The Wrong Mr. Right (The Queen's Cove Series #2)(36)

I paddled out after her and surfed a small wave.

“You make it look so easy,” she called over.

I shrugged and gave her my cockiest smile. It was easy. The next wave, though, I hopped up and wobbled back and forth, pretending to be unbalanced, before pitching over into the water. I resurfaced, shook the water out of my hair, and opened my eyes to see her flat look.

“Is that supposed to be me?” Her chest shook with laughter, and her eyes shone.

“I’m trying to show you that even advanced surfers can fall.” I flicked some water over at her and she splashed me back. “Let’s call it quits for today.”

“One more.” She paddled past me, further out before the break, faster than before, and I pictured the muscles in her back moving as she swam.

And then I was picturing other parts of her under the wetsuit. Desire lurched in me and I frowned.

Things didn’t seem to be awkward after admitting I was jealous a couple days ago at the gallery. She wasn’t pleased, but she wasn’t angry either.

It was like it never happened.

I had always thought Hannah had a crush on me growing up, even up until recently. The blushing, the way she couldn’t make eye contact, how she disappeared before she’d have to make any conversation.

But now? She splashed me, made fun of me, and didn’t think twice about stripping down to her swimsuit in front of me. Something competitive and unsatisfied pinged in my chest. I should have been relieved that the bookworm didn’t have a crush on me. It made things easier. Romantic feelings complicated everything.

I raked my hand through my wet hair, blew out a breath, and my gaze returned to Hannah as she paddled with the wave, hopped up, and glided over the surface of the water.

“Okay, now we can call it quits.” She swam over to me with her torso on the board. “I forgot to tell you. I booked an artist. She’s going to fix up the mural.”

“That’s great, bookworm. What changed your mind?”

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and the motion stirred me. Her mouth looked so soft.

“I was talking with my dad on the phone and…” Her nose wrinkled. “He’s so stubborn. He’s never going to change his mind and he doesn’t have a freaking clue about business.” She made a frustrated noise in her throat.

I grinned and raised my eyebrows at her. I liked the fire she was spitting.

Her eyebrows pinched together in a frown. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get mad.”

“I like it when you get mad. You should get mad more often.”

Our gazes locked and my chest squeezed. A drop of water rolled down the column of her neck, into her wetsuit. She frowned at me. “What?” She smoothed a hand over her wet hair. “Did the seaweed get me again?”

“No, you look beautiful like this.” The words flew out of my mouth.

She raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Like a drowned rat? Okay, weirdo. Did you hit your head on the rocks or something? Come on.” She swam past me and paddled to our cove.

My mouth dropped and I watched her swim away. That was it? She brushed me off, so easily. I called her beautiful and she called me a weirdo.

Well, there was my answer. She definitely didn’t have a crush on me.

That’s where I should have left it. I should have dropped it, continued helping Hannah become a hot girl or whatever, and kept things platonic. Friends. That’s what we were. I should have left it all there.

That spark of competitiveness flared in my chest, the same one I felt every morning surfing. The same one I felt at competitions. I swam hard to catch up with her.

“When’s your date with Beck?” I called over as I approached even though I knew the answer.

“Tonight.”

We drifted into the calm cove. She slid a hair tie off her wrist and pulled her hair off her neck before tying it up into a ponytail. I watched the movements, captivated, and I had the urge to run my finger down the back of her neck to see if she’d shiver. My throat worked.

“Are you going to kiss him?”

She blanched, and pink appeared on her cheeks. “I don’t know.” She blinked.

I should have shut up, but I couldn’t. “When was the last time you kissed someone?”

She huffed, and the pink tinge spread. She was cute like this, all embarrassed. “None of your business.”

I splashed her as she pulled herself up on her board to seated. “Tell me.”

She laughed. “No. When was the last time you kissed someone?”

“A couple days before you held me down and blackmailed me.”

She rolled her eyes and tried not to grin. “I didn’t hold you down.”

An image of us in bed flashed into my head. My bed. Hannah on top of me, holding my wrists down with a shy smile. Me pretending to be at her mercy.

Blood rushed to my groin. Thank fuck my lower half was under water.

This didn’t happen. I didn’t get hard-ons from chatting with a woman, both of us clothed, neither of us touching.

“University. Give me your leash.” She held her hand out and I unwrapped it from my ankle before tossing it to her.

“Wait, university? Bookworm, that was years ago.”

Now she really looked embarrassed, and I mentally slapped myself. Asshole.

My heart sunk in my chest. “Bookworm.”