15 Shades Of Pink

by Scott, Lisa

  “It’s supposed to look like a butterfly.” I’d had it done when I graduated from college. It took up the space between my shoulder blades. Kim and her friends had been duly shocked when they saw it. They’d never tarnish their skin with such graffiti, that was for sure. I liked it. It was like my own personal artwork. But I wasn’t sure what Jay would think.

  However, when I felt his lips on the back of my neck and his hands on my waist, I figured he was okay with it.

  I caught my breath and turned to him. Before I could say anything, his lips were on mine, and my hormones took over, kissing him back, because who wouldn’t? But as his hands worked their way further south, I stepped back, breaking our kiss.

  “I’m sorry, I’m not a friends-with-benefits kind of girl.”

  He ran his hand through his dark, wet hair. “What if I want to be more than friends?”

  I put my hand on my hip and gave him a look. “You’re down here for two weeks. Then it’s off to our separate worlds where I work at a dumpy diner, and you save the day. “More than that” isn’t even a possibility.” I knew I couldn’t handle back-to-back heartbreaks, and whose heart wouldn’t be broken after a whirl with Jay?

  He held up his hands. “No, I get it. I’m sorry. You’re not that kind of girl. I just…” He shook his head.

  You just what? What!?

  His eyes still looked hopeful. “Who says it has to end here? I live up in Foxboro, year-round. What about you?”

  Shaking my head I let out a little laugh. “After this summer, I’m not sure where I’m living.” I told him the story about Vince and my job. “I’m in the middle of major transitions on all fronts. Not the best time to be starting a relationship.”

  He nodded. “I understand. I hope you figure things out. But if you change your mind…” He lifted an eyebrow.

  I shook my head. “And besides, I’ve got flyers to make. We’ve got a big celebrity coming to the diner Friday to save the day.”

  “I hope you plan on paying him in ice cream.”

  I was glad we were back to our friendly ways. I liked him too much to ruin everything with a quick fling. Besides, he was helping Dell, and that was the most important thing.

  He dried off with a towel and hung it over his deck.

  Seriously, I was turning him down? asked a little devil on my shoulder. I shooed her away. “Hey, I know four girls who would be more than happy to keep you company.”

  “No thanks. I’ll stick with my friend.”

  My throat felt tight, but I managed a grin. “You’re just after my ice cream.”

  He laughed. “Maybe.”

  ***

  I printed fliers advertising for our new Go-Fly-A-Kite Fridays, that Jason Henry would be joining in the fun, and visitors could try his new Scoopy’s Kooky Ice Cream Flavor. Jay helped me pass out fliers on the beach and tack them to telephone poles. We stopped back at my place, and the girls were lounging in Kim’s yard. Shocker.

  “Hi, Jay!” Sarah called. She popped up from her chair and waved.

  He waved back, and that was invitation enough for Kim to scamper over, grab him by the hand and drag him to their party palace.

  He looked back at me. “I’ll stop by tomorrow and help finish the tables. As long as you promise not to paint me again.”

  “You started it.”

  He laughed. “You’re right.”

  Then Kim and her friends pounced. I went inside to read a book. I couldn’t see them, but I could still hear their chattering. I think they liked to be loud to be sure everyone within earshot would be convinced that no one could possibly be having as much fun as they were.

  “So, you’re not dating anyone, are you Jay?” Sarah asked.

  They’d all started calling him Jay now that they knew his friends called him that instead of Jason.

  “You’re certainly not dating her are you?” Nia asked, before he could answer.

  “I like hanging out with Summer. She’s fun.”

  “Well, you’re going to meet tons of great girls at my party. It starts at six, but why don’t you get here earlier?” Kim asked.

  Then Beth chimed in. “What are you doing the rest of the week?”

  “Actually, you guys could join me for a promotional event I’m doing. Kite flying on Friday.”

  Kim clapped. “Ooh, fun. I love kites. We’ll be there, girls, won’t we?”

