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.Then he shook his head.“You’re wrong.”Jeez.This wasn’t fair to Evan and she knew it.She stopped walking and he followed suit.“I care about him.Not as a brother.But it’s all one-sided and I’m embarrassed to tell you that, and so sorry I went out with you when I care about someone else and there’s really no hope of getting past it.”Evan studied her as he absorbed her words.She reached out and touched his forearm.“I’m sorry.I’d hoped that spending time with you could change the way I feel.You’re so…” She felt her cheeks warming and hoped her blush wouldn’t be visible in the dark, big moon or not.“You know you’re good-looking.”A cocky grin spread across his face and he stood straighter.The grin faded quickly, though.“I’d be flattered if you weren’t rejecting me.You’re hard on a guy’s ego.”Macey tried to keep a straight face.“I suspect you have enough ego to get through just fine.”“You hurt me with such cruel words,” he mocked, making her laugh.She pushed her hair behind her ear and started walking again, watching the white glimmer of shells beneath her feet until she and Evan angled off the beach and cut across the pavement toward their building.“You’ll have a new woman next week.”“I was hoping for tomorrow.You must not think much of me, after all.”“If you take someone out tomorrow, she’ll just be a rebound girl.”He chuckled.“And that would be a problem because…?”“You try to sound like such a heartless jerk, but you’re actually a good guy.”“And yet you choose him over me.”“I knew him first,” she said, shrugging, as if it was as simple as that.They’d arrived at the stairs to the second floor, and climbed together in silence.When they got to the top, Evan followed Macey to her side of the building.Outside her door, she faced him.“I had fun tonight,” she said.“Liar.”She flicked him on the upper arm, which was hard as marble.“I did.I know you didn’t, though.Sorry about that.”“Nothing to apologize for.I’ll see you at the pool in a couple days.”He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, and for a heartbeat, she wondered if she’d decided too soon she wasn’t interested.The notion passed and she was just glad he was understanding.“Definitely.Thanks, Evan.”He squeezed her hand gently before walking off.When he was two doors down, he turned toward her but kept walking backward.“He does have feelings for you, Macey.And if I had to guess, there’s nothing brotherly about them at all.”Evan was inside his own apartment before Macey could form a coherent sentence to set him straight.She allowed herself to imagine, just for a minute, what it would be like if he were somehow right.CHAPTER ELEVENDEREK GOT OUT OF his truck and headed to the locked door of The Shell Shack, dodging the fat raindrops that had just started coming down.Thick clouds covered the sky and the wind was picking up.It was likely to be a slow day for business and that was just fine with him.He opened one set of wood shutters to let some light in, then dragged out the heavy-duty plastic covers that snapped over the openings on rainy days.If the wind didn’t let up, it’d be a bitch to get them attached by himself.Before he started, he went into the kitchen and got the coffeemaker going.He’d had an extra hard time sleeping last night and would need as much help as possible getting through the wimpy eight-hour shift Macey had scheduled him for.He still wasn’t comfortable with not being here every hour the place was open, but he’d run out of arguments and had made her a promise that he’d only work the shifts she scheduled him.He wasn’t any better rested than he’d been when working open to close every day.When he came back out of the kitchen, Gus was seated on his usual stool.“It’s 10:00 a.m.,” Derek said.“What are you doing here?”“It’s noon somewhere.” His uncle, wearing his usual bucket hat and a gaudy plaid, button-down shirt that tented on his bony body, spread out the newspaper in front of him.“Took the early shuttle today.Got me a date this afternoon.”“You’ve got a date?” Maybe the sky was actually falling and those weren’t just heavy clouds out there.“Don’t act so surprised, boy,” Gus said smugly.“I’ve had plenty of women in my time.”“You haven’t had any since I’ve been here.You’ve been too busy watching over my shoulder to notice any besides Macey and Andie.”“Thelma lives down the hall at the retirement home.Had my eye on her since she moved in.”“Finally made your big move, huh?”“We’re going to a matinee.” Gus’s excitement, or maybe it was self-satisfaction, made his eyes shine.“Well, good for you.One of us should be getting some action
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