Page 47 of The Sailor

“People change,” his mom said easily. “I’ll tell him you were sorry you didn’t get to see him before you left, though.”

“Thanks.”

Zach led Marit outside and back to his Explorer. Once they were inside and on their way, she asked, “Do Linc and this Harper woman really hate each other?”

“No clue. They haven’t seen each other since they were in high school. But I know she wasn’t nice to him back then. At all. Not sure why. I don’t think Linc even knows why she was so hateful toward him all those years ago.”

“It’ll be interesting to see how things go between them, in that case. Because it’s obvious Kash likes him a lot, and he clearly enjoys spending time on Lobster Cove.”

“Yeah. Hopefully neither Harper nor her dad will be assholes about Kash spending time with us.”

“Hopefully.”

“Are you really going to ask Eliot if you can get some time on Saturday to go to the crate race?”

“Yeah. That is . . . if you think Kash would really want me there?”

“I’m sure he would. But more importantly, I’d love to spend more time with you. Saturday at Lobster Fest is fun, like Britt said. There’s the five- and ten-K races in the morning, the Codfish Carry right before lunch, the lobster-eating contest at lunchtime, then the crate race starts at two-ish.”

“I think if Eliot and Jonah are okay with it, if we go out early, we could be back by one. In time for me to run home, change, and meet you somewhere for the race.”

“Sounds perfect. I’ll bring you something to eat so you aren’t hungry while we’re watching. How about that?”

“Oh, I can just grab something when I run home.”

“Nonsense. You’d probably nuke something not very nutritious. And if you’ve been out working for hours, you’ll need something more filling.”

“How do you know me so well after such a short time?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

Zach simply smiled over at her.

The rest of the drive back to Rockville was spent talking about their favorite foods—other than lobster—and Zach telling Marit stories about growing up on Lobster Cove. She didn’t share a lot about her childhood, but Zach understood that her memories weren’t the best.

They’d spent the entire day together, but it felt like he’d gotten to know her so much better in just the last couple of hours. And the more he was around Marit, the more he wanted to be around her. He could only hope he didn’t screw things up between them.

He could envision a future with this woman, he just prayed she felt the same.

Chapter Nine

On Saturday, as Marit stood on the deck of the Wave Rider and hoisted pots from the depths of the ocean, pulling out lobsters that fit the criteria for keeping and throwing back oversize ones and females with eggs, she contemplated the last few days.

She could lobster in her sleep and had no problem doing her job while lost in her thoughts.

Zach was . . . almost too good to be true. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. For him to turn out to be an asshole to kids or dogs. To talk smack about his employees. To not wash his hands after using the bathroom. But he’d done none of those things. The more time she spent with him, the more she talked with or texted him on the phone, the better and better he seemed.

Which was kind of freaking her out. Since losing her parents, the run of bad luck in her life really did extend to everything. Family, jobs, friends. Despite fighting to retain her optimism, it was still hard to wrap her mind around how well things were going with Zach.

Today, Eliot and Jonah had agreed to get a head start on the water so they could come in and watch the crate race and enjoy the afternoon at Lobster Fest. It meant Marit would be exhausted by the end of the night, because three a.m. was an extremely early start to the day, but it would be worth it.

She’d spent the night at Zach’s place after their day at Lobster Cove, and the sex had somehow been even better than the first time. She’d been almost feral with lust for the man, and he’d met her needs and then some.

They were so compatible, it actually worried Marit. So much so, she’d put the brakes on and made up excuses as to why she hadn’t been able to stay at his place the couple of nights since.

Zach was a great guy. Why she wasn’t grabbing him with both hands and refusing to let go, she had no idea.

Probably because, since she couldn’t find any flaws in the man, she expected something to happen that would make him come to his senses and question why he was with her.

Sighing, Marit notched the tail of another female with eggs before throwing her back into the ocean to have her babies and live another day. That was kind of how she felt sometimes, as if she was thrown back time and time again, when all she really wanted was to settle down with a few kids of her own and live a peaceful life. Free from harassment. From men trying to tell her what she could and couldn’t do. Convincing her that she wasn’t enough . . .