Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“There’s no reason we can’t show her a good time while we’re down here,” Dominic said, looking off in her direction with a troubled face. There had been many fights, over the phone and in person, at the end of his marriage.
“Does that mean we’re not going to ask her to put her hands all over our bodies?” Tye’s brow arched as he spoke.
“Hell, no,” I said, putting down my glass of wine. “We want her to have a good week—I’d say getting to rub our bodies is a plus for her. Can you imagine all the pale and pasty people she had to give massages to at that wedding in Chicago?”
For some reason, that got us laughing. I laughed harder than the rest because it made me feel good—like the way we’d been when we were in high school. Back when baseball had been a passion, not our whole lives.
Now baseball was in our past, but not the friendship. Our friendship was still as strong as ever.
Did Naomi have friends like that? If so, I wondered why none of them had told her to dump Frank.
It made me more determined to make sure she had a good week.
5
NAOMI
“Sorry about that.” I returned to the table after my phone call ended—and after I’d taken a few deep breaths to steady myself. Frank definitely knew how to push my buttons. “Who wants a massage?” I asked though right now I felt more like strangling someone than soothing their muscles.
The guys were still at the table though Justin had pushed back from it and had his feet up on my chair. God, his legs were long. I could see how they would propel him swiftly around the bases when he hit a homerun.
He moved his feet with a lazy smile up at me. “I’m too full to lie on my stomach. Can I lie on someone else’s?”
Tye shook his head. “Don’t mind him, he thinks he’s funnier than he is.”
I smiled, but I didn’t agree. Justin was definitely the most good-natured of the trio. Tyler, I couldn’t quite get a handle on. And Dominic had been kind so far, but a few times I’d caught something in his eyes that had looked a bit like sadness. Or maybe I was reading too much into things.
Justin pushed my chair out with his foot, inviting me to sit, but I didn’t feel like sitting any longer. “Come on, someone must need a study break.” Though I hadn’t actually seen any of them study. “Let me do my job or Evelyn will fire me.”
“Not likely,” Dominic said.
“Okay, then that chef will shoot nasty looks my way until I give up and go home.”
“More likely,” Tye said, his gaze on his nearly empty glass of wine.
“We wouldn’t let that happen,” Justin said with a smile. Even in the dark, his eyes got to me. Some men just had that kind of gaze that seemed to look right through you, and I’d always been a sucker for that kind of thing. “Anyway, it’s your first night here. Is there something else you’d like to do?”
His offer was tempting, because even though I’d just finished telling stupid Frank that I was here to work, there was something I really wanted to do. “Can I go down by the water?”
Justin spread his arms wide. “Who’s going to stop you?”
I blushed. “I mean, I didn’t know if it’s okay at night.”
“Night’s when the mean crabs come out,” Dominic said. “Better stay up here.”
“Really?” The moment I said it, I wanted to take it back. The men laughed, and I felt embarrassed. “I’ve never been to the beach before. I don’t know if there’s a certain time of day that crabs come out.”
“There is, but it’s not determined by temperament,” Tye said.
“Wait. You mean you’ve never been to this beach before or any beach?” Justin tilted his head to the side as he looked up at me.
“Any beach,” I admitted. “Except on Lake Michigan.”
“That doesn’t count.” Tye was still studying the remains of his drink as if it contained the key to the universe.
Justin looked shocked. “You’ve never seen the ocean before today?”
“No.”
“Well, hell, let’s go for a walk on the beach.” He got to his feet, and I couldn’t help smiling at his enthusiasm. Truth was, the surf crashing against the sand and rocks seemed a bit more intimating in the dark. Like the waves had grown more unruly in the past few hours. As much as I wanted to get closer, it would be really nice not to do it alone. But…
“Shouldn’t you be studying?”
“Yeah.” He grinned and jerked his chin at his buddies. “But so should they, and they’re coming too.”
“We are?” Dominic asked.
“Yep, you are.”
To my surprise, both he and Tye got to their feet. Technically, they were no longer part of a baseball team, but they still seemed to be in sync.