“Good.”
“Something up?” Her good sounded more like crappy.
“No.” She looked somewhere over his shoulder.
“Kagan.” He knew women and he knew that oftentimes when they said one thing, they meant another.
She bit down on her bottom lip. “I know you said yesterday that you’d come by today and I guess I’m just wondering if maybe you already had plans. We haven’t really talked about how this is going to work.”
Shane eyed Kagan carefully and then it dawned on him what she meant. “You mean with Lily?”
She shrugged and looked adorable pretending to be indifferent.
“I’ve no plans with her or anybody else. I’m here to see you and help you clean up.” He pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head.
Her shoulders relaxed and their gazes held for several seconds. “Okay. But there’s nothing to clean up. I sold every bracelet and got orders for more.” An amazing grin took hold of her naturally pink lips. “Can you believe it? I’m in shock. And everyone was so nice and friendly and asked me questions about how and why I made them the way I did. I had such a good time and seeing how happy my bracelets made people…” She let out a deep breath and collapsed into the folding chair behind the table. “It was the best feeling I’ve had in a long time.”
He reached out and took her wrist to admire the bracelet she wore. “You really are talented, Jelly Belly.” His thumb brushed the underside of her wrist with gentle strokes.
With a carefulness he wasn’t sure how to react to, she pulled her arm back. “Stop it,” she whispered.
“Stop what?” He bent down and put his elbows on the table so they were eye level.
“Calling me Jelly Belly.”
“Can’t help it.” He’d stopped by her place last night to bring her dinner, since he knew she’d been busting her ass making bracelets all day. He’d stayed, helped her out, and Jelly Belly had slipped out again. Once he’d said it, he couldn’t stop. Especially because she narrowed her eyes and fake-frowned at him every time he did it.
“Yes, but—”
“Don’t ruin a good thing here, Jelly Belly. You’ll break my heart.”
She laughed. “Yeah right. You’re so full of it.”
“Not around you.” He slipped his shades back on and looked around her small space. “So what needs to be done here before you can leave? We need to celebrate your success today.”
A warm breeze blew the strands of hair around her face and she brushed them away from her eyes. She stood. “Charlotte is going to be royally pissed when I tell her I have a new best friend.”
The cheerful smile she blessed him with did a crazy thing to his chest. He rubbed it as if that would make the sensation go away. Her gaze flicked there and she stared, like she wondered what he looked like underneath his plain blue T-shirt. He’d be more than happy to show her.
“Want to reexamine the benefits part of this friendship?” he teased.
Her attention flew back up to his eyes. “Yes. I mean no.” She shook her head. “No.” She lifted a box from beside her chair, filled it with her notepad, a small cashbox, a bottle of water, some other stuff, and said, “All set. Let’s go.”
He took the box from her. “You allergic to anything else besides oysters?”
“Uh, no,” she said, her voice curious. She came around the table.
“Good. I thought I’d take you to Neptune’s for a crab cake burger.”
“That sounds great. I haven’t eaten since this morning. But you’re not taking me. I can pay for myself.”
“Okay. Like I said, I’ll do the boyfriend thing however you want.” This kind of favor for a friend was uncharted territory for him, and he didn’t want to screw it up. When he set his mind to something, he did it 100 percent, whether it was a project at work, conquering the surf at Seascape Beach, or shooting hoops with the guys.
Kagan waved to several of the other craft sellers packing up as they walked to the parking lot. “Oh, wait a sec. I should find Sela and tell her thank you.” She brought her hand to her forehead to block the sun and search the area around them.
“Text her later.”
“Shane. That’s so impersonal.”
“Okay. Call her later.”
She pushed him in the shoulder. “She’s your sister. You should say something to her too. She did a great job organizing today and worked really hard.”
Damn. Why hadn’t he thought of that? “You’re right. Any sign of her?” He scanned the patio.
“No. She’s probably inside the hospital.”