The guy could have killed him. They should have at least been charged with assault. Instead, all six had been charged with public intoxication, a minor offense compared to what had happened.
He tried not to think about what he would have been charged with if the roles had been reversed. Or even if there hadn’t been video evidence of what had happened.
That news put him in a sour mood for the rest of the day. Thankfully, he didn’t have a sunset tour scheduled for that evening and, after he locked the boathouse up, he headed home for the night.
After showering and falling into bed, he heard his phone chime and was just about to ignore it when he thought of the possibility that it might be Jules. He reached over and smiled when he saw her message.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Jules waited for Damion’s response to her meme. She’d heard from Lea, who had heard it from Brett, that the other group from the day before had been released from jail with minor charges.
The biggest expense was probably getting their boat back, if it was even their boat. The group was from out of town, so it was most likely a rental.
“You just made my night better,” Damion responded. “Thanks.”
“Any time. I hated to hear that they aren’t rotting in jail right now for what they did to you,” she responded.
“Me? What about what that woman did to you?”
“I think I did more to her than she did to me. A few strands of my hair versus a new nose job.” She laughed as she sent a funny emoji along with the text.
“Girl, you got me laughing so hard it hurts.” His response had her thinking about his laughter. It was warm and rich, and she loved the sound of it.
“I like hearing your laughter,” she responded. Then she quickly added. “Have a good night. See you tomorrow?”
“It’s my day off. But I might stop by if you promise me that you’ll eat lunch down at the beach with me.”
She smiled and hugged her phone to her chest for a moment before responding. “I can do that.”
“Eleven. Okay?”
“See you then,” she answered, and then she lay in bed and reread every single message twice before falling asleep.
The next day, Jules watched the clock continuously. She counted down the minutes until Damion would show up. Every time the front doors opened, she grew happy and then disappointed when it wasn’t him.
He was ten minutes late but walked in with a bundle of flowers in his hands.
“My truck had a flat tire,” he said with a frown.
“Oh no.” She took the flowers from him. “But you had time to pick these up?”
He chuckled. “I picked them from the flower beds along the pathway.”
She laughed. “Don’t let Tommy hear you say that.”
“Tommy?” he asked with a frown.
“The guy who plants these and takes care of them,” she answered with a shake of her head.
“Why have I never met him?” Damion asked with a frown.
“Because he’s shy and works in the evenings when you’re normally out on a sunset cruise.”
“Since I had to deal with the flat tire, I didn’t have time to stop and grab a lunch. Mind if we stop off in the dining room and grab a sack lunch?”
“Sounds good. I didn’t pack one either. I was hoping we’d grab something as well.” She didn’t want to tell him that she’d been so eager for today that she’d forgotten to pack one.
He held out his hand for hers. She set the flowers in the vase along with the bundle that normally sat on the front counter.