"Come on, beautiful. You know you want me to catch you," Dan crooned.
But instead of letting him bring her in, the fish on his line just fought harder, nearly yanking the rod out of his hands in her desperation to get away.
Dan chuckled. "Nice try. But you'll have to do better than that." He pulled her back, gradually reeling the line in as he tugged. Then came the magic moment. The one charmed instant when all the fight left his prey, leaving her vulnerable to his attack.
"That's it," he murmured, working as fast as he could to reel her in.
So of course his phone chose that moment to ring. And of course he could tell by the ring tone that it was his mother. Should he answer it? It was Saturday morning, turnover day for their family's vacation rental business. She might need him. But then, he had six freaking brothers and sisters. Surely one of them could do it? Whatever it was? After all, it wasn't every day, or even every decade when a man got a grouper of this size on his line...
But that short moment of hesitation was all it took for the fish to get her might back. Without warning, his pole went flying out of the boat and plunged under the angry gray sea, still attached to the grouper that would have earned him a front page story in the island newspaper had he landed her.
"Shit!"
That rod and reel hadn't been his best, but they had been his favorite. All thanks to his damned mother.
As if on cue, the phone started to ring. He growled silently. If that woman had any sense she'd hang up now...
But he answered anyway. "What?"
"Daniel Clarence McGowan. Is that any way to speak to your mother?"
The ice in her voice was enough to make him blanche, even at the ripe old age of 31.
"Sorry, mom. But you just cost me the catch of the century."
"Well, we might just have the intruder of the century over at the Clam Bake."
"The old Johnson place? What do you mean?"
"Marlene says there are lights on and music blaring... and no one's supposed to be there for another three weeks."
Of course Marlena regularly sounded the alarm about non-existent intruders at all six of the Island Time rentals she could see from her front porch, but he knew better than to mention it.
Instead, he sighed. Loudly. "Alright, I'm on my way."
"Thank you, honey. And you won't forget Anna's birthday party on Wednesday, will you?"
As if he could. His mother had been reminding him about his sister's 40th birthday celebration for weeks.
"I'll be there," was all he said.
"Good." And on that unceremonious note, his mother hung up.
Dan turned the boat toward the Johnson place. The sooner he confirmed the only intruders there were of the phantom variety, the better. Maybe he could still catch up with that grouper if he hurried.
***
Lily look warily at the old hammock swaying gently back and forth on the dock. She was pretty sure it had stood in the same spot since she was born. She'd spent many an hour snuggled up next to her grandmother in its depths when she was small. And then, later, making out with Dan...
She cut that thought off before it could go any further. She did not want to think about Dan. It was bad enough that his name could still make her blush all these years later.
She carefully lowered herself onto the graying top of the hammock, bouncing a little to make sure it would hold her weight before she swung her legs up. So far so good. The ropes creaked as she settled back, squirming slightly until she was swaying comfortably in the middle.
Once she was sure she wasn't going to crash through the rope and land on her butt, she opened her eyes and gazed at the deep blue sky above her. Fluffy white clouds danced across the horizon, morphing into horses and dolphins and unicorns, just as they always had.
Well, maybe not always. She remembered one summer afternoon when those clouds had morphed into penises and boobs and people having sex. How her seventeen-year-old self had giggled! Dan had laughed too, although...
And there she went. Thinking about Dan again.
Sighing to herself, she closed her eyes. It was only natural, she supposed. The last time she'd been at her grandparents' cottage, she'd spent the whole summer in his arms.
Hard to believe that was ten years ago already. She'd been so different. So skinny. So completely confused about everything under the sun.
Well, okay. Maybe not everything was different. She was still completely confused. About everything under the sun. But hopefully she'd find the answers she was looking for here.
When her cell phone trilled with an incoming message, she grabbed it from its resting place inside her bikini top. It wasn't until she realized the text was from her manager that she remembered she wasn't supposed to be checking her messages.
Where are you? Why aren't you answering my messages? Damn it, Lily, I know you're upset, but this is not a good time to disappear.
She mentally composed half a dozen replies—all of them containing choice swear words, none of which she could send. She'd rather not reply at all, but knew he'd continue to harass her until she did.
