Meet Me in Myrtle Beach (Hunt Family Book 1) (9 page)

I could tell his teasing was all in good humor, because he came over to hug his cousin with a big smile.

"Who's the new girl?" Logan said, glancing at me.

I smiled and did a tiny little curtsy. I started to say my name, but thankfully, Diane took over. "This is Paige Spears. She came with me, but she's taken up with your sister and Mia today."

"I'll bet you get Britney all the time," Logan said.

I continued to smile at him, feeling like everything was in slow motion. "Probably not as much as you get Logan Ritchie," I said. "You look just like him, and you have the same name."

He looked at me as if appraising whether or not I was being serious. He smiled once he could tell I was just joking around, I smiled back at him. For a second, I had to pinch myself. It was absolutely crazy seeing him in person. I couldn't wait to tell Seth.

"Good to see you, boii," Cody said, stepping forward to give Logan a hug. "I'm gonna head out to keep an eye on Ryan."

"Imma go with you," Logan said. "It's been too long since I've seen that little angel."

"She's out there holding Ava," Christy said proudly. "It's so cute to hear her call Ava a baby."

"Oh, Andy and them got here too?" Mia asked.

"Yep," Diane said. "Everybody's accounted for."

Cody and Logan went outside to catch up with the others, and I excused myself to go upstairs and put my things away.

Chapter 12

I was alone on the third floor, and I flopped onto my couch, wondering how in the world God had managed to pluck me from my place in the universe and put me in this house. I felt like I was living in a dream. I glanced into the huge family room to find a new set of luggage sitting next to one of the other couches. I knew it was Logan's, and a whole wave of emotions hit me as I reflected on the fact that this was the same guy I watched on television and movies.

I couldn't stand it any longer.

I text my brother and dad and told both of them what was going on. Even my dad knew who Logan was, and that was saying a lot. Neither of them believed me at first, but I had them convinced after giving some details. I asked my brother if he remembered that surfer movie, and when he told me he did, I said I'd most likely be meeting that guy as well.

Seth was freaking out. He wanted to drive my car down and meet us, and honestly, I wanted him to be able to do that, but I was a guest, and I knew it'd be rude for me to invite someone else. I promised I'd do my best to see if he could meet them all sometime, and he reluctantly settled for that. I made him swear not to go tell all of our friends, because I knew my phone would be ringing off the hook with them asking the same thing. We texted back and forth several more times before I told him I had to go.

I stayed upstairs for a little while after that and then headed downstairs to join the others. About half of the family was inside including David, his wife Karen, and their son Andy. David and Dan looked a lot alike, and I commented on that. David and his family were the only ones I hadn't met yet, and introductions went just as smoothly with them as with everyone else. David's wife seemed soft-spoken and shy compared to the other women, but she was just as nice, and she welcomed me just same as everyone else.

I spoke with everyone in the house before heading onto the deck. Forget the smell of the ocean; all I could smell was barbecue. The scent of it hit me as soon as I slid the door open.

"It smells good out here," I said when three or four people turned to look at me as I came out.

"I'm gonna eat a hot dog," Ryan said. "And baby Ava's gonna have some, too, but we have to mash it up for her."

"This must be baby Ava," I said, stooping to the tiny chair where Ryan was holding the little girl. She was a plump baby who seemed almost as big as Ryan.

"What happened to your hair?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan, don't ask like that," Cody corrected.

I leaned over and stuck my head out so Ryan could feel my straight hair. "The lady at the salon cut it for me and straightened it, too. Do you like it?"

"It's so, so, so, so, so, so beautiful," she said.

She was so busy running her fingers through it, that she almost forgot she was holding Ava. I put my hand behind Ava's back to make sure she was sturdy.

"Thank you," I said.

"You wanna hold baby Ava?" Ryan asked.

"Sure, if she wants to come to me."

Ryan looked at Ava with a serious expression. "Do you wanna go see Ms. Paige?" she asked. She paused and stared and Ava who just sat there not comprehending the question.

