Baited Read Free Page B

friends or not.
    “I’ll work the economics out,” Kat said, drawing in the sand with a forefinger. “I’ve been thinking of getting a second job anyway.”
    “I’m sure I have an opening at one of my companies.”
    She gave him an exasperated look. “And maybe one day I’ll get up enough cojones to take you up on atraining offer.” Just as soon as she could convince herself that she could succeed in a world like his.
    As if.
    The mellow growl of waves rolling in and then fizzing to foam paused their conversation.
    She was going to get herself on her own feet financially, even if she was just about broke right now. Hell, she’d been the one who’d naively accepted every credit card that’d been sent to her after she’d graduated from high school and gotten her first job at Mickey D’s. It’d been free money, right? Uh-huh. Now she had to take responsibility for her own stupidity. Anyway, she was used to being broke, having grown up in one of San Diego’s “upper hoods.” On the south side of the 8 freeway, she’d learned to live without frills under the care of a father who gambled too much, always leaving them scrambling.
    “That chip on your shoulder is showing,” Duke said.
    And it’s probably going to stay right where it is, she thought. It’s who I am, even if I try hard not to spit much slang or be that girl from the block.
    “That chip gives me character,” she said, laughing.
    “Yes, it does. You’ve got spark, Kat.” It was a mantra he used whenever she revealed her lack of self-confidence. His pale face was highlighted by the sunset, the waning light showing the lines of exhaustion, the tired fight of someone on his last leg home. “You’re the best, whether you know it or not.”
    She nodded, throat suddenly tight. Figures that one of the only people who never made her feel out of place, one who actually made her think she could be more thanshe was, would be leaving her so soon after she found him.
    A couple of regulars walked by, boards under their arms, wet suits halfway undone to their waists to reveal muscled, tanned chests. One, a brunet with pale eyes and a killer bod, jerked his chin at Kat with masculine nonchalance. Thrown off guard, she glanced at the picture she’d scribbled in the sand.
    It didn’t resemble anything, the picture. Broken lines and squiggles. Kind of like the state of her life.
    Silence roared at her, and she peeked up at Duke, who was staring at her with an unreadable softness in his gaze. He looked away then nodded toward the departing surfer.
    “He wanted to say something to you.”
    “Like what? Let’s get married?” Kat was all of a sudden uncomfortable. “Like that’s my style.”
    “It could be if you’d stop hanging around with old men and get out there. Ever since Will…”
    “Man, I am never telling you about my dating life again.” Maybe it’d been the way he’d said it or…Kat wasn’t sure. She just knew that the subject was unsettling, especially since he was right.
    During the four months since he’d first seen her surfing and wandered right on up out of the clear blue sky and asked her to teach him, she’d made the mistake of telling him about her ex-boyfriend and all her non-romantic romances before. It was one of his “crusades,” to learn to ride waves, he’d said, not that he ever felt well enough to actually go out and catch one.
    She’d accepted his explanation nevertheless, feelinga little greedy because he insisted on paying her for the lessons. Intuitively, she knew that denying him this obvious pleasure would take away the pleased gleam in his gaze, and she couldn’t do that. Instead, she listened to his exciting stories, marveling at the experiences of his healthier days, like exploring rain forests and living in unindustrialized countries to get “the next big idea” for his Trump-esque empire, which included everything from real estate to redeveloping businesses in corporate makeovers or something like