the whale’s blowhole. ‘You think I’m here to come on to you?’
‘I’m still waiting to find out why you’re here. You came a long way for something. Go ahead and say what you wanted to say.’
Permission seemed to paralyse her. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly several times. Whatever she was going to say, it wasn’t easy.
Her hands stilled on the whale. ‘I hurt you back in school and I wanted you to know I’m very sorry,’ her soft voice began.
Every part of him stretched sling-shot taut. He cast her a sideways glance. ‘You didn’t hurt me.’
Her pretty face folded. ‘That can’t be true. I was there, I remember.’
‘What do you remember?’
She blew air out of full lips. ‘How you looked. How we left things.’
How badly he’d handled himself? He shrugged. ‘Like I said. Friendships end.’
‘Not usually like that. You kissed me, Marc.’
Right on cue, he got a flash of the wide-eyed awakening on her face. The coconut taste on his tongue as her mouth had parted with surprise. As he’d sunk into the heaven of her lips. He clenched his teeth against the bittersweet memory. Forced it back down deep where it belonged. His muscles clamped up again. He calmed himself for the whale’s sake. It was stressed enough for all of them.
‘That wasn’t a kiss, Beth. I was trying to make a point.’
Confusion marred her pale skin. ‘What point?’
A lip-searing, unforgettable point. A friendship ending point. ‘That you would have kissed anyone offering at that point.’ That you didn’t need McKinley for that.
She disguised her sharp intake of breath behind loudly dumping her whale-washer in the drink and then she bought herself some recovery time by wringing the life out of his old T-shirt. For one second he felt like a heel for hurting her. But he pushed that away too. Best course now—like back when he was a kid—was not to let himself feel anything at all for Beth Hughes. Time had passed. They’d both moved on. In a couple of hours she’d be gone.
‘It’s been ten years. It’s not like I’ve been sitting around obsessing about it.’ At least not for more than a few months. ‘What else is there to say?’
Slosh … slosh. Her eyes glittered as she measured what he’d said. ‘Other than “Good to see you, Beth”.’
Her tight words cracked and his stomach flipped fully over. He was still a sucker for those big brown eyes if they were awash. Either she was a master manipulator or this really was a big deal for her. But it was for him too, after years of not letting himself think about her. Good to see her?
‘We never lied to each other before.’
Her face grew pale beneath his hoodie and he turned his attention back to the whale, unable to stomach her expression.
They worked silently for another twenty minutes until Marc couldn’t stand the quiet. ‘If you want to take the Cruiser back to my place, that’s fine. I’ll get a lift back when reinforcements come.’
She lifted tired eyes. ‘No, thank you.’
No? ‘Why are you still here? You’ve said what you came for. You’re sorry for the hurt you imagine you caused. ‘ He made his shrug much more casual than he felt. ‘Doesn’t that mean we’re done?’
It should. If it was the real reason. He could see in her eyes it wasn’t.
They flicked away and back in a blink. ‘You haven’t accepted my apology yet.’
That stopped his hands and he slowed his bend to re-wet his towel. ‘Is that a requirement?’
Her eyes held his. ‘I’d like you to.’
Which meant the apology was more about her than him. Why does that surprise you? Just acknowledge the woman’s apology and get her the hell off this beach! Yet something in him couldn’t do it. ‘I don’t see you for ten years and then you turn up looking for absolution?’ Uncertainty filled her eyes. ‘Why would you expect it?’
‘Because … ‘ Her pale face scrunched up, confused. As if she hadn’t thought about that until now. ‘Because you’re Marc.’
He had to take two steps back from the whale for that one. In case it felt his surging anger through his touch. ‘That might have been our dynamic as kids, Beth, but a lot has changed in the years you’ve been gone. I’m not a gutless boy any more.’
She seemed shocked. ‘You were never gutless, Marc. You always went straight for what you wanted.’
Not always. He struggled to get his temper under control, his hands back on the whale. ‘Bully for me.’
‘You don’t believe me?’
‘I don’t believe that’s why you thought I’d fall for your apology.’
Her colour started to rise. ‘I just want to know that you forgive me for what I did.’
And here we go … ‘Ah, now we’re getting to it. So, in addition to accepting your apology, you want forgiveness? What is this, some kind of twelve-step programme?’ He’d studied up on those back when he was researching his mother’s condition. Back when he still gave a damn. ‘Make good for all the people you’ve burned in life?’
It was Beth’s turn to sway away from the whale. He crashed onwards, too worked up to give much care for her enormous eyes. ‘Where did I fall on the list, Beth? How did I fare against your other screw-ups in life? I hope I was at least in the top half.’
Her eyes blazed and it was beautiful and awful at the same time. Now that he was faced with opportunity, hurting her was not quite as satisfying as he’d imagined back when he was seventeen and holding all those feelings close to him.
She stood and stared, her head tilted, her eyes glittering magnificently. ‘Thank you, Marc. This actually makes it easier.’
He was already frowning into the sun too much to do it further. ‘What?’
‘In my head you were still the old Marc—gentle and concerned about people. I was really anxious about facing that man. But the new Marc is just a sarcastic pig and much easier not to give a stuff about.’
He snorted. ‘Story of my life.’
She shook her head, disgust all over her face. ‘Oh, boo hoo …’
Only one person on this planet had ever spoken to him like this—cut-throat honest. Getting straight down to the bones of an issue. And here she was again.
He gave as good as he got. ‘Last time I saw you, Beth, the only thing you wanted from me was a goodbye. Well, you got it. Don’t kid yourself that I’ve been mooching over that all these years. It was a good lesson to learn so early in life. It toughened me up for the real world. It drove me to succeed at school and in life.”
She
