“Me too. But this is all for a good reason, and next summer we’ll be back on track with the beach all day and hanging out at night.” Jenna gasped. “Oh no.”
“What?” Bella scanned the water, thinking that Jenna saw someone in trouble.
“You can’t date Caden.”
“What?” Bella turned to face her. Jenna’s thin brows were drawn together. Her eyes were full of concern. “Why not?”
“Leanna has Kurt, and we see her maybe half as much as we used to. If you and Caden stay together, then next summer we’ll only see you half as much.” She shook her head. “No, this isn’t good. We can’t lose you, too.”
“You’d never lose me, and we see Leanna a lot. She and Kurt stay at Seaside all the time. I mean, it’s different with him around, but you love Kurt. We all do.”
“I totally love him, and from what I know of Caden and Evan, I really like them, too, but it’s different.” Jenna tucked her rocks back into her bathing suit top.
“Yeah. But it’s kind of better, too. I’m happy for Leanna. She’s never been happier, and you know how much Kurt adores her. He moved from New York to be with her. That’s love.” Caden had moved from Boston to the Cape for Evan. That’s love, too.
“I know, but what if you end up with Caden? Amy’s cute as a button. She’ll get swooped up next. Jamie’ll show up here one summer with a computer geek girlfriend, and Tony…Hell, he’ll have a harem. Then it’s just going to be me, lusting after Pete.” She covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God, Bella. I can’t be a forty-year-old-woman lusting after Pete.”
Bella laughed. “Wow, a little dramatic, aren’t we?” She patted Jenna’s arm. “You aren’t going to be a forty-year-old woman lusting after Pete. He’ll be long married by then.” She leaned away and Jenna swatted her arm.
“God, I hate you.” Jenna feigned a scowl, but her teasing eyes gave her away. “You watch. That man will be mine before I’m thirty-five.”
“I should hope so. That gives you five and a half years. If you can’t snag your man in that long, then maybe it’s time to move on.” Jenna had been nursing a crush on Pete for years, but while she was a total extrovert around everyone else, she turned into a mousy introvert around him.
“Bite your tongue.”
“Can we get back to me for a minute?” She used her foot to bury Jenna’s foot beneath the sand.
“Always.” Jenna wiggled her toes free from the mound of sand, and Bella went to work covering her foot again.
“Here’s the thing. I’m not worried about dating Caden, and I wonder if that means I’m already not paying enough attention to red flags or something. We’re already serious. Super serious. I mean, Jenna, serious like I’ve-never-been-this-serious-in-my-life type of serious. And what if my house doesn’t sell? Then what will I do? What if the job doesn’t come through here? What if it does but my house doesn’t sell? Then what will I do?”
“The answer to the first question is that I’m not seeing any red flags. I think Tony was right. The guy’s been a single dad for fourteen years. He’s a committer for sure. As far as the rest goes, you’re asking a lot of questions to a woman who isn’t holding a margarita.”
“You’re right. Sorry. That was the big question that I was stressing over.” She folded her chair and gathered her belongings. “But if you think I’m seeing clearly, and you know I trust you to not let me fall into some dark man-abyss, then let’s go home and we’ll fill you up with the good stuff.”
“First of all, put that shit down and look at me.” Jenna stood with her hands on her hips.
Bella dropped her beach tote and looked at her.
“Here.” Jenna pointed to her eyes.
Bella stared into her eyes, and Jenna leaned in so close Bella thought they might bump noses.
“Nope. Those eyes are wide open and wiser than mine will ever be.”
“You’re such a fool.” Bella picked up her tote.
Jenna swung her tote over her shoulder, and they carried their chairs up toward the parking lot. “I say trust your gut with Caden Too-Good-To-Be-True-Grant.” Jenna stopped at the bottom of the dune.
“Why’d you stop? Let’s go. I want to stop at the package store.”
Jenna pointed to the top of the hill, where Caden stood beside his police car.
“Oh my God!” Bella ran up the dune with Jenna laughing as she hurried behind. Bella was out of breath by the time she reached the parking lot. She dropped her tote and ran into his open arms.
