Who was this man?
But the gauge on my bullshit meter wasn’t even moving. I was confident he really wanted to help me. Plus, his voice was deep and sexy as hell. I kind of just wanted to hear him talk more. Still, I didn’t feel comfortable closing my eyes in front of him since I barely knew the man.
I sat back down and crossed my arms.
“Great.” He sat back down next to me. “Uncross your arms.” He chuckled. “Yes, I’m being pushy, but crossing your arms is negative energy. You want to be open to positive energy.”
I uncrossed my arms. “There. Happy?”
He nodded. “Not as happy as you’ll be when you try this, but yes, I’m happy. Okay, here’s what you’re going to do when I’m not here. When you need to disconnect and clear the stress and negative energy out of your body, sit here in front of the fountain and close your eyes like this.” He closed his eyes. “Then you’ll take a few long, slow, deep breaths in and out while listening to the water.”
Nick breathed in and out slowly, his shoulders and face completely relaxed.
I liked his confidence that he had no problem closing his eyes in front of me.
I was jealous of his eyelashes.
He was well-groomed, too. No unibrow or explosion of hair coming out of his nose and ears like some men I’d seen. He kept his hair on the shorter side, which really accentuated his strong jawline. He had a small scar on the edge of his chin, but it didn’t take away from his good looks.
I couldn’t help wondering how he got the scar.
One thing was for sure—Nick was an attractive man.
“Now, I want you to really listen to the fountain,” he said, his eyes still closed. “Don’t identify what you hear as water. It’s just a sound. Listen with curiosity, and then let the sound surround you, like it’s giving you a hug.”
Is he serious?
His eyes were still closed. His face was relaxed. Maybe he was.
“Any other sounds you notice around you, just let them be. The two doves on the fence, that motorcycle, the dog barking, my voice. Sounds will come and go, and that’s okay. Let them be.”
I eyed the two doves on the fence, not having noticed them until he had mentioned them.
“Focus on your breathing as you continue to listen to the water. Then, when you’re ready, open your eyes and give thanks for your moment of me-time. And that’s it! Promise me you’ll try it some time.”
I turned to him. “I’ll promise if you tell me how you know about stress.”
“In the interest of getting you to do this exercise, I’ll tell you. But you first.”
We sat there listening to the fountain for a few seconds longer.
“I had a near-death experience,” I blurted out.
He pointed up to the sky with his index finger. “Involving an airplane, I presume?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Yesterday. The pilot had to do a belly landing without landing gear. We all thought we were going to die.”
“That’s horrible.”
“It was. You probably saw it on the news.”
Nick shook his head. “I don’t watch the news.”
I arched an eyebrow. “No?”
“Too much negativity and stress. I prefer reruns of I Love Lucy.”
I whipped my head toward Nick. “I love that show. My favorite episode is the one where she’s stomping grapes in Rome.”
He grinned. “One of my favorites . . . I also like the episode where Lucy and Ethel are working at the chocolate factory and stuffing candy in their mouths and blouses.”
I laughed. “That’s a classic. Did you know Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had a summer home here in Del Mar? It’s still there, right on the beach.”
I nodded. “I did know that. And after they got divorced, Desi lived in the house full-time. But did you know that I designed the courtyard on their property?”
I just stared at Nick, wondering if he was serious.
My bullshit detector was confused at the moment.
I could feel his sincerity, but I was pretty sure that would’ve been logistically impossible for him to have done any design work for them since they hadn’t lived in that house in decades and Nick wasn’t old.
There’s only one way to find out. “How old are you?”
“Forty-five.” Nick chuckled. “Okay—I know what you’re thinking. I didn’t say I designed the courtyard while they were living there. The house has gone through a couple of owners and remodels since then.”
“Now that makes sense.”
“Anyway, just remember . . . you promised you would try this stress-buster exercise. And it sounds like you need it. Especially when you have thoughts of you-know-what.” He pointed to the sky.
“Yeah . . . you can’t imagine what it feels like to think you’re going to die.”
“Well, actually, I can imagine it very well, because it happened to me,” Nick said.
I cocked my head to the side. “You thought you were going to die?”
“I almost did die. I guess you can say I was teetering on the edge of life and death.” He pressed his hand to his heart. “My ticker wanted to stop ticking. Well, it actually did for a little bit.”
“What happened?”
“Heart attack five years ago, at the age of forty.”
“I didn’t know people could have heart attacks at such a young age.”
“It’s not as common, but it can happen.” He pointed to the scar on his chin. “I got this from hitting the floor after the heart attack.” He patted his chest. “I have another scar here from the surgery. So, you were wondering how I know about stress, well, stress almost killed me. I’m okay now, and still have some work to do, but I don’t want to see anyone go through what I went through. Not even my worst enemy.”
The poor guy.
Without thinking, I instinctively placed my hand on top of his hand and patted it. “Wow. I’m so sorry, but I’m glad you’re okay.”
Nick glanced down at my hand on top of his, and I quickly pulled it away, and stood.
What am I doing?
Dee came back out of the house, Brandon trailing behind her, both with lemonade.
I pointed toward the house. “I should get back to work.”
“Oh no, you don’t,” Dee said. “You have the day off and there will be no talk of work from you.”
I flared my nostrils at her. “When I say work, I don’t mean work, work. I mean we have things to do. Remember?”
Good save on my part.
“Right! We need to get back to finding you a man!”
She didn’t just say that. Someone please tell me I’m hallucinating.
Dee must have been loopy from Brandon’s presence because usually she was smarter than that. That was no excuse, but I would wait until we got inside to kill her with my bare hands.
Nick glanced back and forth between me and Dee.
I smiled at him. “A man to do my hair is what she means. I prefer male hair stylists. Girl stuff, you know?”
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
I gestured to the house again. “Dee? I need your help.” I turned to Nick. “If you change your mind about lemonade or anything else to drink, just come inside and help yourself. No need to ask.”