Page 70 of Here & Now

He chuckled, and she felt herself softening toward him, but she wasn’t ready to let down her guard completely. “Did you really follow me here?”

“Confession—I might have overheard you talking to your sister on the phone last night.”

Her eyes went wide. “What… where…how?” she sputtered.

“I was on the lanai. I’d just climbed out of the pool and was drying off when I heard you come outside.”

“So, you stayed there and spied?” Her accusation didn’t hold as much anger as it could have since she’d been guilty of the same thing.

“I wouldn’t call it spying. I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation, so I just hung out until you were done talking.”

She racked her brain, trying to remember everything she’d said to Ivy. “So, you basically heard everything.”

“Mostly.”

A wave of guilt rushed over her. “I said some not-so-nice things about you.”

“Yes, you did,” he replied evenly.

She gave him credit for handling this so maturely, which was more than she could say for herself. “I shouldn’t have spouted off like that.”

“You were angry; it’s understandable.”

“Are you for real?”

He laughed loudly, and two older women at the sale table turned and smiled at them. From the outside, it might have looked like they’d had a lover’s quarrel and were making up. They weren’t lovers, though.

“I thought you were using me to get to Kayla.” It sounded so foolish since he didn’t need any help getting women. “I feel so stupid.”

“I wish you would have talked to me before jumping to conclusions.”

“Me too, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Huh?”

“You were just trying to help, and I acted like a b—.”

“You apologized, and I accepted, so we’re good.”

“You fixed my bike, took me on a dolphin cruise, cleaned up my broken vase, and went shopping with me for a new one. You even let me interview you, and how did I repay you? By slamming the door in your face!”

“Technically, you didn’t slam it. I just walked out.”

“But I yelled at you and called you names to my sister.”

“You called me names? I didn’t hear that part.”

“I need to make it up to you.”

“No, you really don’t.”

“Yes, I really do.” Now that she’d made up her mind about this, she wasn’t backing down. “Let me make you dinner.”

“You cook?”