by Ronica Black
“Pointless?”
What the hell is she getting at? And why won’t she stop staring at me with those eyes that are as dark and dreamy as a moonless night sky?
“You don’t have any way to cook the food.”
Blake flushed so hard she almost grew dizzy from the heat.
McKenna. Fucking McKenna.
She sent me over here knowing that. But I was so busy trying to act like I didn’t care about Cam that I didn’t even think about it.
And now, I look like an idiot. Kenna got what she wanted, but I end up looking like a fool.
She’s a dead woman.
D-E-A-D.
Blake’s mind flew, desperate for a way, any way, to save face.
“We have the grill,” she said.
Cam’s eyebrow lifted.
Yeah. The grill. Good one.
“So, if you’ll just kindly give me the food, I can be on my way.”
Cam shrugged. “Okay then.”
She opened the fridge and Blake heard her slide open a drawer as she purposely averted her gaze, knowing how dangerous it would be for her to see Cam bend over to retrieve the items from the fridge. She was already embarrassed, and she wasn’t about to ogle the woman any further.
Cam turned, eggs, bacon, and orange juice in hand, and pushed the door closed with her hip. She put the goods in plastic grocery bags before carrying them over to Blake. She held them out with a sly smile.
“Enjoy your breakfast.”
“Thank you.” Blake gave her the biggest, fakest smile she could manage and walked back to the patio door. The view of the ocean through the large windows was spectacular and she lost her breath momentarily before regaining her composure, pushing yet another longing from her mind. This one had her curled up on the sofa in the evening, turned toward the window, taking in that vast view of the ocean as the colors of the sunset danced along the surface of the water. Only this time Cam wasn’t sitting at the other end of the sofa. She was nestled behind her, holding her in her arms.
Blake was glad she didn’t have to face Cam again as she left. She was certain she’d be able to see that longing in her eyes. The longing she hated to admit was there.
She left the dogs behind and hurried down the steps, through the sand back to Sloane’s. When she entered the house, she found Sloane and McKenna locked in an embrace in the kitchen, kissing and laughing softly. They glanced over at her in surprise and McKenna’s surprise seemed to double when she saw the bags.
“You got the food,” she said.
Sloane looked confused and Blake guessed McKenna hadn’t yet let her in on her little morning plot to get Blake and Cam alone together again.
“We can’t cook it, B,” Sloane said.
“I’m going to cook it on the grill.” She felt pretty proud of herself. She’d found a solution and it was one in which McKenna couldn’t claim total victory. Blake wasn’t about to reveal how embarrassing and heart-stopping her visit to Cam’s had been. Nuh-uh. She was just going to act peachy keen and cook breakfast on a pan on the grill.
Sloane pinched the bridge of her nose and the sigh she let out smashed Blake’s redemptive mood to pieces.
“I don’t think there’s enough propane left to do that.”
Blake’s arms grew suddenly weak.
“There wasn’t that much to begin with, and after dinner last night, and how long it took to light the grill and cook and everything, I’d be very surprised if there was any left at all.”
“There’s more, though. Right? In the garage? You have another tank.”
“The guy who brings it comes on Tuesdays. I wasn’t planning on having to need any before then.”
“We should try though,” Blake said. “I bet I can cook quickly enough.” She started to walk into the kitchen, fiercely determined to make it work. Whatever it took.
“Blake, stop,” Sloane said softly. “Don’t waste food trying. We can make do with juice and granola bars for now. Cam’s friend will be here soon to check on the electricity. Let’s just wait and go from there.”
“But I—”
“Just take the food back. Maybe we’ll be able to cook it later. Have breakfast for lunch if you want.”
Blake stammered. Blinked. All in an attempt to plead with her friends. But she could come up with nothing and they didn’t seem to understand.
At last, she gave up and nodded. But there was one thing she wouldn’t give in to. One thing she wouldn’t do.
“You guys can take the food back. I’m going to go lie down.”