I thought it was so cute that Ryan was patiently waiting for an answer, that I almost forgot to intervene. "Let's see if she'll come to me," I said, reaching out for her, finally. She was a sweet baby and seemed content with sitting on my hip. I held her for a few minutes. Her mother's name was Willow. She was the only one I hadn't met, so I made my final acquaintance as we stood out on the deck with her little girl on my hip.

"Aunt Willow, can you take Ava so Ms. Paige can braid my hair?"

"Of course," Willow said, holding her arms out.

"Ryan, Ms. Paige might not have time to braid your hair right now," Cody said.

"I'm happy to do it if it's all right with you," I said, smiling at him. I snapped the band I was wearing around my wrist. "I even brought a hair-tie down with me just in case."

"Can I have two braids or one?" Ryan asked.

"Whatever you want."

"I think one," she said. She sat in front of me, and I went straight to work on it. Cody came over to stand beside us as I braided. He had on khaki cargo shorts and a white button up shirt that had the sleeves rolled. I loved how he looked. I wanted to offer to cut his hair just so I could touch his head. I glanced at the famous movie star standing in our midst as a means of distraction before staring back at Ryan's braid.

"Me and Daddy went to the ocean today, and we said you should come with us so you can get used to it," Ryan said.

"I know!" I said. "I missed my swim in the ocean today."

"We can still go after we eat a hot dog," Ryan said.

"I might have gotten set back a little on that," I said.

"What's
set back
?" Ryan asked.

At the same time, Cody asked, "Why's that?"

"We met these guys today who told us they have friends visiting from Australia. Apparently, one of them is that guy from Danger Reef."

"That surfer?" Cody asked.

I nodded with wide eyes, trying not to say too much in front of Ryan.

"What were y'all doing out meeting guys?" he asked. "I thought you went to the spa."

"What's a spa?" Ryan asked.

"It's the place where I got my haircut," I said. I glanced at Cody. "And we met them at lunch. He's the guy who bought the white house down the street."

"I know, I was in there when y'all came in talking about it." He seemed slightly annoyed, which made me have to fight to keep from smiling.

"You don't have to be jealous, Cody, he said you guys could come to the party."

Obviously, Mia had overheard our conversation, because she spoke up from across the deck. Cody shot her a somewhat insincere smile before looking at me.

"So this Australian guy set you back?" he asked.

"I haven't even met him yet. They were just talking about what happened to him, and I guess it didn't help my reluctance any."

Cody shrugged casually. "If you knew anything about me, you'd know that I don't break promises. When I tell you that no harm will come to you if I take you into the ocean, I mean it. Just believe my promise, and you won't have any problems."

"My dad's right," Ryan said.

"So you'll protect me?" I asked, glancing at him. Goodness, hearing that phrase come out of my mouth made me feel like I was in some sort of historical novel, and he was about to slay a dragon.

"There won't be anything to protect you from in the shallows, but if you want to look at it that way, you can."

Again, I glanced at him. This time, he was regarding me with a challenging smile.

"Why are you scared?" Ryan asked, since she was about five steps behind in the conversation.

"She's afraid a wave's gonna knock her over," Cody said.

Ryan cracked up laughing. "No silly, not if you hold my daddy's hand."

"You scared of the ocean?" Mia asked, obviously intrigued by our conversation enough to walk over toward us.

"This is my first time to see it," I said. "It's just bigger, and… more alive than I thought."

My statement got the attention of a few others who were standing out there including Logan and Evan. They all came to stand next to us, and we had a big conversation about my fears, always careful to spell the words S-H-A-R-K-S, and J-A-W-S so Ryan wouldn't understand. Mia had a grand old time laughing about how my fears must have intensified when we all talked about the "S-H-A-R-K B-I-T-I-N-G a guys L-E-G off."

I was being a good sport about it, but it was slightly embarrassing that I was afraid of the ocean when they were all so fond of it.

"You know I'm dragging you out there, right?" Cody asked when everyone finally quit talking about it.

