Seaside Sunsets

by Melissa Foster

  “But I…and you didn’t.”

  “Above the waist, remember?” He kissed her softly.

  “Well, that whole show was below the waist on me.” She turned onto her side, still reeling from how her body reacted to him. “And you nearly turned me inside out.” She grasped for the right thing to say and do. “I can…use my hand.”

  He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “No, babe. I didn’t do that because I wanted payback. I wanted you. Badly. I did what I felt.”

  “Wow, you’re a real giver.” She laughed and buried her face in his shirt. “I’m terribly embarrassed. I’ve never done that, and I didn’t even know I could.”

  “Why are you embarrassed? We dig each other. That’s a good thing.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t…you know. And to do it without…you know.” Oh God, shut up! Her cheeks felt like they were on fire.

  “You don’t you know? Well, we’ll have to fix that, now, won’t we?”

  He gathered her in his arms again and kissed her tenderly. “You’re incredible. Don’t ever be embarrassed around me. I think you’re lovely.” He kissed her again. “And sexy as hell.” He kissed her neck. “The sweetest person I know.” He gazed deeply into her eyes. “And I want to spend more time with you, and I want to make you…you know.”

  Oh yes, now she knew.

  And she wanted to…you know…even more.

  Chapter Six

  JAMIE STAYED UP half the night answering emails, working through issues that had come up at OneClick, and thinking about Jessica. The best thing about being a computer professional was that he could work from just about anywhere, but he was a hands-on guy when it came to his business, and he’d learned the hard way that giving too much authority away could bite him in the ass. Luckily, Mark Wiley, his attorney, had been with him since the inception of OneClick, and he was in the office daily, keeping an eye on the goings-on at the company from a legal standpoint. Jamie no longer sealed deals with a handshake, and although Mark was a bit overprotective of Jamie and his interests, warning him off of money-grubbing, ladder-climbing employees and women, they made a good team.

  He read a brief email from Mark alerting him to a situation. We have a potential bug with the search engine. Checking into it. Don’t worry. Enjoy sun and fun. Will call if any further issues arise. Mark could handle just about anything. He shot off a quick note of thanks, then began his hunt for the owner of the baseball card store. It was a piece of cake tracking him down through public website records and forums, and Jamie could hardly believe that the owner, Steve Lacasse, lived in Plymouth, Massachusetts. According to the information he’d dug up, Steve sold his goods on eBay, and like many other local collectors, he worked the Wellfleet Flea Market over the summers.

  Jamie arrived at the flea market Saturday morning while vendors were still setting up their booths. He traipsed up and down every aisle, stopping at every booth that had a single sports item, but had no luck finding Steve.

  He climbed back in his car and drove over to Kurt Remington’s house on the bay to see Leanna.

  Kurt’s house, and the separate cottage from where Leanna ran her business, were built on a dune overlooking the water. Jamie parked behind Leanna’s old Volkswagen Bus that her father had refinished and painted with colorful seaside scenes when she’d graduated from college. He didn’t bother going to the front door. Kurt was a creature of habit, and he was as methodical as Leanna was disorganized. He went for his morning run, then had coffee while he scanned the news. By nine o’clock he had his fingers on the keyboard pounding out his next bestseller. Leanna was his polar opposite. She would surely be scrambling to get to Seaside to see the girls before heading over to the flea market to set up her booth—late, as usual. At least that’s what Jamie was counting on.

  He heard their voices before he reached the steps to the rear deck. Pepper bounded toward him, tongue lolling from his mouth as he tried to climb Jamie’s legs, barking for a little love. Jamie scooped him into his arms and petted his tangled white fur.

  “How’s it going, Pep?”

  “Jamie?” Leanna peered over the deck as he ascended the stairs. Her hair hung loose over her shoulders, and her white tee was streaked with jam. Her eyes were wide with the smile on her lips. “Want a scone? They’re fresh.”

  “No, thanks. I just wanted to pimp you for a little info.” He set Pepper on the deck and hugged Leanna, then gave Kurt a brotherly pat on the back.

  Kurt looked up from the news site he was reading. “Hey, man. How’s it going? I hear you’ve got a line on the new Seaside babe.”

