“What are we looking at?” Claire’s head swiveled around to where my eyes remained glued. “Ooh, he’s hot. She tapped my hand. “You look amazing tonight.” “Go talk to him. Start the Trent cleanse.” She shoved my shoulder.
I scanned the room for a quick exit. My mouth was dry, and I swallowed to mask my gasp for air. The beach behind the restaurant was now open for customers, and I needed to sneak outside to regroup before I spilled what I’d really been doing since I’d arrived.
“I need a little air. I’ll be right back.”
I shot up from my chair and rushed over to the back door, inhaling deeply as I clasped my hands behind my neck.
My gaze drifted toward the waves crashing onto the sand in the distance. The ebb and flow of the water was soothing, yet sad, bringing back memories of Joe’s anecdote about chaos and swimming against the current. He’d called me brave, but I was the exact opposite. Becoming involved with Joe was as messy and chaotic as it could possibly get, but it would be the good kind of chaos. The best kind.
Sure, we could just enjoy things for now, but that wasn’t how I was wired, no matter how hard I’d been fighting to go against the grain and be different and daring. More time with Joe meant more certainty of getting hurt when it inevitably ended. And, as much as I wanted to take a chance, that fear paralyzed me from acting on it.
“Why didn’t you come over to say hello when you came in?” Joe’s voice startled me out of my thoughts. His beautiful blue eyes shot me an icy glare, and I could only shrug in response.
“You were speaking to someone. I didn’t think you noticed me, honestly.” The clipped edge of my voice surprised me.
“Ialwaysnotice you. I was talking to a friend of mine. Just likewe'refriends, right?” He motioned between us with his finger, taunting me.
“You don’t need to explain. None of my business—”
“You weren’t jealous, were you?”
I didn't know whether to kiss or slap the smirk off of his face.
“No. Of course not.”
“There’s no shame in admitting it. I sure as hell didn’t like all these guys gawking at you when you walked out here.” He crossed his arms, a hint of a smile contradicting the feral gleam in his eye.
“No one was gawking—”
“I didn’t like it.”
The husky, possessive dip in his voice made me shiver. He had no right to sound like that, and I shouldn’t have liked it so much. But I did. My eyes fell to his lips as I avoided the singe of his heated stare. The fantasy of him claiming me with his mouth in front of everyone like he had in my motel room played out so vividly in my brain I took a step back on instinct, terrified I’d want it bad enough to let it play out in real life.
Fantasy was where it needed to stay.
“I know why we can’t … go back there.” He ate up the distance I’d attempted to put between us in one step. “But I can’t deny wanting to. And neither can you. At least you can’t very well.” He choked out a laugh before heading back.
My heels sank in the sand, Joe’s words pinning me to where I stood. I wanted to call him back, but when my mouth opened, I couldn’t find the words.
“And Caterina?” Joe called to me before pushing the door open.
“Yeah?” My voice was a shaky whisper from all the adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“You’re gorgeous tonight.” My breath caught from the electricity pulsing between us. “Fuckinggorgeous.” His blue eyes darkened as they caressed my body, my skin tingling along the path of his gaze before he disappeared inside.
I bent over, clutching my knees in an attempt to even out my breathing.
I couldn’t run from something that kept finding me every time.
13
Joe
I never doubtedthat Caterina and I would cross paths again while she was here. The main attractions of Ocean Cove were too close together, and the restaurant was in the middle of it all. I wasn’t sure if she’d ever come back here, but I’d run into her somewhere, that much I’d known. My plan was to be cordial but not attach myself to her side—the exact opposite of what I’d done since the moment I met her because I couldn’t help my damn self. When I’d spotted her, looking so goddamn gorgeous, I couldn’t stand it, my plan had flown right out the window. There was no way I couldn’t notice her, with her perfect ass poured into those skin-tight jeans and her bare shoulder teasing and torturing me. She’d stalked outside on fuck me heels, and, once again, my need for this woman trumped any sense of reason or self-preservation. Unable to fight against this ridiculous pull between us, I’d followed her.
But now, the rest was up to her. She was just another customer tonight, and I’d ignore her and the countless guys I’d caught staring in her direction. I had a business to run. While I couldn’t deny I still wanted her and had to fight every cell in my body not to grab her by the neck and kiss her until she gave in, I wouldn’t. The restaurant was too busy for me to waste time pining over a woman who was afraid to want me back. The struggle to shift my priorities to where they’d always been was new. Eventually, I’d be able to peel my eyes from her table and pretend she wasn’t even there. That would take some work, but the frustration building since Friday morning fueled my incentive to at least try.
“Joe?” Jordan asked, tearing me away from my thoughts and reminding me I was the boss around here. “Can we put three tables together? The guys in the back are asking.”
