Perfect for the Beach

by Lori Foster

  Sam Parrish, her former boss at the law offices of McCauley, Parrish, and Hawke, was one of those men. She’d secretly been in love with him for almost the entire two years she’d worked at the firm. But his flirtatious comments and gestures were moments of weakness to him, and he didn’t seem to like letting himself feel anything for Kat. Because of that, she’d gone out of her way to make sure he never knew her feelings. If he’d shown more than a passing interest, she might have followed through on one of those hot, hungry looks, but he never did. And the surly attitude that followed those glances just hardened her resolve.

  Circumstances beyond his control were the only reason she let him get away with it, but she’d finally had enough, and as of this past Monday, she was no longer employed there. She couldn’t stand feeling like she was a guilty pleasure to him. One that she suspected he did personal penance for when he went into his office and shut the door on temptation.

  She tipped her head curiously and continued to watch the man as he stared out at the water as if he were struggling with demons of his own. The soft foam of the tide washed the sand around his feet, and he spread them wider, taking a firmer stance.

  Not a single man had been able to turn her head since she’d first set eyes on her boss, except this one. Forcing herself to look away from him, she gnashed her teeth. The stranger by the water probably had a story to tell, but Sam’s story had been hard enough to cope with. She wasn’t interested in learning anyone else’s. From what she could see, this man was attractive, but men were scratched from her list for a long time. Her heart drummed a constant ache in her chest because of a man. She wasn’t up to dealing with another one for a while. Not Sam, not some unknown stranger. No one.

  The only man she felt any generosity toward at the moment was Jonah McCauley, Sam’s partner and best friend. He was engaged to her best friend, and he went out of his way to shower Camelot with the love and respect she deserved. Well, she snickered to herself, that, and when she told Cam about her plans to quit her job and get away for a while, he’d offered the use of his beach house, no questions asked. She needed refuge and Jonah provided it. He was a good man.

  Sam was a good man, too, she admitted grudgingly to herself. He just had more suffering in his life than any man ever should. His wife Patti had been killed in a horrid car crash two years before, and Kat had signed on with the firm just a few short months afterward. If Kat could’ve helped it, she’d never have fallen for a man carrying so much emotional baggage. But her heart hadn’t let her decide. She’d tumbled head over heels in love with him from the start.

  She’d managed to protect her secret, though. His grief was so hard to watch, but she’d become one in his circle of friends who got him through the rough spots in his road to recovery. But when it was clear that he wasn’t ready to start any new relationship, she’d cultivated a reputation as a wild child and party girl. If he thought she was a free spirit, he wouldn’t have the added pressure of worrying about come-ons and advances. She’d sometimes wished she’d been brave enough to take that leap of faith, and tell Sam that she loved him to distraction and she wasn’t the loose woman he believed her to be. Kat feared few things, but he was a one-woman man, and she knew if he was aware of her true feelings, their work relationship would be intolerable. Sam telling her that Patti would always be his only love would crush her heart, and it was something Kat just didn’t have the guts to hear.

  Her attention was drawn back to the present when the man turned to his right and walked away from her, parallel to the waves. She watched his retreating, shirtless back, and the muscles that rippled as he raked his hand through his dark brown hair, the way his bare feet sank into the eroding sand as the tide pulled it out from under him. He moved up onto the drier part of the beach and thrust his hands into the pockets of the khaki shorts that rode low on his narrow hips. If she wasn’t still so damned angry for letting herself fall so hard for Sam, Kat actually might have tried to draw his attention and bring him back up the beach so she could see what he looked like from the front. But she’d come here specifically to get away from opposite sex. To clear her head and make some solid life plans. Men could be stubborn and so clueless sometimes; she was through trying to figure them out. And they said women were the complicated ones? Yeah, right, she thought.

  She was powerless to ignore him altogether, but she was hurting so much from Sam’s unwitting rejection that instead of desire or arousal for the masculine stranger, she felt resentment, and disgust with herself for noticing him. Besides that, the man appeared distracted, sorting out his own troubles by walking along the shore, letting it work its calming effects.

