Wrecked (Clayton Falls) - By Alyssa Rose Ivy Page 0,15
rentals and sales.”
“Boats? That’s really cool.” I guess I wasn’t too far off with the fishing thing.
He shrugged. “I guess.”
“I take it it’s not your passion?”
“Not exactly, but there’s nothing else I’d want to do. Working for my dad has its perks.”
“Does your brother work there too?” I asked, half to keep the conversation going and half because I was dying to know more about the relationship between the brothers.
“Yes. He’s definitely more interested in it than I am.”
“Well, that’s good. That way if you ever want to do something else, you won’t be leaving your dad without help.” I pushed the lemon wedge from the rim of my glass into my water.
“I never thought of it that way. You’re such an optimist.”
“Not really.” What I meant was that I was an optimist about everyone’s life but my own.
“If you say so.” He shrugged again. “I’m going to be working a second job soon too. It’s technically community service, but it’s still work.”
The waiter came over and refilled Jake’s water glass. He’d already downed all of his. I scanned the menu. The shrimp salad sounded perfect.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“Coaching the high school football team.”
“Really? I’d have thought community service meant trash pickup or something.”
He played with the straw in his water. “I thought the same thing, but evidently I have special skills.”
“Are you looking forward to it? Is that more your speed than boats?”
“It would be if I had any idea how to coach. I can play, but throwing a football is different than telling someone else how to do it.”
“They wouldn’t have asked you if they didn’t think you could handle it.”
He rested his hand on the table. “And you’re telling me you’re not an optimist?”
I laughed.
“What brought you to Wilmington?” He took another sip of water, not bothering to look at the menu.
“Oh, I just wanted a change of scenery really.” I so didn’t want to go into my past. It was definitely not good first date material.
“You do realize how sketchy that sounds, right?”
“Sketchy?”
“A change of scenery?”
“Are we really going to talk about sketchy? You hit on me right after waking up from a medically induced coma.” The best deflection was usually humor.
“Good point. Okay, new topic. Where do you live in Wilmington? Are you in the city, or outside a little?”
Before I could answer, the waiter came over to take our orders. I ordered my shrimp salad and Jake ordered crab cakes.
“I have an apartment about twenty minutes from downtown.”
“Cool. That’s got to be fun.”
“It is most of the time.”
My stomach growled.
“I guess you’re hungry.”
“Yeah, I forgot to have breakfast.”
He shook his head. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
“I know. Does coffee count?”
He laughed. “Not at all.”
“All right, I’ll try to remember that.”
The waiter returned with our food, and I dug in. The shrimp was perfect. “Have you always lived here?”
“Yeah. I’ve been here my whole life.” He didn’t sound too thrilled about it, and I wondered if it was the town or something else.
“That’s cool. Does your brother still live in town too?”
“Uh huh. He and Molly actually bought her parents’ house.”
“Really? I didn’t realize she was also from here.”
“Yeah, we all grew up together.” He took another bite of his crab cake.
“That’s nice.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Are you an only child?”
“Nope. I’m the baby of the family. My brother was three years ahead of me in school.”
“Oh, okay. Ben and I are only eighteen months apart.”
“Really? Isn’t that called Irish Twins or something?”
“I think that’s even closer. But we might as well have been. I don’t know how my mom did it.” He earned points by saying that. Any guy that thought about his mother’s wellbeing deserved credit.
“I bet you gave her a run for her money.”
He laughed. “Maybe just a little.”
The waiter came by to clear the dishes and leave the check.
Jake grabbed the check before I could. “I’ve got it.”
“It’s okay. I can get mine.”
“You drove here. It’s the least I can do.”
I smiled. “When you put it that way...”
“Want to take a walk on the beach?” Jake waited to get his credit card back from the server.
“Sure. It’s beautiful out.”
He took my hand again, and we walked down to the sand. I started to bend down to unstrap my sandals. “Here, let me help you.” He quickly unstrapped them, and I slipped them off.
I couldn’t ignore the thrill that went through me as his hands touched my legs. “Thanks.”
“You’re very welcome.”
I picked up my sandals, and