Page 40 of He Loves Me Knot
“Mostly at Playa Carrillo, a little south of here. Went to Nosara, Buena Vista, or Marbella more often. The waves are bigger there.”
Granny’s eyes sparkled. “Perfect. Then you’re an expert. You can teach your girlfriend and leave the other instructor to us. Get your suit on. And don’t tell me you need to work. You’re ‘on holiday’ or whatever you Brits call it. Need to learn how to relax and get whatever rod out of your ass that causes your lips to stiffen.”
What? Granny isn’t seriously suggesting that Callum gives me surfing lessons, is she? What would that even involve?
Liddy shook her head. “No, it’s fine, Granny. If Callum wants to work?—”
“No, I’m game,” Callum said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “But, just so you know, I’m not entirely from the UK.”
Would strangling her grandmother be a feasible option? Liddy couldn’t think of anything more horrifying than having Callum give her surfing lessons. She moved outside, joining Kyle. “Gran is getting more unhinged by the year.”
“I heard that,” Granny said, then exited the bungalow. “Or maybe, when you’re my age, you’ll realize that you wasted far too much precious time and you’re running out of it and need to live it up before you’re worm food.”
Kyle yawned and stretched. “Can we schedule the life lessons for after eight for the rest of this trip?”
“If you’re sleeping that good, I may need to come in and share your room,” Granny said with a wink.
Kyle put his arm around her shoulder. “Gran, you’re not sleeping with me. You brought your ‘man meat’—or whatever you call him—so you’re stuck with him.”
Dear God.Liddy wasn’t sure she wanted Callum overhearing Granny’s off-color remarks. Had she been on a roll like this around Elle’s future in-laws? No wonder Elle was stressed. She could only imagine what the Camdens—who were an earl and countess—would think after hearing Granny.
“You’re like a one-woman version ofThe Golden Girls,Gran,” Liddy muttered. “And that’s not necessarily the compliment you think it is.”
Callum joined them a few minutes later, wearing a long-sleeved swim shirt and trunks. He looked more alert than either she or Kyle did, which probably had to do with the fact that he’d been running as opposed to being dragged out of bed.
Liddy fell into step beside him, putting a little distance between them and Granny as they made their way to the beach. “I wanted to ask you. . . if the thing with Sergio is tonight, when do you think we should leave?”
“Probably around noon. It’ll take a little under four hours to get there. If we leave soon, we can be there in the afternoon and scope things out. Wait for him to arrive.”
“We should probably think up some excuse for leaving for the day. Maybe sightseeing or something? We won’t be back until late probably, right?”
“Yeah, I can come up with something. I wouldn’t plan on being back here before ten.”
The sky over the water was a light shade of pink as they walked onto the beach to where a surfing instructor was already with Granny and Kyle. The instructor introduced himself as Victor, with heavily accented English.
“You going to tell him you already know how to surf?” Liddy whispered to Callum.
Callum gave her a lazy smile. “Not yet. You going to tell him you’re not planning on taking the lesson?”
She grimaced and looked toward her eighty-year-old grandmother. If Granny was willing to try it, Liddy’s reluctance would just look like cowardice.
“I mean, if we’re not actually standing on the boards, I might try,” she managed, ignoring how sick it made her feel.
Victor had apparently already picked boards for them. He gave Liddy a smile as he brought one over to her. “Linda, let me show you.” He knelt in front of her, then fastened the ankle strap on her, his touch light. He held her gaze. “So the board does not float away.”
“What doeslindamean?” Liddy whispered to Callum as Victor moved on to grab Kyle a board.
“Beautiful.” Callum rolled his eyes. “He’s flirting with you. Notice how he didn’t help me or your grandmother put our ankle straps on?”
“Maybe he knows I can’t bend over like that.” Liddy held a smile back. Why did it make her satisfied to have Callum notice things like another man flirting with her? She’d felt similarly about Sergio’s flirtations—and, oddly, that had seemed to bother Callum, too.
But once, in what felt like ages ago, Callum had flirted with her. And she’d had fun flirting with him that day they’d first met, too. He’d made her feel . . .desirable. She’d never had anyone pay her a lot of attention growing up. At least not in a positive way.
College had been a breath of fresh air compared to high school for her social life. She’d gotten her spinal fusion right before freshman year, which meant that almost no one knew about her scoliosis. She’d had her first dates, kisses, boyfriends.
But the experience hadn’t been entirely positive, either.
After years of insecurity and feeling horrible about her body, every compliment, or if a guy hit on her, had her reeling. She’d gotten her heart broken by more than one jerk that she never should have dated.