Hot Summer Fling

by Parker, Ali

  Heidi teared up, then buried her head in her boyfriend’s shoulder while he whispered quietly to her. Valerie’s hand landed on my thigh, drawing my attention to her. She was giving me a see-what-I- meant look, but there was so much tenderness in her eyes that I kind of wanted to pull her into me the way Will was doing to Heidi.

  “They’re insufferable, aren’t they?” Her voice cracked with emotion on the last word, which made Heidi lift her head to stick her tongue out at her friend.

  “Love you, too, Val.” Heidi seemed to have regained her composure enough to go back to studying the menu. “What are you guys going to have?”

  “Their pastas are the best,” Will declared, licking his lips as he set his menu down on the table in front of them. “I’m getting one of those.”

  “Seconded.” Val set her menu down, too, and took a sip of her soda. I’d noticed when I sat down that none of them were drinking alcohol, so when the waiter came to get my drink order, I also joined the solidarity train and ordered a sparkling water.

  “Just because these two aren’t drinking doesn’t mean you don’t have to,” Heidi said when the waiter left. “I’m fine with it, really.”

  “Yeah, Fulton, you don’t have to suck up to Heidi,” Valerie teased, but her hand squeezed my leg. I knew that she appreciated that I’d picked up on what they were doing to support her friend and was doing the same thing. “Anyway, you guys were telling me that the little guy’s room is the color of a Smurf’s penis. How did that happen?”

  I choked on nothing but air, my eyebrows shooting up. “What?”

  “There might be some damage control needed after I painted the nursery.” Will shrugged, sliding crystal-blue eyes to meet mine. “You know how it is when you give a man the tools to do the job, he just gets it done.”

  Both girls burst out in giggles and Heidi pointed at her stomach. “Is that how this happened? You had the tools to do the job, so you just got it done?”

  Will nodded and shot her a wink, which prompted another round of giggles, which stopped abruptly when Heidi jumped out of her seat. “Damn it. Now I need to pee.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Valerie offered, standing up and linking arms with her friend. “Someone has to be there if your water finally breaks.”

  “I’m not due for way too many weeks.” I heard Heidi saying before they were out of earshot.

  Will chuckled, shaking his head while staring into the direction they’d walked. “Girls, man. Why do they always have to go to the bathroom in groups?”

  “Beats me.” I shrugged. “It’s one of the questions for the ages.”

  “We’ll never have a satisfactory answer. It’s just too weird.” He finally managed to tear his eyes away from the spot in which they’d last been seen before disappearing into the bathroom and met my gaze. “Val tells us you’re from Boston. What brought you to town?”

  “My bank was robbed,” I replied frankly. These people were Valerie’s best friends, and there was no point being vague or untruthful with them. Besides, it wasn’t like the bank being robbed was my damn fault. I had nothing to hide.

  Will, however, reacted in a way that made me wonder if he did. He flinched, his eyes dropping away from mine. “Sorry, man. That sucks. When did it happen?”

  “A few weeks ago.” I watched him carefully, curious about the change in his demeanor. Until I’d told him about the reason for my visit, he’d been relaxed and carefree. Now he was tense and refused to look at me. “All the money that was taken was returned, but it’s still been a shit show to deal with. Flew out to handle some things personally.”

  After briefly considering just asking him what was up, I decided not to call him out on it. It was probably nothing anyway. “Enough about me. The financial services industry is boring. Val told me you met Heidi when you came to fix their power?”

  Will laughed, but his shoulders were still locked and his smile tight. “Yeah, I had to go over there twice. The first time there was a legit problem, but the second time Heidi had messed with the box just so she could call me to come back.”

  “Really?” It was hard for me to imagine a time when these two weren’t together. I’d only just met them, but they seemed sickeningly perfect together—just like Valerie had said they were.

  “Yeah. The whole drive over there I was wondering if I’d missed something, but I knew I hadn’t. As soon as I saw the box, I knew what had happened.”

  My shoulders shook with laughter. “These girls really are a different breed. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a woman who sabotaged her own electricity just to have an excuse to call a guy.”

  “If only she knew I’d been looking for an excuse to see her again, she might just have taken me up on my offer to call me. I left her my number, but I guess calling wasn’t dramatic or risky enough.”

  “What do you think she would have done if you hadn’t been available to come fix it for them?”

  He shrugged and his muscles relaxed again. “I don’t know what she would have done, but Olive and Valerie would’ve shaved off her eyebrows or something.”

  “We would not have shaved off her eyebrows,” Valerie said from behind me, appearing next to me a second later to slide back into her seat. “That’s way too mean. We probably just would have never let her forget it.”

  “Like you’re letting me forget about it now.” Heidi was slightly out of breath when she sat down, rolling her eyes at her friend. “I never should have told any of you the truth.”

  “You didn’t have to tell me,” Will said, a fond smile on his lips. “I already knew, but don’t worry about it, babe. I love you too.”

  Heidi cupped his cheeks and kissed him deeply. Valerie caught my eye, jerking her head in their direction. “You’ll have to excuse them. Public displays of affection turn them on.”

