Gina froze, her heart bobbing somewhere between her nose and the back of her throat. “Oh, great,” she whispered, horror in the two syllables.
“It’s fine,” he said, nudging her toward them. “Just tell them I fixed a problem for you and it was a show of gratitude.” He bent his head toward hers. “Which it was. Not a lie.”
A shiver from his breath against her neck made her shudder slightly. Then he retreated, straightening and waving to Stacey, Tawny, and Sasha before saying, “See you later, Gina.”
He walked away without a care in the world, leaving her to face her friends alone. Which was fine. She didn’t need to try to invent a reason for why she’d just kissed him on the cheek with him standing beside her.
Stacey waved at her to come join them, and Gina stepped onto the sand, excuses ru
