There was silence for a moment. Just the sound of the ocean crashing against the rocks below.
“Why do you care if it’s a date or not?” I asked. “We’re just friends, remember.”
“I don’t want you to get …”
“What?”
He gave a small shake of his head. “I just don’t want him to fuck with you.” He turned his head and his eyes found mine. “You deserve so much better than him.”
“Like you?” I asked before I had the sense to stop myself.
Seriously, what was wrong with me?
He turned back toward the starlit sky, his face serious. “No. You’re way too good for me.”
I didn’t know how to reply. It was the craziest thing I had ever heard. So I lay back down and rested my head against my hands again.
“It’s just coffee.”
“Whatever.”
I turned my head to look at him. “It’s not a date.”
“So you keep saying.”
I turned back to look at the star shine in the sky above us.
“I’m not in California to date anyone. But it’d be nice to have some friends.”
“I’m your friend.”
“Good. I like that.”
Heath kept his eyes on the sky. “But if we’re going to be just friends, H-bomb, don’t wear tops like that around me okay? Because that top makes me want to do some seriously unfriend-like things to you.”
* * * * *
I met Dean the next day for coffee at a small café and dessert bar just a short walk from the Pier. He kissed me on the cheek and gave me a friendly hug. Inside we were met with the rich, inviting aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the heady sweetness of chocolate and caramel. We sat in a booth towards the back of the café and talked over coffee.
Dean was friendly and charming, and fully aware of his good looks. He listened patiently and was attentive. His smile was bright and perfectly white, although not as disarming as Heath’s. A student at the local university, he was studying law and worked part time at his parent’s photography business. Until he finished college, he was living with his parents.
We were on our second coffee when I heard the door open and looked up to see Heath saunter in.
You have to be kidding me!
He was with the girl from our bet who was wearing another tight and short denim skirt and a barely-there top. When his eyes found mine, he grinned.
I raised a brow and glared at him but this only made his grin grow broader.
They sat at a table on the other side of the room from us, but I had a clear view of Heath from where I was sitting. He deliberately sat facing me, that cheeky grin not far from his lips.
From that point on I was distracted. I tried to focus on Dean and our conversation but my eyes had a mind of their own and kept sliding over to the other side of the room. Heath appeared to be listening to whatever Miss Tight Skirt was saying but he was only being polite because he kept glancing over at me. When I threw him a disapproving look he grinned more. I rolled my eyes. He was enjoying himself. He was taking great pleasure in annoying me.
After a second coffee, Dean had to use the bathroom so I took the opportunity to escape to the dessert bar just to avoid Heath’s attention. I tried not to look over at him and his date, but of course my eyes wandered where they shouldn’t and fell straight onto Heath’s who was stealing another glance in my direction. His date had no clue. She appeared to be mindlessly talking about something he had no interest in, waving the straw of her iced coffee about and then slipping it between her glossy lips.
Within seconds of getting to the dessert bar, he was at my side.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered through gritted teeth.
“Having coffee with, Anastasia. You told me to ask her out, remember?”
“And you just happened to make the date for the same time and place as my date with Dean?”
His brow furrowed. “I thought you said it wasn’t a date.”
I shot him an exasperated look and shook my head, turning back to the dessert bar.
“You’re mad at me because I’m on a date?” he asked, hopefully.
“No, I’m mad because you’re crashing mine,” I replied, walking around the dessert bar but too distracted to take in the array of gourmet desserts because I was concerned about Dean coming back from the bathroom and seeing Heath with me.
Not that it should matter. But I didn’t want him to think anything was happening between Heath and I.
Because nothing was happening between Heath and I.
“What are you doing later? Perhaps we could catch up?”
“Are you seriously asking me out while you’re on a date with another girl?”
“It’s not a date. It’s coffee.”
Was this the most infuriating man in the world?
“I’m busy,” I hissed, eyeing the bathroom door.
“So what’s the difference between him and me?” He nodded towards the bathroom.
“He isn’t asking me out on a date while still on a date with another girl,” I growled. “I’m busy tonight. Plus,” I nodded in Anastasia’s direction, “you’re probably going to be busy later.”
He shook his head. “She isn’t really my type.”
I raised a brow and cocked my head to the side. “She has a pulse, Heath. Isn’t that your type?”
“Hey, I do have standards, you know.”
“Yes, and I’ve seen those—” I used my fingers to do air quotation marks, “standards. They are usually throwing drinks in your direction.”
“Hey, I meant it when I said I was sorry about that.” He looked so apologetic, I almost felt bad for giving him a hard time.
“Whatever.”
I picked some ridiculously decadent chocolate concoction out of the dessert arrangement and put it on my plate.
“I was thinking about taking a ride out to our spot,” he said.
“We don’t have a spot.”
“Weatherman says it’s going to be the hottest night of the summer.”
“So?”
“Good breeze on the bluff.”
I sighed. “You’re not going to let this go are you?”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Yes, he was the most infuriating man in the world.
Worn down I looked at him. “If I agree, will you leave me alone?”
Two dimples flicked next to his floodlight smile. “Pick you up around eight?”
I looked over at Anastasia who was tapping her foot against the table leg and sucking on the end of her straw.
“You’ll be finished by then?” I asked.
His gaze followed mine to Anastasia who was now looking at the bottom of her straw as if seeing how it worked for the very first time.
He turned back to me, his bright eyes firmly fixed to mine.
“I’ll see you at eight.”
* * * * *
Heath arrived on time. I heard the rumble of the Harley as it turned into our street and watched him from the window as he pulled up to the curb. My stomach flipped and curled at the sight of him as he climbed off the bike, dressed in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt that clung to his broad chest and shoulders. I couldn’t deny it. When I saw him, he did things to me. Complicated things. Things I really shouldn’t feel. Things that made me hope he had kept his hands off Anastasia.
“Wow, you look great,” he said when I opened the door.
“You’re not so bad yourself.” He kissed me and God his scent was incredible.
It was another magical night on the bluff. The sky was clear and bright with a full moon. Heath had been right, the day had been hot and the evening the same, but up there it was beautiful. And the cool salty sea air rolled up from the ocean. When Heath took my hand, I didn’t stop him. Nor did I stop to over analyze it. I just curled my fingers around his and enjoyed the warmth of his hand around mine.
We lay down on the grassy embankment looking up at the explosion of stars above. It was magical. We talked about everything while the ocean breezes blew in from the waves below to cool the summer heat. We had been there for a while before Heath mentioned my coffee date with Dean.