“I try to keep a low profile. Try being the operative word. I’ve been pretty successful with the exception of several extra nosy reporters out to get my story.” She shivered remembering Brett’s use of the word scoop. “Want to back out now?”
“Do most guys back out when they find out who you are?”
“Some. Then all once they meet my dad. He can be pretty intimidating.”
“So can I. Lucky for him he’s on the opposite coast.”
Kagan smiled and sagged against the car. Maybe this would work out okay after all. The breeze picked up and she rubbed her hands along her bare arms. Shane took off his tuxedo jacket and put it around her shoulders. In his crisp white shirt, the top buttons undone, his hair a bit mussed from the gentle wind and brushes with his fingers a moment ago, he looked incredibly sexy.
“This doesn’t mean we need to be together twenty-four-seven or anything. I’ve got work, you’ve got work. But since Brett has no plans to leave we do have to make it look real, which means lying to everyone—your mom and dad, your sister. Friends. I’m sorry I’ve put you in that position.”
He tucked a piece of hair that had escaped her updo behind her ear. “Quit apologizing, okay? I’m happy to help you out.”
“You’re positive?” Under the street lights it wasn’t easy to read his expression, but she was pretty sure she saw reluctance mixed in with his acquiescence.
“Truthfully, being anyone’s boyfriend is not on my radar, but I can fake it while Brett’s here. You’re going to owe me big time when we’re through, though.” He smiled that devastatingly handsome grin of his and she couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Deal,” she said. “With any luck he won’t be here long. There’s no way my father can handle both of us being gone.”
“So, Brett works for your dad? Did you work for him, too?” He resumed the spot beside her, their shoulders touching this time.
“Yes. I was one of his directors of marketing.”
Shane whistled. “Not bad, Miss Owens.”
“I like waitressing better.”
He tossed her a sideways glance. “I can’t attest to your marketing skills, but you’re a damn good waitress.”
“Thanks. You’re one of my favorite customers.”
“Really?” he said, surprise and tease in his voice. “And here I thought you barely noticed me.”
“Oh, it’s not you I noticed so much as your tips.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Do boyfriends tip? Because I’m thinking they don’t.”
“They do if they want—” She zipped her lips. Oh God. She’d almost said something entirely inappropriate.
He spun and trapped her between his arms, his hands on the car on either side of her shoulders. “If they want what, Jelly Belly?”
Barely a foot separated them and while they’d been in close proximity earlier in the evening, even held hands—and brushed lips twice—right now it felt much more intimate because he’d called her by her nickname.
And she’d liked the roguish way he said it.
She ducked under his arm and headed toward the lighted sidewalk along the beach. He caught up with her a moment later.
“You won’t tell anyone who I really am, will you?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Your secret’s safe with me.” He bent to pick up a stray volleyball and tossed it toward the volleyball court in the sand. “It sounds like you left without a word to your dad.”
“If I’d told him I was leaving, he never would’ve let me go. After our falling out I needed to escape for a while.”
“And Brett? Were you already broken up or did you leave him too?” Shane’s voice sounded strained and Kagan wondered if it was because he thought Brett was her boyfriend or because she might have left without the courtesy of a good-bye.
“Brett wasn’t…” She swallowed the jawbreaker-sized lump in her throat. “We broke up a long time ago.” She couldn’t bring herself to tell Shane the truth. It was easier for him to think Brett was an ex-boyfriend, rather than her father’s chosen son-in-law. If Shane knew her father wanted her to marry Brett, that would just make things weirder.
“No lingering feelings, then?”
“Not a one.” Their hands brushed and the brief contact sent wonderful trembles up her arm and down her back.
“I’ll take your lead on this and play it however you want, but you’ve got to promise me one thing.”
The sound of gentle waves filled her ears and she breathed in the cool, salty beach air. She could do that. Given the commitment he’d just given her. “Okay.”