A Lot Like Love

by Jennifer Snow

  Her hands cupped his face when she sensed he might pull away, and he groaned as he rotated them and pushed her up against the wet wall. His entire body connected with hers as he continued to steal her breath away.

  Far too soon, he broke the connection between their mouths, gasping slightly for air as he rested his forehead against hers. Wes opened his eyes, and a look of guilt mixed with panic at the realization of what he’d just done. “Shit. Sorry, Sarah.” He released her and ran a hand over his face.

  She had no idea what to say, so she remained silent as she peeled herself away from the sticky paint, leaving an imprint of her ass on the wall.

  “That should not have happened,” he said as he took a step toward her. “Sarah…”

  She shook her head. “It’s fine.” Totally wasn’t fine. “That was a silly thing to do. I’m not even sure why I thought…” Mumbling incoherently was all she could muster at the moment. Her cheeks were flushed, and she could still taste him on her lips.

  He sighed. “No, it wasn’t your fault. I was definitely into it.”

  That helped to ease the sting…slightly, at least.

  “I mean, you had to be able to tell.”

  She nodded. So her instincts weren’t completely off-base; they were just ill-timed?

  “I’ve felt things shifting…between us. You too, right?” he asked, suddenly looking unsure.

  Would she have attacked him otherwise? She nodded.

  “The kiss was amazing. It’s just…”

  He looked pained and confused, and Sarah couldn’t deal with the tension simmering in the air around him. “You’re not ready for a relationship.”

  “And you’re too busy for one. You don’t want one, either. You’re just here to fix up the inn, and then you have a life to get back to. That’s what you said, right?”

  That one kiss had just shattered her entire perception of what she thought she wanted. But she nodded. “Yeah. Absolutely. One hundred percent,” she said, turning her attention back to the painting to hide the bitter sting of disappointment.

  Yes, that’s what she’d said. Turns out she was a liar.

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning, a group of eight- to ten-year-olds waited not so patiently on the sandy beach to learn how to surf. But as he prepped his surfboard, Wes’s mind was anywhere but on the mid-morning waves. The night before had been catastrophic. There was no other way to describe it. He applied the wax roughly to the bottom of his board, desperate to stop the scene from replaying in his mind.

  He’d kissed Sarah Lewis. Then he’d backpedaled his way out of acknowledging that the kiss had had an impact on him.

  His emotions were a mess. The impulsive kiss itself had been fantastic, and that judgement wasn’t coming from a place of not having kissed a woman in years. Sarah Lewis was an amazing kisser.

  Her lips had been soft and delicious. They’d instantly fallen into a rhythm so in sync, it was as though they’d been kissing each other forever, the heat between them off the charts. All the sexual tension that had been building had exploded as soon as their mouths and bodies had connected. He’d enjoyed the kiss far too much.

  But was he really ready to kiss someone else? Move on with someone? Just seconds before the kiss, he’d claimed he wasn’t sure, and the passion that had ignited between them hadn’t helped clarify things.

  He should never have gone back to the inn in the first place. Canceling on his night out with the guys had been foolish. His intentions had been muddled, falling somewhere between wanting to help Sarah finish the renos as soon as possible to get her out of town again and simply wanting to see her after the tense, strained dinner with his in-laws.

  He ran the wax over his surfboard a final time and sighed. What the hell was he supposed to do now? They still had renovations to finish at the B&B. He couldn’t avoid her.

  Most troublesome was the fact that he didn’t want to. He did somehow have to make up for the blunder, but how did he do that without addressing the kiss and whether or not it would be happening again?

  Did she want to talk about it? Did she want to kiss him again?

  He doubted it. What woman would after that aftermath of excuses and regret?

  He stood and forced a smile as he addressed that morning’s group. Mostly beginners. Should be an easy class. Focus on balancing on the board.

  Balance. Not an easy thing to do when his world felt like it had been upended the night before.

  “Okay, everyone ready to get out there in those waves?” he asked the group.

  “I am!” the camp counselor, a young girl about eighteen who was eyeing a group of male surfers with obvious interest, said.

  Wes forced a smile. Obviously he’d be in charge of making sure these kids didn’t drown that morning. “Wonderful,” he said. “Today, we’re going to learn to stand on the board. It sounds easy, but believe me, it can be tricky,” he told the kids. “Head on down to the water’s edge, and I’ll be right there.”

  He picked up his and Marissa’s surfboards and glanced across the beach to where she sat reading a book on the edge of the boardwalk. “Hey!” he called out.

  She glanced up, and Wes hesitated.

  Don’t try so hard to put her into a box she doesn’t want to fit in.

  Sarah’s advice the night before had impacted him as much as the kiss. She was right. He was trying to encourage Marissa to be someone she wasn’t. That stopped now.

  “Make sure to put on sunscreen, okay?” he said, putting her surfboard back on the sand and joining the others out in the water.

  He may not have a clue how to fix things with Sarah, but at least he could start making a better effort with his daughter.

