Jody shook her head. “No. I mean, yes, he is, but that’s not it. Something’s going on with him. Look at his car—it’s a mess. I know a lot of teenagers have messy cars, but not Ben. He keeps it pristine. And he’s got clothes all over the back seat. That’s not just a change of shorts or whatever for after surfing. And…is that a pillow? If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s been living in his car. Which means something is very wrong.”
She expected him to disagree, to try to convince her once more that whatever was going on with Ben was simply because he was seventeen. But to her surprise, Baker said, “Then we’ll figure out what it is and fix it.”
Jody turned her head to try to look at him. He didn’t loosen his hold on her so the angle was awkward. She wanted to ask him what he meant by we.
In all the time she’d known him, Baker had never made the slightest indication that he wanted to be anything other than casual acquaintances. He never lingered too long when he was surfing and she happened to run into him. Hadn’t encouraged her interest in any way whatsoever.
And now here he was, holding her in his embrace and using the we pronoun.
Jody’s head spun. He was confusing her, but she didn’t know how to ask him what the hell was going on without embarrassing herself. He’d probably said it offhandedly, without thinking.
The medic straightened and began to pack up his kit. Ben chugged the rest of the water in the bottle and stood up. He opened the driver’s door and slid back into the car.
Jody gasped in dismay, and this time when she tried to go to him, Baker released her. She ran the ten feet or so to the car and leaned into the open window. “Ben! Where are you going? You shouldn’t be driving.”
“I need to go, Miss Jody,” Ben mumbled.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said.
“Don’t nothing me, Ben Miller,” Jody chastised. “Talk to me.”
“Nothing to talk about,” he insisted.
Jody reached out and put her hand on the teenager’s arm. He still felt too hot to her, but if the medic thought he was all right to leave, there wasn’t much she could do about it. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m here if you ever want to talk. I know I’m old and not cool, but I’m a great listener. You need anything…I’m here for you. No questions asked. I mean it, Ben. Someone to listen, a hot meal, a place to stay…whatever it is, you come to me. Hear me?”
Ben’s hazel eyes shot up then and he met her gaze. “I hear you, Miss Jody.”
There was pain and confusion swirling in the young man’s eyes, and Jody wanted nothing more than to haul him out of the car and give him a tight hug and never let go. But his walls were up, and there was no way he was going to get into a heart to heart right now. Not with everyone standing around watching. Not with tourists and his high school friends hanging out nearby.
As the medics went back to the beach and the looky-loos standing around also lost interest and began to disperse, Jody backed away from the car as Ben started it up. She would’ve tripped over one of the logs keeping cars in the designated parking area if Baker hadn’t been there to catch her. When she had her balance once more, however, Baker didn’t drop his hand from her waist.
Ben made eye contact with Baker and quickly lowered his gaze. He backed out of the spot, which was immediately occupied by a car filled with six tourists, obviously thrilled to have found a place to park.
Jody watched Ben’s car leave in frustration.
“How long have you been here?” Baker asked.
Jody looked up at him and shrugged. “A while.”
He snorted. “Which means you probably got here at the ass crack of dawn. It’s three. You eaten?”
“I had a sandwich,” Jody lied.
As if he had a built-in bullshit detector, Baker merely lifted an eyebrow skeptically.
“Fine. I haven’t eaten, but I’m not hungry,” Jody told him.
Without a word, he turned her toward the beach, where she’d left her cooler. “You’re driving.”
“No! I can’t leave, I’ll never get my spot back,” Jody told him.
“I know.”
Jody glared up at him.
He chuckled when he saw the look she was giving him. “You’ve been here all day, Jodelle. You need to eat, otherwise you’ll be the next one the medics are having to look at. The kids you’ve taken under your wing are fine. And if we leave now, we’ve actually got a chance of getting to Waialua ahead of all these fuckin’ tourists.”
Jody stared at Baker as they walked. She wasn’t afraid of tripping over anything; Baker’s hand on her waist and the way his eyes constantly swept over the area assured she wouldn’t. “What’s in Waialua?” she asked.
“My place,” Baker said nonchalantly.
Jody stopped walking altogether.
“What? What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice hardening as he looked around, trying to figure out why she’d stopped.
“Your place?”
His lips twitched as he looked down at her. “Yeah.”
“Um…why?”
“Because you need to eat. And you need to relax. And if you go home, you’ll think too much about Ben, and you’ll probably get a bug up your butt to go out and try to find him. If you’re at my place, I can make sure that you get something nutritious in your belly and you won’t head back out into the god-awful traffic that’ll happen once today’s competition is over.”
Jody couldn’t really argue with anything he’d said. She probably would throw a frozen meal into the microwave to eat and then break into the half-eaten pack of Oreos that was in her pantry. She wasn’t sure if Baker was trying to tell her she was overweight or what. She’d also definitely worry about Ben, and seeing if she could find him wasn’t a bad idea. She didn’t have his address but could probably get it from one of the other surfers he hung out with.
“Jodelle, focus,” Baker said, the humor easy to hear in his tone.
She looked up at him. “I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand, Tink?”
Jody frowned. “Did you just call me Tink?”
“Yup. You’re like a little fairy. Tinker Bell.”
“Oh, Jesus. You know how annoying that is, right?” Jody asked huffily.
Baker only smiled.
“How would you like it if I called you Hulk? Or Gigantor?”
Baker leaned into her personal space, and Jody almost swallowed her tongue.
“You can call me whatever you want, Tink.”
For a second, Jody thought Baker was going to kiss her, then he straightened and placed his fingers on the small of her back. “Come on, let’s go get your cooler, see if we can find one of your kids, tell them you’re headed out, remind them to be good, then we’ll get the hell out of here.”
In a daze, Jody let Baker lead her back toward the picnic table she’d made her home base and where she’d left her cooler. She had no idea what had brought about this change in the man. It was confusing…and exciting. But she didn’t know what it meant, which scared the crap out of her.