I’dnever owned property before, but I was almostpositiveit wasn’t cool to just roll up onto someone else’s land and use their shit without permission.
Remembering what Blake had said about the people of Stars Cove likely having a problem with me buying this shack, I wondered if this was some sort of weird power play.
Like this dude was rolling up here to show me that it didn’t matter if I bought this place, it still belonged to the town, and they could come and go as they pleased.
I wouldn’t necessarily classify myself as ahot head,but between the T man and me, I was definitely the more… uhhh,spunkyof the two. That’s the word my mom used, at least.
So when the initial shock of seeing the man passed and my temper flared, I didn’t really think of the consequences as I stormed after him.
“Hey!” I shouted, kicking sand up as I bulldozed toward him. His back was now toward me, and he didn’t respond or even look at me.
Dick.
“HEY! Douchebag! I’m talking to you!” I barked. This made the man pause. He glanced back at me, his stern brows drawing together in a sharp frown. I was struck suddenly by just how blue the man’s eyes were.
They weresostrikingly blue, like the color of the ocean in those over-edited travel magazines. They were even more blue than Blake’s eyes, and that was saying something. Those two swirling shards of pure aquamarine locked onto my face, and I watched as his frown line smoothed out into a look of surprise.
His mouth parted slightly, and I watched him trace the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip as I approached, my temper still flaring hot beneath my skin.
“Yeah,you!This is private property, buddy. You can’t just use my beach without asking me if it’s ok!”
I was right in front of him now, standing less than a foot away, and I needed to tilt my head back to look him in the face.
A chill rolled through me as I realized how much bigger than me the man was. Maybe confronting him head-on hadn’t been the smartest move I’d ever made, butstill.
The man looked me up and down, then glanced back at my beach shack before cocking his head to the side in curiosity.
“Youbought the shack?” he asked. I don’t know what I expected his voice to sound like, but I wasn’t prepared for the deep rumble that felt like a physical thing as it rolled over me. All the hairs on my arms stood on end, and I suddenly felt very young and small standing next to him.
His entire body was corded in thick, lean muscle. He looked like a brick fucking wall, all hard lines and sharp edges. His skin was a deep, golden brown, and his chest was covered in groomed but coarse hair, framing his dark nipples, which stood out in stark contrast against his honey-gold skin.
I blinked, feeling weird that I was looking at this dude’s nipples when I should be kicking him off my property.
“Yeah. You got a problem with that?” I snapped. He didn’t react to the obvious venom in my tone. Instead, he just stared at me like I was some big, complicated puzzle he couldn’t seem to figure out.
He glanced over his shoulder as if checking to see if we were alone, and then he dragged his gaze back to meet mine.
It literally felt like he removed a weight from my chest when he looked away, then slammed the weight back into me when our eyes met again.
My breath caught in my throat.
What was up with this guy? Why was I having such a strong reaction to him?
I shook off the strange sensation, chalking it up to the fact that I was just on edge because he was so boldly trespassing without anysigns of remorse.
“Why would I have a problem with that?” he asked, his tone even and dry. It didn’t sound like he actually cared about my answer.
“I don’t know. A lot of people seem to have an issue with the fact that I bought Jake Whittling’s old place.”
The second I said the name, I regretted it. The man’s face crumbled like I had physically struck him.
There was a heavy, pregnant moment of silence, then finally, he seemed to recover and spoke again, his voice an octave lower than it had been before.
“Jake Whittling is dead. What does it matter who buys his place?”
My anger was quickly disappearing. The heat in my veins was being replaced with a sense of remorse. This man had clearly known Jake Whittling. The pain in his eyes when I mentioned his name was so raw I felt myself swallow.
“Uhm. Some people in town yesterday already made a big deal about it. I thought you were here to, I dunno, make some sort of a statement against me,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly while the strange dude continued to stare at me like I was the one trespassing onhisproperty and not the other way around.
