Why did he care about love so much? He was a guy—weren’t they supposed to be immune to that kind of thing? Look at her ex—he sure wasn’t interested in falling in love.
She found where Harris and the kids, along with Ryleigh, Alex and Noah had set up for the day. Blankets were spread over the sand and big umbrellas supplied shade. As she approached, Alex stood and handed her a spray can of sunscreen.
“I’m tasked with making sure no one gets a sunburn. Spray it on, Jax. You have a legal obligation to listen to me.”
She grinned. “You’re a lawyer, not a cop. I don’t have to listen to you at all.”
“I’m an officer of the court.”
“Bite me.”
“Sorry.” He lowered his voice, as his eyes danced with amusement. “I only do that with your sister.”
“So I’ve heard.”
For a second she wondered what he would say if she flat out asked his intentions when it came to Ryleigh. Only she didn’t want to step in anything and she was a little afraid of what his answer might be. Because it was very possible that Alex really did just want the “friends with benefits” package and not anything more.
She sprayed on the sunscreen, then went to hang out with her kids. Unfortunately they were withtheirfriends and after giving her a quick “hi” they went back to what they were doing.
“Tell me about it,” Harris said, coming up and handing her a beer. “They’ve been ignoring me all afternoon.”
She laughed. “I guess they’re at the age. We should be grateful they have friends.”
They went back to their blankets and sat in the shade.
“How are you doing?” she asked, taking in the dark circles under his eyes.
He shrugged. “It’s been hard. The kids were more upset than I thought they’d be.”
She pressed her lips together to keep from shrieking at him that of course they were. They’d bought into the lie that Shawna was really going to be a member of their family.
“And Shawna officially ended things,” he added.
She looked at him. “What does that mean? You told her you didn’t want to get married. How much more breaking up could there be?”
“I said I still liked her a lot and wanted us to go out. She refused.”
“You’re possibly the stupidest man on the planet.”
“I guess. She really lit into me, too. So we’re done.”
“Are you sad?”
“A little. I liked her. She was a lot of fun until things got so serious. Then she turned into some kind of bridezilla. Don’t get me started on her mother.”
“Oh, please. You barely had to deal with the woman. I’m the one she was haunting.”
They touched beer bottles. She took another sip.
“So tell me, Harris. What did you learn from this experience?”
He sighed as he leaned back on his elbows. “That I’m never proposing again.”
“That’s probably for the best but not the real lesson.”
He looked at her. “I know, I know. Don’t play with people’s emotions. I was wrong about Shawna. I hurt her and I feel bad about that. I hurt you, too, Jax. When I left. I’m sorry about that, too.”
“Thanks but we were doomed from the start. We let the passion blind us to what was important.”
