Chapter 5
If Gage didn’t know better, he might think Carly was enjoying her job a little too much.
First, she’d had a quiet laugh at his expense over him asking to go to a private area.
Next, she’d made him paddle in the sand like some sort of prehistoric amphibian until his arms were sore—not an easy feat seeing that Gage worked on his biceps, triceps, and pectorals daily.
Next, she’d had him practice shifting from his stomach to his feet as if he were already on the board. About a trillion times.
“Okay,” she said, “Grab your board and let’s practice that one a few more times.”
Gage, who’d just hunched into his squatting position, arms balancing at either side, shot her a look. “In the water?”
Carly shook her head. “Actually, you’ll want to try it a few times on land first, get a feel for the size of the board.” She demonstrated by resting her board on the ground before lying on top of it.
He’d been warned once or twice to stop gritting his teeth, but how else was Gage supposed to hold back his complaint?
This was starting to feel like a giant joke.
He followed suit just the same, looking up at her through his lashes once he was down.
“We will actually get out on the water eventually, won’t we? ”
She held his gaze for a blink before her eyes went wide. “No. You…you only signed up for land lessons, right?” Her forehead scrunched up in concern.
Gage rolled his eyes. “Funny. Yes, I’ll actually be filming on the water, believe it or not, and I don’t want them using a body double half the time.” He was lying on his board now, which was pointing toward Carly’s board, just a couple feet away.
His snarky instructor propped her elbows on her board and looked at him, thoughtful. The entire ocean view at her back accented the blue of her eyes, from the crystal ocean as it crashed against the shore to the never-ending sky overhead.
A breeze played with the blonde strands of her hair, the same breeze that touched his face as he sucked in a breath of anticipation. He wanted to know what was going through her mind. To know what kind of guy she usually dated. To know if she was dating anyone now.
“So are you going to follow in your father’s footsteps? Go from one lead role to another until your face shows up on cable networks and reruns while you’re still gracing the big screen?”
“No.” He gulped, wondering if that was the answer she’d been looking for. It didn’t matter. Gage had replied with the truth. He wasn’t interested in having a woman who liked him for his status. Especially a status that would fade once he went back to school and did what he really wanted to do.
She searched his face with new interest. “Why not?”
“I’m going to be an architect,” he explained. “I’m just putting school on hold long enough to take this role.” He hunched forward in her silence, watching as her lips parted, then closed into a tight-lipped smile.
“If you say so.” At once she shot to her feet. “Okay, practice popping up again. We’ll be paddling pretty good to keep up with the wave, so keep that in mind. Paddling, paddling, paddling…and then when the moment’s right, you pop up!”
Gage hurried to his feet and sank into the proper pose on demand, but inwardly, his head was stuck on what she’d said. And the way she’d said it.
“Okay,” Carly grabbed her board and headed toward the shore. “Let’s get out there.”
His feet sank into the sand as he snatched his board and hurried to catch up with her. “What did you mean by that?”
Carly glanced over her shoulder. “That you didn’t really sign up for land lessons after all. We are going into the water, friend.”
Friend? “Not that,” he corrected, “the other. You said if I say so when I told you I planned to finish getting my degree. Why?”
She waded into the water, slapped her board on its surface as it reached her thighs, and turned back to look at him once more.
Gage might have hesitated before stepping into what was sure to be cold water, but he was too anxious to keep up, to study her face as she answered.
His acting coach had trained him well; words only said so much.
One’s real thoughts were better read in the nuances that people relied on more than they knew.
A shift in focus, the shrug of a shoulder.
The lift or drop of a chin. And for a reason he couldn’t understand, he wanted very much to know exactly what this woman, who knew nothing about him, was implying.
“It doesn’t sound realistic to me, that’s all. Hop on your board and we’ll paddle out a bit.”
A shiver rocked his body as he climbed onto the board, but all Gage could feel was the inner heat in his chest, sparked by Carly’s irritating comment. He hoisted himself onto the upper center of his board and, once steadied, began paddling to catch up with her.
“Keep up,” she hollered, her words getting swallowed in the moving body of water.