  “I can so relate, pal,” she muttered under her breath.

  The man stopped abruptly and his head snapped to the right, as if he’d heard her.

  He hadn’t, had he? “Get a grip, Kat,” she told herself, but her breath backed up in her throat when he did an about-face and started stalking back the way he’d come, only this time he cut across the sand, his feet kicking it up like spray as he closed the distance between them. As he got closer and closer, her eyes went to his hard chest, covered with light brown hair that tapered to his narrow waist and disappeared into those low-slung shorts. Kat was shocked that she actually licked her lips when her gaze followed the path down. What was the matter with her?

  “If you were a man, Katrissa Murphy, I’d say you had some huge balls to leave me the way you did.”

  Kat’s eyes froze on the fly of his shorts. No, it couldn’t be! His voice was so low, it hissed through clenched teeth that only she and the few others near them heard.

  She squinted from the sun in her eyes, not quite behind him. She turned her head a fraction until it was completely blocked by his broad shoulders and she could see him clearly through her sunglasses.

  No, no, no! The words drummed in her head as she realized that it was Sam towering over her. And he sounded pissed at her. Who did he think he was? The nerve of the man! She glanced at the other sunbathers and beachcombers as he looked down at her like he could throttle her.

  How many times did she have to have her heart broken? It was hard enough leaving her resignation on his desk. And she’d made sure he wasn’t in the office. She wouldn’t have been able to stand the awkwardness if he demanded an explanation and she had to give her reasons just then. She’d needed time to pull herself together when they finally had that confrontation. And now she was going to have to make the break all over again? Damn, why didn’t he just accept it and move on, like she was trying to do? Her nerves were raw, and bitterness curled her lip.

  “I quit my job, Sam. Period. We’d have to have personal contact for me to leave you,” she muttered derisively. “And there are children running around within earshot. Leave the vulgarities for your clients.” Her stomach was tight with dread, but she tried to keep her voice low and succinct, letting him know that his sudden appearance wasn’t welcome. “You shouldn’t have come here,” she said, standing her ground. While lying flat on your back, she thought ironically. A twist she certainly hadn’t anticipated.

  She assumed that when she finally had to go home and face Sam’s wrath, she’d be toe-to-toe with him. “How did you find me, anyway?” she asked. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer, from surprise or dread, she wasn’t sure which. She just needed a minute to shore up that weak spot—the one that Sam could get through. She had to tell herself that this man was the enemy. Well, not the enemy exactly, but definitely a danger to her heart.

  She was in a skimpy, zebra-striped strapless bikini, lying on a lounger with tanning oil smeared all over her body. And the way he was looking down at her, she might as well have been naked. It irked her even more that he’d notice her now, when every day she’d been in that office, working her tail off, he’d quashed every glance of hunger, every hint of lust. Of course, his attentions weren’t of the amorous kind at the moment. But not even the scolding he was delivering could hide the passion that burned in his eyes, and Kat felt i
t right down to her toes.

  “Before I was a partner, Kat, I was an investigator,” he said dryly. “But a word of advice, sweetheart? Never tell your best friend where you’re going when she’s sleeping with my best friend.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Camelot told you?” she asked, outraged that her friend would betray the sacred bonds of the sisterhood.

  “No, she told Jonah, who in turn told me. Her way of getting around the ‘don’t tell Sam where I’m going’ pledge that she says you nearly made her sign in blood.” His mouth formed a straight line, obviously not happy that she’d gone to such extremes.

  Kat groused, “Remind me to include fiancés in that oath next time.”

  “Maybe if you’d given two weeks notice, I wouldn’t have had to go around your girl rules.”

  She scoffed, “Would you have let me go?”

