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“You know him?” I asked.
“I do. He’s the grumpiest guy on the key, but he sure knows how to fish.”
I laughed. “Yeah, he is a bit on the grumpy side, but once you get to know him, he’s actually quite nice.”
Harley shot me a look I couldn’t identify. “So I need to give him more than the twenty years we’ve known each other?”
My jaw dropped open. “Oh. I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”
“I’m just teasing you. Yeah, we’re best friends actually. From before we both moved to Sunshine Key.”
Huh. Someone who knew Dec for most of his life? I suddenly had so many questions I wasn’t sure where to start. “What does he do for a living anyway? He seems retired.”
Harley’s smile faded and I felt like I’d kicked his dog. “You’ll have to ask him that.”
“Okay…” Why would no one talk about Dec except for how handsome he was? Certainly there was a whole story there. How did a forty-ish-year-old guy own prime real estate on the water while being retired already? “Any ex-wives I should watch out for?”
That got a bark of laughter out of Harley. “Oh, hell no. Dec with a wife? He’d have to actually date a woman to get her to marry him.”
That made me ridiculously happy for some reason. The idea that a man existed who didn’t date the first woman to pay him attention. Unlike Justin, it looked like there were men who didn’t have more than one woman at a time. What a novel idea. I opened my mouth to ask yet another question about Dec, but we’d arrived at my house. Char pulled into my driveway and Harley parked at the curb. We all climbed out and Char popped the trunk of her car. Harley hip-checked me out of the way when I tried to grab a handful of groceries.
“Go help Char. I got this.”
I put my hand on his arm, feeling like I may have made yet another friend. “Thanks, Harley. You’re good people.”
“What the hell is going on out here?”
Dec’s voice had us spinning around. Harley smiled, despite Dec glaring at his friend.
“Just helping out Kenna here,” Harley said, lifting his hands full of grocery bags.
“Give me that,” Dec snapped, grabbing the bags out of Harley’s hands and marching to my house. “Grab the rest, Harley.”
I made a face at Harley. “I take back what I said about him being nice.”
Harley’s laugh was full and deep. “I think I like you, Kenna Ryan.”
“Right back atcha, Harley.” I left to help Char with the clothing purchases. After we brought it all in, I caught Char before she stepped back outside. We could hear the guys bickering in my kitchen.
“I really appreciate this. Your one day off and you spent it on Sunshine Key’s latest charity case.”
“Oh, please. I just want to see Dec’s face when he gets his first look of you in those cutoff denim shorts,” Char whispered.
There went my face again. “He’ll probably gripe about them somehow. Besides, I’m?—”
“I know.” Char cut me off, stepping back. “You’re still married and you have no time to flirt with anyone. I heard you the first five times you told me, but I still don’t believe it. Dec is hot and so are you. The two of you together could light this town on fire.”
I shook my head even though I appreciated her thinking I had anything a man like Dec wanted to see. “You need to stop reading all those romance novels.”
Char started to climb back in her car. “And you need to quit burying your head in the sand like a flamingo.”
I frowned. “Don’t you mean an ostrich?” But she had already closed her door and eased out of my driveway.
Dec and Harley were still arguing when they stepped out onto my porch. I gave both of them a quick hug goodbye. And I was right. Hugging Harley was nice. Hugging Dec made the contents of my stomach turn to flapping butterfly wings.
“Thanks for the help, gentlemen.” I made it to my front door when Harley piped up.
“Hey. Has Dec taken you out tubing yet?” Harley turned to me.
