The Perfect Indulgence by Isabel Sharpe Read Free Book Online

about you.”
    “Oh.” She frowned at the ocean. What a thoughtful and sensible solution. She got what she wanted, and he... Well, who knew what he wanted? He had asked her out to dinner three days ago, on Monday, but maybe that was on a whim he now regretted. “Okay.”
    “Good.” He backed up a few steps. “Just wave at me when you want to leave.”
    “Wait, so that means you’ll be staring over here the whole time?”
    “Oh, sure. I have binoculars and X-ray glasses. Standard stalker equipment.”
    She couldn’t help but smile. “Serves me right for asking.”
    He lifted a hand and walked back toward the cliff. Chris wrapped her arms around herself. The farther away Zac got, the more empty the beach felt—but not in a good way this time. What was her inner voice trying to tell her?
    Aw, crap.
    “Zac.” He kept walking.
“Zac.”
    His lumbering form turned back.
    She hurried over. “Hey.”
    “Something wrong?”
    “No, no, I just...” She gestured lamely. “I guess I changed my mind about hanging out.”
    “Okay.” Again, he didn’t sound either glad or upset. She
should
take lessons. He was that good.
    She fell into step beside him as they walked toward the cliff face. “Does anything ever upset you?”
    “Why are you asking me that?”
    “Because I was wondering that.”
    “Ha. Yes, of course things upset me sometimes.”
    “Has anything ever upset you around me, or do you just never show it? Because I’ve never seen you—”
    “Chris.” He stopped walking. “Can we start with ‘How was your evening? How are things going? What have you been up to for the past few months?’”
    “Okay.” She stared up at him, wishing she could see his face better. “How was your evening?”
    He chuckled and kept walking. “Fine, thanks. Luke and I went running, then we had dinner, watched some TV, got hungry again and brought more food down here.”
    “How is he doing?”
    Zac sat on one side of a blanket spread at the bottom of the cliff, leaving her plenty of room to join him. “He’s okay, considering he changed coasts and is starting his life over. Are you hungry?”
    “Actually, yes.” She dropped down next to him. She was starving. There had been little at the bar that wasn’t loaded with cheese or deep-fried or both. “What do you have? Man food, I bet. Cheetos and beef jerky?”
    “C’mon, this is California. We brought sushi, papaya and fair-trade chocolate.”
    “No way.” Her stomach growled viciously. Thank goodness the waves were loud enough to cover the sound. “Do I have to high-five you and call you ‘dude’ to eat it?”
    “If you want.” He lit a small lantern that threw a warm circle of light onto the sand and their blanket. “But how about you tell me about your evening instead?”
    “I went out with Gus.”
    “Yeah?” Zac’s body hitched as he leaned toward the cooler, but his voice stayed even, so she couldn’t tell if he’d reacted or not. “How was that?”
    “It was okay.”
    “Not great?” He handed her a take-out container with a few remaining pieces of a sushi roll. “Spicy tuna.”
    “Yum, thanks. We went out to play pool.”
    “Really.” He was smirking. “I seem to remember you telling him pretty pointedly last October that pool was not on your list of things you like to do.”
    “That was then.” She picked up a piece of sushi. “I’m open to more experiences now. I’m glad I went.”
    Zac put a container of cubed papaya on the blanket between them. “You seeing him again?”
    A big bite of really wonderful spicy tuna roll gave her the chance to think before she answered. On the one hand, her dating life wasn’t really any of his business. On the other, it was a perfectly normal question. If a woman had asked her, she wouldn’t have blinked.
    But Zac was definitely not a woman. “I thought we were catching each other up on our evenings and the past few months.”
    “Fair enough.”
    “So what have you been up to the past few