Look,she mouthed, when she had his attention. The goat was asleep on the sand, head bent back to use its body as a pillow.
“She looks so peaceful,” Libby whispered.
“A jailbreak takes it out of you.”
“Seems like a shame to disturb her.”
Given the choice of going back to Libby’s house or lingering on the beach, Jefferson knew which he preferred. He considered the trailing end of rope. “Want to see if we can tie her to that tree?”
When Libby nodded, he took it as evidence of a question asked and answered:Want to stay here with me a little longer?
Yes.
“I’ll text Hildy. Tell her I went to bed early.”
“And I have a headache,” Libby suggested, “which is why you were nice enough to take me home.”
Jefferson had a vision of taking her back to his place, where he could be even nicer. Preferably for more than one night. But even if she were willing to leave with him, she couldn’t, could she? A pretend marriage was still a commitment.
Text sent, he silenced his phone before tiptoeing toward the goat.
“Does bending make you quieter?” Libby imitated his half crouch.
He put a finger to his lips as she crab-walked to his side. Jefferson fished the rope out of the sand with exaggerated care, like it was a high-stakes game of pick-up sticks, and passed it to Libby.
When she had a solid grip, he started feeding out rope, edging toward the nearest palm tree. There was plenty of slack, since the goat had been dragging as much yardage as the average rock climber. He hitched the rope to the trunk, tight enough to hold while still allowing access to the leafy green plants beyond the sand.
At Jefferson’s thumbs-up, Libby let go of the rope and backed away. He joined her at a safe distance, where they could keep an eye on the goat without waking her.
“You probably earned a new badge tonight. Level-Two Knot Master.” She fiddled with the strap of her bathing suit.
“Too tight?”
“I might just— Give me a sec.” Turning her back on him, she reached under her sundress. After some shimmying and squirming, she stuck her hand down the front and pulled out the bikini top, yanking it over her head before facing him with a look that said,Tada!
“That’s better,” she sighed.
“Quite a trick.”
“I know. And I didn’t even need a knife.” She blew on her fingernails. “Just call me Houdini.”
He would have been happy to keep standing there grinning at her, but it was time to do the hard thing. “Listen, Houdini.”
Libby tensed, like a rabbit poised for flight. So much for easing into a difficult conversation.
“That wasn’t a move, by the way. Taking off my top. I could do much better than that. Not that I would, if you’re not into it. Since it seems like the mood might have changed.” She took a careful step back, giving him space he didn’t want.
“It’s not that.” He gripped the back of his neck. “I wanted to talk to you. Seems like I might have jumped the gun. Before.”
“And now you regret it ever happened, because you realize you made a terrible mistake, and you’d rather forget the whole thing?” Her tone was friendly and understanding.No hard feelings.But she wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“Libby.” Jefferson waited for her to look up. “I don’t regret anything.” He kept his eyes on her face, letting her see that he meant every word. “I won’t forget anything about tonight. Or these last few days.”
She swayed toward him. “Really?”
He grasped her by the shoulders, quickly realizing physical contact wasn’t a good idea. Opening his hands, he pulled away before he could slide them down her arms and onto her hips.
“I don’t think we should take it any further.” It killed him to see her face fall, so he added a hurried, “Not yet, anyway.”
