Magnificent Folly - Iris Johansen [13]
“I’m glad you’re not claiming it was daughterly instinct,” Lily said drily. “That would be carrying it a bit far.”
“No, I’m not claiming daughterly instinct.” His gaze shifted to Cassie. “She’s really beautiful, isn’t she?” The expression on Andrew’s face was also beautiful, Lily thought in bemusement. “Has she always liked the water?”
“No, she was actually afraid of it before we took lessons together at the YWCA last year.”
“Tell me about it.” Andrew settled back on one elbow. “Tell me all about her. I’ve missed a hell of a lot, haven’t I?”
For an instant Lily thought he was trying to lull her into a sense of security, but there was no mistaking the wistfulness of Andrew’s expression. He had missed a lot, she thought suddenly. All of those precious years when Cassie was a baby and then a toddler, the moment when she had discovered her music, the laughter at her second birthday party when she’d plunged both chubby hands into the icing of the chocolate cake. Lily had all those memories, but he had nothing.
She was silent for a long moment, and then, slowly, she began to tell him about Cassie.
THREE
“HOW’S CASSIE’S CONCERTO coming?” Andrew asked as he wadded up the tinfoil wrapper from his ham sandwich and threw it into the surf.
“Very well.” She frowned. “You shouldn’t throw refuse into the ocean. It’s polluted enough.”
“Sorry, you’re right. I didn’t think.” He bit into his sandwich before looking up with a grin. “Shall I swim out and get it?”
Lily tilted her head quizzically. “What would you do if I said yes?”
“I’d swim out and get it.”
Lily threw back her head and laughed. “You probably would do it. You’re completely impossible, do you know that?”
“I’ve been accused of it before.” He took another bite. “But there’s a method to my madness. Ladies are said to like flamboyant, romantic gestures.”
“Really?”
“You needn’t raise your eyebrows at me. It’s true. I’d also get soaked to the skin, and you’re so softhearted you’d feel obliged to take me home and dry me off. It would actually be a very clever move on my part.”
“And completely calculated.”
The smile left his lips. “No,” he said quietly. “I was joking. I’d do it because you wanted me to do it. I’ll always give you what you want, if it’s within my power, Lily.”
She had known he was joking. In the past two weeks she had discovered there was nothing calculating about Andrew. She looked quickly away down the beach at Cassie, who was putting the finishing touches on an enormous sand castle. “Impossible. Utterly impossible.”
Impossibly quixotic, impossibly honest, impossibly stubborn, impossibly lovable. She carefully shifted her thoughts from the dangerous path where they were wandering. “You make me feel a hundred years old and positively maternal.”
“No, I don’t.” He finished the sandwich and reached for the Styrofoam cup of coffee beside him on the beach rug. “Oh, sometimes, maybe.” He lifted the cup to his lips and looked at her over the rim. “But most of the time I turn you on.”
Her gaze flew back to his face in surprise. It was the first time he had said anything in the least sexually oriented since that day on the beach almost fourteen days before. He had been stimulating, companionable, entertaining, and she had gradually allowed herself to relax in his company. “I’ve changed my mind. Not utterly impossible—you’re utterly egotistical.”
“Nope.” He set the cup down before stretching out full length and closing his eyes. “You’ve been fighting against it, but I’ve been growing on you.”
“And how do you deduce that?”
“Instinct. I have infallible instincts, remember?”
“I’m getting very tired of hearing about your instincts.”
“But you’re not getting tired of me.” He half opened his eyes and gazed up at her. “You like me, don’t you?”
“You’re … amusing.”
“And you’d miss me if I went away?”
“Maybe.”
“And you think I’m sexy?”
She made a face at him. “I’m not about to touch that question.”
“Touching is good. I wish you’d touch me.” He closed his eyes again. His voice was so soft, she had to strain to hear it. “I think about touching you all