I had finished Ryan's braid, and she was running around with her uncle Logan, so no one else heard him when he said it.

"I'd love to try it again, actually," I said. "I want to get good at it. I'm not usually afraid of things. It was just a little freakier than I thought."

He took a seat next to me, and I smiled at him.

"But you'll have to be with me in case I have to jump into your arms to get out of the water."

"I might have Evan strap on a shark fin if you threaten me with that," he said.

The reference to wanting me to jump into his arms made me feel breathless. I literally didn't feel like I could get a good breath of air into my lungs. I imagined us standing in the ocean together, laughing as the waves hit us. I wanted him to be the one protecting me from Jaws. In fact, I
wanted
his brother to wear a shark fin so that I could pretend to be scared. I felt anticipation fall over me like a warm blanket.
How could it feel warm and make me shiver at the same time?

"You okay?" he asked.

"Fine," I said, smiling at him.

"I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable when I said that about dragging you out there. I was just messing around."

"I'm not uncomfortable around you, Cody. It's just the opposite, in fact." My voice didn't sound right to my own ears. I was so nervous around him that I could barely even speak properly.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"No," I said. "I just shivered for no reason."

He smiled at me like he could see right through me. I wondered if it obvious that I was smitten. I made myself glance across the deck at Evan and Logan who were playing some sort of game where you were supposed to try to swing a ring on a rope and make it land on a hook. It was unbelievable to me that there were two extremely handsome, eligible men with no daughters and I was over there feeling breathless over Cody.

Ryan had gone inside when her uncles started playing that game, and she came out again, this time riding on her grandma's hip. "Come eat!" she called.

"You guys can come serve yourselves," Christy confirmed.

Those of us who were on the deck went into the kitchen and stood in line to make our plates. Dan said the blessing, but otherwise it was an informal dinner. Some of us ate on the deck, some stayed in the kitchen, and some went to the living room. We broke up into groups and sat wherever there was an open spot. I sat by Cody again. What was I supposed to do? There was an open place next to him on the deck. I felt really comfortable with him and Ryan both, so I went over there before I could second-guess myself about it.

Evan came to sit beside us once he made his plate, and so did Logan.

"Your hair looks so beautiful," Logan said as we were eating. I glanced at him to find that he was smiling at Ryan.

"Paige braided it," she said with a mouth full of hot dog.

"Ms. Paige," Cody said.

"Ms. Paige," Ryan amended, still chewing.

"Well, she did a great job," Logan said, causing Ryan to smile at him and bat her eyes.

"I seriously want you to do mine if you don't mind," Evan said. "I think I'd look good with my whole head in cornrows," he said, running his hand over his head. "I've never had that done before."

"That would look great on you," Diane chimed in from all the way across the deck. "I think you should do it."

Evan turned to me. "You mind?"

"Not at all, I just have to run to the drugstore and get some of those tiny rubber bands."

"We can go in the morning," Diane said.

I knew what she was up to and I held in a smile.

"Paige might not want to spend her whole day braiding your hair," Cody said.

"She said she didn't mind," Evan said defensively. "And it's not gonna take all day."

"It does take a long time," Logan said. "I had to do it for a movie once."

"Oh, of course you did," Evan said, teasing him.

"I did, and it took like three hours. And I had a splitting headache for two days after that."

"See?" Cody said. "Paige has better things to do than to sit and braid your hair for three hours."

"She already said she wanted to," Evan said.

"I can't promise it'll be like what Logan had," I said. "I'm not sure I'll get it as tight as they had it on him. That girl was probably a professional."

"It's probably better if you don't do it that tight," Logan said. "That way you can skip the headache."

"I just want to see what it looks like," Evan said. "You don't have to get it perfect or anything."

I laughed. "Good, because I'm telling you right now, it probably won't be."

They all laughed along with me—everyone except for Cody. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to," he said, where only I could hear.

I smiled. "It's okay," I assured him. "I like to play with hair."