  Will groaned, and gently turned his head to break the kiss. “I’m starting to think interrupting us turns you on.”

  “Only in public.” Valerie winked, then cringed. “I definitely never want to walk in on you behind closed doors.”

  “No, you really don’t,” Will agreed while Heidi nodded along, her cheeks turning pink.

  Apparently, Heidi had decided that it wasn’t a topic she wanted to keep talking about, since she swiftly interrupted when Valerie opened her mouth again. “Do you guys feel like going to that karaoke bar tonight? We haven’t been for ages and I’d like to get at least one more good night of screeching like a cat in before we have to start hiring a babysitter to be able to go out.”

  “That’s a hard no,” Valerie replied without hesitation.

  It was the way she glanced at me quickly just after she finished speaking that clued me in to the fact that she didn’t want to go because of me. “Why not?”

  “You don’t need to see that side of me,” she admitted, confirming my suspicions. “I’m a terrible singer and an awful dancer. I know it, but then we go to that place and it’s like I can’t control it.”

  Heidi laughed, nodding in agreement. “We’re all awful, but it’s really fun.”

  Will started telling me about the first time he saw them at the karaoke bar while the girls talked about Heidi’s plans for work and the nursery. Dinner flew by in a rush after that. Before I knew it, the check had been paid and Heidi looked like she was about to fall asleep at the table.

  “I’d better get her home,” Will said, gently helping Heidi to her feet. “It was great to meet you. I’m sure we’ll see you again soon.”

  “I’m going to be in town for a while.” He was a nice guy, but I was still curious about his earlier change in demeanor. “We should hang out sometime. You up for it?”

  He nodded but didn’t say anything as he waited for the girls to say goodbye before escorting Heidi out of the restaurant. Curiouser and curiouser.

  Chapter 26

  Valerie

  “I’m not ready to go home yet,” I told Fulton after Will and Heidi had left. A quick glance at my watch confirmed that it was stil
l as early as it felt, and I wasn’t anywhere near ready for my night with him to be over yet.

  It felt like we were on borrowed time. Both of us knew that there was no long-term future for us, yet we were dragging it out and hanging on to whatever time we had together. I’d been looking forward to our date, maybe even missing him a little, since he’d dropped me off after our trip. Okay, I’d been missing him. More than a little.

  “How about a walk on the beach? It’s only a couple of blocks that way?” He pointed in the direction of the beach as I slid my chair away from the table. Fulton did the same, his eyes like glittering gems in the candlelight.

  “I’m definitely up for that. The food was delicious, but I ate too much. A walk would be great.”

  Fulton and I left the restaurant side by side, but not touching each other. All night I’d felt like there was this distance between us. I didn’t like it, so I closed it by taking his hand. He gripped mine tightly, lacing our fingers together as we walked.

  “What did you think about my friends?” I asked, genuinely curious to know his answer. Olive and Heidi meant the world to me. Will was a part of that now too. I generally didn’t care about what anyone else thought of them, but I wanted Fulton to like them and for them to like him.

  This thing between us might not be forever, but it was happening now, and it was important for however long he was in my life that they got along. I glanced up at him, catching him smiling at me.

  “I really like them. They seem like a genuine couple, you know?” His voice was quiet, but sincere. It was fitting, somehow, to keep our voices low while walking down the calm street with nothing but palm trees and streetlights to keep us company.

  “They are a genuine couple, I agree.” And I was happy he liked them, but that seemed weird to say. “They’re it for each other. If you’d have met Heidi before they got together, you’d understand why I’m so sure they’re forever.”

  Fulton nodded, but didn’t say anything more for a few minutes. It was only once we’d reached the beach, taken off our shoes and were walking on the cool, soft sand that he spoke again. “If they’re a genuine couple, what are we?”

  Crap. I’d walked right into that one. My pulse kicked up a beat, my mind racing to get to the right answer. “We’re just hanging out and having a good time?”

  He looked down at me, drawing us both to a stop and winding his arms around me. Pale moonlight gave his dark hair a silver shine and obscured his eyes. Waves crashed on the shore nearby, but I almost didn’t hear them.

  It was like we were suddenly in our own little world, in a bubble where we were untouchable. He slid his long fingers under my chin, his thumb stroking my cheek. “Is that all we are?”

  I swallowed past a lump that had appeared in my throat and nodded. “You’re going to have to leave to go back to Boston at some point.”

  “Do you want to talk about that?” His voice was low and hoarse, more emotional than I’d ever heard it.

  I shut my eyes, shaking my head. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

  “Okay.” When I opened my eyes, his were closed. His jaw was working, but when he opened his eyes and saw me staring at him, he didn’t say anything about it.

  Instead, he took my hand again and we started walking down the beach. “Have you thought more about what you want to do from now on?”

  Although I’d been the one to tell him I didn’t want to talk about him going back to Boston, I was strangely disappointed that he’d changed the topic as easily and as gracefully as he had. I’d expected him to assure me that he wouldn’t be leaving soon, maybe even preparing myself subconsciously for hearing that he would be leaving sooner than expected.

