I narrowed my eyes at her; I did not appreciate her gettingthatfamiliar with me. Joanie had worked for me for several years now. I’d say we were friends. She knew almost every personal detail about my life, and I trusted her with those details. But that didn’t mean I wanted her sticking her nose into my relationships withmen.
She gave me a cheeky look right back and went back to hercomputer.
I sighed. “Fine. Turn ithere.”
She dutifully spun her laptop around. On the screen was a webpage open to a photo of me and Seth at the beach. And he did lookgood.
He also looked like he was myman.
We were holding hands, just barely, our fingers touching… and we weren’t even looking at each other. But there was something there, in that touch. In our body language. Something gut-deep, almosttangible.
I didn’t realize it when it happened. That what I’d been feeling, standing there with Seth, would come pouring through the photo the way itdid…
Chemistry.
Connection.
And I had this kind of saucy,Fuck the worldlook on my face. Because that’s exactly what I’d been thinking when the photographer took thatphoto.
Fuck the world if they want to judge me forthis.
I reached out, before I even knew what I was doing, and slammed the laptop shut. Joanie’s eyes met mine. “Do you think there’s any chance in hell that the internet will… I don’t know… go up in smoke or something, before everyone seesthat?”
“I think it’s too late for that,” shesaid.
As if on cue, her phone, sitting on the island between us, started to vibrate. It had been doing that a lot. Unable to resist, Joanie swiped it up and hightailed it out of the kitchen to answer the call where I couldn’t hearher.
I took my lunch out on the back patio, alone. I had my phone with me but the ringer and vibrate mode were turned off. The calls had been coming in all morning; Joanie had told meso.
I still hadn’t answered one ofthem.
And I realized, as I ate: I only actually cared about what one person thought of those photos. But I hadn’t seen Sethyet.
When I asked Flynn if he’d seen him, he said Seth had gone down to the beach early and he hadn’t come back. I did not know what that meant, if it meantanything.
When I finished eating, I gathered my courage and checked my texts. There were many, but I only openedone.
Ash:What the fuck is goingon?
Okay; he wasmad.
Maybe he had a right tobe?
Maybe I’d somehow let him believe he had that right. Which meant I really had to set things straight. I decided to call him, and I really fucking hoped he’d pick up; I just had to get this overwith.
“Elle,” he said when heanswered.
“Hi.”
“Youokay?”
“Yes.” Why did everyone keep asking me that? Like Seth had abducted me and dragged me off to paradise? “You?”
“Not really. Just saw pictures of you holding hands with Seth at the fucking beach, so no, I’m notokay.”
“Why?” I askedhim.
“Because. You fucking know why. Are you fucking himnow?”
