by Hayleigh Sol
Unable to process the influx of happy news, I stared at him with saucer eyes and slowly shook my head. “No, I don’t think that ever came up in conversation.”
“Oh. Well, hm, this is awkward. Were you just wanting this to be a vacation fling?”
Uh, yeah, that’s what I was expecting.
“No. I mean, I thought that was what it was. All it really could be. I didn’t realize”—he dropped the fake–hurt act and laughed exuberantly—“you’re a pain in the ass.” I pushed his shoulder and he flopped back onto his towel, still chuckling.
“Heh, I realized I was a pain in the ass a long time ago.” Tucking an arm under his head, he managed to stifle his amusement and looked closely at me. “You really didn’t know where I live now?”
I shook my head again. “Not at all, I can’t believe it. Simone’s going to wet herself with joy.”
“What?”
“Uh, nothing.”
“Okay, so…what do you think now that you have this additional information? Do I get to keep seeing you when we go back home?”
Luka’s bombshell had totally thrown me. How did I feel about dating him? Of him—dare I even think it—becoming my next boyfriend?
Spending more than these couple of weeks with him was a dream I hadn’t allowed myself to indulge in. Thinking of it in those terms gave me my answer.
I flung myself at him, covering his gorgeous face and mouth with kisses that fought their way through my smile and his. Our grins melted as we got down to some serious making out. My head swum, drunk on the knowledge I’d get to keep doing this after next week. When Luka put a stop to the good times, I think I actually whimpered in protest. I might’ve even chased his lips with my own.
“Hey, look.”
Blinking until I was finally able to follow the direction of his gaze, I spotted what he was referring to. “Shoot, do you think we offended them?”
Luka looked away from our beach neighbors, who’d packed up and were making haste up the trail. The scorching desire in his eyes nearly made me whimper again. “God, I hope so.”
His mouth claimed mine and I officially joined the Sex on the Beach Club. Where members weren’t defined by their devotion to a delicious pink cocktail.
Cooling off in the lake—and removing the sand from some truly uncomfortable places—turned into a hilarious boundaryless game of Marco Polo. Holy hell, is Marco Polo with only two people exhausting. I even cheated and peeked a few times and I still couldn’t catch Luka.
When he accused me of looking, I flat–out denied it. “Even if I had—not that I’m saying I did—it would only be to even up the scales. You have bigger arm muscles than me.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Standing in the water up to my waist, my hands were on my hips as I caught my breath. “You can pull more water and swim faster. Duh.” Insert eyeroll.
“Did you just ‘duh’ me?”
“Yes. Yes, I did. Why, what’re you gonna do about it?”
Oh, that was a mistake. He used those ripped arms to close the distance between us superfast. Not that I’d missed the intent in his eyes and stayed where I was like a dummy.
Nope, I scampered up the beach and—shit, what was my big plan of escape now?
Didn’t matter. Luka grabbed me from behind and, in what seemed like a single move, had me hoisted over his shoulder, ass in the air. And I do mean ass because his wrestlemania move had shoved my bikini bottoms into every woman’s least favorite location for them to be shoved and I was now mooning…well, nobody, thank goodness.
Alternately, I tugged the fabric over my cheeks, where it refused to stay in place, and smacked Luka on his own, covered, butt.
“Spanking? Are you really spanking me when your own delectable ass is in such a vulnerable position?”
He thinks my ass is ‘delectable’? Aw, sweet. No, Maya! Focus.
“Lukasz, put me down right this second! Yeah, put me down and then we’ll see who’s vulnerable.”
His hand spanned my bare cheeks, threatening and enticing at the same time. Would he spank me? Did I want him to?
A flick of his wrist and I stilled. Okay, the answers were yes and yes, again, please. Instead of reading my mind—or maybe he knew what I wanted before I did—his thumb slid toward the front of my suit and found my on–switch. He carried me back to the towels, set me gently back on my feet, and resumed his ministrations.
I’d gotten a brief introduction to his talented lips and tongue the night before, but now he went to work downtown with all the enthusiasm and dedication of a man angling for a promotion.
As my body hummed under his touch, I was fleetingly aware that, once more, I was naked on a public beach, being very thoroughly pleasured, in the middle of a perfect sunny day. The me of two weeks ago would never have believed it. The me of the moment went with it until my toes curled and my upper body levitated off the sand.
Vacations were the best.
After I showed Luka how grateful I was for his generosity by returning the favor, he pulled my body against his side and I dropped my head to rest on his chest. “All I can say is, ‘wow’. And I don’t say that lightly.”
His chest lifted and fell as his breathing slowed. “Same to you, beautiful. Let’s just not move for the next three days.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I wrapped my arm over his torso and listened to the steady beating of his heart. Imagining my own syncing up with his, I fell asleep. Luka must have done the same because I woke to a familiar sound with a start, then watched him open his eyes blearily.
“Maya…?”
“I think another boat’s coming.” My head poked up and I scanned the horizon. “Yep, we gotta cover up, sweetheart. Hurry.”
