Page 38 of Love is a Game

“You don’t have to do that,” Sadie said, reaching for her own.

“I’ve got it,” he assured her.

When they crossed the street to the beach, Sadie stopped to take in the view. The tide was low and the surf calm. A few families had blankets and umbrellas set up on the sand, and an older couple searched the tide pools with their shell buckets in hand. Across the water, the blue peaks of Vancouver Island rose above the horizon.

Careful not to tip her ice cream cone, she slipped off her shoes and picked them up with her free hand. Andrew took off his flip-flops and tucked them into the side pocket of his cargo shorts. Apparently, those ridiculously large pockets served a purpose. He started up the beach, and she fell into step beside him.

“Thank you for the ice cream.”

“Don’t mention it. I may be just a lowly librarian, but I can still afford a single scoop cone at Freezy Sweets and Eats,” he said, his lips twitching up in a cheeky smile.

“So if I’d gotten the double scoop, I would have been on my own?”

“No, I would have paid for that, too, but I’d have to dip into that fancy law-firm savings,” he teased. “If you’d gotten the triple scoop, then you would have been on your own.”

“Got it.” She couldn’t help returning his small smile.

When they came to a large driftwood log in their way, they each moved to go around it on opposite sides. Once past it, Sadie noticed Andrew stepping toward her, closing the distance between them again.

“So how does the cove compare to those California beaches?” she asked.

“Oh, it’s far superior, no question,” he told her, and she laughed. “Honestly!” he insisted. “They may have smooth white sands instead of this gravelly gray stuff, and, you know, people don’t get hypothermia swimming down there.”

“Probably a lot less rain,” Sadie added, “and summer temperatures above seventy degrees.”

Andrew nodded. “Sure, they do have that going for them. But our beaches are what make us so tough. If you can run into the freezing ocean on a cloudy sixty-degree day, you can do anything.”

“It’s very true. Also they have sharks, don’t they? Not worth it.”

“Definitely not,” Andrew agreed, chuckling. His eyes scanned the length of the cove. “Actually, it’s kind of embarrassing, but I rarely made it to the beach down there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I spent most of my time working, and, I don’t know, it was just so crowded. Is that lame?” he asked.

Sadie grinned and shook her head. “No, I get it. I know Seattle is a lot smaller than LA, but there have been so many times I’ve been driving downtown and just thought there are way too many people here.”

“There’s no place like home, I guess. California is nice, but you can’t beat Briar Cove.”

She hummed noncommittally. She couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. Either way, she wasn’t sure if she could agree with the sentiment, not after she’d spent so many years trying to avoid the place.

He walked slowly beside her, one hand in his pocket while the other held his ice cream cone. She sneaked a glance at his face to take in his profile. He looked so much more put together than he had when she first arrived. His hair was less messy, and he looked like he had shaved in the last forty-eight hours. She imagined how it would feel to run her fingers along the scruff of his jaw, but as soon as the thought crossed her mind she looked away quickly to hide the blush heating her cheeks.

“What?” he asked, looking down at her, an anticipatory smile lifting one side of his mouth.

She hesitated. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him what she’d been thinking of just then, so she turned instead to the thing that had been on her mind since she’d first run into him. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure you can. But remember, I know my rights.” He winked. “I don’t have to answer.”

“See, that’s my question,” she said, shaking a finger at him. “You’ve wanted to be a lawyer since you were twelve years old. What happened? Why are you here working at the library when you could be anywhere else practicing law?”

He took a bite of his ice cream and then looked out over the water.

“Oh gosh, you didn’t get fired, did you?” she asked, wincing. She hadn’t meant to make things awkward. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me anything. It’s none of my business.”

“I didn’t get fired,” he assured her. “I was on the cusp of becoming a junior partner when I left.”

“Oh, wow. You’re kind of young for that, aren’t you?”