Eversea: A Love Story Read online

  His suggestion surprised me. I didn’t imagine him choosing to spend more time with me than was necessary. I turned to look at him as he unpacked the grocery bags. There was nothing behind the tone of that suggestion at all. It was so bland and innocuous, like just one of those things people say. Maybe it was his version of the Hollywood classic “let’s do lunch”.

  “Sure.” What else did one say? Ask me again when you’re serious?

  “So you’re working tonight again?” he asked, unpacking the groceries. He held up the salmon. “I think I accidentally got some of your stuff.”

  “No, that’s for you. It’s easy, just salt and pepper and bake at three-fifty for seventeen minutes. Simple, but delicious. And yeah, I start at five, so I need to get home and get showered.”

  I was starting to get uncomfortable again. Being in Jack’s space just did weird things to me.

  “Easy for you to say. You lost me at salt.” He smiled at my raised eyebrows. “I’m kidding.” He paused a moment looking at me. “You want a quick tour before you go?”

  “Uh. Sure.”

  He came around the counter, and I followed as he pointed out the various rooms and headed for the staircase.

  “You know Devon Brown and Monica Black?” he asked. Did I know them? They were only a Hollywood power couple who’d been together since I was a kid. I nodded. I’d heard a rumor they were buying a place here, but thought nothing ever came of it.

  “This is theirs. Their production company owns a piece of the Erath franchise, so I got to know them pretty well. Devon’s a good guy and a good friend, he called me up after the Audrey stuff broke and offered me a place to get away. Thank God.”

  I nodded again, like we were just talking about regular people and he was a regular guy.

  It was like walking around in a magazine spread, nothing out of place and not a knick knack or personal picture to be found. But it was beautifully built, I could see that.

  “Why didn’t you go home? Like to wherever your family is?” As I asked, I realized I knew absolutely nothing about where Jack was from. I wished I had Jazz’s fan-based insight, so I wouldn’t put my foot in my mouth or ask the wrong thing.

  “Well, I don’t have family here really. It was just my mother and me, anyway. I grew up in the UK until I was nine. Then moved to New York until I was done with school and moved out to L.A. to try my hand at movies. My mother moved back to England. She would kill me if I brought a trail of paparazzi to her door.”

  “You don’t have an accent.” I decided to avoid asking about his mom.

  “Not anymore, but I can do one if I need to.”

  We got to the bedroom where Jack was clearly staying. There were huge French doors onto a Juliet balcony overlooking the view. I walked over to them, studiously avoiding the unmade king-sized bed with its white covers still pulled back and tried very hard not to think of him lying there sleeping. I wasn’t very successful and felt my cheeks flush with warmth. It was becoming a hazard. The room smelled of him already. Something indefinably male and all Jack.

  I pulled my attention back outside and looked down to see the sparkling blue of a lap pool set into a stone patio below us. It wouldn’t be visible from the beach as the dunes would shield it from prying eyes. In fact, with the foliage on either side of the property lines, it was extremely private. Perfect for famous occupants. It was funny how you could live in a town like Butler Cove for years and never see these places. I heard Jack clearing his throat behind me.

  “Check out this bathroom, it’s incredible.” He made for the doorway in the side wall.

  “It’s the size of the bedroom!” There was a huge picture window capturing the same view and the white tub was in the middle of the room set in a sea of tumbled travertine. I looked up and saw that water fell from a faucet in the ceiling. Wow!

  Suddenly, an unexpected image of Jack and I in the tub with water cascading over us flashed in my head. A bolt of pure heat lanced through me, robbing me of breath. Where had that come from? My cheeks were still burning with my reaction to his bedroom, and now this. This was way beyond feeling like a giddy groupie, and I was totally out of my depth. I had to pull myself together. I clamped my lips together and screwed my eyes closed for a moment.

  “Are you ok?” I opened them at Jack’s voice and saw in the mirror he was watching my reflection with what looked like a smug grin on his face. God, he must be so over this stupid reaction from hormone-fueled teenage fans. I turned away from him without comment and didn’t realize how close he was. My arms had swung out a little away from my body and... oh the shame! I brushed against his groin. We both started.