“I’m sorry to just show up.” He kissed her quickly and shifted his eyes to the people watching them.
“Sorry,” she whispered. She cleared her throat. “I forgot you’re at work, and I’m glad you just showed up.” She raked her eyes down his body. She hadn’t seen him in uniform since the night they’d met, and damn he looked hot. But Bella wasn’t looking at the same things the other women were ogling in the gray evening light. She saw past the six-pack abs and the sculpted body that she knew lay beneath his handsome uniform. She pushed aside the clean-shaven cheeks that she loved to touch and the sense of pure hunky male that he radiated. As she drank him in, she saw the person he was on the inside. The way he loved Evan and would do anything to keep him safe. The way his eyes dampened as he talked about losing his best friend and partner and the way those same expressive eyes never wavered from hers when she spoke. When she added those qualities to his intelligence and the way he touched her, as if bringing her pleasure was what he lived for, well, who on earth could be sexier than Caden Grant?
“Bella.” Jenna elbowed her.
Bella startled out of her thoughts. “Oh gosh. Sorry. What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Amy said you were here a few hours ago, and when I still couldn’t reach you, I got a little worried.”
“He worried,” Jenna whispered.
“Yeah, I know.” Bella glared at her.
“I’m going to put these things in the car. Nice to see you, Caden.”
“You too, Jenna,” he said, then drew his eyes back to Bella.
“I missed you,” she whispered.
“Me too.” His eyes darkened.
“It was so nice to spend the day with Jenna that we decided to stay late. Did you get my text?” Bella had to fight the urge to reach out and touch him again. To hold his hand or hook her finger into the waistband of his pants. That hug and peck would have to hold her over until he was off duty.
“Only the one you sent before you went to the clinic. That’s why I was worried.” He stepped closer and placed his hand on her hip.
God, I love that.
Heat spread from beneath his hand across her hips, coiling down low in her belly. Bella forced the lascivious thoughts away for now.
“Sometimes I hate cell phones,” she said. “I sent you a text after my meetings. I signed up four more companies today.” She went up on her toes to kiss him, then remembered he was at work and bit her lower lip as she sank back down to her heels.
He smiled and tightened his grip on her hip. The combination told her he wanted to kiss her just as badly. “That’s awesome. We should celebrate.”
“Well, it’s only a third of what I need, but it definitely gives me hope.”
He ran his finger down her cheek, then tucked her hair behind her ear. He’d done that a dozen or more times and it still sent a shiver through her.
“I’m so happy for you, Bella. Evan made plans to spend a few hours with Jamie tomorrow. Want to spend the day together? Then go back to my place and have dinner with me and Evan?”
“I would love to.” She thought of the last time she’d been at his place. Her cheeks heated with the memory.
“Good. We’ll celebrate your success.”
She could think of a hundred ways she’d like to celebrate with him when they finally got time alone again, and none of them included food. Unless she counted whipped cream as food. She shook her head to clear her mind.
“How was
your day?”
“It was fine.” He drew his brows together, and a shadow of worry washed over his face. He was definitely not fine.
“I’m sorry if I worried you.”
“Oh, babe, it’s not you. I just…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want to bum you out. It’s nothing.”
She stepped closer. If they’d been alone, she’d have wrapped her arms around him and held him until the tension left him. “Bum me.”
“I just had to take a hard line with Evan. It’s nothing, really. He got a little too big for his britches. It just sucks that I had to do it.” He shrugged, but she read frustration in his eyes.
“I’m sorry. That must be difficult.”
“It’s not that it’s a hard thing to do. It’s knowing what can happen if I don’t. I see kids getting into trouble all the time, and it was bound to happen at some point, with the move and his age…”
“Teenage angst is like a rite of passage.” She reached up to touch his cheek but caught herself and lowered her arm.