  I hadn’t thought he would just move onto the next topic without saying absolutely anything at all about going back after I’d brought it up. We hadn’t talked about it, and I had no clue about his plans other than knowing that he would have to leave this place eventually.

  “Val?” he prompted gently. “Have you changed your mind about becoming an art seller?”

  “No,” I said quickly, forcing myself to stop obsessing about the inevitable. It would happen when it happened, and there was nothing I could do about it either way. “I’m going to start putting my applications in on Monday. I spent some time this afternoon making a list of places I can apply to, so I’m positive that one of those will stick.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to help you out?” he offered. “It would really be no trouble at all. I know a lot of people and I know how hard it can be to get a foot in the door without a referral, at the very least.”

  His reference to it being hard to get a foot in the door struck a chord with me after my conversation with Olive. Conviction surged through me, lodging like a beam of light in my chest. “I’ve got this. I believe in myself and I need to do this for myself.”

  The more I spoke the words out loud, the more I believed them. That beam of light in my chest wasn’t imaginary. It was hope, and I was clinging to it with everything I had.

  All my life I’d simply been coasting through. I hadn’t cared enough to put in any real effort. This was the first time that I was hoping I was actually going to make something of myself. The first time all my hopes and dreams were literally being held in my own hands.

  “I’ve got the right personality for this. I’ve been reading up a lot, researching the job itself and ads for people who are hiring. I have the qualities they’re looking for, and that will be enough to get me in.”

  “You sure do have the right personality for it,” he agreed. I didn’t miss that he didn’t also agree that I could do this myself. Fulton seemed to agree with Olive on this one, but I couldn’t be angry with them. I would simply have to prove them wrong.

  Squaring my shoulders, I ran my thumb along the inside of his palm. “Let’s talk about something less serious, shall we? Tell me about your life in Boston, what is Fulton Yates going home to?”

  He laughed and tugged me closer to his side. “Fulton Yates wishes he had more to go home to. Honestly, if the company headquarters weren’t there, I don’t think I’d have gone back at all.”

  A different kind of hope swept through me, so all consuming that it nearly buckled my knees. “Are you saying there’s a chance you might not go back?”

  “I wish.” He flashed me a wry smile. “The company’s headquarters are there, so I’m afraid it’s a moot point.”

  The hope vanished faster than it had come, leaving me feeling a little dizzy. Stupid, Val. Of course he would have to go back. It’s not like he can pick up his headquarters and bring it here.

  For the rest of our walk, our conversation was more subdued than it usually was between us. We had plenty of physical contact, almost like Fulton felt the need to be touching me as much I was feeling it about him.

  Being with him made me feel different to what I usually felt, weaker and more powerful at the same time. Weaker because it felt like I was at risk of losing everything I was getting to know about and learning about myself with him as soon as he left, but more powerful because I felt like I was finally in control of my own destiny.

  The war between the two waged on in my chest, knocking me off my game. Fulton drove me home when we finished our walk, silence prevailing in the car as we drove.

  Before I was ready to say goodbye to him, we were pulling up outside the beach house. “Thank you for taking that walk with me. You were right, it helped a lot after eating my weight in pasta.”

  He chuckled. “You’re welcome. If you wanted to spend more time with me, you only had to say so. I wanted to spend more time with you too.”

  Just like it had happened on the beach, our bubble suddenly descended around us. I looked into Fulton’s blue eyes, almost colorless inside the darkened car lit only by the lights from the dashboard.

  He was a beautiful man, so beautiful it was hard to believe he was real sometimes. It was harder to believe how good and how pure his heart was considering who and what h
e was, but there was no denying it. He had done so much for me and had gotten nothing in return, yet here he was, staring back at me like I’d hung the stars myself.

  Fulton blinked, indecision flashing in his eyes one second and then it was gone. His big hands reached up to hold the back of my neck and the next thing I knew, his lips were on mine in the most primal, desperate, and passionate kiss I’d ever had.

  Whatever that momentary flash of indecision had been about, it had been unnecessary. I liked that he hadn’t asked or given me any warning before kissing me that way. He saw something he wanted, and he just came and took it.

  And I wanted it, too, so damn much. Too much, even.

  Chapter 27

  Fulton

  On Sunday morning, I huffed out a sigh when I heard my phone ringing the second I walked through my front door after hitting up the gym. I’d left the thing behind on purpose, wanting to lose touch with reality for a while and just let myself sweat. Now I was tempted to let it go to voice mail.

  There were a lot of things I needed to work out for myself, none of which had been worked out in my one gym session—even if it had lasted three hours.

  Taking the stairs to my bedroom two at a time for a shower, I found my feet carrying me to my nightstand, where the ringing was coming from, when I reached my room anyway. Fucking habit.

  I fully intended on letting the caller wait until morning before calling them back—unless it had been Valerie calling, which I had to admit to myself was both what I was hoping for and why I couldn’t resist the urge to check it—and frowned when I saw Elliot’s name on the screen instead.

  Sundays were family days for Elliot. Panic stabbed me in the gut over why he would be calling me on a day I knew he reserved for family. I’d kept an eye on the news at the gym, but I hadn’t been focusing on it. Had we been hit again? Had something else happened?