“Yep.”
“And you were okay with her contacting Carlyn?” The thought of it made her stomach feel queasy.
Rich swallowed. “Honestly, I had no idea they were in contact until Carlyn blindsided me the other day. We only went on two dates, I’d forgotten what she even did for a living until she mentioned Belle had been in touch about the show. I’m kicking myself for letting it play out like that. I’m kind of overprotective of my sister, and I hate to see her being used.”
Meghan’s gaze softened. Did he have to be so sweet? “Does she know about you and Carlyn?”
He shook his head. “It was never an issue. We went out to dinner twice and that was it. I try not to worry Belle about my work. She has enough things to contend with already.”
“So tomorrow is when Belle and Carlyn are meeting? Where?”
“At The Sunshine Gallery. I figure we can go in together, make up something about having breakfast afterward. And when Carlyn sees me with somebody else she’ll back off.”
“Will you need me to come to the show, too?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He nodded slowly. “Would that be a problem for you?”
She swallowed. “I was thinking it could be a problem for you.” She gestured at him to emphasize her point. “You’re a good looking man. If we’re pretending to be dating won’t that scupper any chance you have with anybody else.”
His eyes dipped to her lips. “I don’t want anybody else.”
A thrill shot through her at his words. Even though she knew he didn’t mean them that way.
He gave a little chuckle, as though he could read her mind. “I guess what I’m saying is a few months of celibacy would be worth it. But what about you? You’re young and single, what if you wanted to date? I don’t want to be the person standing in your way.”
“I’m a single mom. Finding somebody to date is like finding a unicorn.” Her voice was warm. Amused. “Seriously, it’s not going to ruin my non-existent sex life.”
Rich blinked again. “Okay.” His voice was thin. “How about we agree that if either of us meet somebody we’d like to date we talk about it. We can have a get out clause.”
“It’s not going to happen for me, but thanks. And yeah, I’m happy with that if you are.”
There was a strange look in his eyes that she couldn’t quite understand. The way he stared at her made her cheeks flush. As though he knew exactly how to make something like that happen. Her skin blazing, she pulled her eyes from his, her gaze sweeping to his hands. They were big, strong, and she knew from their trip to the ER how gentle they could be.
For a moment she imagined him touching her. Awakening her body cell by cell. If he could set her on fire just by looking at her, how would she react at his touch?
He wet his lips with the tip of his tongue. “Okay. What time are you dropping Isla to her friend’s house tomorrow?”
“At nine. They’re both early risers.”
“Then I’ll pick you up at nine-thirty. If that works for you?”
“Yeah, that works.” She nodded, a smile playing at her lips. Because tomorrow she got to pretend that she was Rich Martin’s girlfriend. It was weird how much that thought excited her.
Pretend. That’s all.
And that was fine. Better than fine. She’d get all of the fun stuff without any of the angst. She knew their little arrangement had a time limit, and then they’d go back to being neighbors and friends.
But while it lasted, she’d get to enjoy being with the strong, handsome doctor with eyes like the ocean. And there was something exciting about that.
The Sunshine Art gallery was nestled in a chic row of shops to the south of Angel Sands itself, separated from the beach by wide, grassy dunes, whose emerald blades seemed to dance in the breeze. To the left was a dress shop that Meghan knew was beyond her means, and to the right was a sunglasses shop full of expensive designer lenses.
If the boardwalk was all about fun and tourists, this part of town was about money and elegance. It was midway between the town itself and the Silver Sands Resort, which attracted the kind of top notch guests these shops would thrive off.
Rich parked on the road behind a dark blue van, and clicked his tongue, muttering something about his sister being early. Turning to Meghan, he gave her a disarming smile. “Are you ready for this?”
“Of course. Let’s go.” She was interested to see if he treated her any differently, now that she was his girlfriend – in name at least. Reaching out to open her door, he put his hand over hers.
“I’ll come around,” he told her, his voice certain. “And help you out.”