He yawned, struggling to fully wake up, before reaching his arm out and fumbling for the shorts I’d already dropped right beside him. “Did you just call me ‘sweetheart’?”
I was too busy trying to hide behind his body—no honor among exhibitionists—while wriggling into my wet bathing suit to answer him. He took my grunts to mean yes.
“I like that.”
“That’s very nice, sweetheart, but we’re going to be spotted in the next five seconds if you don’t cover up your bait and tackle.”
Dragging his shorts on, he chuckled. “Bait and tackle. That’s funny. You know, cuz we’re at a lake and lots of people fish here.”
“Yes, I’m very clever and witty. Hooray for me.”
Somehow, by the grace of beach–sex gods everywhere, we managed to be fully clothed again as the people on the second boat came within viewing distance. I hoped they hadn’t had binoculars.
My hyperventilating was coming back under control while Luka sat on his towel looking as chill as the waters of Willow Creek. He bumped my shoulder with his and smiled when I looked his way. “You are very clever and witty. I’ve always liked that about you. Smart, funny, beautiful…you’re the whole package.”
I kissed his shoulder, then pushed my body up to reach his cheek. “Thank you. I’ve always thought the same about you. Sweetheart.”
The invaders of our lovely beach were on a houseboat and the noise level before they’d even ventured ashore had us picking up and shipping out. Luka found a lovely inlet to the south, where we dropped anchor and ate lunch. Now that I knew where he lived, I wanted to know what he did for fun, where his favorite places were, if he preferred Newport or Huntington Beach.
We made date–night plans to check out the Balboa Pier and its Fun Zone, a miniature amusement park I hadn’t been to since I was in high school. I suggested I ride my bike and meet him somewhere for a beach ride together one day.
Planning dates with Luka and a future, however near–term it might be, was surreal. At seventeen, I never would’ve believed us as a couple was a possibility, even if I did dream it a time or two. Now I just had to ho
pe my demanding schedule and keeping my company a priority wouldn’t come between us as they had in my last relationship.
Chapter 21
One day bled into the next as Luka and I played cards and had sex, hiked and made love, roasted s’mores and licked the sticky marshmallow off each other’s bodies. We even attempted getting it on once while floating on an air mattress on the lake. That disastrous experiment ended up with both of us in the water but would make for a funny story to tell our—actually, we probably would never tell that story to anyone.
Vacation time and behaviors were different from real life, I knew that. Especially a vacation where our respective campsites were within a hundred yards of each other. If proximity fostered familiarity, would the proverbial familiarity breeds contempt become true?
Half of me relished how seamlessly we slipped into spending every night and day together, certain that was a positive sign we were meant to be, while the other half was scared this was that indescribable alchemy of summer sunshine and a break from normal life. Luka and I got along so well, I told myself I wasn’t going to do the typical chick thing and ask him if he had the same concerns. I’d take a page from Holly’s life philosophy and enjoy our time at the lake before we went home.
I could worry about everything then.
After I’d finally spoken with Brad yesterday, I suspected there was more than my fledgling relationship with Luka to stress over back home. The thought of our conversation had my stomach cramping in protest. There might actually be something to this whole stress–induced indigestion thing.
During a trip to the grocery store to replenish food supplies, Luka had generously suggested I check in with work while he did the shopping. Brad surprised me by picking up with a cheerful greeting.
“How’s our little camper doing? Are you sick of the great outdoors yet?”
I wasn’t, not at all. Well, I was sick of sleeping—and boning—on the ground, but definitely not tired of the forest and fresh air. “It’s beautiful up here but I am missing work a bit. Eager to get back to it.” Not strictly true. There were aspects of my job I missed but plenty that I was happy to be away from and wouldn’t mind never having to deal with again.
“Oh, um, that’s probably something we should talk about. You coming back.”
The hesitation in his tone was highly unusual for my ex. I was instantly on alert. “Is everything okay? Do I need to be there sooner?”
Gusty sigh, more hesitation. “Maya, things have been going really well here.”
Okaaay, that was good news.
“It’s just…”
My stomach gurgled. “It’s just what, Brad?”
All this hemming and hawing was getting on my nerves. It felt like one of his pseudo–concerned, overly cautious routines. Every woman had experience with a man (or five) like that: the guy had bad news, or was about to say something he knew she wouldn’t like, so he started tiptoeing and tap dancing around his words like she was seconds away from going psycho–bitch on him. In reality, it was his moronic act that really made us lose our shit.
Brad did that with me. It was annoying as fuck.
He assumed different personas sometimes with his employees or customers, too; I’d heard it when he was on phone calls. In fact, he even did it with his friends. Had I realized how often he seemed to be playing some kind of role while we were dating?
God, if I had, why did I put up with that for so long?
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings or upset you…”
Again with the weighty pauses. I bit my tongue and waited.
“It’s just, well, I think Meg and Cory might quit if you come back. From a few things they’ve said.”
Boy, when he finally spits it out, he doesn’t soften the blow at all. I definitely hadn’t seen that coming.
