"Calm down, it's not that."

"Okay then, it can't be that bad. Hit me."

"I want to tell you, Joey, but you are going to have to swear to me, and I mean swear, like on Mom and Dad." I paused letting that sink in. We had always said we would never use them like that unless it was something super serious.

"s.h.i.t, Keri Ann, I'm freaking again. Tell me. Now."

Good. He got it.

"Okay, well, I haven't told anyone about him because first of all, there's nothing going on apart from us spending some time together." If you didn't count our almost kiss last night. "And second of all, he's famous, and I swore to keep his ident.i.ty a secret."

It sounded really dumb to my own ears, but I knew that since I had just invoked Mom and Dad, Joey was listening. The tide was slowly pulling my kayak back into the Intracoastal Waterway, so I rested my paddle across my lap and settled back.

"Okaaaay." I could almost hear Joey's mind whirring a mile a minute trying to figure out what to ask me. "So he thinks he's famous, or he actually is famous? I mean The Situation from Jersey Sh.o.r.e thinks he's famous, but I doubt ninety-nine percent of the population would recognize him walking down the street ... or care." He snorted.

I should've known Joey wouldn't believe me.

"Wait, it's not him is it?" he asked.

"Shut it, Joey. G.o.d, never mind, Ok? Forget I ever mentioned it." Ugh. Sometimes big brothers were a pain in the a.s.s.

He laughed. "I'm kidding, sweetheart. Look, I don't want you mixed up with some arrogant jerk. He'd eat you for breakfast. Who is this guy?"

I could tell from his tone Joey had already stopped taking me seriously despite my having invoked our parents. How had I never noticed how condescending he could be? "I'm not a kid anymore, Joey. I don't think you get to decide who I date." I was getting p.i.s.sed off.

"So you are dating him, then?"

"No, I didn't say that!" I snapped. "We just hung out. I'm getting some stuff for him, and he's helping me out with the house. He helped me strip the wall paper and ... " I trailed off, it sounded ridiculous, even to me.

"So this big famous guy is stripping wall paper in our house? That sounds normal, and what exactly is he expecting from you in return, huh?" He sounded like a father, or maybe like a vague memory I had of my dad. "Wait, how old is he?"

"Not what you're thinking." I huffed. "And he's twenty-six." I needed to end this call soon.

"So, why are you freaking out, kiddo? I mean, you say you guys are just hanging out, right? Is he making you feel unsafe? Who is this guy? I think you better tell me in case I need to whoop his a.s.s ... Do I need to come home?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, thankful he couldn't see me. "No, Joey, don't be an idiot. I'm fine, I'm a big girl. And no, I'm freaking out because I do actually like him, I think, and he is waaaaay out of my league." I laughed.

Making my way across to the approaching dock, before the tide floated me right past, I grabbed on. I was careful not to dislodge my earbuds as Joey's voice boomed out of them.

"What the h.e.l.l, Keri Ann? Who told you that? Did he tell you that? I will come and kick his a.s.s. You're gorgeous. I always had to threaten the guys at Butler Cove High with bodily harm if they ever so much as looked at you wrong. They all thought you were hot as h.e.l.l."

"What?" I got onto the dock and jerked the kayak up with more force than necessary. "You kept boys away from me?"

"Yes. You're my kid sister. Who else was going to look out for you?"

I was a little dumbfounded. I'd always thought I just wasn't that attractive to guys. Not ugly, just a bit girl-next-door plain. In the years after Mom and Dad died, I was way too in my sh.e.l.l to even consider dating, and after Nana died and Joey was studying, my feelings of claustrophobia about Butler Cove precluded me from even wanting to. Being hit on by drunk tourists didn't qualify as an indicator.

I should have been annoyed. "Did you just tell me I'm gorgeous? Seriously?" It was just so surprising, I wanted to hear it again, even though I knew he was biased.

"Yes, you idiot. So don't give me that BS about this douche being out of your league."

I didn't respond as I looked out over the water. So maybe Jack was truly serious last night when he told me I was beautiful. Maybe he wasn't just putting the slick moves on me. Either way, it didn't negate the fact he had a girlfriend, contractually or not, and that any kind of relationship with him would end in tears.

"Keri Ann?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Who is it, then?"

I sighed. I was tired of over-thinking this, I really was.

"You swear you won't say anything? To anyone?"

"Yes."

"Okay, it's Jack Eversea." I cringed a bit as I said his name. There was a long pause.

"Jack Eversea? The Jack Eversea? As in the actor?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," Joey said. "Holy s.h.i.t."

"Understatement," I muttered.

