The Surfer Solution

by Cathy Yardley

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  RRRRRING! RRRRING!

  Allison’s first instinct was to hit the alarm with a groan, but as she rolled over and reached, she realized she couldn’t quite move... that there was a large, warm male body curled around hers, his arm just beneath her breasts.

  Sean, she thought. They’d made love until two o’clock in the morning, and then had fallen asleep, entwined, as if they couldn’t bear to be separated even then.

  She still felt that way, she thought abruptly.

  She then glanced at the clock. It wasn’t her alarm—she hadn’t set it. That annoying ringing noise was her land line.

  “I have to get that,” she said to him, and with a reluctant groan he released her, much to her body’s disappointment. She sprang out of bed naked, grabbing the cordless phone and wandering out into her hallway. “Yes?” she said impatiently.

  “Where the heck are you?”

  She grimaced. It was Gary. “I’m at home, obviously,” she said in a hushed voice.

  Then she remembered...yesterday. Getting taken off the account.

  “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. Obviously Frank hadn’t explained what had happened, and she was in no rush to, either. “I’m staying home today. I should’ve left you a note or something. I left in kind of a hurry.”

  “What happened? There are all kinds of rumors going on, and when I didn’t hear from you, I tried calling your cell phone....”

  “I shut it off,” she admitted with a wince. “What kind of rumors?”

  “You had some kind of nutty episode and told off Frank and now he’s kicked you out of the office.”

  She sighed. “That sounds about right.”

  There was a pause on Gary’s end of the line. “You’re not kidding.”

  “Apparently not.” It still didn’t quite seem real. Of course, after the past twenty-four hours, nothing did. “He said that I could stay home until the presentation. Kate and Peter will take over, I’d imagine.”

  “Yeah, well, we’ll see about that,” Gary said ominously. “Here’s the thing. They’ve been by every five minutes, asking when you’re coming in. Kate’s even asked me for your home phone number, and I imagine she’ll raid HR to find it if she has to. It’s just a matter of time.”

  “Oy,” Allison said, rubbing a hand over her face.

  “I think they’re going to want you to come in, is my point,” Gary said. “Frank will realize they can’t handle the account any minute now. I’m sure he’ll reconsider.”

  She knew that he probably would. Then she walked to the bedroom, and saw Sean, sleeping. His sandy brown hair was tousled around his closed eyes, and what she could see of his torso...

  “Allison? Hello, Allison?”

  She snapped back to attention. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Got distracted.”

  “So? You going to come in, or what?”

  She thought about it. “No,” she said in a low voice. “I’ve got other things I want to do today.”

  Another pause. “Why are you talking so softly?”

  She blushed. Even though she couldn’t see it, she could feel it in the heat of her skin. She retreated toward the living room, grateful the blinds were drawn. “I’m not talking softly,” she said in a more normal voice, clearing her throat.

  “You got lucky!" Gary’s voice sounded shocked.

  “That’s so inappropriate,” she said, a giggle escaping.

  “I’m not just your assistant, I’m your friend...and I’ve been working with you long enough to know that you have no life,” he pointed out. “So forgive me for commenting on the obvious and add a big hoorah. It was that guy from yesterday, wasn’t it? The tall guy?”

  She threw a glance over her shoulder at the bedroom door. “Not telling.”

  “That’s why you’re not coming in?” He let out a low whistle. “Wow. He must be something if you’re going to blow off something this big to spend the day with him.” She bit her lip. Gary had a point. She had been working all her life toward this… not toward a few sex-drenched days with her surf instructor.

  But Sean’s not just my surf instructor. And this isn’t just sex.

  She wasn’t sure what prompted her internal voice to chime in with those observations, but once she’d recognized them, she knew that they weren’t going to go away.

  “It wasn’t my idea,” she said instead. “Frank sent me home. If they want to manage the account without me, then that’s his call.”

  “If you say so,” Gary said dubiously. “Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kate drove by your house. She’s starting to look a little crispy around the edges.”

  Allison made a mental note to unplug her phone. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll see you on the thirty-first.”

