by Emily King
“Pleased to meet you, Sarah,” Amy said, releasing her hand.
Sarah’s mind swirled, trying to reconcile the initial impression of Amy as ill-mannered and temperamental with the now friendly, not to mention appealingly astute, woman before her. It seemed too good to be true, kind of like Robin turned out to be.
Amy glanced toward the pool, and she did as well. Another group of swimmers was getting ready. Amy turned back to her. “I’d better get back to work, but I’d like the chance to get to know you better. Would you have coffee with me after today’s tryouts are over?”
She took only a moment to contemplate the invitation; she wanted to get to know Amy better, too. “Yes. I think I’d like that.” She smiled at her.
“Great.” Amy smiled back. “I’ll come back at the next break to make plans.”
Chapter Six
Sarah arrived slightly early at the coffeehouse that Amy had suggested. South Coast Beach Roasters was a coffeehouse that she knew well. It was near the beach and not far from her house, so she had walked. A few hours had passed since Justin had driven her home from the portion of the tryouts they had watched, but the event would only just have finished. Amy said she would come directly to the coffeehouse from it.
Sarah placed her drink order at the counter and took a seat at a table near the front windows, her nerves beginning to jump a bit as she thought about the date to come. Well, it was only really having coffee together. But if the lingering glances and smiles that she and Amy had shared this afternoon while making plans to meet here were any indication, it was a date too. She looked forward to chatting more with Amy, who, judging from her math quip about the pool, had hidden depths.
She hadn’t been on many dates since her time with Robin, and none of them had been very fruitful, so she couldn’t help being a little doubtful and wary now. Despite Amy’s apologies, her sudden change of mood during their conversation at the tower last week was still fresh in her mind. She wasn’t interested in dating a mercurial and difficult woman, even if that woman did have a body like Amy’s. But Amy had been friendly enough today—charming, really. She hoped she had made the right choice to meet her to talk further.
When the barista called Sarah’s name, she picked up her latte and then returned to her seat. Poised to take a sip, she saw Amy walk in. She set down her mug and gave a little wave to get her attention.
Amy’s eyes lit up in recognition, and she made her way to the table. “Hi,” she said, stopping before her and smiling.
“Hi,” Sarah said, smiling also. For the first time since they’d met, Amy wasn’t wearing her sunglasses, and Sarah found herself looking into a beautiful pair of golden-brown, agate-colored eyes.
“What are you drinking?” Amy asked.
“Hmm? Oh, um, a latte. I wanted to order something for you, too, but I wasn’t sure what you might like.”
“No problem. A latte sounds good, so let me go order one. I’ll be right back.”
Amy returned and joined Sarah at the small table. Despite having been able to watch and admire Amy a large part of the day at the pool, Sarah couldn’t help letting her gaze drop to take in her figure once more. The polo shirt of her uniform hugged her breasts in a very appealing way, and the undone top button of the shirt allowed a tantalizing glimpse of the base of her throat and collarbones.
When Amy looked down at herself, Sarah realized she had let her gaze linger too long. “Oh, sorry about my uniform,” Amy said. “Things at the tryouts ran a bit longer than anticipated, and I didn’t change because I didn’t want to be late.”
Sarah shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I didn’t mean to stare—it’s just that your uniform looks really great on you.”
An expression of what might have been dismay flickered across Amy’s face and confused Sarah. It was reminiscent of the suddenly cold reception she had been given last week at the tower.
The barista called Amy’s order. Amy gave Sarah a wan smile before standing up to collect it.
Sarah wondered if she should get up and leave if they were going to have this much trouble communicating. But she wanted to know what the problem was, so she waited for Amy to return. When she sat back down, Sarah took a breath and faced her. “I can tell that what I said a moment ago upset you, even though it was a compliment. Was I too forward for you?”
Amy sighed and ran a hand through that silky-looking hair of hers. “No, no. It’s fine. It’s just… Sometimes I wonder if it’s me that people are interested in or only the uniform or the swimsuit.”
