“Good,” I managed. “Send me the receipt after you order them.”
“Consider it done,” Eli said with a mock salute that should have been irritating but somehow wasn’t. “Anything else?”
I shook my head, suddenly eager to escape before I didsomething ridiculous like actually smile at him. “That’s all. Good night, then.”
As I walked away, he called out, “Sweet dreams, Julianne! Don’t forget to pack that sense of adventure you told me about for our first lesson!”
Ignoring him, I quickened my pace. I strode down from the pier, my heels clicking against the wooden planks with a rhythm that matched my pulsing heartbeat. The breeze whipped tendrils of hair free from my bun, and I resisted the urge to glance back at Eli.
I paused at the edge of the beach, kicked off my pumps, and sank my toes into the cooling sand. The setting sun painted the sky in brilliant oranges and pinks, but I barely noticed, too caught up in my swirling thoughts.
“Why do I let him press my buttons?” I muttered to myself, trying to figure out why he made me so flustered. “It only encourages him. I need to work on that, or this will be a complete disaster.”
I huffed in frustration, then vowed to study all the class materials in depth. That way I could minimize interacting with Eli and giving him any more material to use against me. Obviously, the two of us were a combustible mixture and I had to be careful. I bent to pick up my shoes. As I straightened, I caught sight of Eli in the distance, his tall frame silhouetted against the colorful sky. He was still watching me.
I quickly turned away. It was going to be a long few weeks.
