male. They’d fondly called him Little Fox, as in the fox in the henhouse. He chuckled. What a dork he was. Back then, he’d thought they’d called him that because he could be clever, even sneaky, about grabbing candy and cookies. Only years later did he figure it out.
He walked his bike to the small area under the porch that was used for storage. He spotted Linnea’s surfboard, Big Blue, which had once belonged to Brett. Cooper felt a pang at seeing it. He’d adored that man. Brett was his role model of all a man should be—more even than his father. Cooper had been jealous when Cara gave the board to Linnea—not that he blamed his aunt; Linnea was getting into surfing and she was living with Cara at the time. It all made sense. But still. He would’ve liked something of meaning that had belonged to Brett. Sometimes, he thought, being a male in the Rutledge family, for all the history of primogeniture, felt a bit second-tier.
He brushed aside nostalgia and braced himself for his do-or-die plea to his sister. He rested his bike against the wall, then ran his fingers through his short, thick hair, which was damp with sweat. So was his T-shirt. He pulled it over his head and headed around to the seaward side of the house where he heard the soft beat of Bob Marley playing.
He walked up the steps to the broad expanse of wooden decking that was perched on the dune. Cooper stopped a moment to take in the unobstructed view of dunes, beach, and ocean beyond. Was it any wonder his father had spent years trying to convince Cara to knock down Primrose Cottage and build a grand house on this lot? That empty lot across the street would remain a park in perpetuity, guaranteeing ocean views. The secret of who owned the lot had, so it seemed, gone with his grandmother to the grave. He chuckled. It had turned out his grandmother was the real fox of the bunch.
What a view, he thought again.
He walked across the deck to the far corner outside Palmer’s bedroom. It was protected from street view by a screen. Linnea was lying on a chaise catching some rays and reading a book. The music switched to another Marley song, and he was about to call out his sister’s name when she lifted her head and lowered the book. The name stuck in his mouth and he stopped short. Beneath the wide-brimmed straw hat was a lean, pale-skinned woman with the most beautiful breasts he had seen in a very long time. What a view, he thought again.
“Hello?” she asked in an imperious tone as she reached out for her towel and draped it across her exposed chest.
Cooper was by no means shy with women. But this beautiful topless woman left him feeling like the six-year-old boy again.
“Uh, hello. I’m looking for Linnea.”
The woman didn’t seem embarrassed in the least at having been caught sunbathing. She lifted her chin, pushed up her sunglasses, and said, “She’s over at her aunt’s house. Who are you?”
Now that she was decently covered, he felt he could walk closer. “I’m Cooper,” he replied, trying to sound cool. “Her brother.”
“Oh, the guy who came home from Oxford? She told me about you. Sit down.”
“Nice things, I hope.”
She didn’t bother to answer the inane statement. “Do you want something to drink? You look…” She cast a look at his sweaty chest and smirked. “Hot.”
He swallowed his smile and said, “I could use some water. I know where it is. Want one?”
She held up her own glass and shook her head.
“Be right back.”
He ran his hand through his hair again as he headed indoors, feeling like he’d either acted like a fool, or this was the luckiest break he’d had in a long time. Who was this girl? She was nothing like his sister. Thank God that wasn’t his sister. He shuddered at the thought of seeing Linnea topless. He went to a cabinet, pulled out a thermal mug, added ice from the freezer, and found filtered water in the fridge, same as always. When he returned to the deck, he was sorry to see the girl had slipped on her T-shirt. She’d also moved one of the wicker chairs from the table closer to the chaise.
“I’m Anna,” she said as he sat down. “Linnea’s roommate.”
“I didn’t know she had a roommate.”
“Well, she does.”
Cooper mulled this over. This could jam up his