  That was followed by a chorus of yeses. “Where is it, Jay?”

  “Scoopy’s, at noon.”

  Silence. “You mean that diner? Where she works?”

  “Yeah, it’s gonna be great. See you there.”

  Oh, I could kiss him again for that. I could kiss him again for no reason at all. But I wouldn’t. Not when everything in my life was up in the air.

  ***

  The next day, Jay stopped by for lunch again, and we detailed the picnic tables, painting shells and starfish on the tables. Jay painted basketballs but I made him turn them into crabs since we were going for a nautical theme. And that turned into another paint fight. And that led to another shower outside at his place.

  And another kiss. But this time, we ended up inside on his couch for an even hotter kiss. I wriggled out of his embrace before things turned scorching. “Okay, that was…” I sucked in a breath and held up my hand. “Incredible. But, we’re not going to do that again.”

  He crossed his arms and shook his head. “No, no. Of course not. Somehow, I totally forgot what you said yesterday.” He twined his finger round a lock of my hair and tugged me back toward him.

  Oh, just one more kiss won’t hurt. “Yeah, me, too.”

  ***

  I spent the next day making batches of Clams Casino ice cream and posted an ad on Craigslist, looking for local artists and crafters. Dell was so excited and hopeful about the plans. I worried I was getting her hopes up for nothing. Please work, I thought.

  Jay met me at the diner when my shift ended. “Let’s go hit the beach. You deserve a break. Got your bathing suit on under there?”

  “You know it.” I followed him down to the beach, and we set up our chairs and umbrella not far from Kim and her pals.

  I wondered if he’d done that to send them another message—I’ve found my vacation fling. Even though it wasn’t true. But it was a good excuse to keep them away. I didn’t mind helping out. I’m nice like that.

  I could feel the glares from Kim and her group. I closed my eyes and hoped they’d pack up and go back to her place. No such luck. Kim walked over with a drink.

  “You know, you can invite some of your friends to the party if you want,” she said, stirring her drink with her finger. “It’s going to be super fun.”

  He looked up at her, shading his eyes. “That’s good to know. I’ll keep it in mind.”

  “It’s going to be the party of the summer. My parties always are.” She walked away and looked at him over her shoulder, which was incredibly annoying, because that was the move he used on me.

  I hoped the growl in my throat wasn’t audible. Even though we could use all the business we could get, I really hoped the girls didn’t show up at Scoopy’s.

  ***

  But they did show up, in carefully coordinated, designer outfits meant to look playful and fun, yet casual like they were in a magazine ad. But I didn’t have time to worry about them, not even when they surrounded Jay, begging for help with their kites, professing total ignorance of the sport.

  I watched them through the front window while I scooped ice cream. We were quickly running out of Clams Casino ice cream. Everyone was trying it, with mixed reactions of course. And everyone wanted to know what next week’s Scoopy’s Kooky flavor would be.

  Improvising, I announced, “Lobster with butter.”

  Eyes widened at that and a few folks giggled, but I also heard promises to come back. Flyers disappeared for the art show, and we even sold out of all those party hats we had in stock.

  Jay finished signing autographs around four, and the crowd died dow
n. Dell was in the back kitchen adding up the day’s receipts.

  I wandered back, wiping my hands on my apron. “How’d we do?”

  Her glistening eyes gave me my answer. “We made as much today as we did all last week. I can’t thank you enough.”

  I ran over and hugged her. “This is the start of new things, I just know it.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “For you, too. You must mean something to that Jason for him to do this.”

  I waved off the idea. “No, it’s not like that. He’s just a nice guy who likes to help out. And he likes your diner, not me.” Well, he liked fooling around with me, but he didn’t like me. God, I sounded like I was talking about Finn Donahue back in high school.

  “Oh, and we need to order some lobsters. We’re serving lobster and butter ice cream next week.”

  Dell’s eyes widened and she pressed her hand against her mouth to cover her laugh. “My word. That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” She shrugged. “I’ll get some for you tomorrow.” Then she pulled me into a hug. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up this summer.”

