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at my left hand—“that day you seemed to fall off the face of the earth?”
    You mean the same day I found you naked in our bed with a strange woman? Go me for keeping my biting remarks to myself. Progress.
    “I transferred schools, finished my degree, and have been contracting ever since.” All true. My career just didn’t include sitting in front of a computer like I knew Henry believed.
    “Anything you’ve been up to besides work?” Yet another glance at my left hand.
    I don’t know if he was expecting a ring to magically appear, or wondering if one had been there recently, or just remembering the engagement ring he’d gotten me years ago. “I’m not married. Nor have I been, nor do I plan on it anytime in the future.”
    His eyebrows came together. “Why not?”
    I exhaled. “The stars haven’t aligned.” Sarcasm at its finest.
    “Not why aren’t you married.” Henry nudged me lightly. “Why don’t you want to in the future?”
    An image seared into my mind leapt to the forefront. I almost winced. “Because this one guy I used to love turned me off to the whole concept.”
    Henry didn’t hold back his wince. It was so intense, it looked painful. Once he’d recovered, his mouth opened, and then his phone buzzed in his shorts’ pocket. He slid the phone out, glanced at it, and sighed.
    “Bad call?” I guessed.
    Hitting ignore, he slid it back into his pocket. “They all are these days.”
    “Is your company taking a hit due to the economy?” I asked, though I knew it wasn’t. Henry’s company was one of the few IT companies thriving in a floundering market.
    “Not . . . exactly.” Still leading with the obnoxious humble thing. “We’ve been extremely fortunate.”
    “So what’s the deal with all of the bad calls?”
    His face lined like he was searching for just the right way to put it.
    “Mo’ money, mo’ problems?” I suggested.
    He smiled. “Something like that.” To prove it, Henry’s phone buzzed to life again.
    “Looks like you’re busy.” I rose and dusted the sand off of me. “I’ll let you get back to your money and problems.”
    Henry popped up beside me, punching ignore on his phone again. “I could use a sharp tech head on my team, Eve. Whatever hourly rate that top secret company you’re contracting for is giving you, I could double.”
    I lifted my hand.
    “Triple—”
    “Thank you,” I said, cutting him off, “and tempting, but . . .” I caught myself right before I tacked on I’d bet your wife wouldn’t love an ex coming to work for you. Technically, I didn’t know that Henry was married, and I didn’t miss the absence of a wedding ring on his left hand. Whether that was because he didn’t like to exercise with it on, or because he’d forgotten it on the nightstand, or because he’d lost it, or because of any one of the dozens of possible explanations, one thing was certain: I needed to get and keep a grip. One slip, and it was all over.
    “Tempting but . . .?” He was waiting.
    I cleared my throat and stepped back. The wind had shifted, and at that proximity, I could smell Henry, the same smells I’d fallen in love with. “Tempting but, you know me. I can’t ditch out on a project early. I have to see it through, or I’ll never forgive myself.”
    “Still stubborn?”
    “Always.”
    Henry studied me with a small smile for a few seconds. He pulled a wallet from his pocket and slid a business card from it. “If you change your mind, here’s my card. Or, you know, if you ever just want to get together and catch up. That has my private number. Feel free to use it.”
    I took the card and shot him a smile. Less than five minutes into the Greet and I already had a business card with his private phone number. Maybe the Callahan Errand would go quicker than I expected.
    “It was nice seeing you, Evie. I mean . . . Eve.” Henry started heading back down the beach. He patted his legs for Molly, but all she did was rest her head on her paws