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want to get sunburned.”
    “Sure.” He took the tube from her.
    She knew as soon as she felt his hands on her bare shoulders that she should have risked the sunburn. Before she totally lost control, turned around and jumped on him right there in the itty-bitty rowboat built for two, she needed to do something quickly.
    “Are you dating anyone special?” she asked.
    “No,” he answered, his hands massaging the sunscreen onto her back. “I’m not really interested in getting involved with anyone anytime soon. I was married for a long time; I think I just want to be by myself for a while, maybe forever.”
    She glanced back at him. “Don’t you want children?”
    “I did at one time. Now I’m too old, and too settled. I don’t see fatherhood in my future.”
    That was exactly what she needed—a stark dose of reality. A not-so-subtle reminder that Nick was now her friend and that was all he would ever be.
    Still, she found herself saying, “You’re not too old, Nicky. Just because you never had children in your first marriage doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.”
    “I have my nephews and nieces; they’re enough to keep me happy.”
    Now she turned her entire body back to face him. “Are you really going to be happy year after year, as the bachelor brother and uncle who sits in the corner every Sunday and holiday?” She regretted the words as soon as she said them. She shuddered all over and dropped her chin. “I’m sorry, it’s not my business. I’m a fine example of someone who will die old and alone with nothing but cats and scented candles around me.”
    “I seriously doubt that, Lynsey. You were smart to concentrate on your education and career and not get married young. How did it go with Evan? I know that he would love to be a husband and a father. I think the two of you would make a great couple.”
    Nick was desperate for her to be happily involved with his best friend. Somehow that pained her heart. “I think that Evan is a very lovely man.” She chose her words carefully. “But, in the long run, I don’t see us ever becoming a couple. There was no instant chemistry, no spark, no sizzle.”
    “Sometimes love takes time. Perhaps if the two of you spend time together, something will bloom.”
    “Someday, Evan will be a wonderful husband, just not mine.” She used her thumbs to paint a stripe of sunscreen beneath his eyes.
    “I have to admit, we all thought you were going to marry the rock star.”
    We? She hated the idea of being fodder for the town gossips. “So, I was the talk of the town, so to speak?” she asked dryly.
    “Well, dating an international rock star tends to put you in the news, whether you want to be or not.”
    Quinn was still a touchy subject. Just how much did Nick know about her relationship with him? Did he know that Quinn was married when she was involved with him? An uncomfortable blush heated her chest and rose up to her face and settled on her cheeks.
    “Still, it was just a relationship that didn’t work out. I had a lot of good times with Quinn, but it’s over now. His being in the public eye made the relationship seem like it was more important than it really was,” she explained.
    “Was he into drugs or what?”
    Why did he insist or pressing her on the subject? Maybe he was just curious. A lot of people wondered what it was like to date a celebrity. “No, Quinn isn’t a drug user. He’s brilliant, and sometimes intense…volatile. I didn’t like his constant travel, and I didn’t know if he would ever be able to settle down into some kind of normalcy. At this point in my life I want stability, Nicky. I want a husband and children.”
    Hopefully that answered all his questions, and every word was the truth.
    ***
    As soon as Lynsey walked into the house she was greeted by the ringing telephone.
    “Hello?”
    “Is this Lynsey Reznor?”
    “Yes, it is, can I help you?”
    “Lynsey, this is Caleb. Caleb Smith.”
    “I know which Caleb it