“Hmm,” Sarah said. “I take that to mean you’ve had problems with people seeing the real you?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”
“And not just seeing you as a hot lifeguard whose swimsuit fits her like a second skin?” Sarah arched an eyebrow.
Amy’s lips twitched as she tried to hold back a smile. “Now that was forward.”
Sarah smiled. “Was it welcome this time?”
Amy nodded and gave in to the smile.
Sarah put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand in a show of further contemplating her. “Tell me, is this the reason for giving me the cold shoulder at your tower last week?”
“I wouldn’t call it the ‘cold shoulder’ exactly…”
Sarah sat back and gave her a pointed look.
“Okay, maybe it was.”
Sarah nodded emphatically, making her laugh. She liked hearing her laugh.
After a moment, Amy spoke. “I’m not trying to make excuses, but do you remember those guys in front of my tower?”
“The ones who were flexing and posing for you?”
“The same. Their antics were so tiresome. When you came up and asked your strange question, I thought it was just another ploy for attention. I’m sorry.”
Sarah waved her hand. “You’ve apologized enough. I understand where you’re coming from. I’ve had my share of attention-seeking students in classes over the years.”
Amy nodded. “I can imagine.”
Sarah’s thoughts returned to their time at the beach and Justin’s attempt to sell her on the finer points of a summer fling. She knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from bringing it up at some point around Amy if this date turned into subsequent dates or anything more. He wouldn’t do it to be mean, of course, but he would enjoy gloating that he was right. As it was, when Amy had returned to the stands today to arrange their coffee date and Justin realized who she was, his eyes had almost bugged out of his head. Sarah didn’t want him to say something about their fling talk and have Amy take it the wrong way. She wondered if she should mention it now herself and get it over with, even if it might make Amy suspicious of her intentions again.
“Is something the matter?” Amy asked.
She looked up, realizing that she had been staring down at the table and chewing her lip. Sometimes she wished she wasn’t so easy to read. “No, nothing is the matter. It’s just that…in the interest of full disclosure…”
“This doesn’t sound good,” Amy said with a nervous laugh.
She sighed. “Yeah. It’s just that my friend Justin—the one you met—told me that day at the beach that I should have a summer fling.”
“Oh.” Amy sat back. “And what did you say?”
“I reminded him that flings aren’t really my thing.”
“So that isn’t why you approached me?”
“No,” Sarah said. “I’m a little too shy for that. Well, not shy, necessarily, but let’s just say I’m not as bold as that. I really did only come up to get more information for my students.” At Amy’s skeptical look, she gave a shrug and added, “But I’m only human and not above flirting. Given the choice, I would rather approach a lifeguard who looks like you.”
Amy quirked a smile at that, and Sarah was glad. But she remained silent, as if waiting for her to continue. “Am I missing something?” She broke the silence.
Sarah frowned. “What? No, I told you everything.”
Sarah relaxed at the realization that Amy wasn’t bothered by the fling conversation. “I just thought it would be better if you heard it now so you wouldn’t get the wrong idea if it came up later.”
“Oh,” Amy said with a nod. “Can I tell you something?” she asked, leaning forward.
“Okay,” Sarah said, meeting Amy’s beautiful eyes.
“I wasn’t fully immune to your charms that day, either.”
“No?” Sarah smiled.
“No. The flexing and posing of those guys in front of my tower may have been wasted on me, but your short shorts were not wasted on me at all,” Amy said, a smile tugging at her lips. “Nor was your very lovely face.”
Sarah felt herself blush. “Now who’s being forward?” she asked. Still a little embarrassed, she looked down at the table. Noticing the latte she had all but forgotten, she picked it up and took a sip.
Amy sipped her own drink. “So, you never said what brought you to the junior lifeguard tryouts?”
This time, Sarah didn’t feel criticized by the question. “Justin and I were there to cheer on our students.”
Amy smiled. “That was nice of you. How do you know Doris?”