  “Hey!” Leanna leaned over his shoulder and ran her hands down his chest. “Don’t call her that. Her name’s Jessica, although she is a total babe.”

  Jamie flopped into a chair. “Everyone? That didn’t take long.”

  “Jenna called me this morning. I’m running too late to stop by there.” Leanna went inside and came out with a mug of coffee for Jamie.

  “Thanks, Leanna.” One of the things Jamie loved most about his summer friends was that their doors were always open. They didn’t rely on cell phones and email to communicate. Even though he loved his work and he loved Boston, being at the Cape with his friends rejuvenated him in ways no place else, and no other friends, ever could.

  “Leanna, do you know a guy named Steve Lacasse at the flea market?”

  Leanna furrowed her brow and shook her head. “I don’t know the last names of people there, but I know a few Steves. What does he sell?”

  “I assume baseball memorabilia, but I’m not really sure. He used to own a store called My Mom Threw Out My Baseball Cards in Orleans, and he closed it down a little over a year ago. I did some checking, and he works the flea markets, here and in Dennis, and sells his stuff on eBay too. I just want to have a conversation with him.”

  “There are about three sports guys at the flea market, but I can’t remember a Steve. I’ll check it out when I’m there today.”

  Kurt ran his hand through his thick dark hair. “There is the Steve with that yellow truck. He sells all sorts of stuff—records, books, fishing rods—but I’ve seen sports memorabilia at his booth too. He might be the guy to ask.” Kurt opened a document and perused it.

  “You know, you’re right.” Leanna picked up a big, colorful bag and hoisted it over her shoulder. “He might at least know who the guy is. If you want, I can talk to him today and let you know what he says. What’s this for anyway?”

  Just thinking of Jessica brought a smile to his lips. She’d been so beautiful when she’d come apart beneath him last night, and she’d been so open and honest with him afterward, that as hard as it was to wait to get even more intimate, he was glad they were. He already felt like this was the beginning of a much more meaningful relationship than those that he’d had in the past.

  “It’s for Jessica. He sold a baseball on eBay that she thinks was her father’s when he was a boy, and she wants to track down the new owner.”

  “Fate.” Kurt’s eyes never left the laptop. He continued typing. He was a man of few words, but this one had Jamie stumped.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Steve. My Mom Threw Out My Baseball Cards? I assume her father’s parents lost the ball somewhere along the way and this guy got it, maybe after it passed hands a few dozen times?” Kurt shifted his eyes to Jamie. “Think like a writer. Connect the dots.”

  Until then it hadn’t struck him how ironic the name of the store was, given Jessica’s situation. “So it’s fate that he works here?”

  Leanna kissed Kurt’s cheek and patted his shoulder. “I’ll see you later. I’ve got to run. I’ll talk to the Steves I know and specifically the Steve that Kurt mentioned, and I’ll text you after I do.”

  “See ya, Leanna. Thanks.” Jamie turned his attention back to Kurt. He wasn’t a big believer in fate, given his parents’ untimely deaths, but he was curious about what Kurt meant.

  Kurt leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head. “Fa
te. You know, something that’s destined to happen. The development of events beyond a person’s control. Jamie, look at me and Leanna, or Bella and Caden. Would you ever have put us together as couples? Fate, man. Jessica’s here, you’re here, Steve might be here. It’s all fate.”

  Kurt went back to typing, and Jamie knew it must be nine o’clock.

  Jamie thought about fate on the short drive back to Seaside. How could that be? Would fate have caused his parents’ safari vehicle to break down in the bush? Would fate have driven them into the bush without their guide that morning? Or placed the hungry lions there when his mother left the vehicle, he assumed to go to the bathroom? Would fate have put the video camera in his father’s hands as he filmed in the opposite direction and caught her screams as a backdrop to the beautiful scenery—or when the camera crashed to the ground and his father’s frantic footfalls and guttural, terrifying screams could be heard sprinting toward his dying wife? Against Vera’s pleas, Jamie had insisted on watching the video when he was in his late twenties. That video had taken the story of his parents’ deaths and made it real. He’d watched it over and over ten, twenty, maybe thirty times in a row—and then he’d buried the sights and sounds so deep he hoped they never resurfaced. But sometimes, when his mind was unoccupied, they did.

