Page 45 of The Beachside Rental

“Going?”She didn’t expect him to want to leave so quickly.“Why would you go?”

Simon shrugged.“I don’t want to intrude.”

“You aren’t.Remember, I invited you over.I thought we could do something to pass the time.”

Immediately, his thoughts spiraled in the wrong direction when her gaze dipped to his lips.They’d come so close to kissing but had yet to seal the deal.She wondered what it’d be like to be held in his arms and feel his lips pressed to hers.Just the thought had her heart pounding as heat rushed to her cheeks.Thank goodness for the power outage.He wouldn’t be able to see her blush.

“Are you sure you don’t mind us hanging out?”Simon’s voice centered her and let her focus on making her guests comfortable.

“Not at all.It’s much better than sitting alone in the dark.”She moved to the fridge.“I’d offer you some coffee, but that’s not possible.I have some cans of cola in the fridge.Do you want some?”

“Sure.”

Her mouth suddenly felt dry, so she opened the door and reached into the darkness.She moved her hand around until her fingertips touched the cold metal of a soda can.She pulled out two cans and closed the door.“Why don’t we go sit in the living room?”

After she handed him a soda, they made their way to the other room as a brilliant flash of lightning shone through the windows and lit up the whole place.It was immediately followed by the rumble of thunder, which caused Gus to whimper.The poor baby.He was so scared.She wished there was something she could do to ease his fear.

Then she had an idea.“Why don’t we both sit on the couch?”She rushed on to say, “And then Gus can sit between us.Maybe it’ll make him feel a little safer.”

Simon hesitated before he nodded.“We can try.”

After they sat down, Gus didn’t have any qualms about crawling up between them.She petted the dog’s head as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cards that she used to play solitaire.“Do you know how to play poker?”

“Yes.But I’m not very good.”

“Neither am I.”She shuffled the cards.

“You’re serious?About playing cards.”

“Sure.Why not?”She started to deal out the cards on the coffee table.“Unless you’re afraid of losing…”

Gus didn’t pay them any attention as he laid his head down between his paws.She doubted he’d go to sleep until the storm was over, but at least he was resting.

“What are we playing for?”Simon asked.

She stopped to give it some thought.“Each time I have a winning hand, you have to tell me about yourself.And if you have the winning hand, I’ll tell you something about me.”

“Seriously?”

“Mm-hmm.”She nodded.“Why?Do you have a deep dark secret?”

She meant it as a bit of teasing, but as his silence stretched on, she started to wonder what it was that he was keeping from her.

“Okay,” he said.“Let’s do this.”

They picked up their cards, and by the light of a couple candles, they played poker.She lost the first hand.

She sighed.“Okay.So, what do you want to know?”

“Let’s make this an easy one.What’s your middle name?”

She let out a little laugh.“That wasn’t what I was expecting.But it’s Lynn.Jenna Lynn Adams.What’s your middle name?”

“Hey, it’s not my turn to answer questions.But if you really want to know it’s Thomas.It’s my father’s name.”

She smiled as she pushed the cards toward him.“See now we both know something new about each other.”

They kept playing and asking each other questions from their birth dates to their favorite colors.It was like they were both nervous about asking the hard-hitting questions.