Chapter Two
Donovan
Ineedtostartwearing a sign around my neck. Or tattoo something on my arm so I can simply hold it up when needed. I’m getting sick and tired of having to say it over and over, especially when no one seems to listen. It’s not that hard of a concept:
Not interested in dating.
“Really,” I say, grateful to have an armful of boat paddles between me and Reese. If I need to, I can drop all but one and use that to whack him in the side of the head. Though, I don’t think my boss would approve of that particular tactic, and I don’t like to resort to violence if I can help it. “I’m flattered, but I don’t date customers.”Or anyone, I add silently. I’ve come to learn that if I say that part out loud, some men tend to think it’s an invitation to try harder to change my ways.
You just haven’t found the right man. No woman wants to be alone forever.
That first part is right, but I don’t think there’s a man in the world who fits my life, and I love my life. As for being alone? That’s my default setting, one I willingly choose day after day.
Reese tilts his head, eyebrows low and jaw tight, like he can’t comprehend why anyone would say no to a date with him. I get it—he has a good face, and he probably knows his way around a gym. Objectively, he’s a good-looking guy. But that might be the only thing going for him, and after spending four days with him yammering about his tech startup, I am ready for him to get back to his supposedly exciting life.
“Come on, Vanny,” he says, pressing his palms together and making what I think is supposed to be a pleading face, lower lip pushed out. The nickname alone is enough to convince me that saying no was the right choice, but his expression isn’t doing him any favors either. Even after finagling his way into my boat the entire week on the river instead of switching it up like he should have, he clearly doesn’t know anything about me. “You can make an exception just once, can’t you?”
Shaking my head, I wrap my arms more tightly around the paddles and lift them up so I can get back to work. “Sorry, but no. Hard and fast rule.”
“Let me help you.” Before I can tell him no, Reese bends down and tries to take the paddles from me.
It’s a sweet gesture, I guess, but he should have been out of the pavilion with the rest of the guests an hour ago and is really getting on my nerves. That’s why I only feel a little bad when his assistance makes me stumble and hit him in the face with the blades, knocking him over. “Oh! I am so sorry!” I’m only a little sorry, and it takes everything in me not to smirk when Reese lands in the dirt, gripping his nose.
“Donovan!”
I wince at the growled shout that comes from the direction of the office. Taking a second to fix my expression while Reese checks his nose to see if he’s bleeding—he didn’t get hit hard enough for that—I turn only when I’m sure I look moderately repentant. “Spencer.”
My boss—and my cousin—has that look on his face that says he’s at the end of his rope, and my little accident isn’t enough tofrazzle him like this. There’s a high chance this incident is the straw to break the camel’s back, which isn’t a good sign. A stressed Spencer is a dangerous Spencer. “Office,” he snaps, then helps Reese to his feet, apologizing profusely while walking him out of the boat yard and into the parking lot.
I don’t especially want to sit in one of the hard chairs in the office and wait to be scolded for something that wasn’t my fault, so I grab hold of the paddles again and bring them to the back of the yard to put them away.
I’m hanging the last paddle on the pegs on the wall of the pavilion when Spencer finds me again. “Donovan, we’re not even two months into the season.”
“I know,” I say as brightly as I can. Most of the equipment has been put away already, but there are a few buckled straps still lying around. I pick one up and start daisy chaining, twisting it so it’s short enough to hang on the wall with the others. “And the water was great this week, so I think we’re in for a good summer.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little early to be assaulting customers?”
“It was an accident.”
“Donovan.”
At the sound of Spencer’s sigh, I turn and fold my arms. If I use the nickname I gave him when we were kids, maybe it’ll help him believe me. “Itwasan accident, Dink. Besides, he was asking for it.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “You can’t just hit people when they get on your nerves!”
It’s not like I’ve made it a habit of resorting to violence, though this isn’t the first time a guy has ignored my well-set boundaries. “Someone needs to teach the guy what the word ‘no’ means.”
Spencer swears, a rarity for him, and runs a hand through his hair. “Did he do anything to you?” he asks, softer now.
Spencer and I don’t always get along, but I can count on him to look after me. It’s what cousins are for, or so our grandpa has been telling us for years.
I shake my head. “No. But he wanted a date and wasn’t giving up.”
“Why does this always happen to you?”
“I’m going to do my best not to see an insult in that.”
Groaning, he sits on the nearest raft, sinking into it because it isn’t fully inflated. We’ll pump it up before next week’s trip, but it’s better for the boats to be loose when not in use. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. Farah is cute too, but she doesn’t have guys drooling over her all summer.”
