“Well, I’ll find him when I get back then,” she said aloud and added, “I’m just going for a jog on the beach. Be back soon.”
Both men grunted, their mouths full of cake.
Shaking her head, Holly stepped outside and pulled the door closed, then headed around the pool to the gate in the hedges. A moment later, she was crossing the lawn to the beach. Once there, she looked first one way and then the other up the beach, chose right and burst into a run.
Increased speed they’d said? Dear God, she thought as the world whizzed by. This was almost superman speed. Okay, the world wasn’t a complete blur, but it was blurring. She was definitely moving faster than mortally possible. Scary fast, in fact, she thought and put the brakes on. That’s when she figured out just how fast she was going. Instead of coming to a graceful stop, she skidded briefly and then went ass over teakettle, landing flat on her back with a thud.
Lying still for a moment, Holly quickly took inventory to see if she’d hurt anything. The answer was no. Nothing hurt but her pride, and even that wasn’t suffering much. It wasn’t like anyone was around to see. Besides, she was too busy being amazed at just how fast she could move now to worry about anything else.
“Wow,” she breathed, staring up at the darkening sky, and then she smiled. “I rock.”
The words made her laugh slightly, which made her realize that she wasn’t even out of breath, which just impressed her more. Gym had not been a part of the homeschooling James’s mom had given them. Not that Holly had minded. She’d never been the athletic sort. She was more the bookish type, but then she hadn’t had access to television in those tents they’d lived in while she was growing up. Now she loved movies, action adventures especially, with horrors and comedies tying as second favorites.
Realizing she was lying in the sand, something she wasn’t too keen on, Holly got quickly to her feet, brushed herself down and then turned to head back the way she’d come. She’d run a lot farther than she’d realized, but while she could have run back just as quickly as she’d run out, she didn’t bother. Walking back would give her the chance to think about what she was going to say to Justin. Manners had been drummed into her as she’d grown up, and those manners suggested she should thank him for the flowers. On the other hand, she was married. He shouldn’t be giving her flowers. And she shouldn’t be accepting them.
Sighing, Holly brushed the hair back from her face and tried to think what she should say to him. “Thank you for the thought, Justin. But I really can’t accept your flowers. I’m married.”
That was nice and simple and to the point. She also wouldn’t be thanking him for the actual flowers themselves, which, honestly, she didn’t really appreciate at all. She had definitely gained a serious aversion to them, it seemed. She hadn’t been joking when she’d asked if someone had died on seeing them. That had been her first thought . . . which was kind of sad, Holly acknowledged. She was only going to work at the cemetery for another . . . well, actually, she wasn’t even sure if she’d be going back once she had finished her training. It seemed a shame to let less than two weeks working at the place affect her view of flowers for the rest of her life.
Perhaps she just needed to think of them differently, she considered and then raised her eyebrows when she noted that someone was on the beach in front of Jackie and Vincent’s house.
Justin, she realized. Why was he laying out a blanket? The sun was setting. Besides, she didn’t think vampires were likely to be sun worshippers so he couldn’t be interested in sunbathing. Although, she wouldn’t mind seeing that; Justin in a bathing suit, his chest bare, his muscular legs—
Holly slowed as her wandering thoughts brought guilt crashing down over her. Married, she reminded herself. No lusting after other men . . . even if they were handsome, built, sweet as pie and amazing kissers. That last thought caused a sigh to slip between her lips. Justin was an amazing kisser. Parts of her started tingling just at the memory, parts that had no business tingling for anyone but her husband.
As distressing as it was for Holly to admit, James had never made her tingle like that. James’s kisses were more . . . well, she hated to say it, but the best description she could come up with was almost avuncular. They were affectionate and . . . tepid? She winced even as she admitted that.
But marriage wasn’t all about hot, sweaty sex, she assured herself. She and James had more than that. They had a common past, friendship, and affection. They had history . . . and the same dream for the future. That was more likely to last, she was sure. Justin was like a shooting star, burning bright before fizzing out as all such heated passion must . . . while James was like the moon, always there, giving off a soft, steady glow. She just had to keep that in the forefront of her mind while she was here, Holly determined. It would help keep her head straight and prevent her giving in to the temptation Justin was quickly becoming. Avoiding him, or at least avoiding being alone with him would help too, she decided.
“Hi.”
Holly stopped walking with surprise as that word drew her from her thoughts. While she’d been thinking, her feet had carried her across the distance between them and brought her to the edge of the blanket he sat on in the sand. So much for avoiding him, she thought with mild self-disgust. Sucking in a deep breath, she raised her shoulders determinedly, and opened her mouth, intending to respond to his greeting and then continue on to the house.
“Sit,” Justin said before she could do anything. He patted the blanket next to a covered basket that sat in front of him. “I thought it would be nice to have a picnic.”
“Oh . . . er . . .” Holly shifted and glanced from Justin to the basket and finally toward the house, her head moving slowly back and forth, before she said, “I don’t think—”
“I need to tell you our laws and rules as part of your training,” Justin interrupted.
Holly stilled briefly, feeling somewhat trapped, but then said, “Can’t we do that in the house?”
“It’s just a picnic, Holly,” he said solemnly. “What are you afraid of?”
She suspected it wouldn’t be a good thing to tell him that she was afraid of herself and her response to him, so avoided answering the question by using truth as a shield. “After spending the first eighteen years of my life digging sand out of crevices and spots it should never be, including my food, I’m not really keen on picnics on the beach.”
Oh.” He looked stunned at this news, and then glanced at the blanket he sat on. After a moment, he grabbed the basket and stood. “Right. I should have thought.”
He looked so disappointed that Holly felt another wave of guilt roll over her. As with the flowers and last night’s meal, he’d probably gone to a lot of trouble preparing this picnic. The problem was she didn’t want him to expend effort on her. Still, she didn’t like hurting anyone’s feelings and he looked hurt just then. Mouth tightening, Holly bent and grabbed a corner of the blanket as he stepped off.
“There’s no reason you should have thought of that,” she said with a shrug as she straightened, lifting the blanket off the ground as she did.
Justin didn’t comment, merely murmuring thank you as she quickly folded the blanket and laid it over her arm. But as they started to walk back up the lawn toward the gate in the hedges, he said pensively, “It sounds like you didn’t really enjoy following your parents around on their digs.”
“There were some good points, I guess,” she said slowly.
“But?” he prompted when she fell silent.
Holly shrugged and admitted, “Well, there were a lot of things I didn’t have growing up that it would have been nice to have.”
“Like?” he asked, sounding sincerely interested.
Holly smiled crookedly and quickly listed off, “Television, wifi, cell phones, the mall . . . friends. Female friends,” she added quickly. “I mean, of course, James was my friend.”