by Liz Matis
“I know just the spot,” he said.
Sean certainly knew mine.
Chapter 15
Kelsey
One week later, Storme fussed in the dressing room of the fancy bridal boutique, while Leigh and I lounged on plump pink chairs and sipped champagne. Sipped? The reality of my friend getting married had finally sunk in and I downed a flute like it was a shot of Tequila.
Storme floated out of the dressing room and onto the platform. After performing a spin, she stood in front of us. My hand covered my open mouth. Coifed and bejeweled, she looked like she had just stepped off the last page of fairytale.
“You look gorgeous, Storme.” I finally said. “Prettier than any Modern Bride magazine cover.”
“I’m not going to be able to hold it together at this wedding.” Leigh blotted the corner of each eye. “You’re perfect.” It looked liked she was not going to wait until the wedding to cry.
I couldn’t blame her. Storme was the picture perfect bride that every girl dreamed of being one day.
Even me. Eventually. Like a decade from now. But so taken with the moment, I envisioned my own wedding.
The dress? Strapless, a-line silhouette, with a jewel encrusted waistline.
The venue? Barnyard Chic.
The flowers? Magnolias and white roses.
Music? Country Rock.
The groom? Sean.
Whoa! Slow down, girl.
But the foolish thought made me smile. So, shouldn’t Storme be smiling at her reflection? Was she having second thoughts? “Uh, oh. That is not a happy face.” I said. “What is going on?”
“I-I think I’m having bridal jitters. Totally normal, right?”
Tears sprung to Storme’s eyes as the saleswoman waltzed in with a cheery smile and a rambling sales pitch for fun honeymoon items. I leapt off my chair like it was on fire. “Not now, please. We have a crisis.”
Following my lead, Leigh jumped to her feet. “Yes, no interruptions, please and more champagne.”
The saleswoman, probably used to meltdowns like this, disappeared without a word as the bride-to-be sat between her bridesmaids. The tulle of the dress spread over our laps in a fluffy cloud. Storme knocked back the glass of champagne Leigh had handed her and then we both listened as she spilled out her heart.
Holy crap! Her and Philip only had sex one time!
I downed another glass of champagne, trying to wrap my head around it.
Marriage without sex? They’d be doomed from the moment they vowed ‘I do’.
And there was more. Storme had kissed another man. The hot biker dude I’d seen hitting on her at the bar a couple of nights ago.
Leigh suggested that Storme tell Philip about the kiss and her doubts.
I nodded like I’d agreed but I didn’t, not about the kiss. “Your hormones blew up and you couldn’t help yourself. Having no sex will do that to a person.”
“I suck.” Storme looked ready to fall apart. “I feel like an adulteress.”
The miserable look on my friend’s face tore at my gut. “You’re not married yet so you can’t be an adulteress,” I blurted. Maybe the alcohol had gone to my head, but I suggested the unthinkable. “But this is a sign you have to figure out if Philip is really the man you should marry. Can you really spend the rest of your life with a man without any physical connection?”
I wouldn’t blurt out that I thought Philip was Mr. Wrong, with or without hot biker dude in the picture. If she did marry Philip, then I’d be the bad one. The one who’d tried to tear them apart.
Leigh leaned forward. “Tell us the truth. Do you really want to marry Philip? Or do you feel like you have no choice?”
Storme seemed torn about her decision. I knew I’d made the right decision not to say anything more. The turbo extra large vibrator I ordered as a gag gift for the bachelorette party wouldn’t be a gag at all, more like a necessity.
Storme and Leigh went back and forth while I remained silent.
“Call Philip, tell him the truth about the kiss, and your doubts. Then try to come to a decision together,” advised Leigh.
Storme played with the material of her dress. “I guess that would be the right thing to do.”
I exchanged a wary glance with Leigh and nodded. “We’ll back your decision. Whatever it is. We’ll celebrate with you if you get married, and help you escape if you want to be a runaway bride.”