“Okay,” Sloane said, concern furrowing her brow. “We’ll try to keep it down.”
“No need,” Blake said. “I’m not going to be in here.” She grabbed a beach towel off one of the living room chairs and slid the back door open. She headed down to the beach where she was going to lie under the big, blue sky, close her eyes and let the sunshine and the hypnotic sound of the breaking waves take her away.
Chapter Eleven
“The woman?” Tomas asked, practicing his English as he often did with Cam while they finished up in Sloane’s garage. They’d just reset the breaker for the fifth time after having gone back and forth from the house unplugging numerous appliances. “From the market?”
Cam nodded and he scratched his head as she explained.
“She’s staying here with her friends. She’s on vacation.”
“Where is she?”
Cam shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s out on the beach.” They hadn’t seen Blake at all as they’d worked on Sloane’s electrical problem. McKenna had also been absent.
“Is she…angry?”
Cam laughed. “Like she was yesterday? Not exactly. But she wouldn’t have my vote for personality of the year.”
He seemed confused by the statement but he moved on.
“But she is here? Next to you? Ay, Dios mío.”
“Tell me about it.” Cam closed the door to the breaker box and wiped the dust from her hands, hoping this was the last trip to the garage. Tomas had arrived at her house that morning thinking he was there to do a job for her. But he’d readily agreed to do what he could for Sloane as soon as Cam relayed the situation. He was one of those people who could fix just about anything having to do with construction or home repair. In fact, she’d learned most of what she knew from him. She kept encouraging him to start his own business, so he could give up having to fish with his brother during the season and focus on contract work full-time. But to date, he hadn’t seemed to take her advice.
He patted her shoulder like he was offering condolences as they went back inside the house. Sloane met them just inside the door looking apprehensive.
“Give it a try,” Cam said.
Sloane flipped the switch for the entryway light and beamed when it came on, and more importantly, stayed on. “It works!” She scurried to try the lights in the kitchen and living room. “Everything works!”
She returned to Tomas and pumped his hand vigorously. “You’re a real lifesaver, my friend. How much do I owe you? Name your price. I’ll give you just about anything. Money, kidney, anything.”
He laughed and looked down as he shifted his feet. Cam could tell he was a little embarrassed at her enthusiastic gratitude, despite not understanding some of it.
“Nada,” he said. He held up his palm. “Is not necessary.”
Sloane looked at Cam.
“He just saved my entire stay and he doesn’t want anything for it?”
“No,” Tomas said, waving his hand. “No charge.” He glanced at Cam and spoke to her in Spanish.
“You’re my neighbor,” she said to Sloane after he’d finished. “And my friend. So, he says there’s no charge.”
He touched Cam’s arm and said something more, but she didn’t want to repeat it.
Tomas slapped her arm with the back of his hand, demanding that she do so.
“What is it?” Sloane asked.
“He says he hopes it will make things right with your fr
iend.”
“My friend?”
Cam avoided her gaze. “Blake.”
“Blake?”
“He—we—” Cam started. She took a moment to gather her thoughts.
She tried again. “Blake bought shrimp from him yesterday in town and she got upset because he didn’t have any of the brown shrimp left. So, this is his way of trying to make things right with her.”
Sloane seemed contemplative. “Yeah, Kenna finally filled me in on the fish market drama last night. We feel partly responsible. Blake was following Kenna’s instructions and she’s a very loyal friend who always does her very best to help. But sometimes she—she’s a very determined woman and she doesn’t like to disappoint. I apologize. For her, and for Kenna and me.”
“Is okay. No problems,” Tomas said.
“All right then. I’ll be sure to let Blake know of your generosity.”
“That’s not really necessary,” Cam interjected. She did not want the fish market can of worms reopened. “As long as you know why he—”
Tomas slapped her arm again. Hard.
She winced. “Okay, okay. Yes, please let her know if you would.”
“You got it,” Sloane said and she opened the back door for them, allowing Tomas to exit first. When Cam tried to leave, she stopped her with a soft hand to her forearm.
