Things We Never Said (Hart's Boardwalk #3) - Samantha Young Page 0,96

to have to ask you to stop.” His dark gaze came to mine. “What’s between us is between us and no one else.”

“Ugh.” Bailey shot me a look. “Blunt and up-front and handsome. He’s ridiculously likable.” I could almost hear her silent “What’s wrong with you?” at the end of her speech.

“Okay, maybe I don’t like him,” Vaughn said.

Bailey chuckled but reached out to squeeze Vaughn’s free hand. He curled his fingers around hers, and their eyes locked. They shared a look of such genuine connection and affection, it made me breathless with longing. And frustration. Because I could have that with Michael. If I could find a way to dissolve the knot of paralyzing fear in my stomach, I could be free to be with Michael.

“How are you liking Hartwell?” Jess asked Michael, snapping me out of my dismal thoughts.

“Good so far. I like the sea air more than I thought I would.”

“Yeah, Cooper said you two have been running together on the beach.”

They were? Since when?

I looked between Michael and Cooper, feeling slightly panicked that my ex was making such good friends with my friends.

“I used to run every morning back in Boston before hitting the gym. Sand adds extra resistance. It’s good.”

I took in Michael’s body. He wore a dark cable-knit sweater with a row of three buttons at the neck he’d left open so you could see a sliver of the stark white shirt he wore beneath it. Again, he was in dark-wash jeans and boots. As long as I’d known Michael, he’d favored a lack of color in his wardrobe.

Jess patted Cooper’s rock-hard stomach. “You guys gotta work off those burgers and beers, I guess,” she teased.

Cooper smirked and shook his head. “Mike here is a health nut.”

He was?

My gaze returned to Michael. He was studying me thoughtfully. I almost flushed under his intense regard.

“Really?” Jess asked.

Michael nodded and appeared reluctant to turn his head from me to her. “Body needs the right fuel.”

Michael wasn’t a health nut when we were younger, that was for sure, but it would explain his body. I’d seen Cooper running shirtless down the beach, and it was a sight to behold. The man had abs and muscles and all the yum. However, there was a rippling, steely hardness to Michael’s body. His abs and his ass were … ah, just thinking about them made me squirm in my seat.

Michael was a health nut.

It irritated me that Cooper knew that, and I did not.

It agitated me that Jess knew Michael was running down the beach every morning, and I did not.

What else didn’t I know about him that other people knew?

That other women knew?

God, his ex-wife must know so much more about him than I did. Why did that hurt so much? It felt like someone had shoved a shaft of metal through my chest. Breathing was momentarily difficult.

“If you’re looking for quality health food options, there’s a deli on the outskirts of Atlantic Village,” Jess said. “It’s a luxury apartment block about four miles away.”

“I’m renting a place there,” Michael replied. “The deli is good.”

Everyone, including myself, looked at him in surprise. Atlantic Village was not cheap. There was also a waiting list for those apartments. Considering the amount of gossip about Michael’s appearance, I was surprised we hadn’t heard about this from an outside source.

Michael’s beautiful mouth curled at the corners. “Jeff pulled some strings, got me in past the waiting list. It’s only temporary until I find somewhere more long term.”

“So, you’re staying, then?” Bailey piped up.

Instead of looking at her, he looked at me. “That’s the hope.”

Before I could die of discomfort, Jess intervened. “Emery, what are you staring at so hard?”

Emery blushed while Jess looked out into the crowded market.

“Nothing,” she mumbled, biting her lip.

Unfortunately, Jess’s words made us all strain to look—even Michael stepped aside to turn around—and while the guys continued to look perturbed, Bailey, Jess, and I zeroed in on our suspected source of Emery’s attention.

Jack Devlin.

Jack became kind of a leper in Hartwell society after betraying Cooper. No one trusted him, and he grew sullen. There was more to the story behind Jack’s defection to the dark side. Even Cooper knew that, but any concern he had for his friend had been overwhelmed (quite rightly) by his betrayal. Coop had moved on.

Bailey and I weren’t ready to. We both remembered who Jack used to be. We both had big imaginations, and we couldn’t help but wonder if there was some sinister