Theo’s stomach swirled. He had to know.
“What about your beau?” he said, mimicking the words of her father. God, that sounded so stupid coming out of his mouth. He’d never used the termbeaubefore.
“Mybeau?” she said with a laugh.“Oh my God, I never call him that. He would die if he heard you refer to him that way. Who even told you about him?”
So he did exist. “Your dad.”
“Well, this isn’t really his sort of thing. He’s much more of a beach vacation sort of guy. Plus, it’s a pain in the ass when we’re both gone from work at the same time.”
“You work together?”
“Yeah, that’s how we met. He started working with me a little over a year ago, and we hit it off right away.”
A little over a year ago? Right around the time of their last night together?
The realization slapped him in the face. What would have happened had he not taken his time to get back home?
Theo was about to be sick.
“Do you travel together often?” he asked.
Theo didn’t know why he was asking so many questions. To torture himself, apparently.
“No, not really. You know I’m not really a beach girl.”
“That’s because the only beaches you ever go to are the ones on the Great Lakes. You need to check out the beaches in Naxos. Best beaches in the world.”
“I’ll let him know. I’m sure he’d love it.”
Sonny and Cher, kill me now.
“Does he…does he like micheladas?” he asked.
“God, no. He’s like you,” she said with a laugh. “He says thewords ‘clam’ and ‘juice’ have no business being involved in his beverages. But what can I say? Opposites attract.”
With each comment, another tiny piece of his heart broke off.
“And he’s still around?”
“Yeah. I told him he’s never allowed to leave, which is great because he said he’s not going anywhere.”
The hits kept coming, but it didn’t quell Theo’s curiosity.
“I wonder if there is anything to eat, here,” Dani said, clearly not noticing how the discussion of her boyfriend was affecting him.
“Louis got that food earlier, so I’m sure there’s more.”
“Well, I’m going to look.”
She started to push off from the edge, but something caught her attention in the corner of her eye, and she spun back around, facing the sea.
“Oh my God, Theo, there’s a boat,” she said, pointing out in the distance.
He shot his gaze toward the Mediterranean. “Where?” he asked.
“Right there!” She pointed, then stood on the ledge below the water, wide enough only for half a toe. With her torso now out of the water and her arms flailing about trying to get the boat’s attention, Theo stared up at her. And he really shouldn’t have. Because his gaze was bouncing all over Dani’s body, Dani who was very much taken and unavailable, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from her.
Suddenly, Dani lost her footing and came crashing back into the water. Without hesitating, Theo rushed underneath her, catching her body before she hit the edge. But now…now that he had her in his arms, he didn’t want to let go. He hadn’t evertouched Dani, not like this. Sure, a hug here and there. And of course there was the slow dancing at her prom when his hands were wrapped around her waist. But that was young Dani, who still wasn’t comfortable in the body gifted to her by her parents’ flawless genes. This? This was Dani, the woman. Dani who turned heads wherever she walked.