“I don’t. Or, I didn’t until today. Peter suggested we sit with her and Ron since they’re teachers too. And before you can ask, we know Peter because he’s the uncle of Hannah, one of our students. Don’t worry. I’m not stalking you.” Sarah softened the last comment with a smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I was interrogating you.”
“It’s all right. If I were you, I’d have been curious, too.” She explained how she and Justin had run into Hannah and Peter at the Earth Day cleanup. “By the way, how did Hannah end up doing?” she asked. She and Justin had only seen the first portion of her swim test. Sarah had seen Mandy and another student qualify but wasn’t sure about the others.
“Hannah passed all three parts of the test with flying colors.”
“That’s great.”
Amy nodded. “Peter is one proud uncle.” She took another sip of her latte and then set it down, leaving her hand wrapped around the mug.
Sarah sipped her own latte, her gaze lingering on Amy’s hand that cupped the mug. Recalling the warmth of her handshake earlier in the day, she wondered what her warm hand would feel like cupping her breast, her hip, her…
“Are you okay?” Amy asked. “You look a little flushed.”
She blinked and took a breath. “Now that you mention it, I do feel a little warm.” She searched for an excuse. “Maybe I should have had an iced latte.”
“Let me get you some water.” Amy got up. “Be right back.”
Sarah watched Amy as she walked across the room to the water dispenser. She was sexy just filling a glass of water. Not wanting to be caught staring again, she made herself look away before she returned.
“Here you go.” Amy placed the glass of water in front of her.
“Thanks.” She took a sip and closed her eyes briefly as the cool liquid refreshed her. When she opened them, she found Amy gazing at her.
“Better?” Amy asked.
Sarah swallowed hard. “Better.”
“Well, well,” a woman’s voice intruded. “What do we have here?”
Sarah turned to see Robin standing alongside their table and looking from her to Amy. She hadn’t seen her ex-girlfriend enter the coffeehouse, so caught up had she been in Amy.
Robin appeared to be scrutinizing Amy’s lifeguard uniform. She was dressed smartly as usual, like the high-powered real estate agent she was, and wearing the watch that Sarah had always thought probably cost as much as her own car. She held two coffees to go. One of the coffees was probably for a client, as Robin was not in the habit of frequenting independent coffeehouses. Apparently done scrutinizing Amy, Robin turned her attention to Sarah. “Dating someone of your own social class? Maybe it’s for the best.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked to the door.
“What…?” Amy looked at Sarah, frowning. She turned toward Robin’s retreating figure. “Hey…” She started to get up, but Sarah laid her hand on her arm. She hesitated but sat back down, watching her exit the coffeehouse. She looked at Sarah again.
Sarah sighed. “That was Robin—my ex.”
Amy raised her eyebrows. “I can see why.”
“Yeah.” Sarah watched through the window as Robin slid into her double-parked Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan with her coffees and drove away. “If I never date another stuck-up rich woman again it will be too soon.”
Amy blinked and looked away. Sarah wondered at her odd reaction, wondered what she was thinking, since it was clear that dating Robin hadn’t been a particularly good choice on her part. Amy looked at her and seemed about to speak but then closed her mouth.
“It’s okay,” Sarah spoke into the silence.
“Okay? Your ex? No, that definitely wasn’t okay,” she said, shaking her head.
She sighed again. “Yeah, I know. That’s why she’s my ex. I still get mad at myself for even having had a relationship with her.”
“I hate to ask,” Amy said, “but I can’t help wondering. Why did you?”
“Believe it or not, she can be charming. It wasn’t all bad. That, and you saw her clothes, her car. I’m embarrassed to say that the lifestyle I had a taste of with her made me overlook some of the times when she was less charming. As I said, I’m not going to do that again.” Sarah looked down at the table. Amy was silent, no doubt wondering how she could have made such bad dating choices.
Just as the silence was becoming uncomfortable, Amy reached over and patted her arm comfortingly. “Don’t be so tough on yourself. What happened to you could happen to anyone.”
