First Time in Forever (Puffin Island 1)

Lizzy instantly turned to Emily. “Can we?”

“Sure.” Her gaze flickered to his, and he saw color warm her cheeks in the moment before she turned to introduce her friend. “This is Skylar.”

He was tempted to ask Skylar if she’d babysit while he took Emily for a long walk along the beach followed by sunset-watching from the king-size bed in his apartment, but instead he reached across and extended his hand.

“I’ve heard about you from my grandmother.” He took the chair next to Emily, leaving Alec no choice but to sit next to Skylar. “This is Alec Hunter. You have to excuse him. He’s half British, but their weather isn’t bad enough for him, so he spends most of his time here with us in Maine. He’s a historian.”

Alec’s greeting was little more than a curt nod, and Skylar’s gaze flickered to Alec’s rough, handsome features and lingered for a moment before returning to Ryan.

“What was your grandmother’s name?”

“Agnes Cooper. You gave her friends a jewelry class once.”

“I did. I remember her well. She was wonderful.” A smile spread across her face, and Ryan saw warmth and humanity beneath the surface beauty.

“She’d love to see you again.”

“We should call on her. Em, do you remember her?”

Next to him, Emily stir

red. “I wasn’t there.”

“You must have been.” Skylar frowned. “We made necklaces. Brittany helped. Why wouldn’t you have been there? We spent the morning on the beach searching for sea glass and then—” She broke off and sent an agonized look of apology toward her friend. “I remember now. You stayed in the cottage. You had a headache.”

It was obvious to Ryan it hadn’t been a headache that had kept Emily in the cottage, but Skylar’s protectiveness made it clear the subject was not up for further discussion.

Emily sat still, but Ryan could feel the tension emanating from her. Her hand rested close to his on the table, and he wanted to slide his fingers over hers and demand that she tell him what was wrong so he could fix it. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to know why she’d stayed in the cottage all those years before and not joined her friends on their expedition through the tide pools. He wanted to know why she’d spent three years of her life with a guy who clearly didn’t appreciate her and why she’d filled every hour of her day with a job when there were so many more appealing ways of living. And he wanted to rip all the concealing black from her body and explore every inch of her until there wasn’t a single part of her he didn’t know.

He shifted, distracted by the brutal power of arousal.

And then he saw Lizzy, her hands clasped around a glass, her tumbling hair tucked under the pink baseball cap, and remembered the reason he couldn’t follow up on his impulses.

Instead of taking Emily’s hand, he picked up his beer, relieved when Kirsti came over to take their order.

Kirsti chatted to Emily, admired Lizzy’s hat and tried to draw Alec into conversation with Skylar, an endeavor that earned her a black look.

Skylar ignored it and glanced at the menu. “So what do you recommend?”

Kirsti looked thoughtful. “Depends. Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

Ryan saw the faint gleam of cynical disbelief light Alec’s eyes. He’d never met Alec’s ex-wife, but the few reports he’d read in the press had given him the impression of a woman for whom the phrase high maintenance had probably been invented.

Kirsti leaned forward and pointed. “The clams are good, but my favorite are the homemade crab cakes with dipping sauce. We serve that with French fries and coleslaw but you can switch the fries for a salad if you prefer.”

“No way!” Skylar looked horrified. “Fries, please. Lizzy? What do you like?”

“Try the chicken fingers,” Kirsti advised. “They are the best.”

While they waited for the food to arrive, Skylar did most of the talking, her vibrant energy flowing over the group, filling awkward silences, while Lizzy sat watching, her eyes fixed to the gleaming silver bangles that jangled on Skylar’s slender arms.

Ryan noticed Lizzy was wearing one, too. It was too big, so she held it with her other hand, as if it were something precious she was determined not to lose.

Emily sat quietly; her eyes were trained on the restaurant, and every time someone new walked through the door she fixed them with her gaze, apparently assessing the threat level. He knew it was no coincidence that she’d given Lizzy the chair facing the water so that her back was to the other diners.

Whatever her feelings about her situation, it was obvious that she took the responsibility seriously.