and they began walking back toward the marina.
“I believe in facing your fears,” he said. “Headon.”
“You don’t want to see me have a panic attack,” she told him. “It’s not a pretty sight.”
He stopped short.
“You have panic attacks?” Concern etched a new line across his forehead.
“I’m making a great impression on my potential new boss, aren’t I? I’m freaked out about dating, I’m afraid of water, I have panic attacks. I swear, I’m perfectly fine at the bar. I don’t crack up in front of customers. Much.” She looked at him. “That was a joke,” she added.
“I don’t think you’re nuts,” he said. He cocked his head, regarded her for a beat. “I think you’re everything Morrie said you were.”
She wondered exactly what Morrie had told him.
They reached the marina and he returned the bucket. There was a sink for hand-washing, and after they finished, he held the door open for her again. Great. He was gorgeous, rich, nice and polite. She needed to find some faults, quickly. She reminded herself that she barely knew him and had no reason to trust him. She brushed by him, back into the harsh glare of the day.
“I need to get back to the bar,” she said.
“I thought you didn’t have to be back till later.”
No, damn him. “I could show you the books.” Anything to cut short their outing. “You don’t want to spend too much time in the sun right away,” she added, trying to think of more reasons they should go back to the bar. “I’m used to it, but you’re not. The sun here is seductive. It’s stronger than you think. You can tell the tourists because they’re the ones who are sunburned. And by the way, don’t swim after dark. That’s when the sharks are most active. The mosquitoes here are ferocious, too. And you need some sunglasses—the kind that protect against ultraviolet rays—”
She stopped. He was watching her with his curiously level gaze shuttered and hard to read now. But he could read her, apparently. And she hated that. It made her heart thump and pound, and she wanted to run, hard, fast, until she couldn’t think or feel.
“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he said. “Or take up too much of your time. Let’s go back.”
All he did was make her feel uncomfortable. But now she felt like a jerk.
“No, I’ll walk you into the town. Morrie asked me to do anything for you that I could, and I owe him…everything. If you’d like me to show you around some more—”
“And take me shopping for sunglasses?” The teasing note returned to his voice.
She felt her cheeks heat. “I really wasn’t trying to ditch you,” she lied.
He didn’t believe her, she suspected, but he didn’t confront her about it, either.
“Good thing,” he said. “Because I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay.”
That was exactly what she was afraid of.
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