“Don’t worry, you’ll get to know faces and names in time,” she said, brandishing her tray. “Now have some snacks, all of you, before the vultures descend.”
A dark-haired woman, whose back had been to me, turned around toward LuAnn. “Who’re you calling a vulture?” She took slices of cheese and salami and popped them into her mouth.
“Brynn, meet Beth St. John,” LuAnn said to me. “She owns the bookstore down the street.”
Beth was a woman of about fifty, with a round, kind face and big, dark eyes.
“I was glad to see Wharton had a bookstore,” I said, smiling at her. “Haven’t had too much time for reading lately, but I’m hoping to change that this summer.”
“Heard you were here for the duration,” she said. “What brings you here?”
Jason caught my eye and grinned. “I’m just enjoying the summer recharging,” I said, repeating the line I had said to him earlier.
“This is a good place to do that,” Beth said, giving me a look that I couldn’t quite define.
“Beth is a true local,” LuAnn told me. “Most of us have come from other places, but she grew up just down the road.”
“Oh?” I asked.
“On the rez just outside of town,” Beth said, taking a sip of her drink. “I tried to move to other places, but Lake Superior kept calling to me.”
“I can understand that,” I said. “It’s beautiful here.”
She smiled. “Peaceful, too. C’mon over to the bookstore anytime. If only to get away from this old biddy for a minute.”
At this, LuAnn squealed. “Biddy, my ass,” she laughed. “Now, if you want to call me a cougar, that’s a title I’ll take.” She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper and raised her eyebrows. “Especially with the new guy in town.”
Beth gave her a mock scowl. “I think it’s against some sort of hotelier bylaw to hit on guests half your age.”
“Hey, that’s the best perk of the job!” LuAnn chortled.
Laughter then, all around. LuAnn circled off with her tray, and Beth excused herself, though not before squeezing my arm and offering another welcome to town, leaving Jason, Gil, and me to ourselves.
“I think I met him today,” I said to them. “The man LuAnn and Beth were talking about.”
“Oh?” Jason said, raising his eyebrows.
“We came out of the shower rooms at the same time.”
Jason and Gil exchanged a glance. “The Illustrated Man?” Jason said. “Do tell!”
I couldn’t help smiling. “Why do you call him that?”
“Didn’t you notice?” Jason lowered his voice to a whisper. “He’s covered in tattoos!”
I could feel my face heat up. “I did notice but didn’t see much,” I said. “I didn’t want to look too long.”
Gil let out a hoot. “I know! You want to figure out exactly what the symbols are, but you don’t want to stare like a crazy person.”
The three of us shared a laugh.
“So, what’s his story?” I asked. “Who is he?”
Jason leaned in and took a sip of his wine. “We don’t really know,” he said. “LuAnn has been uncharacteristically tight-lipped about him. He got here a week or so ago. We haven’t met him properly. He comes and goes at all hours. All we know is that the man is ungodly handsome.”
“The smile,” Gil added.
“The smile!” I could feel myself blushing. “He smiled at me, and it was like I was paralyzed. I felt like I was back in middle school.”
They both laughed at that.
“He never socializes,” Gil said. “He hasn’t been to happy hour since he got here. I don’t know if he’s met—” Gil’s words were stopped short by the Illustrated Man himself walking into the room.
He was wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt, tight enough to outline his muscled physique, and faded jeans with black boots on his feet. The three of us fell silent as he walked through the room toward us. I noticed others watching him, too. All of us held our breath as he drew closer, and I realized he was walking toward me.
“We didn’t get a chance to be properly introduced earlier,” he said to me, his eyes twinkling with humor.
Had I ever seen that before? Did eyes really twinkle? Yet that was what it seemed to me, at the time. He held out his hand, and I took it. Electricity shot through me when skin met skin.
“I’m Brynn Wilder,” I said, glad I remembered my own name even as my words were stumbling over each other. “I’m here for the summer. I just arrived.”
“Hello, Brynn Wilder,” the Illustrated Man said. Gil shot Jason a look. “I’m here for the summer, too, depending on a few things. I’m Dominic James.”
I just stood there for a moment, holding this man’s large, strong hand, staring into his impossibly handsome face. I could not come up with any words with which to respond. Thank goodness Jason jumped to my rescue.
“Jason Lord,” he said, extending his hand to Dominic, who squeezed mine and gave me a wink before taking Jason’s hand in his. Jason went on. “All of us summer residents should know each other. This is my husband, Gil.”
“Hello!” Gil smiled at Dominic, his next words coming out in one long, quick stream. “We’ve seen you coming and going from time to time but just haven’t had the chance to meet. We’re in the suite at the end of the hall.”
Dominic nodded. “Oh, yes,” he said. “LuAnn told me about you. Glad we’re finally getting a chance to meet. I’ve been busy tying up some loose ends before the summer really gets going and haven’t been too sociable. I’m sorry about that.”
Jason and Gil both went through a chorus of “Don’t be silly!” and “Think nothing of it!” before Dominic broke in.
“It looks like I’m the only one without something to drink,” he said, turning that electric smile at Gary.
Jason pulled a face at me behind Dominic’s back, and we started giggling silently like children in church. Gil pinched Jason’s arm and gave him a mock scowl, quieting us down before Dominic turned back around toward us, holding a beer. He raised it slightly at the three of us.
“To the beginning of summer,” he said, his voice so deep and low it sounded like velvet. I clinked glasses with him and wondered exactly what this summer might hold.
CHAPTER FOUR
After happy hour wound down and people trickled off to their shops, restaurants, and homes, Dominic excused himself to make a phone call. Jason, Gil, and I found ourselves alone at the bar, finishing up the appetizers.
“Okay, so that was interesting,” Jason said, raising his eyebrows. “He was really nice, don’t you think?”
“Who?” Gil asked, brushing an unseen piece of lint off his shoulder.
Jason threw a piece of salami at him. “Who.”
The three of us shared a laugh.
“I don’t want to be Captain Obvious here, but wow, that is one handsome man,” I said.
“Tell me about it,” Gil said. “He’s unsettling.”