Gage caught up easily enough, but the conversation would have to wait. The ocean noise would mute what he wanted to say, or at very least cause him to shout in order to be heard. Shift gears, Gage. She’s your instructor and you’ve got a lot to learn.
That might be true, but if her comment was any indication, Carly had a lot to learn too. The woman seemed to think she had him all figured out. And for some reason, Gage couldn’t wait to set her straight.
Carly shrugged out of her wetsuit and draped it over the drying bamboo rack in the laundry nook. The bungalow’s open design favored spaces over rooms. An area for this, a corner for that. It made her feel as if she was utilizing each part of the beautiful little getaway home.
Gage. Holy smokes was that guy gorgeous.
He seemed nice enough too, but he was sure to be trouble.
Heck, he was on the fast track to a promising career in Hollywood, despite what he’d said about leaving it all behind after the one lead role he was training for.
She knew people better than that. He’d get a taste of what it was like to have women screaming his name while he strolled the red carpet, cameras popping as reporters fought to get a word with him.
He wouldn’t be able to walk away from that.
But why did she care? He wasn’t anything to her.
She snatched the protein bar off the counter, turning it in her palm as she considered.
The truth was, she did care. It was stupid, but Carly couldn’t deny the odd sting she felt when she considered how out-of-reach Gage really was.
As if she were already trying to warn herself that he was off limits.
When had she ever needed that kind of warning before?
Never. Not since she’d fallen for Jimmy, anyway.
No other guy was an option as far as she’d been concerned.
Carly slid the protein bar into the wooden bowl on the counter and made her way to the patio.
A wicker moon chair with a cream-colored cushion rested there.
She sank into it and put her mind back on the puzzle in her head.
The mystery of this sudden change taking place.
Perhaps she really was letting go of Jimmy once and for all.
At the very idea, a rumble of upset erupted inside her chest. She’d loved Jimmy since high school.
Heck, they’d taken a step into parenthood together while still in their teens.
A short-lived one, but still. Could she really let him slip out of her life?
Or even worse, fall in love with another woman?
The trouble with the question was more obvious than Carly wanted to admit. Because she wasn’t so sure Jimmy really loved her at all. He might not be capable of loving anyone but himself and his sorrows.
The thought was so true it made her shiver. Good. This was good. You need to get over him, Carly. It really is time to let him go.
A chime sounded from inside as she repeated the sentiment in her mind.
Hopefully it would be Jill. For the first time in a long time, Carly felt like talking about the cute guy she’d met at the beach.
About the way he’d brought her a peace offering with peanut butter in it, of all things.
Of course, most people in the world enjoyed the flavor, but Carly had always been repulsed by it.
She leaned over the counter to secure her phone, and saw that the text she’d received was from Jimmy.
Her shoulders dropped. Her chest, filled with hope only seconds ago, deflated in a blink. “Why?” Really, though—why in the world did he have to text her at the very worst, very rare, I’m-going-to-get-over-him-once-and-for-all moments?
“Hate him,” she grumbled while tapping the screen. And in a way, she did. But what she hated more was her inability to get over him.
The text he’d sent contained a poem. One she’d have to brace herself to read. She pulled the small phone to her chest, closed her eyes, and sighed out a deep breath. And then another.
“Ready.” Carly popped her eyes open and read.
Wishes, by Jimmy the Cowboy Poet
My mind is ever filled with wishes of loving. Loving her.
Healing the wounds of my heart, she is my nurse.
Chasing the doubts from my mind, she is my defender.
Cheering me on from life’s sidelines, she is my coach.
I love her, but I can’t have her.
I can’t have her, because I’m not enough.
Never enough. Never enough. But she tells me that I am.
Maybe. Maybe just one day I’ll believe her.
Maybe that day is today.
It took a while for the words to come back in focus. Just what was he trying to say? That the day had come? That he was, in fact, ready to give things a try? Her heart pounded out a frantic rhythm as she tapped the screen to give him a call.
One ring. Two.
Shaking. Her hands were shaking.
Three rings. Four.