  As Jamie pulled into Seaside, a painfully familiar thought pressed in on him. Had his father died saving his wife, or had he given himself over to the lions because he loved her too much to live without her?

  Jamie wasn’t buying fate, no matter how well it fit his and Jessica’s lives at the moment. Fate was an invisible enemy with, in his eyes, an evil history that he didn’t care to have touch his future.

  JESSICA BALANCED HER laptop on her hip and crouched at the bottom of the stairs to her apartment to pick a few wildflowers. She carried them across the quad toward Jamie’s cottage, intending to give the flowers to Vera and to ask Jamie for help finding the eBay seller again, since they got a little sidetracked last night. Deliciously sidetracked.

  “Jessie, Jessie, Bo-Bessie!” Jenna waved from Amy’s deck. “Come on over and join us.”

  Jessica loved that they included her. She stepped onto the deck and noticed that Bella and Amy were still in their pajamas. Bella’s nightshirt barely covered her ass, while Amy had on pink plaid pajama pants and a tank pajama top with a picture of a sexy cat with an hourglass figure, wearing a black bikini and holding a bottle of wine, and MAKE ME PURR embroidered above it. Jenna grabbed Jessica’s arm and guided her into a chair. She put her hands on her hips and looked pointedly up and down Jessica’s outfit.

  Jessica swallowed hard. She and Jenna were both wearing cutoffs and white tanks, each with bikinis beneath. Of course Jenna was as voluptuous as Megan Fox while Jessica was less curvy, like Jennifer Aniston, but they looked like they’d coordinated their outfits, and from the look on Jenna’s face, Jessica guessed this wasn’t a good thing.

  “Well, well, look at us.” Jenna narrowed her eyes and raked them down Jessica again as Amy disappeared inside the cottage.

  Gulp.

  “Now we’re total Seaside sisters!” Jenna leaned down and hugged Jessica. “Don’t worry. I can help you match your sandals a little better. Something blue to go with your suit would be nice.” She lifted her foot and wiggled her toes. “See? Green. Matches my suit.”

  “It’s way too early for one of your OCD matchy-matchy lectures.” Bella rolled her eyes as Amy came out with a cup of coffee and set it in front of Jessica. “Sit down, Jen. Jessica, don’t let her anywhere near your apartment, or everything you own will be color-coordinated, alphabetized, and God only knows what else.”

  Jenna flopped into a chair and stuck out her lower lip.

  Amy patted Jenna’s shoulder. “We love your organizational skills. Don’t worry. Bella just didn’t get any last night, so she’s cranky.”

  Bella slid her a shut up look.

  “Did you get any?” Jenna asked Jessica with wide eyes.

  “Me?” Jessica froze.

  “Oh, come on. We know you spent the entire day with Jamie, and he’s such a doll. I mean, really. Easy on the eyes and sweet as pie.”

  “Cliché,” Bella said. “Sweet as jam.”

  “That’s a good one,” Amy said.

  “Kurt gave me a thesaurus because I kept calling Caden hot and he got sick of hearing it.” Bella smiled and tucked her thick blond hair behind her ear. “So now I use other words, like sexy, smoldering, scorching…”

  “Okay, okay, back to Jessica and Jamie.” Jenna touched Jessica’s arm.

  “Jenna! She doesn’t have to kiss and tell,” Amy chided. “She’s nosy, Jessica. Sorry.” She sipped her coffee, then added, “But we are all curious. We love Jamie, and we only want him to be happy.”

  “Yeah, so if you plan on using him and then tossing him aside, just forget it, because it’ll bring my claws out.” Bella blew on her fingernails with a serious, dark stare.

  I wouldn’t know how to use a guy and toss him aside.

  A smile spread across Bella’s lips. “We take care of our own.”

  She didn’t know what to say, but her heart was galloping in her chest.

  “They terrified me when I was younger,” Amy whispered to her.

  Jenna playfully pushed Amy’s arm. “We did not. Bella’s all talk, Jessica. So, how was your date?”

