yeah. You know, the back end of the business. I was thinking I’d leave the actual boating to Dec and I’d get my hands on the marketing and financials. Where I’m a better fit.”
Irene stood up so fast her ancient desk chair shot out from under her and hit the wall. “I’m going to take a nap. Here’s the computer. Password for everything is captain. Don’t forget the capital C.” She shuffled off, her coffee clutched in her hands and her bright pink sandals slapping against the tile floor.
Kenna’s mouth dropped open, watching her go. I tried my best to hold back a laugh. “Can you tell Maeve and Irene were friends?”
Kenna came over and rescued the office chair, rolling it back to the desk before gingerly sitting in it. “I don’t think Irene likes me.”
I stood up. “It’s not so much about you specifically. She just doesn’t like people in general.”
“Then how’d she and Aunt Maeve become friends?” The computer screen flashed to life.
“It was either become friends or kill each other.” I shrugged and walked to the back door. “I’m off to inspect the boats and see what kind of maintenance we might need. My best friend works on boats, so I’m hoping we can get a good deal on anything that needs to be done. Maeve wasn’t known for keeping up with maintenance.”
Kenna lifted her gaze from the computer screen. “My green Formica countertops were the first clue.”
I shot her a wink and exited, shocked that I still knew how to use those muscles. I didn’t wink at women anymore. That was the old Dec. And the fact that I was blurring the lines between then and now was enough to have me dead sober as I looked for Johnny. Didn’t matter how pretty Kenna was or the way her sense of humor was coming to life. I didn’t have room for a flirtation.
My shirt was soaked by the time I made it back to the rental office. The seawater soaking of yesterday would have been better than this sweat. Kenna grimaced when I walked inside, sighing at the air-conditioned air hitting my skin.
“What happened to you?”
I grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge behind Irene’s desk and sank into a chair in the corner of the room. “Florida happened.”
“Okay, so get this.” Kenna scrolled and clicked before pointing at the computer screen. “This place is profitable.”
“I figured it was. Maeve wouldn’t have kept it going if it wasn’t.”
Kenna’s new hair flew around her shoulders as she shook her head. “No, what I mean is, they haven’t done a lick of marketing and it’s already profitable. Can you imagine once I start some social accounts and put together an ad campaign?”
Kenna rambled on, the marketing terms lost on me. The more she talked, the more she got animated. Pink stained her cheeks, not from heat, but from excitement. Her hands flew in the air, dainty digits with neat, trimmed nails and not a single ring adorning her fingers.
“Okay, you lost me. Ready to go?” I’d cut her off. Not at all nicely. I told myself it was because her rambling was boring, but really my irritation was because I found her even more attractive when she was lit up from the inside. I’d seen her crying, angry, and despondent. Her beauty then was nothing compared to this version of her.
And I needed her to stop. Right fucking now.
“Uh, sure. Let me just print a few things and then I’ll be ready.” She hit a few buttons and I heard the printer below the desk kick into gear. “You know, if things go well, we might be able to expand. Add a few more boats. Maybe another location. I mean, the sky’s the limit, right?”
I stood, throwing away my empty water bottle and glaring at Kenna’s backside as she stooped to get the printed pages. Expand? More boats? Hell, no. That would mean more tourists. More boats out on the water fighting for the best fishing spots. More people who would invade my sleepy small town.
And learn my secret.
I left Kenna to her plans for taking over the world one boat rental at a time to go see Pops. As a fifty percent owner of Captain’s Boat Club, there was nothing Kenna could do without my approval, so I wasn’t too worried she’d wreck my quiet town quite yet.
