Summer Dreaming (Hot in the Hamptons Book 1)

by Liz Matis

  Storme halted mid-step and I nearly ran into her. She whirled around and grabbed my arm. “Sean Dempsey?”

  “You know him?” By the widening of my friend’s eyes, she did. “Should I be jealous?”

  “No! I’m getting married, remember?” Storme released her grip and put her hands on her hips. “It’s just that at the pool party tonight I’d planned to introduce you to one of Philip’s golf buddies. But leave it to Kelsey Mitchell to come to the Hamptons, a hotbed of fabulously rich men, and hook up with the poorest boy around.”

  “Dollar signs don’t mean a thing between the sheets.” It wouldn’t matter if Sean didn’t have a dime. Money had never impressed me. Reaching the landing, I fished for more information. “What else can you tell me about Sean?”

  “The summer girls call him ‘The Hampton Hottie’.”

  Before I could ask Storme to expand, she opened the door and said, “Here you go. I hope you like it.”

  Unlike the downstairs decor, the room was decorated in a casual beach theme. Still, it looked like a page out of a magazine. The crisp white comforter on the queen-sized bed invited me for a nap. Fueled on Red Bull and on the excitement to reach the Hamptons, the long drive from Georgia settled in my bones.

  “The bathroom is through that door,” said Storme.

  “I have my own bathroom?” I risked looking uncool and rushed in. The decor mirrored the bedroom. Seashells and candles lined the lip of a jetted tub, a steam shower with several shower sprays beckoned, and a marble vanity with a place to sit and put on makeup. If I were the squealing type, I’d be squealing like an annoying fourteen-year-old girl.

  Growing up, I’d shared a bathroom with two sisters and then at college with my sorority ones.

  From the door Storme said, “I’ll let you settle in. Come down when you’re ready and we’ll have something to eat. Then we’ll drink Chardonnay on the deck while we watch the sunset in style until Leigh arrives.” Storme went to leave but peeked back in. “Sorry, no lifeguards by my stretch of the beach.”

  Beachfront house, check. Money, check. Chardonnay, check. No lifeguards? Guess it’s true you can’t have it all.

  Chapter 3

  Sean

  I hung by the pool as the partygoers tried to drowned themselves in alcohol. Stone cold sober, I kept watch over the illuminated water, ignoring the chaos around me. After rescuing people from the ocean, saving someone from a pool was easy money. If the rich parents of a twenty-two-year-old entitled punk, who’d never worked a day in his life, wanted to pay me a hundred bucks an hour to lifeguard at their home to prevent a lawsuit, who was I to complain?

  Why someone would go to the expense of building a pool when the Atlantic Ocean was in your backyard, I couldn’t understand. That was rich people for you. Materialistic assholes. With a red plastic cup filled with ice next to me, and a phone to my ear, I tried to blend in as requested.

  The money I earned during my summers had bankrolled my trips around the world during the off-season. But at the end of this one, I’d be headed out for a different kind of adventure.

  I wasn’t going to work parties since I wanted to enjoy the summer nights before I headed to boot camp, but my buddy had a hot date and had pleaded with me to take his spot. I was all about helping a bro out, especially when I had nothing going on tonight. Hot Rod Chick hadn’t called and I wasn’t going to hold my breath. So what if every time my phone rang I looked at the screen hoping for an ‘unknown number’ to pop up.

  I told myself, it’s for the best. One taste of Kelsey and I’d need another and then another. I knew this because I was full of shit. I’d been smiling like an idiot all day just thinking about her. It bothered me that she hadn’t called even if it had only been twelve hours since she’d typed my number into her phone.

  “It’s for the best,” I repeated to myself. Summer romances never lasted. And that’s all it could ever be. Once I entered boot camp, my life wouldn’t be my own.

  I had always dreamed of serving my country. I had been anxious to see the summer fly by, that was until I’d met Kelsey. The prospect of spending the summer in her arms made me want to slow down time. But she hadn’t called.

