Tidewater Lover by Janet Dailey Page B

two." Despite her unusual living arrangement with Cole, Lacey decided it was wiser if he wasn't aware Mike was a friend as well as her boss.
    "You must have gone to work for the company straight out of school," he commented.
    "Straight out of secretarial school," she said, qualifying his answer.
    "Did you attend school here?"
    "No, in Richmond. That's where I lived—where my family still lives." Lacey dunked the last bite of toast in her coffee.
    "What made you decide to come here to work? There must have been plenty of openings in Richmond where you could be with your family and friends." He eyed her curiously.
    "That age-old desire to leave home and be totally on my own." She shrugged and cupped a hand under the dripping piece of toast to carry it to her mouth.
    It occurred to her that she had the perfect opening to ask him about his family and background. But by the time she was able to swallow the food in her mouth, it was too late to take advantage of it.
    "You're a very good cook," Cole stated. "Remind me to recommend you if you ever decide to change your profession to chef."
    "Thank you." Lacey was ridiculously pleased by his compliment and tried not to show it.
    He pushed his plate to the side and leaned back in his chair. "Since you did the cooking, I guess it's only fair that I wash the dishes."
    "I…" She was about to insist that she would clean up, then decided she would fast turn into his maid if she wasn't careful. And that wasn't the way she intended to spend her vacation. "All right," she agreed.
    "What? No protest?" Laughter danced in his deep blue eyes.
    "No protest. I hate washing dishes." Lacey rose from the table before she succumbed to the old-fashioned notion that doing dishes wasn't man's work. "I'm going for my swim. Have fun."
    In her room, Lacey stripped off her slacks and knit top down to the bathing suit beneath. The suit was the promised vacation present to herself. Its slick material gave its blue stay color a metallic sheen and molded itself to her slender figure like a second skin.
    Draping a beach towel around her shoulders, she closed the door to her room behind her. Lacey avoided the kitchen, where she could hear water running in the sink, and slipped out through the glass-paneled balcony doors to the steps leading down to the beach.
    The water was cool. Lacey had second thoughts about her swim, her skin shivering as she immersed herself in the waves. But after some vigorous strokes, striking a parallel line to the beach, she soon became acclimatized to the temperature of the water and relaxed to do a bit of body-surfing.
    Floating buoyantly, Lacey let the wave carry her toward shore. Before she scraped bottom, she righted herself and started to wade back to deeper water. As she made her turn seaward, she saw Cole farther down the beach. In hip boots, he was casting a fishing line into the surf. At least she had her answer as to what he planned to do and why he hadn't mentioned joining her for a swim.
    An hour later, she decided she'd had enough of the sun and sea for a while and waded onto the beach. Shaking the sand out of her towel, she dried herself off and danced toward Cole. He lifted a hand in greeting and she waved back.
    "Having any luck?" she called.
    He shook his head and shouted back, "None!"
    It wasn't a response that encouraged more conversation and Lacey walked back alone to the beach house. A shower washed away the ocean salt and shampoo cleaned her hair. Dressed in fresh clothes, Lacey rinsed out her swimsuit and hung it over a towel rack in the bathroom to dry.
    She wandered onto the balcony, leaning a hip against the rail while she idly toweled her short hair damp-dry. After several minutes, she hung the towel over the rail. The afternoon sun could finish drying her hair, she decided, and haphazardly combed the strands into order with her fingers.
    She could see, up the beach some distance away, Cole still engrossed in his fishing, apparently in the same spot as before.