  Me neither. “It’s been fun.” I was glad things were turning around for her. Too bad they weren’t doing the same for me. I still had no idea where I was going to live or what I was going to do for work when the summer ended.

  The door opened and Jay came in. “You’re in big trouble if you didn’t save me any of that ice cream.”

  “You’re still hungry? I brought out three hot dogs and a double order of fries an hour ago.”

  “No, it’s to ice down my fingers.” He shook his hand dramatically. “I must’ve signed a hundred autographs.”

  “Sorry I couldn’t come out and help with the kites. Everyone wanted ice cream.” I reached into the cooler and pulled out the dish I’d saved for him. “You deserve it. Thanks so much.” I rubbed at a spot on top of the cooler. “So, how long did Kim and her friends stay?”

  “Once they got their kite strings tangled together and declared the Clams Casino ice cream unfathomable, they left.”

  “Ah, so you weren’t paying enough attention to them.”

  “Nia actually pushed a little kid out of the way looking for me to sign his kite.”

  “Oh, no. I’m sure she just tripped on her high-heeled sandals.”

  “Actually, that’s what she said.” He laughed.

  I untied my apron and shook my hair out of its ponytail. “So, are you bringing any of your friends to their party tomorrow?”

  One corner of his mouth curled up. “I am.”

  I crossed my arms, wondering if his friends were nice like him, or more of the dog variety. “Hope you have fun.”

  He finished his ice cream and tossed the dish in the trash. “You ready to go?”

  “I’m beat. My feet are killing me.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You know, we haven’t tried out the hot tub yet.”

  “Now there’s an offer I can’t refuse.”

  ***

  It was hard to gauge how steamy things were getting, considering we were kissing in the hot tub. “Why do I keep forgetting to be just friends with you?” I asked, teasing the hair at the nape of his neck.

  “Maybe because we do this so well.” He kissed me again, but I didn’t let it go further than that. He offered to walk me home, but I didn’t want to put him out any more than I already had.

  “Thanks so much for what you did. This could really be a turning point for Dell.” I crossed my fingers.

  “It was fun, and you had a lot of great ideas.”

  I gathered my stuff to leave. “So, stop by before you go to Kim’s party.”

  “Of course. See you tomorrow.” He watched me walk away.

  If I could truly handle just fooling around with him, why did it suck so much going home alone? I wanted more, I had to admit it. But if we did get together, I’d be a wreck when he left. I screamed in frustration and collapsed on my bed when I got home.

  ***

  Saturday was another busier-than-usual day, and I made it home just before Kim’s party was getting underway. Crews were finishing setting up a white tent with sparkly lights. A bartender was putting out an impressive spread.

  Kim looked up as I got out of my car. “I thought I smelled grease.”

  I sniffed my hair and shrugged. She was right. “Have a fun party!”

  She grinned. “We will. I can’t wait to see who Jay’s bringing.”

  I planned on going into Hyannis for some dinner and shopping. I truly didn’t want to go to the party, but I didn’t feel like listening to it all night, either. I hopped in the shower and decided to dress up for a change. Maybe the girls would think I had somewhere better to go. I giggled to myself, amused. In high school, it would have bothered me that the queen bees didn’t like me. Didn’t matter now, and it was quite freeing.

  I slipped on a short black dress, put on makeup and straightened my hair. I didn’t look half bad. I wondered what Jay would think. God, that’s not why I’m doing this, is it?

  He stopped by a few minutes later, freshly showered and gorgeous, and his reaction was good—very good. “Wow, and I thought you looked hot in that sexy green uniform.”

  I went to whack him, but remembered how much that hurt last time. “I’m just going out for some shopping. Thought it might be nice not to look like a slouch all the time.”

  “Oh, and here I thought you were going to come to the party with me.”

