Page 3 of Protecting Kelli
Flash almost choked on his lukewarm sip of beer.
Kelli grinned. “I know. It’s juvenile, but I can’t help it. They look like triplets, act exactly alike, flip their blonde hair all the same way. So that’s just how I think of them in my head. Anyway, when this trip was planned, I suspect I wasn’t supposed to come. I think Charlotte told me about it, guessing I’d say no. But this time, it wasmymom who laid on the guilt, so…Here I am. But clearly I didn’t think it through. I was just thinking about the beach. Not the part about having to hang out with the Three A’s and my cousin.”
“What doyoudo for a living?” Flash asked. The more the woman talked, the more intrigued he became. She was a mixture of blunt and shy at the same time.
The redness in her face deepened. “This and that,” she mumbled, looking back out at the ocean.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
She sighed, then turned back to him. “You weren’t. I just…I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up. I’m twenty-eight years old andstillhave no idea what my passion is. I’ve done lots of things…waitressed, worked at an animal shelter, construction—don’t get too excited, I was just the one holding the stop sign directing traffic—fast food, coffee shop, house cleaner. You name it, I’ve done it.
“Currently, I’m a travel agent. In fact, I arranged this entire trip for my cousin. But I already know the job isn’t for me. It’s very stressful…which I can handle, but the clients change their minds constantly and are never satisfied, and they call me to complain if the slightest thing goes wrong on their trips, even when it’s not my fault. But I still haven’t found anything else that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life.”
She looked back out at the ocean again, her voice quieter, so Flash had to strain to hear. “My dad was killed on the job when I was a teenager, and just before he died, we had a conversation…and he told me to never settle for anything less than what made me truly happy. I think that’s why I’ve always had a hard time deciding what I want to do with my life. I haven’t discovered whattrulymakes me happy. I know I’m probably taking his words a little too much to heart, but it was literally one of the last things he said to me. Anyway…” Her voice trailed off a little self-consciously. “That’s why I tried to deflect when you asked me what I did for a living.”
There was a lot there. Flash wasn’t sure where to start. So he began with the most important. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
“Thanks. He worked in construction. He was on a scaffold when it collapsed under him. He fell and was crushed.”
Flash frowned. Then he stood, scooted his chair right next to Kelli’s and sat back down. Now there wasn’t ten feet of space between them. “I really am sorry.”
“Thanks. And contrary to what you might believe, Idon’t go around telling perfect strangers my life history,” she said with a grimace.
“We aren’t strangers. We met yesterday. I’m Wade. But everyone calls me Flash.”
“Because your last name is Gordon,” Kelli said with a grin.
“Yup.”
“Well, Flash, I’m Kelli, but you probably know that.”
Flash nodded. “I remember. And…about an occupation. I think it’s admirable that you aren’t settling for a job you dislike.”
She smirked. “You want to tell my mom that? She thinks it’s ridiculous that I’m so unsettled.”
“I think that’s her job. As a mom.”
“True.”
They sat in silence for a long moment, and Flash realized that for the first time this trip, he felt content. Kelli was a breath of fresh air. She was down-to-earth, funny, honest, and, it had to be said…hot.
Oh, Flash was aware a lot of men wouldn’t find her shape and size attractive, but he’d dealt with plenty of women like her cousin and the Three A’s. The type who didn’t have an ounce of fat on their bodies and liked to push their fake boobs in his face, wanting a night in his bed simply because he was a Navy SEAL.
They’d say whatever they thought he wanted to hear, just so they could bag a SEAL. The frog hogs were exhausting. Gradually, they’d made him questioneverywoman’s intentions.
But Kelli…she was interesting. And it had been a long damn time since he’d looked twice at a woman.
“Where are you from?” she asked after a while.
“Riverton, California. You?”
She gaped at him in surprise. “You are?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because I’m from La Jolla.”
It was Flash’s turn to be shocked. “Really? That’s just north of me.”