  “Hell no, but at least I would’ve had fourteen days to talk you out of it. Instead I had to get on a plane and come find you. Do you know I’ve been on this beach for over an hour looking for you?” he yelled, and jammed his clenched fists onto his hips.

  He looked as menacing as a sentencing judge, expecting her to be contrite. Fat chance, she thought. She slapped her palm over her heart. “Oh, my! A whole hour, Sam? I’m so touched to know that I’m worth sixty minutes out of your busy schedule. I suppose I should be grateful you didn’t bill me for your time,” she said sarcastically. “In fact”—she tipped her head and pointed up at him—“I’ll tell you what, Counselor. Go ahead and bill me for your services, and then we’ll consider our association terminated. You can just hop back on that plane and get on with your life.” She squinted her eyes in annoyance now. “And I can get on with mine.”

  “Stop being ridiculous, Kat. I’m not going anywhere.”

  She growled in her throat. “Me? Ridiculous? What’s ridiculous is that you think coming down here would get me to change my mind. And you’re a lawyer, Sam. There’s a name for your behavior. It’s called stalking, and last I heard, that was illegal.” People were beginning to stare, and though she’d never shrunk away from attention, she didn’t like being chastised.

  Sam’s brows furrowed, disbelief marring his features. “You don’t really believe I’m stalking you, Kat.”

  She lowered her voice, this time really contrite for thinking it. “No,” she admitted. “You’d never lay a hand on me.” Much to my disappointment, she thought wryly. “And you’d never do anything to frighten me.” But she sighed and her eyes burned in frustration. “But I left for a reason, and don’t ask me what it is because I won’t tell you. It’s personal.” He was scowling down at her, eyes drilling into hers, and Kat was hotter than she’d been for the last two hours, basking in the sun. She might try and force herself to bury her feelings for Sam in anger or derision, but the sensations just a look could evoke still burned white-hot. Her skin felt scalded under his piercing gaze. Damn the man!

  He gave her one of his “I’m not amused” looks, and waited for an explanation nonetheless. Well, he can wait until the sun goes down, and comes right back up, she thought to herself. She wasn’t about to give it to him! Not without betraying what was in her heart. And Kat didn’t want it broken on some stretch of beautiful beach. She would save the anguish for the real world, thank you very much. Her emotions had taken quite a beating these past months because she’d honestly believed that there was something there, and if she waited him out, Sam would see that he had a second chance at happiness if he’d only let himself feel again.

  She tipped her head and the sun beat down on her face, but she could see Sam’s eyes stray downward to the way her breasts moved when she squinted and shadowed her eyes with her hand. He might have his hangups, she mused, but he was still a typical, red-blooded male. A little bit of bouncing flesh, and his mind wandered. She almost called him on it, but hunger replaced the frown on his face, and he seemed to forget what he was standing there for. His libido was actually working to her advantage.

  “Go home, Sam.” Her body was betraying her in ways she didn’t want him to see. She was hot and aroused under his gaze, and that was so wrong. She’d had to talk herself up to walking away from a job she loved and a man she couldn’t make love her. Now she wanted to be alone and wallow in misery for a while. It was her pity party, and he was ruining it.

  His rigid stance softened; like a lawyer, he changed tactics. “I told you, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere. And I don’t have to be in court again for a week, so I’m free for a while. But then, you know that, don’t you? Before you pulled your Houdini act, you left me my schedule for the next month.”

  “I did, didn’t I?” she grumbled, wishing she’d picked a week that he was swamped in work and couldn’t get away. But somewhere deep inside, she wondered why she had chosen to quit when she knew that there wasn’t anything stopping him from tracking her down.

  Her heart sank. Oh, no! Did she bring this on herself? Did she secretly hope that Sam would come and drag her home? No! she thought. She wouldn’t wish this hurt on her worst enemy. Well, yes she would. Maybe her worst enemy, but not on herself, Dammit! Her doubt made her angry. “Never say I wasn’t an efficient assistant, Sam Parrish.”

  His lip curled. “Your work performance isn’t why I’m here. I think you know that.”