He reached for her hand and smiled. “It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? I want to reach out and touch you, too.” His radio sounded from his car. “I’m sorry. I have to run, but I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m always okay.” She realized that her gut response was one that didn’t allow herself to be taken care of, and she also realized that Caden had seen that, too, and he still tried to find a way around it.
“Yeah, well. I’m a cop and your boyfriend. It’s my job to worry, and I care for you, so worrying about you comes naturally.” The radio sounded again, and he pressed a quick peck to her lips. “I have to go. I’m off work tomorrow. Want to spend the day together?”
“More than anything in the world.” She didn’t even care what they did.
“Great. If I get a break, I’ll stop by later. Otherwise, I’ll call for sure and we’ll make plans.”
Jenna drove up just as Caden pulled away. “Ready, lover girl? Or do you want to stand there and swoon a little longer?”
She put her chair and tote in the trunk of Jenna’s car and climbed into the passenger seat. “I have a feeling I’ll be swooning over that man for a very long time.”
“What happened to the girl who was worried about sticking to her convictions?”
Bella leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “A very wise friend told her that convictions were meant to be broken.”
Chapter Twelve
THE NEXT MORNING, Bella was in the shower when she heard Jenna calling for her from the bedroom.
“Bells? Belly? Bella!” Jenna stormed into the bathroom where Bella was showering.
Bella peered out from behind the shower curtain. Jenna wore a red bikini and a pair of cutoffs. She thrust a plate of something that resembled mangled bread toward her. “Good Lord, Jenna. What is so urgent?”
“After seeing you and Caden together at the beach last night, I decided it was time to take action with Pete. He arrives in ten minutes, and I wasn’t sure what time you and Caden were leaving. Sorry to barge in.”
“No, you’re not.”
“You’re right. I’m not. You don’t mind, do you?” She didn’t give Bella a chance to answer. “I need you to try this.” She shoved the plate closer to Bella.
“I’m all wet.” She didn’t mind Jenna barging into her bathroom. In fact, the day Jenna stopped treating Bella’s house as her own would be a very sad day for her. One that Bella hoped never happened—even when they were old, gray, and saggy. With Leanna and Kurt coming together, and now her and Caden, maybe they needed to think up a sign that they were getting busy inside and not to come in. Like the proverbial sock on the doorknob. The thought made her smile.
Jenna scooped up a hunk of whatever it was and shoved it into Bella’s mouth. “Pete loves pumpkin, so I made orange pumpkin bread, but I didn’t have enough butter or flour, so…” She furrowed her brow. “How is it?”
“Jen…”
Jenna plopped down on the toilet lid. “God. I knew it! I have been baking the damn thing for an hour.”
Bella drew the curtain closed and finished showering. “Why don’t you just get something from Leanna? She always has good stuff.”
“She’s at the flea market already, and besides, I really wanted to try to get his attention, you know?” Jenna went to the mirror and brushed her hair, then used Bella’s eyelash curler.
“Hand me a towel.”
Jenna tossed her one.
“That red bikini will get his attention, Jen.” She stepped from the shower and looked at Jenna in the mirror. “Look at you. You’re gorgeous, you’re smart, you’re compassionate, and you’re funny. Jenna, you don’t need extras. Just be you.”
Jenna’s shoulders dropped. “I’ve been being me around Pete for years, and either he’s gay or he’s just not into me.”
Bella ran a comb through her hair. “He’s just shy, and when you’re around him, you’re shy, too. Why don’t we have a barbeque and you can invite him? We’ll liquor you up, and you’ll be yourself again instead of lost in your Petey crush.”
“Maybe I should invite him to go with us on the fishing trip.”
Bella shrugged. “Sounds good to me.” She went into the bedroom and put on a yellow bikini and a short, sheer, cover-up.
Jenna went into Bella’s closet and brought out two pairs of flip-flops—one pale yellow, one light blue—then held them up next to Bella. “Did you and Caden decide where you’re going?” She put the yellow flip-flops on the floor, and Bella slid her feet into them.
“The beach.” Bella lowered her voice. “He’s never done the deed outdoors.”
