“Have you heard how the renovations are going at the café?” Ember asked.
Ally glanced to her left. Okay, so she just happened to run past the café at least twice a day. And if she peeked in through the windows to see how they were going? Well that was just natural, wasn’t it?
She pulled her socks off, stuffing them into her brand new running shoes, then carried them over to Lorne’s surf shop – her latest hiding place, which happened to be very far from any trashcans. She was still upset about that. Still upset about everything really. In just a few days it felt as though her life had been turned upside down. And though she’d spent half of them running as fast as she could, she couldn’t get over the thought that in reality she’d just been going backward.
“They’ve ripped everything out,” Ally said, her throat aching at the thought. “All the old tables and chairs were taken away in a dumpster.” Along with all those years and memories. Those booths, lined with tattered benches, had been a staple of her childhood. She’d sat there and watched as her dad served customers as a child. As a teenager he’d let her stand on the other side of the counter, filling up mugs with hot coffee and taking orders for Jeff to cook up in the kitchen.
“Oh sweets. That must be hard,” Ember clucked sympathetically. Even though she’d been through her own troubles in the past few years – first with her fiancé, Will, leaving her after years of living together, followed quickly by Ember’s beloved father dying so suddenly – she still worried more about other people than she did for herself.
That was one of the reasons why Ally was so happy her friend had found love again with Lucas Russell, a lieutenant in the fire department. He took care of her, the way Ember took care of everybody else, and it was a beautiful thing to see.
“It’s okay,” Ally said, swallowing hard. “It needed a makeover anyway. I would have done it years ago if I could’ve afforded it.” She took a step back, her feet sinking into the warm sand, and glanced over toward the café. Not that you could tell it was that anymore. Along with the furniture and the kitchen equipment, the signage on the front had also met its fate in the dumper truck. Now the building was bare, the old white paint half-peeled off where the signs had been removed.
It was hard to believe that in another few days the Beach Café – or Déjà Brew as it was now – would be ready for training to begin, before opening to the public.
Just a few more days. That’s all she needed to get through before she’d be working again.
From the corner of her eye she saw the door open, and a loud cacophony of banging and drilling spilled out. Nate Crawford walked through the doorway, his phone held to his ear, his hand pressed against his other one in an effort to hear what the caller was saying. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and dress pants today. In their place were a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that seemed to cling to every ridge of his body, and for a moment she couldn’t help but stare at him.
“I guess I’d better go,” Ember said down the line, bringing Ally’s attention back to their conversation. “I need to get the classroom ready for this afternoon’s lessons. Hey, did you want to meet up this weekend? We should take advantage of the fact you won’t be working for once.”
“Yeah, sure.” Ally’s reply was half-hearted. She was still staring at the man who had turned her life upside down. He’d walked away from the café and was leaning against the wall between the beach and the parking lot.
There was something about him that drew her in. Every time she looked at him she felt a little rush of pleasure, followed by a warming sensation that flooded her veins. And for a moment she didn’t feel restless at all. As though she could have stood in the same place all day watching him.
Ugh. Stalkerish much? She shook her head at herself. Maybe it was seeing a man running the café again that was unsettling her. Reminding her of when her father was constantly behind the counter. Yeah, better not to delve down into that too much. The last thing she needed was a daddy-complex.
After Ember ended the call, Ally slid her phone back into the band fixed with Velcro around her bicep. Then she glanced back at her boss for one final time, leaning down to stretch out her leg muscles. But this time his head was up and he was looking right at her. The shock of their gazes connecting was like an electric prod to her skin. Her heart started to hammer in spite of the fact she hadn’t moved at all.
Unlike Ally, Nate didn’t look embarrassed to be caught looking. Instead he gave her a nod and walked in the opposite direction, as if he’d barely noticed her at all.
Licking her dry lips, she turned around and began to stretch, the soles of her feet pushing against the rough sand as warm gusts of air caressed her skin. Within moments her mind would be beautifully, achingly blank, and not full of Nate Crawford and the new café. And that was just the way she wanted it, because she was thinking about him way too often for her own good.
* * *
“She’s sick?” Nate repeated, his brows pulling down into a frown. “What’s wrong with her?” He had to shout to make himself heard. Until he’d taken this call he hadn’t realized how loud the construction work was – he’d become immune to it after days of banging and drilling. He made a mental note to apologize to all the other business owners surrounding him. They’d been more than understanding about all the mess surrounding the café.
“Yes, Mr. Crawford,” the school nurse replied. “She says she has a headache and feels dizzy. We’ve given her some pain medication and let her rest for the past half hour, but it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Hopefully taking her home will help.” She sounded more sympathetic than Nate felt right then. Riley had been perfectly fine when she’d left for school that morning. Well enough to have a shouting match with him when he’d told her that he still wasn’t getting her a car and she’d have to catch the bus home for the foreseeable future.
Nate sighed. “Okay, I’ll come over and pick her up.” He ended the call and glanced at his watch. He had an hour before the building inspector was due to take a look at the work they’d done so far. Just enough time to pick Riley up and drop her off at home. Not enough for them to get into another screaming match. That was a win at least.
All the while he’d been talking, he’d been staring out at the beach. Well, not the beach exactly. If he was honest, his gaze was firmly on the woman warming her muscles up on the sand about twenty yards away from him. She was leaning forward, her hands clasped around her ankle as she stretched out her quadriceps.
Christ, she was flexible. Her entire body was perfectly formed. From her long, lean legs that led up to the flare of her hips, dipping into her small waist that was only accentuated by the spandex shorts she was wearing.
What she wasn’t wearing, he noticed, were shoes. A flash of guilt went through him again as he remembered throwing her last pair away. He wondered where she stashed them now? Not anywhere near the café, he was sure of that.
She looked up at him, her eyes widening as her gaze caught his. His breath caught in his throat, and for a moment nothing else registered. Not the sound of the constructio
n work in the café, nor the softer splash of the ocean as it kissed against the shore. It was just the two of them alone on the beach.
Dear God, he was seeing things that weren’t there. And even if they were, they shouldn’t be. He gave her a quick nod, trying to dismiss the heat that was rushing through his veins. Turning away, he began to walk toward the parking lot, ready to drive to the high school and pick up Riley.
By the time he turned back, Ally had started to run, the muscles in her thighs tensing as she made her way down to the water’s edge. He watched her for a moment, impressed by her strength as well as the form of her body.
Shaking his head at himself, he turned back to the car. He wasn’t some hormonal teenager. And he had enough things to worry about, with Riley and the café, not to mention being thousands of miles away from his growing business. The last thing he needed to be doing was admiring Ally Sutton’s muscles.
And with that thought, he tried to push her straight out of his mind. Whether it worked, remained to be seen.