  “Shit, sorry,” I mumbled, my face puce in the reflection of the mirror. Gah.

  Jack laughed. “Hey, no big deal. Although, I’m used to people buying me dinner before they cop a feel.”

  “Well, technically, I did,” I shot back with a haughty tone that made Jack’s smirk break free into a bellow of laughter that had me grinning like an idiot. It was a moment of complete abandon and watching him in it was breathtaking.

  His eyes opened and I dropped mine, hastily.

  “Should I expect you to be doing that again, then?” he asked, still amused.

  “Ha, ha,” I managed, pretending like I wasn’t moved by the situation at all.

  “I mean, a guy can hope right?” He winked.

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Yeah, you can hope.” God, I was embarrassed. “So the wall color in here is nice.” What?

  I continued making bland statements about the house as I anxiously made my way back to the safety of anywhere but his bedroom. I basically bolted. I had almost made it down the short flight of stairs to the front door before Jack caught up with me.

  “Hey, careful!” Jack’s voice reached me as I slipped on the last step in my haste and barely caught myself. “Keri Ann?” His voice morphed from amused to concerned. He quickly hopped down the last few steps to catch up with me and put a warm hand on my arm.

  “Sorry,” I managed. “Just felt lightheaded for a second.”

  Jack chuckled. “Okay?” He didn’t sound convinced, and he sucked his lips between his teeth to keep from smiling again. “Do you want to sit down?”

  I smiled, ruefully. “No, I’m fine. Look, uh, thanks for the tour ... I’m, uh, I have to get going. To work,” I finished lamely and pulled my arm free.

  By some miracle, he decided to follow my lead and move on from our embarrassing groin brush. “Okay. No problem. Thanks for the ride. And the groceries.” He held the door open for me, a small furrow between his eyes. “See you tomorrow, Keri Ann.”

  The way he said my name was soft, and altogether too appealing. He said the words deliberately and separately, very unlike the way it had been said to me my whole life ... which was more like Kerianne. I turned and hopped down the steps outside and got into my truck.

  I was going to try and recreate the way he said my name in my head for the rest the evening, I just knew it.

  S E V E N

  The Snapper Grill was busy. It was Friday night. The weekends, now that the tourists had mostly gone home, always drew the locals out. For me, it meant I hardly had a moment to think about my strange day with the runaway Hollywood hottie. Yeah right. In less than twenty-four hours, he had taken up residence in my life and mind. If I was honest with myself, it was all I could think about. I just couldn’t work out whether my feelings were about Jack the man or Jack the hot Hollywood actor or more specifically his character Max. I knew in part it wasn’t about Jack the man because, and I couldn’t kid myself about this, I hardly knew him. Part of me had to be projecting my feelings for a nonexistent perfect hero onto him.

  I thought about what I did know. He was gorgeous, that was a given. But he was also talented, hardworking, funny, and from what little I had gleaned from his conversation with his agent and things he’d said, he was at odds with his life right now. And he was also potentially heartbroken over his ex. That had to point to some kind of dep
th in him, unless it was just a bruised ego.

  Unfortunately, what I kept having to remind myself was that it didn’t matter either way. In fact, it would be better for me if he was just a smug celebrity. I needed grounding, badly, and I didn’t know who I could talk to about it without revealing who he was. I tried to call Joey right before leaving for work but ended up just leaving a message. It wasn’t like I was going to tell him, I just needed to remind myself I wasn’t in the midst of a very long and amazing dream.

  The busy sounds of the restaurant drew me out of my head. The talk was all about the potential path of the hurricane that formed in the Atlantic a few days ago and headed our way. Butler Cove hadn’t had a direct hit in a hundred and sixteen years. People surmised it was something about the way we were kind of tucked in a bit above Savannah before the land curved out seaward again as it went on up to Charleston and Myrtle Beach. I knew it meant our insurance was a bit lower than other seaside towns, and for that I was grateful.