  “No, you’re going with your friends. Have fun and be careful. Those girls have claws and they use them.” I hated thinking about all the women pawing over him, but he wasn’t really my guy to worry about.

  “I’m only bringing one friend.”

  “Who?” Another NBA player? That’d get the girls going.

  “You.”

  I stepped back. “Me? They don’t want me there.”

  “They said I could bring a friend. And I want to bring you. You’ve been insisting we be friends.” He took a step closer to me.

  I stepped back again. “Jay…”

  “Come on. I don’t want to go to this party. If they’re rude, we’ll leave.”

  I let out a whine.

  “Please? I helped you with go-fly-a-kite day…”

  “Oh, I can’t believe you’re hanging that over my head.”

  “That’s how desperate I am,” he said.

  I crossed my arms. “We can leave if it’s horrible?”

  “Promise.”

  I frowned, but he was hard to resist. If he kept his promise, we wouldn’t be there long; they were sure to be rude.

  We walked across the street just after six, and Nia spotted Jay. She waved, giggled, and snorted. “You’re right on time.”

  “I thought you were coming early,” Kim said, then she looked at me. “What are you doing here?”

  Jay put his arm around me. “You said I could bring a friend.”

  Kim’s deeply tanned face somehow managed to turn red. She took a minute to gain her composure. “Okay, then.” She turned away from him. “Drinks are under the tent; have a good time.”

  Clearly, Kim knew she’d been had. But the rest of the pack didn’t. Nia pulled Jay over to the bar, while Beth cornered me.

  “Did you come up with all those promotional ideas for the diner?” she asked.

  I took a deep breath, remembering that Beth and I could be friends in a parallel universe. I nodded. “It turned out really well.”

  “Damn right it did. Have you ever worked in marketing before?”

  “No, I was in human resources at a college, but I got laid off in the spring.”

  Her eyes widened. “I didn’t know. I just assumed with your job at the diner…” She let her words trail off.

  “I’m just trying to figure out what to do next.”

  She took a drink and sighed. “Me, too. I was marketing director for a small non-profit that helps underprivileged teens find work. If only I had half your creativity, maybe I would hav
e enjoyed it.”

  “That sounds really interesting, actually. Much more stimulating than human resources.” I twirled my finger as if to say, yahoo!

  “But I suppose you won’t have to work, now that you’ve scooped up Jay.”

  I shook my head. “Number one, I haven’t scooped up anyone. And number two, I’ll always work. I need to be productive.” The sound of steel drums filled the air, as the band started playing.

  “Work when you don’t have to?” She wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “Well, everybody’s different. I’m going to go mingle. Good luck!” She refilled her drink and then scooted over to Kim. I just know she was giving her the good news—Jay and I weren’t a couple. Some squealing and jumping on their part confirmed that.

  Where was he, anyway? He drags me to this party and disappears? I looked around for him, and spotted him talking with Nia near the hot tub on the side of the house. I walked over, but they couldn’t see me behind a row of tall ornamental grass, rustling in the soft breeze.

  I could hear them, though.

  “Jay, she’s not what you think,” Sarah said.

  “Oh?”

  I peeked through the grass.

  “She’s like, poor. In fact, I think she’s homeless. She’s staying in her friend’s house for the summer, she’s working at this dumpy diner, and she has a tattoo,” she whispered. “On her back.” She made a face. “A girl like that is probably after your money. I just wanted to warn you.”

  He rubbed his chin. “Really, you think so?”

  Sarah nodded solemnly.

  “I’m usually pretty good knowing when someone’s just after my money.”

  “So you can probably tell she is.”

  He crossed his arms, thinking. “She makes some awful good stuff down at the diner. She scores a few points for that.”

  Sarah blinked up at him. “I make awesome martinis.”

  “I don’t really drink all that much. I work too hard to stay in shape to get wasted.”

  Widening her eyes, she nodded. “Oh, me too. Well, I’m drinking a little tonight.” She gestured to her glass. “I just mean when someone else wants a drink, I make a good one.”