* * *
The next morning,Josh rolled off the bed, his skin feeling a little less like it was going to split open with every movement. As he got dressed, he decided he needed to pull out all the stops to get Lily to talk to him.Maybe flowers would work, he thought. Girls liked flowers. Even the artists he’d worked with back in New York always liked it when he brought them bouquets for their gallery shows. He found a florist in town and he bought a bouquet of mixed, colorful flowers. Roses were too romantic, carnations too familiar, like something he would give hismother.
Connie opened the door, eyed the flowers in his hands, then shook her head and chuckled. “You’ve got to do betterthanthat.”
“What’s a guy have to do, then?” Josh mumbled under hisbreath.
Connie sighed. “She’s already working. Sorry.” She shutthedoor.
For three days, he came back with a different gift, but was turned away each time. Candy, flowers, even coffee—nothing worked. On the morning of the fourth day, he rose and threw a pillow at Allen. “Getup.”
“Huh?” Groggy, Allen rolled over and looked at the alarm clock on the table separating their queen beds. “It’s five in themorning.”
“That’s right, and we have work to do. I need you to run interference while I try to get to Lily. That sister of hers is blocking me for some reason. I don’t know why. I thought she’d be on my side since she seems to handle the finances, but I’m done playing Mr. Business Man.” He tossed a shopping bag at him. “Here, puttheseon.”
“What’s this?” Allen pulled shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops from the bag. “Are you serious? What kind of business meetingisthis?”
“An unorthodox one. Do you want this contract or not? We have twenty-four days left until our meeting in New York with the client, and I need to get thatimage.”
“Fine, fine. Let me shave and getready.”
“Brush your teeth and we’re out the door.” Josh put on shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops himself. The shoes felt foreign, but comfortable. He eyed himself in the mirror and tussled his hair the way Lily had that first day. He’d never worked so hard for a woman—contract inhislife.
They picked up coffee from the place Lily had taken him to and arrived at the cottage at six in the morning. To his surprise, Connie actually answered the door already dressed in shorts and a button-up shirt. She eyed them both, her gaze settling on Allen a moment longer than necessary. Josh could tell by the flicker of interest in her eyes that his plan was working. She held out her hand. “One of thoseforme?”
Allen grabbed a cup from the cardboard carrier and handed it to her. “Yes. Um…I’m Allen. Allen Bolton. Nice tomeetyou.”
She took the cup with a nod and turned her attention to Josh. “Better. She’s two blocks down on the beach. You can take a bike from the carport. Good luck.” Turning back to Allen, she asked, “Allen, would you care to join me for breakfast? I have a feeling you going with him would only shut herdownmore.”
“Sure.” Allen took his coffee and shoved the carrier with the last two cups at Josh’s chest. Good thing he’d had the forethought to put stoppers inthelids.
“Good luck,” Connie said again. “You’re gonna need it.” Then she closed the front door after ushering Alleninside.
A minute later, he mounted the bike, holding the coffee carrier in one hand and steering with the other. It probably would’ve been easier to walk the two blocks, but without the bike she’d be able to ride away from him, and he wasn’t going toallowthat.
He spotted a towel, shoes, and some art supplies on the beach, but there was no sign of Lily. The fresh morning breeze cooled the sweat from his bike ride, bringing with it the scent of the ocean. He took a deep breath, realizing he’d never really smelled the ocean. The bodies of water around New York City didn’t smell this crisp and clean. He made his way to the towel and scanned the horizon, seeing a head bopping in the ocean.Mental note: bring a bathing suittomorrow.
He plopped down and took a swig of much-needed caffeine then eyed the sketchbook. With one more glance at the bobbing head, he decided to sneak a peek. After all, he was going to pay this girl an exorbitant amount of money. From the research he’d done on her, she’d left her old employer because she wasn’t easy to get along with. The gallery owner had said not to bother reaching out to her, but Josh demanded her contact information anyway. It took three more phone calls to figure out where she’d disappeared to after she left New York, but he’d managed tofindher.
He opened the front cover and found a beautiful lifelike ocean scene. Page after page, he discovered a new way to look at the world. The personality of the animals, the depth in the bird feathers, the realism in the crab claws. About halfway through the book, he found a drawing of people on the beach. They looked animated, like they were in motion, yet not as lifelike as the drawings of the animals. On the next page was a face, a flat, expressionless face like it had been drawn by an amateur. The following pages contained more sketches of flat, lifeless people. He almost breathed a sigh of relief when more beautiful animal scenes filled the pages. Then he saw eyes, a drawing of two blue eyes with depth and dimension like he’d never seen. He blinked and looked closer. They were his eyes. Was that how she’dseenhim?
The bobbing head rose from the ocean, morphing into a perfectly tan, firm body that would’ve turned every head on the beach if there had been anyone else there. She sauntered up the sand with water dripping from her long hair down the curve of her hips to her defined calves. She stopped short, her gaze narrowing on the book in his lap. He’d forgotten all about it the moment she’d emerged from the ocean likeVenus.
“Ever hear of privacy?” She dried off her hands and snatched the book away. “Knew I couldn’ttrustyou.”
Great. That wasn’t how he’d hoped their meeting would start. But, dang, she was hotter than the Florida sun beating down on hisnorthernskin.