  It sounded like the hurricane might be downgraded to a tropical storm, but it reminded me that Mrs. Weaton’s cottage needed a new roof. As her landlord, it was my, and Joey’s, responsibility. Luckily, I had managed to save up most of her rent money for the last year knowing it was imminent. I needed to see about getting it done though.

  “Hey, Hector,” I said, swinging through to the kitchen with some dishes. “Is your nephew still on that roofing crew down in Savannah?”

  “Chiquita! How is Meester Mystery?” He waggled his eyebrows at me. So much for being surreptitious. Luckily, Brenda, one of the other waitresses who worked with me on our busy weekend shifts, had been on her way out as I entered.

  I hissed at him anyway. “Hector!”

  “Lo siento! Lo siento! But it is love, yes? You can fix hees broken heart?” I knew Hector wasn’t that naïve. He was waggling his eyebrows again.

  “Stop that. And the only thing that’s getting fixed is Mrs. Weaton’s roof. Your nephew, can he do it? He’ll need to quote me a price first, ok?”

  Hector looked totally disappointed I wouldn’t play his game. “Si, Si. I call José tomorrow, give him your number.”

  “Thanks, Hector.” I smiled prettily and thumped his shoulder. “Graçias.”

  * * *

  Jazz popped in around ten o’clock, along with Jasper, Cooper, and Vern and a couple of other regulars from our extended circle. There was a small crew of us left in Butler Cove either by choice or circumstance, and we’d all gotten pretty close. Liz never made it out to the grill unless her mom agreed to watch her son, and pretty much everyone else from our graduating class had moved away for college or greener pastures. Lucky them. It was another busy evening, but as it wound down and got near closing, I found myself looking up every time someone walked through the front door. At close to eleven, I looked up just as Jasper headed over to talk to me. He was looking sleek and put together in his polo shirt and chinos, croakies around his neck like he’d just had lunch at a country club or played a round.

  “Hey, Keri Ann,” he greeted me. His blonde hair was brushed sideways across his forehead, just so. I thought of Jack with his dark, mussed hair and wondered how long it took Jasper in front of the mirror to make his look perfect. I felt mean for thinking that. He had been the golden boy of our class and finished college in three years. I wondered idly why I had never been interested in him romantically. He had certainly had his fair share of the high school girls. He’d never let his popularity go to his head though and always chose to stay friendly with everyone.

  “Hey Jasper. What’s up?”

  “Nothing.” He slung a leg over a barstool across from me, his eyes earnest. “So my dad says you need some help with the house Sunday. I was going to come over after church, about twelve thirty. I’ll bring some lunch.”

  I had completely forgotten about Pastor McDaniel sending Jasper over on Sunday. So much had happened between then and now. I had no idea how I was going to get out of it without arousing some major suspicion, and I didn’t want to cancel Jack coming over. I tried not to analyze that too much.

  “Oh. Um.” I had to do some quick thinking. “That’s ok. I actually don’t even need help at the moment.” Ok, maybe that was a dumb thing to say. All my friends knew I always needed help.

  Jasper quirked an eyebrow at me with a puzzled look. “Yeah, okay,” he said, his tone implying anything but. “I’ll see you at twelve thirty.”

  “No, really. It’s just that I was going to take a break from the house on Sunday. I’m really tired. It’s been a long week.”

  “Keri Ann, it’s ok, you know. I know you don’t like to ask for help, but I don’t mind helping you. Besides, even if you want to take a break from the house, you’ve still got to eat. Like I said, I’ll bring lunch. Anyway, I wont be able to stay long, I have to head back up to Charleston.”

  I nodded. There wasn’t really much else I could say. Jasper was a good friend, but I was careful not to take advantage of him. Sometimes, not accepting help was more hurtful to the person offering. I grabbed at the topic change.

  “Your parents must be happy you are closer.” Jasper had been looking at going further away, but I sensed things at home, namely his father, had caused him to make the last minute decision to stay near Butler Cove.

  “They are.” There was something amiss with Jasper though. He seemed more introspective and thoughtful than usual. “So, how’s Liz doing? I haven’t seen her lately.”