"Holy s.h.i.t," he said again. "What the h.e.l.l is he doing in Butler Cove? And how did you meet? Wait, isn't he dating someone?"

"Yes." I sounded about as thrilled as I felt about that. "Audrey Lane. That's why he's here staying at a friend's beach house and basically hiding."

"Holy s.h.i.t."

"You said that already."

"Yeah, I know. Jeez. Jack Eversea." Joey's voice was awestruck. "And he's doing work in our house? What the h.e.l.l? Why? Are you joking?"

"Nope, apparently he used to work construction." I laughed nervously. Hearing a movement on the gravel parking pad behind me, I turned around. Jazz was standing there, her mouth hanging open wide enough to catch a Frisbee. s.h.i.t.

"Joey, I gotta go, Jazz just found me." I tried to gauge her reaction.

"Wait!" Joey called out just as I went to hit END. "Just be careful. Okay, kiddo?"

"Yeah, I'm trying. Bye." I hit the b.u.t.ton, pulled the ear buds out of my ears, and walked toward Jazz.

T H I R T E E N.

"I'm guessing you heard that. I was going to tell you who he was, Jazz, I swear."

Jazz ripped her sungla.s.ses off her face and looked at me like I was a rare species.

I went on, "I didn't want to keep it from you at all, and then he swore me to secrecy. But I decided I couldn't keep it to myself anymore. You can't tell anyone, Jazz. You have to promise." The words tumbled out and I sounded so lame, even to my own ears. I wouldn't blame Jazz if she never spoke to me again.

"K!" She held up a hand. "I need time to process." She then proceeded to pace the parking lot with her hands on her hips.

I stopped and waited for her to process, at least until I thought I'd explode. "I-" I tried.

"Uh-Uh," she cut me off, shaking her head and quickening her stride.

I closed my mouth. Thinking it might take her a while, I walked over to my truck and perched against the open tailgate. I tried to look a little contrite, but man, I wanted to get over this part where she was mad at me.

"How-" She stopped and flung her arms up, letting them fall and slap her thighs as she glared at me. "I don't even know where to start. Jack Eversea is Hoodie Guy?" Her voice pitched up. "Seriously?"

I nodded.

She slowly shook her head side to side. "As in: my all time favorite actor, number one on my top ten laminated list. Max from Erath? That Jack Eversea?" she squeaked.

I winced and nodded sheepishly. I really was a b.i.t.c.h of a best friend to have kept it to myself. And yes, she had a laminated list of her top ten s.e.xiest men who she apparently would always be allowed to sleep with even if she was married.

"Sooo," her squinted hazel eyes bore into mine, "were you worried he might prefer me over you, so you kept him to yourself?"

"G.o.d, no!" I snapped, my eyes wide. Here I was worried she would be upset I was keeping such a big secret from her, and she thought I did it deliberately to keep him away from her?

"No, Jazz. I don't ... didn't-" I corrected, "like him like that."

She snorted. "I'll come back to that, and I was joking." She flipped a hand out. "Kind of. So first of all, I was worried about you. Worried." She pointed at me in emphasis. "About you. And you didn't confide in me. And now that I know, I'm not worried anymore," she threw her arms up dramatically, "I'm completely freaked-the-f.u.c.k out!"

"Me too?" I offered tentatively. My toe was absently kicking a pebble like a naughty school kid. I willed my foot to keep still.

"You should be. Oh G.o.d, Keri Ann, why didn't you tell me? This is huge. Are you ok? Wait, don't tell me. You're not. I can tell you're not. Because you're-"

"Naive?" I supplied.

"No, you're Keri Ann. The nicest person I know. And he's-"

"Jack Eversea. I know. Joey already informed me someone like Jack would 'eat me for breakfast.'" I made the air quotes. "Why does everyone think I can't handle myself?"

Jazz looked surprised. "That's not what we think. I know you can handle yourself. I just also know you have a heart bigger than the state of Texas. If any of us could pick someone for you he would be someone solid, strong, dependable-"

"Boring?" I interjected, my eyebrow raised.

"No. Just someone who would hold your heart, or your virtue, as if it was the most precious gift he had ever been given. I might think Jack Eversea is one of the hottest men alive, but a famous Hollywood actor with women screaming for him on every street corner is not who I'd pick for you to get some experience with. Not that I have any say in the matter. Clearly." She mashed her sungla.s.ses back on her face, and pursing her lips, put her hands back on her hips. "And," she huffed, her voice a little shaky, "you told Joey before me. And ... I'm so flippin' jealous everything looks green."