  Lifeguarding had always been more than a seasonal job. I loved the lifestyle, and I admit, I loved the rush that came with rescuing a life, but it wasn’t a career path unless I moved to a place like California. College had never been on my radar. Not that I was stupid, far from it, but I was what you’d call a ‘hands on’ type of guy.

  Too bad I’d never get them on that Hot Rod Chick’s smoking body.

  Over the blaring hip-hop music, I heard a lounge chair scratching along the brick patio. I ignored it. I was responsible for the pool and nothing else.

  “No!” A loud female voice with a Southern accent had my head snapping up.

  Kelsey.

  Kelsey, who hadn’t called.

  Kelsey, who was letting a trust fund pussy, paw at her body.

  No, not letting. She pushed away from him and made eye contact with me.

  Her pretty mouth worded, “Save me.”

  Well, in or out of the water, I was lifeguard first.

  To prevent a scene, I quickly decided to play the boyfriend angle. Yeah, right. I wanted to claim that girl as mine and make sure the only hands exploring those curves were my own. “Kelsey, babe. I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Sean!”

  Saying my name in her now sweet drawl drove me wild. What would she sound like when I made her come?

  “You didn’t say you had a boyfriend,” said the trust fund pussy.

  “She shouldn’t have to. No, means, no,” I said.

  “Sometimes, it means maybe.”

  “Maybe, this will make it more clear.” Kelsey stomped on the guy’s bare foot with the spiked heel of her shoe. The ruffles at the bottom of her yellow mini dress flounced showing off more leg than I supposed she intended. I itched to play with the fabric and find out what lay beneath.

  “Bitch.”

  I wasn’t the jealous type, so when a wave of possessiveness flooded my body, it took me by surprise. My hand curled into a fist, but Kelsey’s fingers caressed mine, easing the rage to a ripple.

  “Creeper,” said Kelsey.

  With a slight limp, the trust fund pussy skulked off into the throng of partiers.

  “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”

  If that little show was anything to go by, then she hadn’t needed my help at all.

  The scent of vanilla wafted in the air, tempting me to nuzzle the delicate curve of her neck. I leaned forward and whispered, “Too bad you didn’t require mouth-to-mouth. It’s one my specialties.” I pulled back so I could see her reaction.

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, lifeguard humor.”

  I lifted her hand, brushing a kiss on her wrist. “It’s no joke.”

  She tugged on her bottom lip in that cute way of hers. Damn, I wanted to do the job myself. Tug, lick, kiss, and more. Much more.

  A splash sounded. I tore my gaze away from her hot mouth and scanned the pool. I had broken a cardinal rule of lifeguarding. Never look away from the water. Easy going as I was, I took my duties as a lifeguard seriously.

  Luckily, the guys performing cannonballs weren’t drowning. Horseplay was fine by me, but when combined with alcohol it made for a dangerous mix. I couldn’t yell ‘no jumping’ without embarrassing the host of the party. This wasn’t the local pool with a gang of preadolescent boys being boys. This was worse. Prevention was half the battle of lifeguarding. In this situation, I was unable to stop the inevitable. I was on standby until someone hurt themselves.

  I turned back to Kelsey. “Sorry, I’m on duty.” With my eyes back on the water, I continued, “I moonlight as a private lifeguard.”

  “I didn’t know there was such a thing.”

  “Go figure.”

  “No red shorts?”

  I wore blue ones. “Not tonight.”

  “Not even a whistle?”

 
“Yeah, that would make me real popular at a party like this. I’m supposed to fit in.”

  “Well, you’re doing a terrible job.”

  “How so?”

  “You’re not stupid ass drunk.”

  I laughed. “I do have that going for me.” I didn’t dare turn my head, not even for a quick glance. If I did, I might not be able to peel my gaze away from how the light of the pool made her eyes seem like liquid fire. And that mouth! I wondered what she tasted like. Vanilla?

  “Who are you here with?”

  “Two of my girlfriends. Speaking of which, I should go find them.”

  I wondered if I knew them. “I’ll be here until 1:00 AM if you need me.”

  “Good to know.”

  I risked that glance. Her smile promised her return.

  But she didn’t. Either some slick playboy got to her or Kelsey was playing hard to get. Hard to get I could work with. I could play that game with the best of them.