Stormed drained the glass of champagne. “Thanks guys. I’m better now. You’re right. I’m going to call him when I get home. Try to figure it out together. I just don’t want a cheap physical attraction to distract me from my real future.”
Even though she said she was better, the look on her face said she wasn’t. I knew I had to lighten the mood so I giggled and said, “Hey, I happen to adore cheap physical attractions.”
Storme seemed relieved by the opportunity to take the focus off of her as she said, “That’s because you’re hooked up with the hottest lifeguard in the Hamptons. How is Sean?”
With Sean, the attraction went beyond the physical. Sex had always been about attaining the almighty O, but truthfully until Sean I’d never experienced it. Not that I didn’t enjoy sex before, I did, but Sean made me feel with my very being. With my heart. I needed to take a large step back from that thought. I reminded myself we were all about the sex. “Sean is good. Very, very good.”
“Slut,” Leigh teased.
I raised a brow. “What about you? Care to tell us what’s been going on between you and Nick?” I’d seen this Nick guy and her getting cozy at the bonfire earlier in the week. The faint blush on Leigh’s cheeks told me nothing had happened yet.
Too bad, I thought. It seemed like I’d be the only one having fun this summer. Yep, that vibrator was going to be a huge hit at the bachelorette party.
Chapter 16
Sean
The late July temperatures set records but it was nothing compared to the way Kelsey scorched up my nights. By day I worked the stand at Main Beach. Sometimes Kelsey and her friends would stop by for a couple of hours. But today she was solo, frolicking in the water in front of me.
Yep, frolicking. That was the only way to describe it.
The late-morning sun shone off her golden tanned skin. The white crochet bikini she wore was designed to torture mere mortal men like me. I had no idea how the material held up her ample breasts. The perfectly tied bows at the side of the bottoms beckoned my fingers to tug at its strings to unravel the prize beneath.
Though the white flags were up, the greedy Atlantic Ocean waves would wash her suit out to sea. Which is probably why she was teasing the water with only her toes and teasing me with the rest of her body, along with every damn man on the beach including Blake, who shared the stand with me today.
I looked away, twirling my whistle out of habit and concentrated on the group of forty-something ladies navigating the waves while their children dove in ahead of them. Yet my gaze kept returning to Kelsey, tracking her movement along the shore. Never had any girl tempted me from my duties as a lifeguard. Never.
“Man, she’s a danger to public safety,” said Blake.
A hot blade of jealousy slashed through my gut. Enough.
I blew my whistle, capturing her and everyone else’s attention. I waved her over. With the sun on my back, Kelsey crooked a hand over her sunglasses as she approached the stand.
“Am I in trouble?” Her tone, naughty and flirty, left no doubt to her preferred form of punishment.
“Yeah, for indecent exposure.”
“Wait until I get wet.”
“Damn, Kelsey.”
Blake whistled and not with his standard issue lifeguard whistle.
“Whoops. I didn’t mean it THAT way.”
“Sure you didn’t. Go home and take a nap. I want you rested for later.”
“Sean, that would be sexy if you didn’t currently look like a Smurf.”
Touching my nose, I’d forgotten about the blue zinc oxide I’d smear
ed on this and every morning so I wouldn’t end up with skin cancer in a couple of years. “You’ll pay for that.”
“What? I think it’s adorable. And it matches your eyes.”
“Seriously, Kelsey, go home and stop torturing me.”
She stuck out her tongue before spinning on her heel to sashay back to her towel.
Yep, sashayed.
“Oh, how he mighty have fallen,” said Blake.
“Yeah, what was your first clue?”
“Dude, you’re Mr. Lifeguard, and you looked away from the water for two seconds.”
If only it were a mere two seconds. “That’s why I asked her to leave. She’s my Kryptonite. I think I love her, man.”
“Here.” Kelsey held up a brown paper bag.
Crap. Had she heard any of that? We’d agreed to keep the relationship fun. If she suspected that my feelings ran deeper than just sex would she back off?
