“Yeah,” Dani said dryly. “’Cuz that’s what he’s worried about. Not that he hasn’t seen his twin or his other siblings in years, but what he looks like painted on a wall.”
“Hey, you’ve seen that wall. You know how good he looks.”
Sophie was flummoxed. She knew of the Kincaids; everyone in town did. They ran the ski resort up the road. She’d temped in the business office there for two days last week, answering phones, and she’d seen all of them several times. Gray was the oldest, then Aidan, Hudson, and Kenna.
And now that she thought of it, Hudson and her Lake Patrol Guy—Jacob—had looked alike, very much so. But Jacob was broader and more built, and his hair was military short—a direct contrast to the several-days-old scruff on his jaw. But more than anything, what set the twins apart was the air of danger and authority Jacob emitted.
Not that Hud was a pussycat by any means. As a cop and head of ski patrol at the resort, he was tough in his own right, but Jacob was a whole new level of badassery and testosterone.
“Those brothers are hot,” Dani said. “And now that the resort has leased North Beach for the summer to host events, there’s going to be hot guys everywhere—better than any online dating app out there.”
Which meant that Sophie should put the boat up for sale. North Beach’s campground was where she’d been showering, but once summer got into swing with these events and Kincaids everywhere, including Lake Patrol Jacob, it’d be too crowded for her to be able to lie low. And if she sold the boat, she could go anywhere. Except…
She didn’t want to go anywhere. She loved Cedar Ridge.
“You okay, Sophie?” Shelly asked. “You’ve been looking a little green lately.”
No, she wasn’t okay. She was mad at the entire male population, thank you very much, not that she was about to admit such a weakness. Or her secret shame—Lucas had closed her accounts, forced her from her apartment, and as a result, the once-upon-a-time enviably chic, had-her-shit-together Sophie Marren had sunk just about as low as she could get.
So low that all her married friends had—politely, mind you—ditched her for Lucas. And just today she’d been dumped by her book club. On Facebook.
Humiliating.
But she’d made a choice not to care what others thought of her, including Lucas. And yet another choice, she decided on the spot, would be to fix her life. She didn’t need a knight in shining armor. Especially not one with dark, melting eyes who made her feel far more than she wanted to feel.
“Sophie?” Shelly asked, sharing a worried look with Dani.
“It’s nothing,” she said. “I’m fine. I just need caffeine.”
But caffeine didn’t help.
Late that afternoon, Sophie walked to the marina and stared at The Lucas where she’d left it. “I hate you,” she told it.
The kid standing in the booth at the marina gate about twenty feet away started laughing. “Lady, you don’t know your boat very well. The Lucas is awesome.”
“You think?”
“Well, sure,” he said. “She rides real sweet. Or that’s what your husband always says when he gets on it with—” He slammed his mouth shut and flushed a beet red. “I, uh…” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and stared at it with desperation, like he was hoping it’d ring.
Sophie just shook her head and headed down the dock.
“Hey, wait! You forgot to pay your day fees,” the kid called after her. “Twenty bucks.”
Dammit. She strode over to him, shoved her hand in her purse, and pulled out her wallet. It took her a moment to scrounge it all up, but she slapped the money on the booth’s counter between them.
“Remember you have to be moored by sundown or risk a fine,” he said.
“I remember.” She climbed onto the bane of her existence, kicked off her heels, sank to a vinyl bench, and closed her eyes.
And then jerked them open when the wake from another boat came along and jostled her. Before she could start to feel sick again, she moved to the wheel, started up the boat, and pulled out of the marina.
She’d implied to Jacob that she would be mooring at his place tonight, but hell if she really would. It took her an hour to find a stretch of beach that looked quiet. She knew she could get a ticket, but it was late enough that she hoped Jacob Kincaid had already made his patrol.
Days went by but Sophie was able to ward off further motion sickness with a prescription patch she wore on her neck. She also somehow managed to get to work and moor the boat secretively every night.