  Chapter 4

  Kelsey

  My eyes opened to the sun streaming through the window. Making a mental note to draw the shades tonight, I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head. My muscles ached from the long drive, a day at the beach, and then partying all night. I felt guilty for abandoning Sean, but he was on the job and I wanted his full attention. There’d be plenty of time this summer to explore the depths of his blue-eyed gaze, unless he had found someone else last night. I whipped off the covers. Maybe it was time to call him. Reaching for my cell phone on the nightstand, I groaned at the time. 7:00 AM. I guessed it was a little early so I flopped to my back for a long, lazy stretch. A girl could get used to this life.

  A long run on the beach would get my blood pumping. Ever since the volleyball season ended, I’d been running to keep in shape. Maybe there was a 5k I could enter to satisfy my need for competition. Growing up a tomboy, it was never about how could I look pretty, but how I could I win.

  I hadn’t even worn makeup until my senior year in high school when my younger sister had held an intervention of sorts. It was embarrassing.

  I slid out of bed before the comfortable mattress lulled me back to sleep. I knew better than to attempt to wake up Storme or Leigh this early, never mind ask them to go for a run. I was on my own, which was okay with me.

  Dressed in peach-colored shorts and a t-shirt, I hit the sand running. Thoughts raced around my mind faster than my feet were carrying my body. When the summer was over, so was playtime in the Hamptons sandbox. Was it time to grow up and get a job or follow my heart and further my studies in architecture in Europe? Or something else entirely? After four years of college I should have had it all figured out, but I was just as confused as ever. I wondered what advice my Dad would’ve given me and if I would’ve listened. It’s not like I ever listened to my mother’s. What daughter does?

  I don’t know if it was the salted air or the sound of waves but I hit that zone, and all my worries flew away on the ocean breeze. Or maybe, I was simply in denial.

  Not used to running on the wet sand, my legs began to burn and I slowed up. My Fitbit read 3 miles. I hadn’t planned on going so far. I was about to turn around for a nice easy stroll back to the house when farther down the beach I spotted a group of shirtless guys in red shorts. Lifeguards? Sean?

  I found some extra fuel in my tank and casually jogged over. As I approached, I angled off to the dry sand and sat at a discreet distance, yet still close enough to ogle Sean and the other lifeguards performing sprints, pushups, and jumping jacks.

  Too bad there wasn’t some male revue music to go along with my private show.

  The guys were all in great shape, but Sean stood out. It was more than the tattoo of an eagle inked across his back or his shorts riding a little lower on his hips giving me a glimpse of oblique’s that my hands itched to claw at. Okay, it was a lot of that, but he also wore a look of determination like he was training for something more.

  “Want to volunteer as our practice victim?” A cute guy with surfer-long blonde hair called up to me.

  Did I ever!

  “Sure.” I sprang up to dust the sand off my bottom then I walked to the group of guys and five women. Did I forget to mention them?

  “It’s too cold for her,” claimed Sean.

  Was he trying to ruin my fun? Was he jealous? “I can handle a little cold water.”

  “You don’t have a bathing suit on,” said Sean.

  “Yes, I do.” To prove my point I stripped off my shirt, baring a lime green bikini bra top that held my girls in place. I could give Kate Upton’s boobs a run for their money. The whistles I heard proved it but my eyes were all for Sean, who did not drop his gaze to my rack.

  Keeping eye contact with me, he said, “Sorry, Blake. This one is mine.”

  Did Sean mean as a practice victim or as his girl? I shimmied out of my shorts to reveal a matching bikini bottom.

  “I’m the one who asked,” said Blake.

  “Too bad.” Sean touched my arm, leading me down to the water’s edge. “You can swim, right?”

  “Like a mermaid,” I said in a flirty tone, drawling out my accent. I wasn’t about to say like a fish because even though fish symbolized concepts like fertility, they were not sexy.

  “You got a great set of seashells.”

  His smile made me feel reckless. “Aren’t mermaids topless?” I feigned reaching for the hooks of my bikini top.

