Finding Haven (12 page)

“And I thought you weren’t much of a kayaker,” he teased. Obviously, she had downplayed
her aquatic skills. He should have known better. The girl grew up on an island and
ran a kayak stand.

He couldn’t stop staring. This was worse than the urge to race after her in the boat.
Her white T-shirt clung to her skin, the water making it almost transparent. His eyes
landed on the lacy outline of her bra; it was hard to miss with the way her chest
was heaving. The scalloped edges stuck to the tops of her perfectly round breasts.
Damn
.

“You could help me with this part.” Her voice jerked his eyes away from her chest.

“What?” At least he kept himself from stammering.

“Help me get back in the kayak,” she urged. Evan thought she noticed where his eyes
had been.

The water was almost chest-deep for her and even though she tried several times to
hoist herself into the cockpit, it was proving impossible without a boost.

He reached below the surface of the water and wrapped his hands on either side of
her waist.

“Here we go. One. Two. Three.” At the end of the count, he shifted her upward, giving
her room to toss her leg over the side.

“Thanks. Think you can manage to get in yours by yourself? I don’t think I can help
you from here, but you can always swim back.” She adjusted the paddle in her hand
and began spinning around to face him.

His kayak had drifted a few yards from them. “I’ve got this. No problem.” He swam
over to the boat and surveyed how he was going to get back onboard without making
an idiot of himself for the second time.

He was almost a professional athlete. He rarely called in a stunt double on the movie
sets. He could get back in a kayak.

“You ok over there?” Haven called. She floated closer.

“Yep.” He eyed the boat again and decided just to go for it. Damn any more embarrassment.

He pressed hard with his palms and lifted his frame out of the water.
Nailed it.
He grabbed the paddle and circled toward her. Although, now that he was in the boat,
he realized how uncomfortable his wet T-shirt was. He laid the paddle across his knees
and peeled the shirt over his chest. The warmth of the sun’s rays felt good as they
hit his shoulders.

And there it was. The reaction he had tried all day to get. A satisfied smile spread
across his face. However, before he could revel in his true victory, Haven took her
eyes off Evan’s chest, just as she collided into his kayak, sending him back into
the salty creek.

“S
ORRY
. O
H
my God, I’m so sorry.” She floated closer to the overboard new-hire. He was smiling
and searching the water for his shirt. “I wasn’t paying attention.” She wasn’t going
to tell him it was because the water running down his sculpted abs had made her lose
any sense of reality.

“I think we can say we’re even.” He plucked his shirt from the water and wrung it
out before tossing it into the boat.

Haven noticed he didn’t seem mad. Although, she was more than annoyed he had sent
her tumbling into the creek. The only reason she had agreed to take him out was so
that she could ask him more about his writing. Somehow, that had turned into a race
and now they were both soaking wet. She hadn’t even gotten in the first question about
his book.

“Maybe we should get back to the docks before either of us goes overboard again,”
she suggested.

Her eyes followed every muscle along his shoulders and back as he hoisted himself
into the seat. She had no idea all of that was under his T-shirt when she hired him.
She bit hard on her lip and closed her eyes, willing herself not to think all kinds
of dirty thoughts. Like how those muscles might feel under fingertips and pressed
against her. No, bad idea—very irresponsible and dangerous idea.

“Sure. Maybe we can try this again another time.” He smiled at her, and then breezed
past her in his kayak.

Haven paddled, matching his slow pace. Jay sat relaxed in his kayak, cruising slowly
enough to see an egret in the marsh and a turtle slip off a log. There was so much
more to see when you weren’t racing through the creek. The orange hues of the sun
cast the entire creek into a fiery dream. She could tell he was taking it all in.

“So, what do you think of Perry Island?” She was almost completely parallel to him.
They glided at a steady rhythm, unlike their earlier sprint.

“It’s got something I’ve been searching for for a long time.” He sounded pensive.
A mullet hopped in front of them.

“Really? What could that possibly be? We don’t even have a movie theater.”

Haven knew that vacationers loved the island. The beaches were beautiful and the seafood
was always fresh, but they didn’t know what it was really like. If anyone of them
had spent a winter here, they would think differently. Everything shut down. The tourists
were gone, the landscape turned brown, and the chill from the humid winds cut right
to the bone.

“No movie theater? Well, that explains some things.” He eased into the boat launch.

Haven waited until her bow touched the incline of the ramp before hopping to the side.
“Yeah, no movie theater, no mall, no hospital. It’s like we’re cut off from civilization
out here.”

“Sounds perfect, if you ask me.” He rested the paddle in the cockpit as he stepped
out of the boat.

“Perfect? Where are
you
from? It’s boring and there’s nothing to do. I miss Chapel Hill and people who are
interesting.”

She hadn’t stopped mourning her college life. Graduation was over a month ago, and
sometimes she still felt like she was still on summer break, as if classes were waiting
for her in the fall. However, she knew if she didn’t have a job lined up by September,
she would be right here doing the same thing, day after day.

“I guess I don’t need much entertainment.” He winked as he turned to grab her boat
and lift it into the rack.