“Hello.” She waved the bag. “I made you lunch.”
“Oh.” I reached down and opened the bag to peek in.
“And I bought you an energy drink, because YOU’RE going to need it later.”
I welcomed the challenge. Closing the bag, I said, “Thanks, babe.”
“Welcome.” She turned to go.
“Hey, Kelsey.”
She stopped, placing a hand on her hip. “What?”
I pointed the whistle at her bikini. “Wear that under your dress tonight.”
“Wear the blue stuff on your nose,” she quipped back.
Laughing, I turned my gaze to the water. Guarding lives was a hell of a lot easier than guarding my heart.
“I’d say she’s got it bad for you, too,” said Blake.
I twirled the whistle like a cowboy with his gun, pretending I didn’t care if what Blake said was true, but I still asked nonchalantly, “You think?”
“Dude, she made it clear to all the other chicks on the beach that you are hers.”
Heart, body, and soul.
Could it be that Kelsey’s feelings ran deeper, too? Is that why she made her way to my beach on most days when she could have sunbathed by Storme’s house? Why she’d made me lunch today? And why she couldn’t get enough of me at night?
My break wasn’t for another hour but I was suddenly hungry. Opening the bag, I unwrapped the foil, relieved to find none of that health food crap that she liked to eat. Hearty roast beef with all the fixings on a sub roll. I’d save the energy drink for later, because I knew Kelsey wasn’t lying when she’d said I’d need it.
“Are you going to share that sandwich?”
“Not a chance.” The sandwich was mine. And so was Kelsey. At least until the end of the summer.
*
Later that night, I found myself soaking in my first bubble bath since I was a little boy, only instead of a rubber duck as a companion, I had a hot playmate sitting across from me. Vanilla scented candles surrounded us, and music played softly in the background. The swell of Kelsey’s breasts peeked above the bubbles. I was damn tempted to pull the drain cap so I could see her whole body, slippery and wet, wearing only bubbles.
Though we’d been barely able to keep our hands off of each other, I still wanted more, but Kelsey seemed far away. Maybe, I wiped her out, which would be a first. But something told me it wasn’t that.
“Hey, what’s the matter?”
“It’s nothing.” Kelsey took a handful of bubbles and formed her beautiful mouth into a perfect O and blew. I smiled but her return smile was strained.
True to our agreement neither of us talked about the future. But somewhere along the way it became more than just sex for me. Way more than a summer romance. I wanted to help her with whatever was going on in that beautiful mind of hers. Hell, I wanted to take care of her. Solve every problem. Fix anything that was broken. But I didn’t have the right. In a couple of months, I’d be thousands of miles from her. Even if the thought of her living her life without me hurt, I’d take the pain to ease hers.
“Bullshit.” I scooped up some bubbles with a finger and dotted her nose. “Talk to me.
Chapter 17
Kelsey
Talk to him? How could I? He was going off to war and I was trying to decide between the comforts of home in Georgia or going to Europe to extend my studies and my fun. Except without my friends—without Sean, the prospect of Europe held no appeal. Nothing did. I wanted this summer to last forever—for us to last forever. How foolish to think I could keep my growing love for Sean in a box and like Pandora, if I opened the lid there would be no going back.
What I couldn’t express verbally, I did with my touch. Our gazes silently communicated what we felt. What we had moved beyond sex. Or maybe my brain was weaving this into a tragic Shakespearean play when in reality it was a comedy with the joke being on me if Sean didn’t feel the same way. If that was the case, then ignorance was truly bliss.
“I can’t. The rules of our relationship—”
“Rules are made to be broken. Especially if you’re the one who made them.”
Sean’s intense gaze held mine. He seemed to be holding his breath. Had he been waiting for a signal that I wanted more? One part of me did, the other part—the one that was winning, didn’t want to end up like my mother. Worse than alone, grieving for the love of your life. I looked away. “You agreed to them.”
“I would have agreed to anything if it meant seeing you again.”