  …

  Sarah rolled the painting tarps in the last room and pushed the furniture back into place. That day, she’d attacked the walls with a new urgency. These renovations couldn’t be done a moment too soon. Her desperation level to get back to the city was higher than ever. This inn was now the site of a second rejection from Wes Sharrun.

  Unbelievable.

  The guy wasn’t interested in her years ago and he wasn’t interested in her now. The impulsive kiss had been silly. She hadn’t been thinking. She’d been wrapped up in the moment.

  Why couldn’t it have been a bad kiss at least? If her high school crush had turned out to be a horrible kisser, knowing she’d never get a chance to kiss him again would be easier to swallow. Instead, his kiss had been everything Sarah had always thought it would be. Emotional, passionate, and delicious. His desire had shocked the hell out of her in the best possible way.

  Until the aftermath had her feeling even worse than before.

  “Hello?” Whitney’s voice drifted up the staircase from the foyer.

  “Up here!” Sarah called, hearing her friend’s heels on the staircase. Normally, she’d be excited to see Whitney that day to gush about the long-awaited, pined-after kiss, but now, she’d keep it to herself. Damn Wes for stealing her opportunity for a hot gossip sesh with her bestie.

  “Wow! I cannot believe this is the same place,” her friend said, admiring the room, as she handed Sarah one of the coffee cups she carried. “Everything looks amazing, Sarah.”

  The smell of dark roast hazelnut reaching her nose was like a lifeline. She hadn’t slept at all the night before, and the coffee was definitely needed. “Thanks so much. So it should be easy to sell, right?” she asked, taking a sip.

  Whitney nodded, but she avoided Sarah’s gaze as she continued to scan the bedroom. “I don’t know if you need to be in such a rush. I mean, you do want to get the best price.”

  Sarah’s stomach knotted. “Why do you look so guilty? What are you up to?” They’d been friends for a long time, and whenever Whitney bit her lip, she was hiding something.

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re not a good liar
.”

  “I’ll wait until you take a few more sips of that first,” Whitney said, nodding toward the coffee.

  Sarah eyed her friend over the rim of the cup as she savored more liquid courage for whatever bomb her friend was about to drop on her. “Okay, spill it,” she said.

  “It’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s an incredible opportunity…”

  “Don’t spin me with your sales tactics, Whit.” She took another gulp of her drink, grateful it was the perfect temperature.

  “I’ve booked a reopening event. For the inn,” Whitney said as her phone chimed.

  Sarah frowned. “I don’t remember that being part of the plan.” The details were fuzzy because of the wine, but she remembered all of them agreeing that as long as Sarah could have the B&B finished by the fall, it would be great timing to list it for sale. Offers would come in, and a sale could be completed before the holidays and still give the new owners time to prepare for the following year’s tourist season.

  “I know, but this event came across my desk today, and I thought maybe it would be a good idea to host it here so that the community could actually see the place after its makeover.” Whitney typed furiously and then tucked the phone into a pocket in her white-and-tan-striped dress.

  “What it is?” she asked carefully. Whitney was a go-getter. She shot for the moon with everything she did and had never failed enough to learn how to lower her standards. Sarah was a little bit more cautious in her goals. Which was why she was still working for Gail and not going out on her own, which had been her original plan after graduation. Get the experience and an established client base, then get out. Instead, she was climbing the ladder and making someone else rich.

  But that was fine, right?

  “A family reunion,” Whitney said. “The client was insistent that she needed a place for guests to stay, and she’d originally committed to the Seaview Inn, but they overbooked that weekend, and she was left scrambling to find another suitable venue. This was the perfect choice. She’s really excited.”

  “But an event really isn’t necessary. I mean, we can just hold open houses for potential buyers.”

  “Right…but this way, so many people who love this place will get to see it and experience it in its new splendor before someone else buys it. You’ve done so much work. Show it off before you ditch town again.”

  Sarah sighed. It would be nice to at least soak up some of the credit of restoring the inn before she handed it off. “When is the event?”

  “Labor Day weekend,” Whitney said.

  “That’s two weeks away.” She’d been planning on leaving sooner than that. Extending her stay in Blue Moon Bay didn’t exactly appeal to her after the night before. Sarah took a deep breath and drank more coffee. “I’m not sure, Whitney. I really should get back to the city.”

  “You’ve been working remotely all this time anyway. What’s another two weeks?”

  She hesitated. Could she really last that long in town? Should she tell Whitney about the kiss with Wes and his rejection? Both of her friends were so successful and happy; she hated that she seemed to be the only one still trying to establish herself in her career and her love life. “It’s just getting complicated,” she said noncommittally.

  “Come on, Sarah. Trust me. It’s the mayor’s niece hosting the reunion, so the mayor will be there. It’s the perfect time to show off the place to some impressive influencers who will help block any attempt at a big chain succeeding in buying it and tearing it down to put up some flashy resort.”

  Whitney made a good point. Having the mayor’s support would go a long way toward preserving Dove’s Nest as the community landmark it was. She didn’t want to have done all of this in vain.

  “Okay,” she said reluctantly. Gail was going to shit, but their pitch to the client wasn’t until after Labor Day. “Mayor’s niece? Do we know her?”

