“It was great!”
“Where’s Steven?”
“The sharks ate him,” Gary teased, rather wishing it were true at the moment. He’d left Steven typing away on his computer while he went to the grocery store. He purposefully didn’t mention dropping by Katie’s cottage.
“I know you’re joking with me,” Katie said, her chin tilting upward. “You see? I’m getting better at reading you.”
“That’s because I’m an open book.”
“Yeah, but in a foreign language,” she countered. “Seriously, though. Did you end up doing the wreck dive or the subway cars?”
Gary lifted the sack. “I brought ice cream. If you invite me in, I’ll tell you all about it.”
Her lips pursed. “I’m already dressed for bed, but ice cream sounds awfully good. What kind?”
“Chocolate chip mint.” He grinned at the surprised look on her face. “After the kayak trip, you mentioned it was your favorite. Remember? We discussed whether to grab an ice cream cone or come straight back for a nap.”
“Yes, and the nap won.” She gave a crooked grin as she stepped back and opened the door. She looked so cute, with her bare feet sticking out of a pink robe. “Come on in. I’ll go change so I won’t be tugging on this robe the whole time.”
She padded back to the bedroom as he came inside and dished out the ice cream. She reappeared in shorts and a green t-shirt that deepened the color of her eyes.
?
?Your hair looks very nice.” He wanted to compliment her, though he hated to make her feel more indebted to Steven than she already did.
“Thanks.” Her face took on a rosy hue as her hand rose to touch the soft blond waves. His fingers were itching to feel the silky texture for himself. “You should’ve seen me before I took the makeup off. It was a little heavier than I’m used to, but it was nice. I felt like a movie star.”
He put two heaping bowls of ice cream on the table, and they sat down across from each other.
“How was your massage?” he asked, ready to switch her attention from Steven’s gift to his.
“It was incredible. Best I ever had.” Her eyes glazed over, as if she were reliving the experience, and Gary’s chest swelled with pride.
“Then you liked Marissa?”
“Marissa?” Her brows drew down, then sprang back. “Oh! The girl who was supposed to do my massage? Something happened, and they had to reschedule her entire morning. I ended up with James.”
It ought to be impossible, but somehow his bite of ice cream got stuck in his throat. He tried not to imagine how Katie looked while she was getting a massage from some strange man. Hopefully, she’d been wearing a swimsuit or something, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
And my money paid for it!
“She said she hasn’t been doing it long, but she was really good.” Katie spooned a bite of ice cream and closed her eyes in ecstasy. “Uhmm! This is so good!”
“She? James is a girl?”
“Yes. It’s one of those gender-neutral names that are so popular these days.”
“Thanks goodness! I’m glad it wasn’t some dude.”
He spied a fleeting grin, and knew he should’ve kept the comment to himself. They continued to eat their ice cream, quiet but for the sounds of the spoons hitting the bowls.
“You were going to tell me which dive you decided on,” she said, as she took another bite.
“Right. We dove both sites. The wreck was awesome, but it’s deep, so we couldn’t stay down long. And the subway cars have already turned into a nice reef.” He scraped his spoon on the bottom to get the last bit of ice cream out of his bowl. “We saw a lot of fish, including a huge grouper that’ll eat out of your hand. I honestly think you’d love diving if you could get over the shark thing.”
Her lips turned downward. “You know, Gary, I hope you realize I’m not ever going to be adventurous like you are.”
“I’m not trying to change you, Katie.”