“What do you mean, if I come back? It’s my company.”
“I know it is, but everyone’s been doing really well this week”—under his management, he didn’t say, but implied—“and I just worry about rocking the boat.”
“But it’s my company.” This should be obvious to everyone, but it was all I could offer in response to what I was hearing.
Brad sighed again. “I know it’s your company. But I don’t think you want to be dealing with replacing two employees—good ones who really care about doing a good job, by the way—with everything else that’s going on right now. The hospital project alone is going to need most of your focus.”
I didn’t know who he was talking about, but Meg and Cory weren’t that great and they’d certainly never shown they cared all that much about the work we did.
“Anyway, don’t worry about that now. Let me keep working with the staff; that’s what I’m here for.”
There was no way I wasn’t going to be turning his revelation over and over in my head. Maybe I could mask my disbelief and hurt feelings with something positive. All the research and planning I’d done—before I’d started spending half of each day naked with Luka—were a major reason I’d wanted to talk to my potential future business partner.
Brad and I had discussed my vision for Green for Green over the years. He knew I wanted to get into eco–design consulting for new construction and remodel projects. I reminded him of my end goals before launching into some of my discoveries and financial calculations, knowing his primary concern—and probable argument against moving forward—would have to do with the financials.
“So, you see, if we let Tiffany go and—”
“Maya, I really don’t know what you have against that girl.” I’d just explained how she was barely generating enough revenue to justify her salary. I hadn’t even said anything against her as a person. “She’s ambitious and a hard worker and, frankly, you need someone like her on your team. Look, I’ve got a meeting right now. We can talk about all this when you’re back in town.”
“Wait, Brad—”
“Try to enjoy the rest of your vacation. You sound so much better, less stressed, than when you left. Take it easy, bye.”
Once again, Brad hung up before I was finished speaking. I didn’t appreciate the new way he had of dealing with me; he’d never done anything like that when we were a couple. Was this what I had to look forward to if we continued working together?
I stared at my phone’s screen for several moments. Should I check in with Evan? Reach out to Cory and Meg and see if there was anything to what Brad had said about their dissatisfaction with me or my management style? I wouldn’t even know how to begin a conversation like that. If they’d said something to Brad in confidence, I shouldn’t undermine their trust or put either of them on the spot. But how could I fix the problem if I didn’t even know what it was?
An arm wrapped around me from behind. The scent of Luka surrounded me. Well, the scent of Luka and my coconut sunblock—yep, we were sharing sunblock; what was next, a key and a phone plan?
“Didn’t want to interrupt, but I was watching you over there. It looked like you were done with your call?”
“I think it was done with me.”
Turning me around to face him, Luka frowned in confusion. I shook my head and forced a smile; it was easy to be happy with him around, in spite of my recent conversation. He took my hand, leading us back to the car, as I thanked him again for taking care of the shopping. I was silent on the drive, going over and over in my mind possible solutions to my unanticipated problem.
“Maya, what’s up? Talk to me.”
One look at those patient, caring eyes and everything that had happened in my conversation with Brad spilled out of me.
Luka’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand. Why would your employees be threatening to quit when you, the owner and their boss, come back after a two–week vacation? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Thank you. That’s what I said.” He shook his head, as puzzled as I was. “And I’m a nic
e boss. A really nice one. At least, I think I am.”
“I’m sure you’re an excellent boss. You’re too kind not to be.”
I smiled at him, grateful for the support. “I just don’t get it. Neither one of them has hinted they’re unhappy or thinking of leaving. They’ve both gotten raises and bonuses and I always express my appreciation for the work they do.” Even when they didn’t always deserve it.
“Maybe there’s nothing to worry about with those two. Brad didn’t tell you what was said specifically?” I shook my head. “And why the hell would he want to keep this Tiffany around if she’s not making any money? Wait, she’s attractive, isn’t she?”
His getting peeved on my behalf was sweet and actually had the effect of calming me down some. “I don’t see the appeal personally, but I’ve always thought Brad was hot for her.”
“Oh yeah, they had that closed–door meeting your other employee emailed about last week. And you never found out what that was about?”
“No, this is the first time I’ve even talked to Brad since my first day here and I haven’t heard any more from Evan.”
Luka nodded his head slowly. “So…we’re pretty sure something’s going on there, with Brad and Tiffany?” We’d arrived back at the campground and he looked at me with sympathy.
I shrugged and nodded. “I mean, why else would he be defending her all the time? That’s not what I care about, though. I’m frustrated with him not listening to me, with him being too busy to have a real conversation about my damn company.”
My car door slammed harder than I’d intended, putting an exclamation point on my statement. Luka opened up the back of the SUV and we started pulling grocery totes out and carrying them to the picnic table.
“Are you sure you’re not bothered that they might be seeing each other? It’s understandable if you are…”
Not liking the sadness in his voice, I put my bags down and turned to face him. “Luka, I swear I’m not jealous or pining over my ex.” I stepped into his arms and held him as tight as I could. Not an easy feat with his height advantage and those broad, muscular shoulders.