"That'd be your sungla.s.ses." I grinned, and then with a grimace, set her straight. "Well, you can relax. My virtue is safe. He is going back to Audrey Lane, so nothing is going to happen between us."

"Puh-lease. You told me you almost kissed last night, that doesn't sound like 'nothing is going to happen' to me. You better tell me the whole story."

We hauled my kayak up to the truck while I tried my best to answer her barrage of questions about what he was even doing in Butler Cove. Then we climbed into Jazz's car since her air-conditioning was a tad better than mine-as in, it actually worked. I proceeded to tell her, in minute detail, about everything that had occurred since Jack walked into the grill last week.

"Holy h.e.l.l," she said when I was done. "You are in so much trouble."

"I know," I groaned, letting my head fall back against the seat.

She shook her head slowly back and forth still trying to get her mind around it. Her expression was a cross between awe and completely freaked out. I could relate. I'd seen the same look in the mirror the last few days.

"Soooo ...?" She prompted, looking at her watch. I knew she had cla.s.s this morning.

"So? I don't know. I guess we'll continue as friends, if he even shows up today. I mean it may be way too awkward, and I won't see him again."

"Let me ask you something K-if there was no Audrey Lane in the picture would you have let him kiss you?"

"I'd like to say that was why I stopped him, but to be honest, I only found out about his weird contract with her after we almost kissed. I think I stopped him because I was scared. You know what I'm like, I tend to run when things get intense. And being with him is ... intense. I've never felt anything like it. It's like I have to consciously remember to breathe around him."

"I get that, but scared of what?" she probed. "Is it because he's famous, or are you scared to get close to someone? I mean I know you were scared of getting tied to Butler Cove, not that I understand you wanting to leave a place where everyone cares about you, but this is not one of the local boys who you think would keep you here, as if you would let that happen anyway."

"Did you switch your major to psych?"

"Ha ha. Seriously, Keri Ann. I want to help you with this. I mean it's Jack Eversea. Most girls would kiss him just to say they had. I'm not saying I want you to be shallow, but I want you to live a little. Realistically, regardless of whether he has a girlfriend, he's still going to disappear back to Hollywood."

My stomach churned at that obvious truth.

Jazz continued, "And you are going to stay here not doing anything with your life until G.o.d knows when. So in the meantime, if life comes to you, to give you some amazing memories I think you should go for it. Maybe not s.e.x, but why can't you have some fun? G.o.d knows you deserve to have a little."

I couldn't help the b.u.t.terflies fizzing through my belly at the thought of giving myself permission to let something happen with Jack. I also couldn't help the dread of dealing with my poor, pathetic, heartbreak when it was done.

"I'm scared of how I feel about him, Jazz. I am so attracted to him, it's scary."

"Well, duh, he's only like, the most attractive man in the universe, and coupled with the fact that we are all in love with Max from Erath, I can hardly blame you."

"I know Jazz, you know how I felt about those books, I was obsessed with Max. I even dreamed about him." I'd be embarra.s.sed to admit this if Jazz didn't already know and feel the same way.

"I know, but we've all had fantasies about Max visiting us in our sleep like that. And yes, those scenes were hot. But you are way too sensible to let that make you crazy over the actor who played him. It seems like you've spent time with him and like Jack the person, not the part he played."

That's what I was afraid of. And the penny dropped for Jazz too as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

"Well, s.h.i.t," she said. "I guess I'll be back to the job of helping you pick up pieces of your broken heart when he leaves. I take it back-don't let anything happen between you guys. Stay sweet and virtuous and 'un-Jacked.'"

I punched her in the arm. "I'll do my best."

"Yeah, right." She sighed, and then she leaned over and gave me a quick hug, and I gave a small smile.

Her eyes twinkled. "Sooo, can I meet him?"

I laughed. "Yeah, I guess I need to tell him I broke his secret. Twice. a.s.suming he isn't mad about that, swing by the house on your way back from school. I have no idea if he'll even be there after our awkward encounter last night though."

"He'll be there," she said confidently as I climbed out of the car into the warm humidity. "Oh, and don't forget, on the subject of hot guys from books, it's book club this week, and we've volunteered you to host this time. Expect everyone at four tomorrow." She winked and drove off.

I'd totally forgotten about book club. Jazz had been going on and on about getting one set up and finally started one last month with Liz, Brenda from the grill, Faith who owned the boutique where she worked, her mom, and I think she even invited Mrs. Weaton. It was a strange grouping of ages, but surprisingly, our book tastes were rather similar.

As I climbed into my truck, my phone beeped with a text. My heart sped up a moment, but it was just Jazz-texting and driving, as usual.