  “Let’s not start a riot.” Sean thumbed to the group of lifeguards watching on as if we were the entertainment for the day.

  I looked out to the ocean. “What do I do?”

  “Swim out past the breakers.”

  “And then what?”

  “Then let me do what I do second best.”

  Second best? The freezing water shocked my body numb, but cooled my heated thoughts of Sean’s first best. I stumbled as a wave crashed into my mid-section. Navigating the Atlantic Ocean took some getting used to. Growing up near the Gulf of Mexico, I was used to warmer waters and calmer seas.

  I heard a whistle. “That’s far enough,” called Sean.

  I turned to face the shore and embraced the part of drowning woman. “Help! Help! Oh save me!” And hurry because I’m freezing.

  Sean’s shark-like smile before he dove into the surf had me gulping like I’d taken in a wave full of seawater. I struggled for a breath, feeling like I was drowning for real. Maybe, I was.

  Chapter 5

  Sean

  Blake was a dead man for asking Kelsey to play the victim, but I couldn’t blame him for trying. Any lifeguard would consider her the catch of the season, never mind the catch of the day. Luckily, I’d already hooked Kelsey. I just had to play it cool to reel her in.

  Normally, the lifeguards practiced on each other so I wasn’t used to practicing on a hot babe. I reminded myself to act like a professional. I preached the safety rules and regulations like it was the Ten Commandments. I had to set a good example, especially for the younger lifeguards.

  With each stroke I prepared myself for the save, even if it was a mock one. Each rescue involved a series of decisions. In rough water, Blake and I would have tag-teamed it, one swimming out with a torpedo buoy and the other using the line to pull the victim back to shore. If a swimmer was farther out, we’d use surfboards. But since practice rescues weren’t on the morning workout schedule I had none of that.

  On a perfect white flag day, like today, I was doing it old school. There was no need for Blake or any of the other guards to get involved.

  Surfacing, I swept the water, even though like a dolphin’s radar I knew exactly where Kelsey was. With ten more feet to go, I ducked my head in the water.

  As I zeroed in, I fought the urge to take her into my arms and kiss her.

  It didn’t matter that’d I’d seen hundreds of hot babes on the beach before. Kelsey was… different. I couldn’t explain it. Not yet.

  I surfaced in front of her. “I’m here to save the day.”

  “Gee, I was
hoping for that Hoff guy.”

  “This ain’t Baywatch, babe.”

  My training kicked in. I grabbed her right arm with my right hand, and in one motion pulled her to me as I turned her around. Ignoring the tinge of pink on her shoulders, I hooked my arms underneath her into the cross-chest carry and began to kick.

  I was the fucking poster boy for lifeguarding. Until she moved. With my body beneath hers, her ass bumped my dick, sparking an arousal I wasn’t prepared for.

  “Don’t help,” I said more sternly than I should have, but I was frustrated. All eyes were on us. This wasn’t the time or place to play ocean games even if the siren in my arms tempted me from my post.

  “Sorry.”

  Now I felt bad. If a victim was able, they could help kick to shore, but the thought of Kelsey, accidentally or purposely rubbing up against me, and I’d be the one in need of rescue.

  I needed a distraction from the way her long hair floated in the water, exactly like the mermaid she’d claimed to be.

  “So do you come to this beach often?”

  “Oh, more lifeguard humor. Do you talk to all your victims this way?”

  “I make conversation to reassure them.” Which was true, but I’d never used a lame line like that before.

  Our limbs tangled as I let a gentle wave carry us the rest of the way to shore. I dragged her arm around my shoulder like she was any other drowning victim and helped her to her feet.

  Blake jogged down to help.

  “I got it,” I said and he wisely backed away.

  Circling my arm around her waist, we stumbled to the dry sand. Without the water to cool me, my body heated and I was surprised not to see steam rising off me. I eased her to the sand and handed her my towel.

  She blotted her face and I noticed a sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose. I hadn’t seen them yesterday. With her hair slicked back, her eyes seemed like twin setting suns. Being in her orbit made me feel dizzy, like I’d been out in the heat all day.

  Still, I wanted to lick each salty droplet off of Kelsey’s skin.