My gaze darted back to his. The candlelight wavered in his blue eyes making them appear to be same color and texture as a swimming pool lit up at night. I could surely drown in them and not care if I was rescued. I didn’t know if it was the languid feeling from soaking in the bubbles, the candlelight, the beer, or the fact that I trusted him as a lover and as a friend, but I decided at that moment to share more than just my body with Sean.
“Okay then. I don’t know what to do after the summer is over.”
“Any ideas?”
“Well, option one, I go home. Get a job.” Then find a nice but boring guy and train him to give me orgasms like you.
“Option two?”
“Go to Europe, get my MBA in architecture engineering.” Then study like mad and try to forget you.
“Architecture? Engineering? How come I didn’t know that?”
“Don’t look so surprised!” I smacked his leg, which cause a ripple of water to splash up over the side of the tub. “I’m smart.”
“Of that I have no doubt. It’s a tough field and you’re a female.”
“I don’t know which is worse, you thinking I’m dumb or that you’re a sexist.” I took a sip of beer.
“To be clear, I never thought you were dumb. And I’m not sexist just a realist.”
“Which is why you probably think Europe is a dumb idea.”
“No, you should go before you settle down.”
Did he mean settle down with a job or a man? Did he even care that after the summer I might find someone else? Would Sean be a ‘girl in every city’ type of soldier? Or would he be a one-woman man and find a girl who could withstand the lonely nights. Either scenario drove me crazy with jealousy.
“It’s a pipe dream.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“Money.” He knew I wasn’t a rich girl like Storme. “There are no volleyball scholarships for MBA programs.”
“Sell the car.”
“I can’t sell my Dad’s car! It’s the only thing I have of him.”
Sean downed the rest of his beer and placed it on the windowsill. “You’ve told me about your mom and your sisters, but you’ve never told me about him.”
Only because it was too painful to talk about, but so was not talking about him. Remembering him. “It took my Dad ten years to restore the Mustang. When he was home on leave, he’d be out in the garage tinkering with it. I’d bring him some sweet tea and we’d talk for hours. As I got older he’d let me help.”
“A daddy’s girl.”
“Yeah. And a tomboy,” I admitted.
Sean reached for my hand. I took a shuddering breath trying to contain the wetness in my eyes. “He loved that car. My mom went into labor when they were looking at it. In fact, he wanted to call me Shelby. My mom refused, so they compromised on the name Kelsey and he purchased the broken down Shelby Mustang.”
Sean laughed. So did I.
“Anyway, I can’t sell his dream.”
“That’s just it Kelsey, it was his dream. Maybe he left the car to you so if he wasn’t around, it would give you the money to follow your dream.”
I blinked. That sounded exactly like my dad. Why hadn’t I thought of it? But Sean had. I could sell the car, and not only pursue my dream, but also help my younger sisters. It felt right, like my dad had been waiting for me to come to that realization.
“You know my Dad would’ve liked you.”
Sean chuckled and shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t.”
“Why do you say that?” Sean was an all around good guy and a future Marine.
“Uh…because I’m having sex with his daughter.”
“Oh yeah, he’d have killed you.” I went silent realizing what I’d said.
“Kelsey, it’s okay to talk about him.”
I smiled and nodded. It felt good. For the first time since his death I was able to remember my father with laughter. “Thanks. Now can I ask you something?”
Sean reached over to the cooler for another beer. “Sure.” He popped the top and took a swig.
“Why the military?”
He nearly choked as he swallowed. I could tell he was measuring his words before he said them. “The simple answer is that I was raised to serve at an early age. My church. My school. My community. And now my country, like all the other Dempsey males.”
I nodded, like I understood his decision to enter the armed forces, as if it would help me to understand my father’s call to duty. But it didn’t. Not that I wasn’t proud of my father. I was. So very, very proud. But proud didn’t get me my father at my college graduation. It wouldn’t get me my dream of having my father walk me down the aisle at my wedding. Proud wouldn’t get me Sean.