“Bella!” Jenna’s eyes widened. “He’s a cop. You can’t delinquentize him!”
Bella arched a brow. “Says the girl who pretty much eggs me on with every slightly bad thing I ever do.”
“That’s you, not a cop.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Do you really think I’d suggest that we do anything that could get him in trouble?”
Jenna arched a brow.
“Have some faith. I’ll try to behave.” Maybe.
At the sound of tires on gravel, Jenna looked out the window and gasped.
“He’s here.”
“Caden?” Bella asked.
“Pete!”
Bella pushed her toward the door. “Go.”
Jenna circled back to the bathroom and grabbed the plate. Bella took it from her hands. “Leave that here and go. Try to put together a coherent sentence.”
Jenna straightened her bikini top and smiled. “Do I look okay?”
“Crystalline-blue eyes, boobs like Salma Hayek, and an aura of sweet and sexy that could melt ice. I think it’s safe to say you’re a walking, talking, instant hard-on in a four-eleven package.” She hugged her quickly and pushed her out the door. “Talk to him. Practice saying, Hey, sexy, on the way down.”
Jenna waved a hand behind her as she headed toward Pete’s truck, which was parked by the pool. Bella went around her cottage and peeked around the corner, watching Jenna. Jenna was slightly pigeon-toed, with a natural swing to her hips that would have looked like a mockery on anyone else, but it looked sexy and natural on Jenna. She slowed by Tony’s driveway and smoothed her hair. Come on, Jenna. You can do this. Jenna’s shoulder lifted, then fell, as if she’d taken a deep breath.
“Who are we spying on?” Caden’s arms wrapped around Bella’s waist from behind and he kissed her cheek.
“Jenna’s going to invite Pete on the fishing trip.” Bella inhaled his minty, citrus, warm scent, and every sexual nerve in her body awoke. “You smell amazing. What is that?”
“Tommy Hilfiger. I figured you might want something different.”
She looked over her shoulder and inhaled again. “I always love the way you smell.” His skin glistened in the warm sun, and when he bent to kiss her, he closed his eyes. She loved his eyes. They were warm and expressive. She could see what he was feeling in his dark eyes
, and when he opened them, they told her that he was exactly where he wanted to be.
“There she goes.” Caden nodded toward Jenna.
Pete was in his midthirties, with a body that could stop traffic and a mop of thick brown hair. He had a welcoming smile that could ease a scowl from the devil. He set down his tools and leaned casually against his truck, giving Jenna his full attention. Who wouldn’t in that hot red bikini?
“She must be talking, right? He looks like he’s listening.” Bella’s pulse quickened, as much with anticipation of Jenna’s potential date as for Caden’s close proximity.
“Sure. What’s the big deal?” Caden asked.
“You only know the Jenna we all know. She’s a pistol, but around Pete, she’s a wallflower.”
Pete nodded and Jenna’s arms went behind her back. She linked her hands together, lifted her shoulders, and kicked at the gravel with one foot.
“He said yes! Oh, I’m so happy for her.”
“How do you know?” Caden asked.
“Her body language. That shoulder scrunch was like her happy dance.” She turned to face Caden, and without thinking, she hooked her finger into the waist of his bathing suit. He sealed his lips over hers, and for a minute she debated skipping the lake altogether and taking him inside for a day of frolicking in the sheets instead of the sand. She forced herself to push those thoughts away, realizing she’d had to do that an awful lot lately.
“How’s Evan?”
“He wasn’t thrilled about last night’s earlier curfew, but he was fine again this morning.”
“One thing you can count on with teenagers is that they’re completely inconsistent.” Bella headed inside, and they gathered her beach tote, towels, and the lunch she’d packed for them. “I remember what it was like to be that age. I would hear myself say something bitchy to my mom, and it was like I couldn’t stop myself if I’d wanted to.”
“Yeah? Then the next few years should be fun. You might want to run while you still can.” Caden carried the cooler outside, and they packed the truck for an afternoon at the lake.
Seaside Dreams (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers, Book One) Contemporary Romance Page 15