There’s no need to lie. “Yes. I’m one of those SEALs. You know, the men that protect your freedom, your nation, the ones that keep the peace,” I say, emphasizing the last word. “We’re here to better protect America, Caroline.” At the mention of her name, she calms, swallowing hard. “I came here to merely ask about negotiations. We need facilities such as yours to train. Skydiving and whatnot. Skills that help us do our job. That means peace foryou.”
She backs down immediately, and her eyes change. For the first time, she looks at me instead of what I represent, and she’s affected. Her huge, crystal blue eyes land on mine. Yes. Familiar territory. I flash her a small grin, teasing my bottom lip with my top teeth—a small gesture the average person wouldn’t pick up on, but something someone attracted to me will zone in on quickly. “Negotiations. Fine,” she says. Taking a huge, visible breath, she walks into the office and leans against the wall to the right.
Caroline blows a strand of hair off her face, and recognition dawns.
“You work at the diner,” I say, narrowing my eyes.
“Mrs. May owns the diner, and Caroline helps out. This is her primary focus, though. She’s building a rightfine apartment upstairs. I’m retiring!” May exclaims, rummaging the fridge for another beer. This town is smaller than I ever imagined. Everything and every person is interconnected in some form. Lesson learned.
Caroline rolls her eyes in her father’s direction. “I’m taking it over willingly. It’s my dream,” she says quietly, like her dream should be silenced. “I’m the main pilot these days. Daddy, I mean, Mr. May is a master engineer and mechanic. Between the two of us, we can fix anything.” May takes this as his cue to exit the office.
“It’s a fine dream,” I reply, standing straighter. “Perhaps I can help make it happen quicker?” Leif can suck my cock. I know what I’m capable of getting from these people. I also know how I’m going to get it.
Her arms folded across her chest, she widens her eyes. “I’m waiting,” she exclaims.
“I’m prepared to rent the entire airport for one day, every week. This is what we’ll pay you annually,” I say, grabbing a pen from the small desk, I scribble a number on the sheet Leif gave me with their information. The math was done in my head and double-checked in mere seconds. It’s one of my gifts. Keeping the paper in my hands, I show her the number, holding it a foot from her face. “Deal,” I say, instead of asking.
Her eyes widen as she takes in the offer and all the zeros following it. “What if it’s no deal?” she asks, her eyes finally flicking up to meet mine.
This moment is important. It’s more important thananything money can buy. I run my eyes down her body, slowly, and all the way back up. Her chest heaves as her breaths come quicker—her cheeks flush, and huge doe eyes belie an innocence I haven’t seen in a long time. Her gaze fixates on my mouth.I lick my lips.
I shrug my shoulders up and down once. “Then I’ll be here every day trying to get what I want. It’s up to you.”
THREE
Caroline
He’s waitingoutside the diner for me to finish my shift, tossing an apple from hand to hand like a bored, annoying twelve-year-old. Every day this week he’s been standing out there waiting for me. I even tried to switch my shifts around to catch him off guard, but that persistent bastard figured it out. Mama swears she didn’t tell him anything, and Shirley uses her big smile whenever I ask her what the ogre is doing peeping in our windows. Something she does both when she’s telling the truth and lying, so I can’t be sure what is going on. The only reason I haven’t given him an answer about using my airport is because I honestly don’t know if it’s the right decision. What if it’s the first step in total domination? The whole saying “give someone an inch and they take a mile” scares me.
If the fervor in which he’s pursuing me means anything, the man wants the airport badly. All of it. Not just rented time for a sum of money that would make an oil tycoon’s eyes widen. For the most part I’ve been cordial and kind. I’m Southern, those traits are bred intome, but I can’t help the snark that comes after a long day. He’s a welcome sight, don’t get me wrong, it’s the second he opens his mouth that the mystique goes out the window. Something in the way he speaks—the tone of his voice tells me not to trust him. That’s another Southern specialty. Sniffing out lies.
“He didn’t even ask about the airport yesterday, Caroline. Why don’t you just give in and go out with the man? Did you ever think he might just want to get to know you?”
I smile. “You think a man like that wants to get to know me? Come on, Shirl, you’re too smart for that.”
Shirley drags a rag over a table, leaning over, eyes to the window in thought. “What if you believe the best until he proves you wrong?”
It’s easy for a beautiful woman like Shirley to assume the best until the worst rears. She has options. Limitless options in men. For someone like me, a woman who is a slave to her hobbies and passions, I hope one day to find a man who will put up with being second fiddle.
Sighing, I take a bite of the pizza in front of me. Caleb made me a quick lunch before he left for the day and Daniel took over the kitchen. Daniel is far less jovial—with hard lines creasing his face like scars of anger. “I need to make a decision, and then he’ll go away.”
“Or be in your business constantly. He’ll be at your house, for crying out loud,” Shirley says, accent twanging. “Have a passion-filled day…and night with that man and get this over with. I can’t think of a better person to pop your icy cherry than that man.” She nods at the window, at Tyler. He’s shirtless now, balancing the apple on his chin. “That takes skill.” She’s shaking her head, like she’s actually impressed.
Laughing, I finish my pizza, tell Desmond a few things, and ditch my apron. “It takes something. Not sure if skill is the word I’d use.”
“Commend the man’s persistence! I’ve never been on the receiving end of something like that!” Shirley coos into my ear, leaning close.
“Because your morals are as loose as your…” I whisper into her ear.
Shaking her head, she leaves me to steel my nerves. Business Caroline needs to bubble to the surface. Savvy. Confident. Willful. Qualities I don’t have. In high school I let a rumor swirl for months because I was too meek to correct anyone. It was easier to be silent and take the path of least resistance. I can find my voice now because something I love is being threatened. My short, white dress uniform is miraculously still clean as I freshen up in the bathroom.
“He’s just a man,” I tell my reflection.One that wants more than I’m willing to give, the practical side of my brain reminds me.
When I push open the side door, the hot, swampy air coats me. A light sheen of condensation takes hold of every exposed skin cell on my body. My white bike is parked in the rack on the side of the restaurant, a pile of empty cardboard boxes stacked next to it. There’s no needto put a lock on my bike here, not anywhere in Bronze Bay, actually. I wheel it to the front of the restaurant, ready for Tyler’s daily joke. He has a new one every day, and they’ve progressively gotten worse. My guess is he doesn’t have a humorous bone in his body. He probably Googles dad jokes and uses the ones that come up first.
“Shouldn’t you be working or something? For someone who has such an important job, you have a lot of time to waste,” I say, putting a hand on my hip, my gaze focused anywhere but his shirtless chest. We’re in Florida, so it’s commonplace for men and boys to run around without shirts on. It’s a beach town. Somehow he makes shirtless seem triple-X rated. From my peripheral vision I see a red bike with a large basket in the front, the same as my cruiser, but larger and older. “Got a bicycle, huh?”
“Yesterday I ran behind your bike all the way to the airport, remember? This will be a little easier on my lungs. It’s so humid here. How do you deal with it? I feel like a fish, sucking in water with my oxygen.”
