I shrugged, standing from my seat. “I can just tell. Get up for a second, I’ve got a solution for you.”
Tori stood, moving to the side as I picked up the chaise, easily carrying it down to beach where I placed it in reach of the gently lapping water. I sat down first, stretching out and then motioning for Tori to sit in the space between my legs. She only hesitated for a moment before she obliged, settling against me with a soft sigh.
This is weird.
Nevertheless, I put my arms around her anyway. I barely even knew this woman, aside from the fact that she was my sister’s friend, yet here I was, lounging with her on a private beach as if we were the newlyweds. And strangely,… it felt good. That realization hit me like a Mack truck, nearly taking my breath away. It had been a long time since I’d felt this amount of peace in the presence of woman that wasn’t a part of my family, and even that experience didn’t come close to the intense feeling of contentment coursing through me now as I breathed in the clean, sweet scent of Tori’s hair.
“So what’s with you and the beach?” I asked, trying to pull myself out of my own head.
It took her a moment to respond, and when she spoke, it was in a strained voice. “My mother. I grew up in a house on the beach in Florida, and my mother would take me out all the time before she passed.”
Crap.
“I’m sorry, I—”
She shook her head, waving off my apology. “It was like, twenty years ago, so I’m fine, I … I mean, I remember her, so I still miss her, and I’m admittedly emotional right now, with… everything else. Being at the beach always makes me feel close to her, in a good way. I’m happy. I should make my way to the beach more often.”
I knew exactly how she felt. Des and I had lost our parents at a young age as well. Before his death, our father had owned a popular neighborhood mechanic shop. Because I was too young to do it, my uncle — Deidra’s father— had taken over the business, keeping it alive until I graduated college and took over. I did it with enthusiasm, changing the business model and name, moving into an improved space, and soon Ignition was a successful luxury auto-repair business in Chicago, with three different locations. However, I didn’t stop there. I kept growing, hiring new people, opening new locations until the chain was in eight different states. I knew my dad would be proud of how far I had come, and it was my connection to my father that pulled me underneath the hood of a car every so often to get my hands dirty, even though I was now the owner of a multi-million dollar company.
I toyed with the idea of mentioning all of this to Tori, but quickly dismissed it. Women usually went glazy-eyed, tuning me out when I started talking any of those things — cars, the company, or my dad— and I had no reason to believe she would be any different.
“What about you?” she asked, patting me on the knee. “I remember Des telling me your father was a mechanic too. Is that how you got your start?”
I was glad her back was to me, so she didn’t see my jaw go slack in surprise. I recovered quickly, answering her question and several follow-ups. I was even more shocked to discover she knew a little about cars herself, thanks to a father and stepmother who were both into antiques. We settled into an easy conversation that had me feeling… baffled. I honestly couldn’t remember a single time in the last year, maybe longer, that a woman had been able to hold my interest beyond sex, and vice versa. Even when Tori and I fell into a comfortable silence, there was an unspoken communication between us I didn’t understand.
And strangely… I wasn’t sure I minded.
— 2 —
— Tori —