I thought you wanted me to disappear...or at least 40 pounds of me. Am taking a break. Deciding what to do next. Will be in touch when I make a decision.
Hopefully, that would shut him up. But as her phone trilled again, she realized that was wishful thinking.
The network needs to know if you're going to accept their terms. You can't leave them hanging. You can't leave ME hanging. We've worked hard for this. Don't screw it up now.
She looked down at her phone in disbelief. Was he for real? It was her YouTube channel that had gotten their attention. Her cooking show that they wanted. He'd done nothing other than schmooze some bigwigs.
"Go to hell, Jonathan," she growled as she turned off her phone and tossed it behind her. Maybe it would land in the ocean and sink.
"Ouch, damn it!"
Lily shrieked and jerked up into a sitting position. She was supposed to be alone! The hammock spun wildly, dumping her unceremoniously onto the ground.
"Well, that's a fairly instant case of Karma coming back to bite you in the ass if I do say so myself," the same male voice laughed.
Lily scrambled up, twisting to look at the intruder.
"Who are you and what do you think you're doing he..." Her words trailed off as she got a good look at the sandy haired man standing on her dock. Although he'd filled out since she'd seen him last, there was no doubt who the delicious-looking surfer standing there was.
His mouth dropped open as he got a good look at her. "Lily?"
"Dan."
"Damn you look good. What are you doing here?"
She pulled herself up as straight as she could and sucked in her gut, hoping he wouldn't notice how her belly pooched out over the polka dot waistband of her bikini. Or how fast her heart was beating.
"Well, since this my dock, I think I'm the one who should be asking you that question."
He grinned and let his gaze wander slowly down and even more slowly back up her body, before looking her in the eye. The naked lust she saw in his sea-gray eyes when he did took her breath away.
"I am looking at a gorgeous, purple-haired siren and thanking my lucky stars that I cut my fishing trip short to do as my mom asked and check on this property. I was chasing down a pretty great catch, but I'd much rather hook you."
Lily swallowed, her mouth dry. Now that he mentioned it, she'd kind of like to tangle her fingers in the tattered belt loops of his khaki shorts and see if what lay beneath was as good as she remembered. She took an involuntary step toward the mesmerizing depths of his twinkling gaze. Luckily, she managed to shake herself free of his spell before she took a second.
Summoning a laugh that she hoped didn't sound too nervous, she shook her head. "Wow, Dan.That's quite the spiel. Is that how you greet all your ex-girlfriends?"
He cocked his head to the side. "Is that what you are?"
A bubble of rage started a slow simmer in the back of her brain. "Well, since the last time I saw you you gave me the "it's not you, it's me" speech, I'm fairly certain that's the right category to check."
He had the nerve to grin at her. "And here I was, thinking you were a mermaid here to seduce me before dragging me out to sea..."
"I don't know about the seduction part, but I could be convinced to dump you in the ocean."
He laughed at that. And not just a chuckle. No, this was the carefree belly laugh she remembered from her teen years. The one that was so infectious it always made her giggle too.
And damn it. It still worked. By the time they both caught their breath, her anger was gone.
She smiled up at him. "It's good to see you, Dan."
"It's good to see you too. Do you want this back?"
She looked at the sparkly pink object he was holding and shook her head. "Nope. Throw it in the ocean."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep. Chuck it."
"Why don't you do the honors?"
"Because if you give it to me, I won't be able to make myself do it. But I want it gone."
"Alright then, but only because you asked me to and not because it gave me an egg on my head."
She smiled and gestured toward the waves. "Make sure you throw it far enough to get it past the waves."
"Will do." With that he cranked his arm a few times and hurled it into the sea. Just before it hit the waves, a pelican swooped down and scooped it up.
Lily whooped. "Did you see that?"
"I sure did. That pelican is going to have a belly ache later, that's for sure."
"He sure is. Especially if he has to listen to Jonathan until the battery dies."
"Jonathan? Is he another ex?"
Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "Not in the same way you are. But I don't want to talk about him. I'm on vacation. How about a beer?"
"With you? Sure."
"Alright, follow me into the Lily Pad, then."
"Is that what you're calling the place?"
"Yep. I'm allergic to clams."
"Well, we wouldn't want you to be allergic to this place. Renaming it sounds like a good plan."
"So does that beer. Let's go."