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“Us. I keep trying to keep things casual and take things slow, picking public places, and it keeps backfiring in the best possible way.”

A warm rush filled me. He wanted me. Bad. And the feeling was mutual. Common sense warred with yearning as I relived our last kiss. Spending time with Drew was the best part of my day. My week. I couldn’t regret any of it, even if it set the gossips’ tongues wagging.

As if he sensed the direction of my thoughts, he arched one dark brow. “So. Dinner. It’s a date?”

Slowly, I nodded, and he grinned, extending his hand for mine.

“Good.” He squeezed my palm, and we resumed our walk home.

I waited until I’d safely shut my bedroom door before I launched myself onto my bed, kicking my feet and smiling into my pillow.

I was developing a massive crush on Drew Fenwick. Protective. Sweet. Caring. He was everything I wanted in a man.

Chapter 17 – Drew

Wishing Anya goodnight was difficult when all I wanted was to drag her closer. But the couch didn’t exactly offer a lot of privacy. And taking things into her bedroom with Violet home and still angry from earlier didn’t seem wise. I didn’t need more temptation.

Slow was starting to look an awful lot like fast. Anya still seemed hesitant. Skittish. I didn’t want to spook her, even if all I had in mind was holding her.

My phone pinged with an incoming text as I went to set my alarm. I opened the message from Gran. She’d sent a grainy photo of me and Anya that looked like it could be from a doorbell camera. I groaned as I recognized the car in the drive. Lee. The traitor. Trust my paranoid friend to have a camera aimed at the street. But why had he brought Gran into it?

Gran: Lookie, lookie, who’s getting some nooky…

Gran: You’re welcome.

Maybe I should have felt more sheepish about getting caught kissing Anya in public. Again. But I couldn’t bring myself to care.If claiming her kept other men from sniffing around, I was all for it. But I was used to living under the island microscope. Used to my family. Anya might need more time to adjust to the idea of us. She hadn’t talked much about her family or her life before Friday Harbor. My protective instincts rose.

Drew: Yes, we kissed.

Drew: Don’t make a big deal about it. She’s a private person.

Gran: Then she should stop smooching you in front of cameras.

***

In the morning, I packed up my things and moved to Deb’s. The caretaker apartment at The Anchor was small, but it had all the basics: bedroom, bathroom with shower, and a tiny kitchenette. Better yet: no Gran. The private entrance meant I could come and go. It was nearly perfect, if not permanent.

I showered and shaved after finishing work, eager to pick up Anya for our dinner date.

Vi rolled her eyes when I knocked on the back door.

“Quit acting like you didn’t live here until this morning,” she admonished, letting me in.

“Hi, Drew.”

Anya said it almost shyly as she joined us in the living room on Friday night. She’d swept her blonde hair up and back from her face, with a few soft tendrils left to flirt with her cheekbones. Her bright red lip color emphasized the perfect bow of her mouth, distracting me from everything else. I had the impression of a long floaty dress in a blue floral print, but all I could think about was her mouth. How much I wanted to kiss her.

Stunned, I paused a beat too long.

“If you tell her she looks good enough to eat, I’m disowning you,” my sister warned, breaking into my trance.

Anya smirked. “That’s okay,I’llsay it. You look good enough to eat.”

Vi groaned, shaking her head woefully. “Go.Get.”

Grinning wolfishly, I offered Anya my arm. “Shall we?”

“Where are we going?”