“What about you, Cam? Can you forgive her?”
“Pardon?” Cam tried to hide her stupor at being asked such a direct question.
“She’s not a bad person,” Sloane said. “Surely you’ve realized that by now.”
“I don’t really know her.”
Yes, I do. She’s stubborn and willful and prideful. She blushes profusely when she’s angry or embarrassed.
And I do seem to know how to push her buttons.
“After some of the things we talked about last night, I’d say you know more than you think you do. Why don’t you come over, spend some time with us, with Blake? I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
Cam was so uncomfortable she was about to crawl out of her skin. She didn’t like being cornered and put on the spot. And she didn’t understand why Sloane was pushing Blake at her so hard. She’d mentioned that Blake was single when they’d gone to get the propane lamps the night before, and then more than insinuated her need for a girlfriend when Cam feigned polite interest to cover her surprise at the lack of concern over the fish market incident. Which Sloane never did bring up, choosing instead to ask Cam a few questions about herself. But Cam had passed that whole thing off as just an innocent attempt on Sloane’s part to try to set her friend up.
Now, however, Cam could see that there was obviously something more to that attempt than she’d initially realized given what Sloane just said. Whatever it was, she wanted no part of it. “I’m pretty busy with my work.”
Sloane dropped her hand from the door. “Not interested, huh? I had hoped the things I shared with you about Blake might cause you to feel differently. But, hey, if the magic isn’t there, it isn’t there, right?”
Magic? No, there’s no magic. There’s something there, I’ll give you that, but it isn’t magical or fantastical like some feel-good fairy tale. It’s ardent and agonizing. Fervent and emphatic. To put it bluntly, it’s maddening, and the things you said about her haven’t helped with that in any way whatsoever.
Cam wanted to say it all aloud, but she was aware of the dichotomy of her feelings and any mention of the physical attraction she felt for Blake, maddening or not, would only encourage Sloane to keep pushing.
They stepped outside and Sloane once again focused on Tomas, offering him again some sort of payment for his help. But Tomas only smiled and politely declined. Then he and Cam turned to leave but were stopped abruptly by Blake as she tried to enter the patio.
Cam was jolted and immediately frustrated at her unexpected arrival. But those feelings quickly became trivial as Blake’s appearance took precedence, rendering Cam speechless. She was wearing a bright yellow string bikini top, which left very little to the imagination due to her ample breasts, and a pair of very thin, very small, knit shorts. Her skin shimmered with coconut scented suntan lotion, which struck Cam considerably as she tried to control her breathing. Blake’s fit body, particularly her muscles, only added to Cam’s breathing troubles. They were so tight and carefully carved they rippled beneath her enticing skin at the slightest of movements.
Cam eased on her sunglasses to conceal the hunger she feared was apparent in her stare. Blake, however, did the opposite and pulled hers from her face. She looked at both her and Tomas in what could only be disbelief.
“Hola, miss,” Tomas said. He sounded nervous and Cam waited to see how Blake would respond.
Blake’s pink lips parted, and she seemed to be struggling in making sense of the scene before her. Tomas’s presence was probably more confusing than it was shocking.
“Hello,” she finally said to Tomas. “I—wasn’t expecting to see you again—so soon.”
McKenna walked up behind her, dressed similarly to Blake, only her bikini was red and she was covered in an open, light cotton robe that came to rest just below her hips.
“Hi, I’m McKenna. You must be the man we’ve been anxiously waiting for.” She shook Tomas’s hand.
“Tomas,” he said.
Blake suddenly came to life and stuck out her own hand. “I’m so sorry, Tomas. I should’ve introduced myself. I’m Blake. It’s nice to meet you.”
Tomas shook her hand and Cam saw him begin to relax a little as he smiled. Cam searched for any sign that Blake was being disingenuous, but found nothing.