  Now she was afraid to answer, and she was pretty sure the word flying through her mind wasn’t appropriate. Orgasmic. She opened her mouth, intending to say something benign, like, It was nice, or, We had a lovely time, but her voice had a mind of its own, and out came a long, dreamy sigh, followed by, “A-ma-zing.”

  The girls squealed. She felt her cheeks pink up, but she had no hope of keeping to her prim and proper upbringing. The girls were just as excited as she was. She sensed she could trust them as much as she feared Bella’s threat. She had a feeling that the threatening banter, the inquisition, and the smiles they were sending her way were all part of the sisterhood they shared, and she wanted in.

  “He’s so…I need that thesaurus.” She laughed.

  “Oh my.” Amy raised her brows.

  “We didn’t do that.” Here came the prim. “He’s warm and kind, a great listener. Interesting and generous.”

  Jenna and Bella rolled their eyes.

  “And?” Jenna pushed.

  Forget prim; she wanted girlfriend talk. She leaned in close and lowered her voice. “And the best kisser on the planet.”

  Bella and Jenna high-fived.

  “You guys, she’ll never talk to you again if you do that,” Amy warned. “Jamie never dates girls up here, and he never talks about the women he dates back home. He’s like our sweet, very private brother. We’re happy for you.”

  “Thanks. Honestly, I’m happy for me.” Just thinking about Jamie made her smile.

  “So were you going over to pretend that you needed computer help?” Jenna pointed to her laptop.

  “Pretend? My computer hates me. I’m like the anti-geek. Give me a cello and I’m right at home. Give me a phone or computer? It might as well have dropped into my lap from Mars. But Jamie’s helping me. I’m trying to track down a baseball my dad had as a kid.”

  “I knew you were some kind of musician. You were watching Vera with stars in your eyes the other night,” Amy said.

  “She was looking at Jamie, goofus,” Bella added.

  “Both, probably,” Jessica admitted.

  “Speaking of Mr. Amazing Kisser.” Bella nodded toward Jamie’s car as it came up the gravel road and pulled into his driveway.

  Jessica’s pulse ratcheted up a notch. “Please don’t say anything to him about what I said.”

  All three of them pretended to lock their mouths and toss away the keys.

  Jamie crossed the road, a lustful look in his eyes as they connected with Jessica’s.

  “Hi, handsome,” Bella said.

  “Want some coffee?” Amy asked.

  He walked right past them
, making a beeline for Jessica. “No, thanks.” He leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “Hi, beautiful. Did you sleep okay?”

  I can’t breathe. Heat swirled between them so thick she was sure it would sear the deck around their feet.

  “Yeah,” she finally managed.

  He placed a hand on her shoulder and eyed the girls’ wide-eyed gazes, the smirks on their pretty faces. His lips curled up.

  “Did you get the scoop? Am I all that?”

  Oh God!

  “You’ve been all that since you were a kid.” Amy smiled at Jessica. “Now you’re all that with an awesome girlfriend who refuses to kiss and tell.”

  She wanted to run over and hug Amy. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

  “But we love her anyway.” Bella winked at Jessica.

  She looked up at Jamie, standing behind her, his hands on her shoulders, that easy smile she adored on his lips. “I brought Vera flowers, and I was hoping you might help me with tracking down the baseball guy.”

  He leaned down and whispered, “Already done. Come on. I’ll explain.”

  When he kissed her cheek, all the girls awwed in unison. She must be getting used to them, because she didn’t feel her cheeks pink up this time. Thank goodness. It was embarrassing to be a blushing twenty-seven-year old.

  Jessica thanked Amy for the coffee and followed Jamie across the gravel road to his cottage.

  “His store was in Orleans, but he closed it a while ago. He lives in Plymouth, and you won’t believe this, but he works the bigger flea markets around the Cape in the summers, and of course sells his stuff on eBay.”

  “How do you know all of this?”

  “Bread crumbs. Geeks know how to follow them. Anyway, I went to the flea market, and he wasn’t there, so I went to see Leanna. She’s going to talk to the Steves that are at the flea market today and figure out if one of them is the right guy. Kurt seemed to think one of them was. Anyway, she’ll text his info if he’s the right guy so we can call him.”

  They were standing on his deck. Jessica hooked her finger into the front pocket of his shorts. “You did all of that for me?”