It was a simple gesture, a flirty gesture, which she had received hundreds of times,
but this was the first time she felt nervous and as if she had just had a few sips
of wine. She wanted him to do it again.

“That’s not what I mean. I know how to have a good time, but living on an island,
you see the same people over again, have the same conversations, hear the same news.
I miss the interesting people. The ones I haven’t known my whole life.”

“Would you consider a writer an interesting person?” His voice was serious, but laced
with so much flirtation.

He was bold. It didn’t take much interaction with him to know he was a professional
flirt, but she couldn’t help but like it. He was good at it.

“Maybe. Depends on the writing.” It didn’t hurt to flirt a little. Her back was turned,
but she heard him laugh. It made her grin.

“I see.” He lifted the kayak next to her. “I’m from a small town too. It’s not all
that bad. There’s something to be said for people knowing who you really are.”

“Right. Like knowing when you sneak out of your parents’ house when you’re twelve,
or everyone knowing you made straight As on your report card, or did you like the
part about people giving you advice on what you should do with your life?”

She tightened the loops of the straps and made sure the kayaks wouldn’t fall over
when they stepped away.

“Agreed. That part of small town life is rough, but it’s home. You can travel the
world and live in twenty different cities, but deep down, there is only one home.
You’ve got to love this place.” She knew the answer he was expecting to hear from
her. It would be too complicated to tell him how much she loved the island, but at
the same time how much they needed a break from each other. Perry was stifling her.

“I do. I will always love it, but that doesn’t mean I have to stay.” This conversation
had suddenly turned more serious than she wanted. The more Jay talked, the more she
kept revealing. It was already a bad habit.

“I get it. Sometimes you have to leave home for a while to realize it’s the place
you’re really supposed to be.” His hand gripped the kayak even though she had already
secured it. It was as if he needed the extra balance.

“Speaking from experience?” she asked, wondering what had made him so pensive. All
day he had been nothing but smiles.

“You could say that. I just miss home some days more than others.” He stepped back
from the row of boats and adjusted his sunglasses.

Haven knew there was truth in what he said. She liked to remember her college days
as the perfect escape from the island, but there were times when she missed the ocean
sounds and the friendly faces of home. Wherever Jay was from must be calling to him
right now.

She tried to run her hands through her hair, but the creek water had tangled it. “Well,
thanks, Jay, for everything today.”

“Everything?”

“Yeah, taking the job. You really bailed me out this morning.” The encounter with
her father and Travis turning in his notice seemed like it was days ago. What were
the chances she would be able to fill the position so quickly? “But, I need to change
out of these clothes, and you might want to put on a shirt.” It was hard to talk to
him while he stood dripping, shirtless, and all of a sudden looking incredibly edible.

He looked at his shorts and laughed. “Maybe not a bad idea. So, what time do I need
to be here in the morning? Is it really five thirty?”

Finally, someone who recognized five thirty was the most ridiculous time to go to
work. “Yes, sorry about that part. The fishermen are in early. They like to get their
coffee and donuts.”

He slung his shirt over his shoulder. “All right. I’ll see you in the morning.” He
turned and started walking toward the parking lot.

“Jay! Wait.” The words were out before she could take them back.

“Yeah?” He looked as confused as she felt.

“Since you’re new and everything, would you want to get something to eat? But, totally
not a big deal if you can’t, because you’re probably tired and you need to change
and then you have to be here so early and—”

“Sure.”

Haven’s pulse whirled, making her feel slightly off balance.

“Oh, really? Cool.” She hadn’t thought past the invitation.

“I have an idea. Why don’t you come to my place? I have a feeling it’s part of the
island you might not know so well. Maybe it will be something different.”

“Like have dinner at your place?” Now her stomach was doing flips. This was starting
to feel like a date. When he started walking away, a part of her wanted him to stay
a little longer, but a date, that was something else. Although, she questioned why
she would be resistant to him. He was cute and sexy. All day, he had made her laugh
and he had this crazy calming effect on her that was hard to ignore.

“I can’t guarantee it will be the best meal, but yeah, let’s try it. Consider it my
thank you for the job.”

Haven didn’t know how to react. She already knew that this dinner was crossing the
line, but it was hard to explain how something about Jay put her at ease, no matter
how many times she caught him checking her out today.

“Yeah, we can talk about writing.” She had tried all day to bring it up, but he kept
asking work-related questions. Maybe over dinner, she would get to ask him if words
hit him like they did her. If he woke up in the middle of night with a life or death
mission to get the words out. Yes, there were things she definitely wanted to ask
him. “But since you dunked me in the creek, I need to change. Give me the address
and I’ll meet you in an hour.”

He smiled. “Ok. I’m at the Perry Campground, last trailer on the right. You’ll see
the name, Silver Belle.”

“I don’t know what to make fun of first: the campground or the name.” She giggled
and pulled her bike from the rack.

“It’s high living for me.” He retrieved a pair of keys from his soggy shorts. “See
you in an hour.”

“Bye.” She grasped the handlebars and pushed down on the pedals—half-watching Jay,
and half-watching the road in front of her.

In an hour’s time, she would be having dinner with a handsome writer. Haven didn’t
think she could have written a better ending to her day if she had tried.