  I smiled. “She’s good, still working at The Pig. Brady keeps her busy, but he’s doing great, getting big. Apparently he’s super smart and way ahead of the curve.”

  He nodded. “That’s great. It must be tough doing that all on her own.”

  Thinking back to Liz asking after Jasper at the store, I looked at him carefully. We were all friends, it was natural for us to inquire after each other, and I was pretty sure Jasper was not the father of Liz’s baby. I’d never noticed any awkwardness between them that would signify something that big, but stranger things had happened.

  We chatted some more before he headed out. I should talk it over with Jazz and see if she had any vibes about what was going on with him. I also needed to tell Jack not to come over on Sunday, a thought that was ridiculously depressing since I had the day off.

  I knew I couldn’t tell Jazz about Jack, but I really needed to talk to someone. She offered to stay and help me close up, so I waited until we were alone and almost done before bringing it up.

  “Hey, sooo remember Hoodie Guy from last night, who left right after ordering a burger?”

  “Yeah?” Jazz was straightening up the piles of coasters, the one job we really didn’t need to do, but it was good to have company.

  “So he came back for his burger after you left.” I grant you, that sentence, in and of itself didn’t say much, but this was me and she was Jazz. Her head whipped around, her eyes suddenly laser sharp and focused on me.

  “And?”

  “And ... he came in, he ate, we talked. I saw him today—”

  “You saw him today? Oh my God. Is he nice? Was he hot? This is fantastic, so was it like a date? Did he ask you to meet him today?”

  This was so not going according to plan. “No, Jazz. Slow down with the questions already. It wasn’t like that.”

  “Sorry, I was just excited that you might actually be interested in someone. Are you?”

  I stayed her with my hand. “I mean he’s nice and not from here, but he’s going through a break up. Well, it may not be a break up, just a break, but basically he’s not free.”

  “What do you mean he’s not free? If he’s here and going through a break up, he’s totally up for grabs. I mean, he wouldn’t have seen you today if he wasn’t interested, right?”

  “It wasn’t like that. It was just friendly. Look never–”

  “Well, wait. Did he say the words break up? Because if he did, that means it’s a break up, not a break.”

  “He didn’t use either.” I sighed. This wasn�
�t going well. “Look, it was just friendly.”

  “If it was just friendly, why are you telling me like that and looking like that?”

  “Like what?” Now I was confused.

  She rolled her eyes. “You are bright red and flustered. The only other time I saw you like that was when Colton Graves asked you to dance in front of the entire senior class at prom. You liked him and you like this guy.” Trust Jazz to bring that up.

  When I was fifteen, Joey invited Jazz and me to his senior prom. It was just after our parents had died and he thought it would be a fun thing for us to do to take our minds off stuff. Colton Graves was on the football team with Joey and he was, without a doubt, the hottest boy there, with Joey supposedly being a near second. Colton and Joey floated down school hallways on a waft of sighs and dreamy eyes. It wasn’t that I ‘liked’ Colton Graves as much as I’d probably needed to let off some teenage emotional steam and he happened to be the target. I was so embarrassed and flustered while we danced I hardly remember the experience. I did a lot of staring at his bowtie. That part I do remember. It was red. Ok, so I had ‘liked’ him a bit. And remembering the experience definitely put my feelings for Jack in perspective.

  I was in serious trouble.

  “Ok, look. I do like him. But the problem is he’s really attractive, and I guess I am not sure if I like him for him or just because he’s hot.”

  Jazz looked exasperated at my lame explanation, but I pressed on. “Also, he’s only been friendly to me, no come-ons at all.”

  “Can I meet him? Maybe I’ll be able to tell if he’s interested or not.”

  No.

  “Well, he says he’s hiding out here, in case his girlfriend finds him, so he doesn’t want to be seen out and about.” Even to my ears that sounded weird.

  Jazz narrowed her eyes. “Do you think he might be married and is worried someone will think he’s cheating? Where’s he live?”

  “California.” It was out of my mouth before I could think.

  “Okaaaaay.” Jazz looked at me with concern.