Page 43 of The Summer Escape

She gave him a puzzled smile. “No. Why?”

“Because I thought I had a flirty, charming kind of vibe and now I’m worried I’m actually a creep.” He wiped condensation from his glass while they all stared at him, clearly waiting for further explanation. “I wanted to bring Beth out tonight.”

“Beth who’s staying with your mum?” Keira asked.

“Yeah.” He winced. “I took her out for dinner the other night for her birthday and …” He tapped the table, debating how much to say. “We ended up back at my place.”

“You slept with Beth?” Kit asked, nodding his head approvingly. “Nice!”

“Kit!” Seren slapped his leg.

“What? She’s very attractive for an older woman.”

Trystan choked on a laugh. “Older woman?”

“Yeah.” Kit shrugged. “I guess she’s like twice my age.”

“Not far off actually,” Trystan conceded. “This is why I wasn’t going to involve you in my double date.”

“Right! A minute ago it was because Seren was working!”

“Get over it,” Noah said. “I want to hear the rest of the Beth story.”

“I’m not entirely sure what happened.” Trystan shifted in his seat. “I really like her and I thought we had this connection … but when I saw her today she flipped out and told me to back off. It was as though she thought I was harassing her or something.”

“Seriously?” Seren said.

He nodded. “I feel as though I missed something. I’d been flirting with her and being a bit suggestive … but I thought she was enjoying it.”

“Women are very strange creatures,” Kit remarked, earning himself another slap from Seren.

“That does sound weird,” Keira said. “I haven’t known you very long, but I can’t imagine you harassing someone.”

“It really wasn’t how I thought I was coming across. When I saw her today it was as though she’d had a personality transplant.”

“Maybe there’s something going on with her,” Keira suggested.

“She lost her mum recently,” Trystan mused. “I think that’s partly why we clicked. I ended up talking to her about Dad.” He blew out a long breath. “Anyway, I don’t know what to do now. It’s going to be awkward with her staying with Mum all summer.”

“What did you say when she told you to back off?” Noah asked.

“I apologised. She wouldn’t let me say any more, so I just got out of there quick.”

“Maybe go and try and talk to her about it,” Kit said. “Clear the air at least.”

“I can’t.” He’d wanted to go back there all afternoon and explain that he’d never intended to make her uncomfortable, but he was sure it would only make things worse. “If I go near her now, it’ll just look like I’m hassling her even more.”

“That’s true,” Seren agreed. “If she asked you to back off, you really should back off.”

He dragged his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. “I just want to go and talk to her.”

Noah raised an eyebrow. “You really like her?”

“Yeah.” And he couldn’t shake the feeling that there’d been more going on when she’d snapped at him. The desire to go back and check on her was hard to quell.

“What’s the deal with Ellie’s father?” Kit asked. “Is he on the scene? I’ve spent a bit of time with them on the train, but I’ve never heard him mentioned.”

“I’ve got no idea. I almost asked the other night.” He’d felt as though he could’ve veered into the topic when Beth had been asking about his ex, but he’d decided not to pry. “It feels weird asking. I suppose it’s probably a sensitive subject one way or another.”