“Do you live around here?” he asked.
“About twenty minutes away.” He noticed she didn’t say exactly where, and he smiled.
“What’s so funny?”
“I like that you’re cautious. There are too many dangerous people in this world.”
She tilted her head, looking at him questioningly. “Spoken like someone who knows. And while the blonde who liked your friend Logan is from Ohio and a bit naïve, I figured you guys were Navy SEALs.”
“How so?” he asked, feeling amused.
“Well, you’re all big,” she said, shifting on her crutches. “And you seem kind of ‘take charge.’ I mean, you carried me down the stairs without even waiting for an answer.”
“Sorry,” he said, his lips quirking. “Should I carry you back? I’d invite you to hang out with my friends,” he said, nodding at the group in the distance, “but the beach doesn’t seem like the best spot with a cast. I don’t have a chair or anything for you to sit on. And while my buddies would let you sit on the cooler, that wouldn’t be very comfortable for long.”
“I think I do need to sit down,” she admitted. “My ankle is throbbing a bit. There’s a bench back on the boardwalk.”
“Hell, sorry, sweetheart,” he said. He took her crutches in one hand and then lifted her again, loving the feel of her in his arms.
“Sweetheart?” she asked.
“Too tame for you?” he asked with a wink, loving as her cheeks pinkened again. “How about Butterfly, for all that gorgeous red hair?”
“Monarch butterflies are orange,” she said. “And I can hold my crutches,” she protested as he began moving across the sand.
“Nope. I’m good. And I think Butterfly suits you—both fragile and beautiful.” He carried her up the stairs, setting her down on the top step so she was seated facing the water. It couldn’t be too comfortable without being able to prop up her leg, but at least she could rest it on a lower step for the moment. Hopefully no one else would come right now and want to walk down. And he wanted to get to know her.
She giggled as he sat down beside her. “You’re ditching your friends for me?” she asked, sounding amused.
He shrugged. “Like I said, they’re all couples. Besides, I see those guys every day. I’d rather sit here and get to know you. You haven’t even told me your name yet, Butterfly.”
“I might,” she said. “I’m still thinking about it.”
He chuckled, loving the mischief sparking in her green eyes. She was teasing him, but he sensed her caution was real. Aside from the fact that she was an event planner, he didn’t know much about her. She was a bit guarded. She was beautiful, too, so she probably had guys like him hitting on her all the time. It was no wonder she was reluctant to tell him much about herself. Some men could be quite aggressive when chasing after a woman. He wasn’t a threat to her, but of course she didn’t know that.
She shivered slightly in the breeze, and he frowned. “You’re cold.”
“I wasn’t planning to stay here long, just to show the bride the location. We scouted out several other places earlier, but I think she had her heart set on a beach wedding.”
“I get it, but the beach isn’t the best spot when you’re in a cast. How about this—you’re cold and it’s getting late. I’ve got PT early tomorrow morning anyway. I’ll walk you back to your car and let you get home to rest. But can I take you to dinner sometime?”
“I don’t know,” she said, looking flustered as he glanced over. A hint of pink spread across her cheeks again, and he wondered if that dusting of freckles across her face trailed down her chest. It took everything in him to hold her gaze and not look down. He bet she looked adorably sexy in a bikini. The freckles made her appear somewhat younger than she probably was, but he could tell she was all woman. And he loved the way she flushed at his attention.
She was intriguing as hell, but she was also still a bit wary of him. He didn’t need to spook her now. She was essentially working, scouting out locations with her client, and he’d appeared out of nowhere and hit on her. It’s not like they’d been out at a bar with friends. “I haven’t had the best luck with men lately,” she admitted.
“I promise I’m a good guy,” he said. “I’ve got two younger sisters. I’ve been in the Navy since graduating from high school. My buddies will vouch for me. Or, better yet, their women will. That says more than my friends, right?”
She smiled. “How come you’re still single if they’re all dating someone?”
He shrugged. “I guess I keep meeting the wrong women. The last girl I dated a month or so before it ended. My sister had a flat tire and called me. My date freaked out that we’d be late for our dinner reservations and ditched me.”
“Damn. That’s kind of harsh. So, what’d you do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you go change her tire or something?” she asked, looking up at him.
His heart thudded in his chest as he gazed at her. With the dunes in the background and the sun setting over the Pacific, it was romantic as hell sitting here with her. Her cheeks were flushed, her green eyes bright, and her red hair sexy as it fell in waves around her face. This wasn’t a date though. While he’d love to pull her close, he wasn’t about to freak her out. She didn’t need a man