  “Yes, we do know her,” Whitney said casually, but Sarah detected a note of apprehension in her voice. She paused before continuing. “You remember Lia Jameson from high school, right?”

  Lia Jameson? As in her high school frenemy Lia Jameson? She shook her head quickly. “Oh no…”

  Whitney forced a smile that said, Please don’t kill me. “I kinda already told her yes.”

  “Whitney!”

  “Sorry, Sarah. She needed an answer, and you have to admit, this is a good idea.”

  “But Lia? Really?” The former gossip queen had always been just one step ahead. When Sarah placed second in the science fair, Lia placed first. When Sarah got an A on a math test, Lia got an A-plus. And according to Facebook, Lia was now happily married with a successful law career in New York City with a penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park. Once again, she’d beaten Sarah at life. Seeing her old high school rival right now when her own career was on the line and her heart was a mess wasn’t exactly appealing.

  “Look, the rivalry you two had years ago was a teenage girl thing. You are both mature, successful women now. The past is in the past, right?” Whitney said.

  Unfortunately, Sarah wasn’t so sure. That certainly wasn’t the case with Wes.

  …

  As Wes packed up his surfing gear an hour later, Marissa approached on the beach. The summer sun had her freckles darkening on her pale skin, and the sight always made him smile. She had Kelly’s coloring and was prone to burns, hence the thick white glob of sunblock on her nose. “Hey, all done?” she asked.

  “Yeah, how was the book?”

  “It was good. I finished it, but now I have to wait a whole month until the next one comes out,” she said with a sigh.

  Wes laughed. “A whole month, huh?” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d finished one full book, let alone this never-ending sci-fi series Marissa was obsessed with.

  “Thanks for not forcing me to surf,” she said, eyeing him suspiciously behind blue-rimmed sunglasses.

  “I was too tired to save you from pretending to drown multiple times today,” he said teasingly. “Ready to go?”

  “Actually, I was wondering if we could maybe take a walk along the boardwalk, since we’re down here anyway?” she asked.

  Wes hesitated, checking his watch. He really should get to the B&B, but maybe his guys could handle it that day without him, allow him to avoid coming face-to-face with Sarah just yet.

  And he hadn’t really spent a whole lot of time alone with Marissa so far that summer vacation, and she was leaving for Girl Guides camp soon. If she wasn’t in a hurry to get back in front of her computer, Wes would take advantage of it.

  “Sure, that sounds fun,” he said, collecting his gear and heading toward the parking lot, where he put everything in the bed of the truck. Then they headed down the path to the boardwalk on the south beach. It was rockier here than the north beach near the B&B and the waves were bigger—a hot spot for expert surfers, but not kid-friendly for swimming. But it was the hipper, trendier part of Blue Moon Bay with great shops and expensive restaurants with outdoor patios.

  Nothing had the same calming effect as the sights, sounds, and smells of the coast. Here in Blue Moon Bay, the pace was slower. No one was in a hurry, no one was demanding anything or expecting anything, and walking along the boardwalk, Wes tried to let all the stress he was under fall away as well. At least temporarily. “What do you want to do first?” he asked Marissa.

  “Ice cream, and then how about a sandcastle-building competition on the beach like we used to?” she said.

  When Kelly was still alive, family sandcastle competitions were a weekly event in the summer months. Marissa and Kelly would team up and beat him every time. His builds were always structurally sound, but they won on points for creativity with their unique additions like moats and gargoyle statues. “Deal, but I’ll warn you—I’ve been brushing up on my castle-building skills.”

  She smiled, but then she was
quiet as they headed toward the ice cream shop.

  “Hey, you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m good.” She paused. “I know it sounds weird, but I can feel Mom here. More so than anywhere else. This was her favorite place to go during the summer.” She hesitated. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

  Wes thought before responding. “I believe that people have a unique energy that ties them to everything around them and that it exists even once a person is gone. Does that make sense?”

  Marissa nodded. “Energy, yeah, I like that. I feel Mom’s energy here.”

  “Well, she had a lot of it.” Kelly had been one of the most vibrant, magnetic people Wes had ever known. He’d been drawn to her like everyone else who met her. She was kind and compassionate and had a way of making others feel good just being around her.

  Life with Kelly had been nice, easy, and relaxed. They worked well together. He’d loved her and he’d loved the life they’d been building together. Letting her go had been difficult, but he hadn’t had a choice, and time had a way of helping him realize the necessity of moving on. Having Marissa in his life certainly made that easier. Striving to be the best version of himself was easy when someone was looking up to him, depending on him.

  The chill of air-conditioning and the smell of chocolate syrup hit him as they entered the ice cream shop. The place was packed…mostly teenagers on summer break loitering to talk to their unlucky friends forced to get a job, working behind the counter that summer. Wes had done his own fair share of ice cream scooping as a teen.

  “What flavor are you craving today?” he asked, peering into the glass case. The store boasted thirty-two different flavors, and this month’s featured one was a tiger tail twist. Orange mango with a black licorice swirl. “That looks interesting.”

  The fifteen-year-old ice cream scooper sighed. “That’s one way to describe it.”