  Okay, that threw her. What was he—? No! She wouldn’t let him do this to her again, pulling her in, just to turn his back at the last minute. No more! “You just hate not having the last word, that’s all this is. I quit without giving you a chance at rebuttal. I told you, Sam. It’s personal.” She chose her words carefully because it had everything to do with him. “It’s not your concern.”

  “Everything about you concerns me, Kat,” he said quietly, and she felt that shiver race up her spine at his voice, like a caress along her skin. Damn! She was sinking all over again. She could spar with any man with one hand tied behind her back, but when Sam talked to her in that low, intimate tone, she melted like butter.

  As much as she wanted to just crawl into a hole and hibernate until spring, forget how wonderful he looked standing over her, his chest and broad shoulders covered with a sheen of sweat, Kat saw that Sam wasn’t going to let her sidestep the issue here. From his guarded look, he wasn’t any happier than she was to be discussing private business with an audience watching the drama. And even though she wasn’t sure how to take that last statement, it would be emotional suicide to be alone with him. She’d say things that she’d been so careful to keep hidden. She couldn’t spill her guts now. Better to be in a public place, where there were plenty of people around and the arousal that always gripped her when he was near would be tempered.

  He cocked his hip and crossed his arms. “You might as well just come talk to me, Kat.”

  She pressed her lips together, not ready to concede yet. She still had some fight left in her.

  “All right then. We’ll do it here. But I can guarantee you won’t like what I have to say.”

  Her eyes shot to his. “Like what?” She was the wounded party here. She hadn’t done a thing but love a man who couldn’t love her back. Gimme your best shot, she thought.

  He smirked. His lip curled and she knew she’d made a grave mistake in underestimating this man.

  “Oh, I don’t know … maybe we should talk about your penchant for flirtatious behavior in the workplace.”

  Kat’s mouth dropped open. She was actually speechless. The blood drained from her face. He didn’t actually believe that she was guilty of that, did he? Her eyes burned again, holding his gaze as she finally found her voice. “Don’t do this, Parrish. You won’t like where it leads either.”

  He met her challenge, one brow raising. “What have ya got, sweetheart?”

  “I’m not a tease.”

  If they weren’t so angry at each other, Kat might’ve laughed at the way he went rigid, furious and offended. He actually staggered back like he’d been struck. “I’m a tease? You’ve got to be kidding,” he said. “If
it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be in a constant state of—”

  Kat scrambled up off the lounger and slapped her hand over his mouth. She took her cue from the state of his arousal and stopped him before everyone within shouting distance could hear him finish that sentence. She was glad to know that she wasn’t the only one who suffered from those hot, hungry looks, but enough was enough. They’d embarrassed each other enough.

  “Okay, okay. Uncle! You win. We’ll talk in private,” she muttered through tightly clenched teeth. Touching him in any way was delicious, and Kat fought the pull, chanting to herself that he’d just played dirty pool and she wasn’t going to forgive him for it.

  Her hand stayed clamped over his mouth as she looked around again. Great. They were making a spectacle of themselves. Not that she usually gave a damn. She just didn’t like doing it so scantily clad.

  She gasped, clapping her eyes on Sam when his tongue flicked out and tasted the soft pad of her palm. His normally slate blue eyes were as dark as a brewing storm now, and his nostrils flared as he breathed. He was still coiled tight as a spring, but Kat recognized that look, and it wasn’t anywhere near annoyance anymore. She swallowed hard, feeling the weight of that stare wash over her.

  He reached up and tugged her hand away from his warm lips. “Oh yeah,” he said huskily. “We definitely need some privacy right now.”

  He let go of her hand and she curled her fingers around her damp palm.

  Bending down, he stuffed her book, tanning oil, and wrap into her bag. He literally tossed it to her as he folded her beach chair and set out her sandals for her to slip into. “Better put them on. When you step off that towel, you’ll feel how hot the sand is.”