She wasn’t convinced, but Amy’s touch felt nice. She didn’t want to talk about her ex any longer. She took another sip of the cool water that Amy had brought her, wishing that she would gaze at her again like she had before Robin had so rudely appeared. What had she been thinking about at that moment? From her expression, she had an inkling it might have been something along the lines of her own contemplation of what Amy’s warm hands might feel like on her body. Unfortunately, Sarah was seeing only a distant look in her eyes now. She searched for a new topic of conversation. “So how did you pick this coffeehouse?”
“What?” Amy asked, seeming taken aback. “I had no idea your ex would be here.”
“No…” she said in dismay. “That’s not what I meant.” It seemed that Amy was back to taking offense at simple questions. She put her head in her hands and felt tears gathering, which dismayed her further. She was so frustrated with the way things with Amy had deteriorated after Robin had blighted the day and was still embarrassed by her naïveté with Robin. She took a breath and, blinking the tears away before they could fall, looked at Amy. “I only was asking because I live nearby, and I wondered if maybe you chose this place because you live nearby, too.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I guess I sounded defensive. But your ex—Robin, was it? —kind of got my hackles up.”
“Sorry.”
“No, don’t be. It’s not your fault.”
Sarah sniffled.
“And don’t let her upset you. I hope you won’t be offended if I say she’s obviously not worth getting upset over.”
She took a breath. “Yeah. You’re right.”
Amy nodded briskly, as if the matter of Robin were settled. “So, you were saying that you live near this coffeehouse?”
“Yes. Not on my own, unfortunately. I have roommates. But they’re nice. They’re at work at the hospital today. I walked here.” Realizing that her lingering embarrassment was causing her to blather, she stopped talking. At least the return to their previous conversation was helping the tears dissipate. She sniffled once more.
Amy squeezed her hand and smiled. “You’re adorable.”
Sarah wasn’t
sure what was adorable about her rambling answer or sniffling, but she was glad that Amy was smiling again. It made her smile, too. Though her smile might have been brighter if she hadn’t ignored her question about whether she also lived nearby. Was her living situation another of her issues? Sarah had no idea, but she was running low on patience. Why was Amy so nice sometimes, yet so unreachable at other times?
Maybe Justin was right. Maybe summer wasn’t the time to think about relationships. Maybe summer was the time to consider a fling. Relationships hadn’t been working out, and a fling could be refreshing, like he’d said. Having a fling would be a departure from the usual for her, but for a woman with a body like Amy had, she was willing to venture into the unknown. Unfortunately, it seemed like Amy might not be into flings since she seemed to have such hang-ups about people admiring her body and her uniform. She sighed.
“Maybe we should get out of here,” Amy said.
Sarah looked at her in surprise. Surely she hadn’t read her mind.
She seemed to read her surprise. “Um, I didn’t mean it like that. I just thought that you might want to get some fresh air after—no offense—” She waved her hand vaguely at the area where Robin had been standing. “You know, your ex. Go for a walk, maybe?”
“A walk sounds great. Some fresh air would be nice.” She pushed back her chair and stood.
Amy opened the door for Sarah, and they left the coffeehouse and began strolling down the sidewalk.
Amy wondered if her suggestion that they get out of there had been a Freudian slip. She was beginning to think that the fling Sarah had spoken of earlier wouldn’t be too off base from what they would be able to have, because it didn’t seem like they were going to be able to date or have a relationship. Not if Sarah was so easily seduced by material possessions.
Amy had already dated a couple of women like that. She didn’t want it to happen again, which was why she was in the habit of keeping quiet about her beachfront condo and her luxury auto dealership.
On the other hand, Sarah had said that she didn’t want to date another rich woman. Did that mean she was put off by wealth now? Amy had almost said that not all wealthy women were like Robin, but she wouldn’t have been able to explain such a comment very well without revealing a lot more of herself than she normally liked to do this early. She didn’t think her own finances were in Robin’s league, but she did have a certain amount of money. It was beginning to look like this coffee date was not a very auspicious foray back into the dating world.