I don't remember having a better day in my entire life. After our embrace, we walked along the beach holding hands, splashing water, and acting silly. For such a big serious guy, Joel had a soft and fun side too. I appreciated the fact that I didn't catch him staring at my chest again. I don't think I was quite so respectful. I suffered from a serious muscle fetish.

I awoke well rested on Monday. I called Charlie, who'd sent me a text the day before reminding me to visit the newspaper. It was a quick drive and I was there by nine. The building was larger than I expected, and a small thrill passed through me at the thought of owning a newspaper. The front had floor-to-ceiling glass windows with a large desk just inside. There was a bell, which I didn't ring because I got caught up in the photography on the walls. Most were rugby players and holy hell there were a lot.

They were eight-by-ten autographed collectibles like Charlie told me. I recognized many of the playersaction shots, stills, and a few posed. Stub was talented. I found a shirtless picture of Van, cocky grin in place while holding a rugby ball. I tore my gaze away and started looking for Joel. I found no pictures of just him, just ones with the team. I had no idea why. Maybe his man-candy shots sold like hotcakes. Crap- that made me think of pancakes and I chuckled.

"What has you in such a good mood this morning?" Charlie said over my shoulder.

"These are hot and I mean sexy hot. You're wife's a lucky woman," I teased.

"I'm the lucky one. These guys spend hours building muscle, turn her on, and I don't have to work as hard when I get her in bed."

"You're incorrigible and no lightweight!" I walked back over to the picture of Van and pointed to it. "Why is Van here but not Joel?"

Charlie's smile faded slightly. "Joel won't take a picture because of his scar. He says he doesn't want to scare the kids away."

I was shocked. "It bothers him that much?" He did nothing to hide it. The scar was a part of him and I only thought about it yesterday because I wanted to touch it. I couldn't believe he worried about my boobs but he wouldn't take a picture.

Charlie had a contemplative look on his face. "I don't think it exactly bothers him, he's just shy, and it's his excuse."

"Shy? You're kidding me." The last label I'd put on Joel was shy.

"He's always been the quiet brother. Van takes over a room when he enters. Joel stays in the background. It was that way even before his mother died. Afterward it got a little worse. If he's comfortable with you, you won't notice it. As soon as someone comes around he doesn't know he'll fade into the background. The only time I see him truly carefree is on the field. He's intense and there's nothing shy about him when he plays."

I turned and looked at Van again, trying to take a moment to collect my thoughts. Maybe when I first met Joel he was just shy, not that he disliked me. I, of all people, understood shyness. If you're shy, something like large breasts just makes it worse. I couldn't imagine a scar on my face that I was unable to hide. Did he have any idea how sexy it made him?

"You know there's a rumor going around about you and Van."

Heat flooded my cheeks and I faced Charlie before hiding my shock. "I- well- shit, Charlie, I'm acting like a teenager. I'm sorry. You warned me away and I was stupid." As much as I hated the idea of rumors, I came from a small town and should have expected it. Bigger fool me.

Charlie gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm telling you right now, Stub will kick his ass. She likes you and only tolerates Van. I was wild back in the day, so I have hope for that boy, but Stub, not so much."

Shrugging my shoulders, I told him how I felt. "I'm an adult and I make my own choices. They aren't always wise, but I have no one to blame but myself. He didn't make any promises."

"I noticed the two bimbos on Van's arm after the game. Is that why you left so early?"

Bimbos. What an old-fashioned but apt description and it wasn't even a four-letter word. I smiled. "Joel walked me to my room." Now I fibbed just a bit. "I had to get my article ready for submission."

"Joel's a fine man. Stick with him from now on and you'll be happier."

Charlie wasn't the right person to discuss bad boys and why girls always feel attracted to them. I needed to call Tyson and cry on his shoulder. I kept thinking I could just forget what happened, but if the entire town knew, that was impossible.

"Come on, stop with the doom-and-gloom face and let me show you around." Charlie held open the door to the back room and I walked through. There were four desks, one with a young woman sitting at it and one with a man. They both looked up when I came in.

"Leo, Tina, this is Cami Avesque from that fancy city paper I told you about." Leo was a tall skinny man in his thirties; he wore large black glasses that reminded me of Clark Kent. Tina was probably my age and quite pretty. She dressed less conservatively than I did, but most women did.

I smiled at them both. "The Cleveland News and Journal might be fancy, but I work in a room similar to this on the second floor in classifieds. Getting this story on rugby was a fluke. I'll be back in classifieds when I return home." I shook Leo's hand, appreciating his easy smile. I turned to Tina and for a moment she left my hand hanging before giving me a dead-fish, must-I-touch-it skim of fingers. She spun around and went back to her desk.

I turned to Charlie unsure of what just happened. He rolled his eyes and began explaining his layout. Within a short time, I forgot Tina as Charlie held me spellbound. And that was before he took me into the printing room. My eyes practically came out of my head. His press was awe inspiring.

Charlie sounded like a proud papa. "This baby is a four-color trifold with a five-hundred-seventy-eight millimeter by twenty-two and three-quarter cut off. I picked her up used, had her shipped from the other side of the planet, but she's been worth every penny it cost me."

"You put out a weekly paper."

"Yes, though I've always wanted it bi-weekly. Don't see that happening now, but a man can always dream."

I walked around the metal monstrosity dying to see it in action. "When does she roll?"

"On Thursday. You wanna watch?"

"You bet."