ChapterEight
Josh rolledout of his hotel room bed in Cape Hope Friday morning with jetlag after a round-trip whirlwind for business. He’d managed to land another account, but it wouldn’t be enough to save his company. He really needed that multimillion-dollar deal. He was tired of scraping by month to month to keep the lights on in a building he wasn’t even there to work in halfthetime.
“You ever call Lily?” Allen asked as he sat in his bed wiping the sleep fromhiseyes.
Josh shook his head. “I figured she didn’t want to hear from me. I’m hoping after a few days of giving her some space she’ll be more amenable to talking about theproject.”
“You mean you turned tail and ran when you started thinking about her as more than just a businessarrangement.”
Josh rubbed his hand through his hair as if every strand on his head stood up in agreement. “We’re talking about our company. If we don’t land this deal, everything we’ve worked so hard for willbegone.”
“I know that, but I also know you, man. You can’t handle seeing someonesuffer.”
“What does that have to do withanything?”
Allen tossed the covers off. “You don’t want to make her work on something that she’s struggling with, yet you want to save your business. It’s a tough position tobein.”
Josh threw on his running shirt. It was time to de-stress. “I don’t even really knowthegirl.”
“You keep telling yourself that,”Allensaid.
“I’m gonna go clear my head.” Josh grabbed his keys and headed forthedoor.
The sun hadn’t peaked over the horizon yet, but the moon was still bright in the sky. He drove through Cape Hope and didn’t stop until he reached the end of the main road. He pulled into a public beach parking lot and made it down to the shore before the first hint of sunlight. The roar of the ocean was soothing. He didn’t even want to listen to music while he ran, so he left his earphones in the car. Instead, he listened to the surf, the beat of his feet on the sand, the rhythm of his breathing. He ran and ran, farther and longer than he had in years, but still the fog wouldn’t clear from his mind. Maybe if he spent a little more time with Lily he’d be able to nudge her toward creating the new image his client had requested and help her heal from whatever that guy did to her at the same time. Itcouldwork.
He slowed and took a long breath of the fresh morning air then looked up to find the cottage above the sand dunes. Instead of making his way across the sand to the rickety old porch, he continued down the beach, knowing at this hour Lily was probably already out at herfavoritespot.
With renewed determination and a plan, he managed to find the strength to run a little further. At the sight of Lily on the beach, he felt relieved. After his disappearing act, she probably wouldn’t want to see him, but out here she couldn’t hide from him. He trotted up to her, but she didn’t look up, her focus fixed on hersketching.
“Heythere.”
“Does it work on all the girls when you play games?” Lilyasked.
Josh squatted in front of her. “I wasn’t playing games. I had business.” Her brow furrowed, and he instantly wanted to pull those words back into his mouth. “Uh, let me rephrase that. I had another account to deal with, but I could’ve called. I didn’t because I had the feeling you needed some time to thinkitover.”
Lily’s hand paused. “Better.”
“Allen says that I want to get you to do this job for us to save our company, but that I don’t want to hurt you either. He says I left so I didn’t have to face you while you were working on something that broughtyoupain.”
“What do you think?” Lily asked, her toneunreadable.
“I don’t know.” He saw her flinch and knew he was busted, again. How did she always know when he waslying?
She put her pencil down and looked up at him. “Yes, you do. Just like I know why I’m not sketching my normal life art with emotion even though I didn’t want tobelieveit.”
The sun rose higher in the sky, beating down on the back of his neck. “Why don’t we talk about it over coffee? A local showed me thisgreatspot.”
She smiled. “Actually, I have a better idea. Where’dyoupark?”
“At the end of thepeninsula.”
Lily tilted her head, her blonde hair falling over her cheeks. Highlighted by the morning rays, it looked even more golden. He brushed it back behind her shoulder. “You’re not lying?” sheasked.
“Nope.”
“That’s like seven miles from here. You ran that far bysunrise?”
He offered his hand. “Yep, and I’m afraid now you won’t want to sit next to me while we drink coffee. I need ashower.”