“Electricity’s fixed!” Sloane said peeking between Cam and Tomas. “He fixed it. It was that old microwave your aunt gave us. It was faulty. All we had to do was unplug it. Can you believe it?”
McKenna shrieked and embraced Tomas, surprising him. But she didn’t seem to notice or care. “Thank you! We were worried we were going to have to pack up and leave.”
“He saved our asses,” Sloane said. “And he did it for free. For Blake.”
All eyes fell on Blake and hers widened.
“Me? Why?”
“He wants to make things right with you,” Sloane said. “From your er…unfortunate encounter at the fish market.”
“Oh.” She touched her cheeks as if she were remembering what had transpired between them in town. “That’s really very kind of you, Tomas, but it isn’t necessary. I—I’m the one who should apologize. I was out of line and I wasted so much of your time. I’m sorry I was such a cranky, crazy customer.”
“Is good,” Tomas said.
Blake smiled.
McKenna stepped away from the patio, allowing Tomas to exit. She palmed his cheek as she slipped past him. “If you won’t let us pay you, why don’t you two at least join us for lunch?”
“We still have some things to take care of over at my place,” Cam said, eyeing Tomas, silently encouraging him to agree. She kept her gaze on him even after he complied, so she wouldn’t look at Blake and see her piercing stare and her sun-pinked skin, which not only still shimmered, but smelled so good it had Cam obsessing over piña coladas, curious to know if one would taste anywhere near as good as she was sure Blake’s skin would.
I need to get home and get busy and get away from this woman.
But will staying busy really keep the vision of her in that bikini out of my mind?
I’ll have to work twenty-four seven.
“Another raincheck?” McKenna asked Cam as she wrapped her arm around Sloane and rested her head on her shoulder.
“Yes, another time.” And in another universe.
They said their good-byes and Cam tried to exit the patio. But she did so at the same time as Blake tried to enter. They both paused, mumbled apologies, and tried again, but they did the same thing, mirroring each other’s movements.
McKenna and Sloane laughed.
“You two ought to dance together,” McKenna said. “You’d make quite th
e pair.”
Cam tried to laugh to show her good humor but she couldn’t. The best she could do was offer a strained smile.
“I don’t dance,” she said.
She took a huge sidestep and Blake edged past her, staring into her as if the sunglasses on her face didn’t exist. “Me neither.”
“Well, I hate to tell ya, but you just did,” Sloane said. “And it looked pretty damn good.”
Cam walked out into the sand without looking back, thinking about that old saying. About how looks can be deceiving. She now fully understood the meaning behind that phrase and she thoroughly agreed. Looks really can be deceiving. In more ways than one.
She joined Tomas who had stopped to wait for her. He grinned as they made their way back to her place.
“She’s pretty, mi amiga. Very pretty.”
“I hadn’t noticed.”
He threw his head back and laughed like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. Then he patted her shoulder again and said, “Okay, Santi, if you say so.”
It seemed Tomas was coming to understand some old sayings himself.
Chapter Twelve
Cam set the glass of white wine on the table and then settled into her favorite patio chair. She kicked her feet up onto the ottoman and snuggled into her lightweight hoodie against the late evening breeze. She loved this time of year, when the evenings cooled and the beach grew quiet, as if it, like many of its seasonal inhabitants, was unwinding from a long hot summer.
The change in mood was in the air, for she too, had the inclination to rest with the oncoming of fall. She had to remind herself that she could appreciate it now, instead of dreading it like she had as a kid when she had to leave her aunt and uncle’s house to return to school. She remembered how she used to cry in her bed at night those last few days in Mexico, not wanting to leave her aunt and uncle’s warm home and the seaside town she’d come to love. She’d wanted more than anything to be able to call that place her home. But home for her had been a five-hour drive north to Phoenix, where she’d lived alone with her father. It hadn’t been much of a home at all. There had been no warmth, no good, hearty humor and affectionate embraces like she experienced in Mexico. There had only been indifference. And sometimes, there hadn’t even been that.