“Have a good lunch,” Beth called after her.
“Thanks,” she said.
They walked through the short line of other employees getting lunches and each grabbed one of the sack lunches they made for employees who wanted to enjoy their food outside. The meals were pretty much the same as the ones you could get in the dining room but packaged in recyclable containers. The fact that everyone called them sack lunches was kind of an employee joke.
It had actually been Jules’s idea to switch to the reusable containers for the meals. She’d watched a documentary with her father on plastics in the oceans. After doing a little research, she’d come to Elle with the idea and proof that, over the long haul, the campgrounds would save money as well as help save marine life and the planet if they switched over.
Elle had loved the idea instantly. Over the past five years, Jules had come to her with several more ideas, all of which Elle had implemented.
They took their lunches and started down the pathway to the beach area. Normally, there would be a bunch of guests or employees enjoying the white sand and the sun, but today was a little cloudy and most people seemed to have other ideas.
“Looks like we have the beach to ourselves.” He motioned to a table under a large palm tree.
She walked over and sat down and tried to hide a smile when he sat next to her instead of across from her.
“What did you get?” he asked as she opened her lunch.
“Chicken salad. You?”
“Burger, fries, and a brownie for dessert,” he answered. “Want?” he asked, holding up a fry.
Yes, she did want, but she started to tell him no. But the moment she opened her mouth, he stuck the fry in it.
“I knew you were going to deny it, but seeing that look in your eyes, I can tell you really wanted it,” he explained. “My mother taught me never to question what a woman eats, but you can’t tell me you seriously want to eat those twigs over this.” He motioned to her food.
“What I want and what my body can handle are two different things,” she admitted, reaching over and taking another fry. “But two fries won’t hurt too much.”
“Trust me when I say nothing would hurt that kickin’ body you have.” He nodded and then picked up his burger and took a bite. “Bite?”
She shook her head. “There I do draw the line. I’ll stick with my twigs and chicken. So, what do you do on your days off?” she asked, suddenly feeling conscious that they were basically on their first date.
“Sail, but I also do other things. Usually, errands for my folks or helping them with a project around their house. My mom has been remodeling the house since before I was born,” he joked.
“I like your parents’ house,” she admitted. His parents owned a couple of local home furnishings stores. His mother was a complete genius when it came to decorating homes. Their home had always been magazine worthy. “I wish I had as much style as your mother does. She has a knack for decorating.” She thought about her little apartment and the hodgepodge of things she’d collected over the years to put in it.
“My dad likes it except when it comes to paying for the renovations.” He laughed.
“Your dad retired a few years back, right?” She tried to remember the full story of how his dad used his retirement to help in his wife’s business. It wasn’t a conversation she’d had with his family often, but she remembered hearing something about it.
“Yeah, he was a general in the navy. He never pressured me to go into the military but had hoped.” He shrugged. “After he retired, he helped mom get the second store opened and that took off quickly.”
“Every time I walk into your parents’ store, I walk away with something. Of course, I don’t have the style your mother does, so none of it matches what I’ve purchased in the past.” She laughed.
“I like your place. It’s you,” he said. “I let my mother decorate my place. It’s nice…”
“It is freaking gorgeous.”
He nodded. “It could easily be a rental. I keep adding some of my own style. I feel like I have to sneak it in behind her back.”
Jules laughed. “Parents can be a little much sometimes.” She thought of her own mother’s constant advice on what styles Jules should wear. “With your mother it’s furniture, with mine it’s clothing. Every time I have lunch with her, she points out something wrong with what I’m wearing or gracefully mentions that I shouldn’t be eating so much.”
Damion frowned. “Okay, now I don’t feel so bad when my mom complains about a neon lamp I bought.”
“It’s not as bad as I’m making it out to be.” She felt her face heat. “It’s just… She’s extremely petite and I… take after my father.”
“You’re petite,” he said. “And perfectly curvy in all the fun places.” He smiled.
“Thanks.” She focused on finishing her lunch, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. She wasn’t used to compliments. From him, they made her feel heated. Actually, every time she was around him, she felt heated.