  “So you’re still coming to the presentation?”

  “It’s my presentation.” She might be dealing with a bunch of stuff with Sean, but that was one thing she wasn’t missing. “Somebody else might be delivering it, but I’ll be there.”

  “All right.” There was an evil, mischievous chuckle in Gary’s voice. “You have fun today, boss.”

  “I plan to,” she retorted, then hung up on him. Then she unplugged the phone from the jack.

  “Everything okay?”

  She looked up...and then caught her breath.

  Wrapped up in one of her Egyptian-cotton sheets, his hair rumpled, his eyes slumberous, Sean Gilroy was possibly the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen. From the expression on his face, one of sleepy hunger, she felt her body stir.

  “Nothing. Nothing important, anyway,” she said. She walked up to him, tentatively, disbelief still hovering in her system. “Good morning,” she whispered.

  He smiled...then reached out and pulled her to him, nuzzling her neck as her body turned into jelly. Then, with casual strength, he picked her up and carried her back to the bedroom. She laughed as she bounced on her bed.

  “That was work, wasn’t it?” he asked, stroking the hair out of her face.

  She tensed slightly. “Yeah.”

  “You going in?”

  She shook her head, biting her lip. “Said I had other things to do,” she replied in a soft voice.

  He smiled, slowly, wickedly. “Please tell me I’m one of those things.”

  “Actually,” she said, stretching out in invitation, “you’re the entire list.”

  She watched his hazel eyes glow, and she thought the happiness she was feeling at that second was going to knock her out. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this way, in her entire life.

  “Well,” he said, leaning down and kissing her shoulder, then her neck, then her jawline. “If I’m all you have to do today, I guess I’d better make sure I’m worth it.”

  She closed her eyes, letting him work that same silken web of pleasure over her, and before rational thought fled completely, she felt a flash of clarity.

  She’d tossed everything else in her life out the window for this man. Not for a lifetime—she had no idea what his plans were. Not for any promises—he hadn’t made any.

  She’d thrown everything away for basically one day, maybe a week. However long she had with him.

  Guess I’d better make sure I’m worth it.

  She kissed him with all the passion she possessed. She couldn’t figure out any other way to tell him without scaring him.

  Sean, you already are worth it.

  She just wished she’d be able to hold on to that thought forever, and gave in to enjoying her day.

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  “HEY SEAN,” OZ said, a smudge of dust on his face the only thing marring his look of relief. “Glad you could make it.”

  Sean nodded in greeting. He didn’t want to be there. It was hard enough to leave Allison, all warm and sleepy in her bed. Knowing he was coming here to close up the shop forever made him drive even slower. He felt heavy, like he was walking out in high tide, everything pushing against him.

  “I figure I’ll need to tak
e a complete inventory,” Oz said. Now that Sean was there, he sounded all business. But Oz no longer met Sean’s gaze, instead stayed riveted on the surfboards and other materials like he’d never seen it before.

  I just have to get through today, and it’ll be all over.

  Sean took a deep breath. “It shouldn’t be too bad,” he said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of movement in December, and I’ve been keeping track of it in the slow time. The records are all behind the counter.”

  “Really?” Oz sighed. “You always were better at this than I was.”

  Sean didn’t respond to that, just walked behind the counter and pulled out his inventory binder. “You were always a better surfer than you were a businessman,” he said.

  “Don’t remind me,” Oz groaned.

  “That’s actually meant to be a compliment,” Sean said with a small smile, especially as he thought of Stevie and his interview at Lone Shark. “I mean, you may not be a multimillionaire or anything, but you’ve got to admit, you’ve had a hell of a lot of fun.”

  Oz chuckled, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. “Yeah. It has been fun, huh?”

  Sean handed him the binder, and Oz took it blindly, flipping through the pages. “Whoa. Have you been this anal all the time I’ve known you?”

  Sean laughed, even though he felt a sinking sensation in his chest. “Well, I had to do something.”

  Oz finally looked at him, his face melancholy, and Sean gritted his teeth. “You’re really going to go places, kid. And about time, too.”

  Sean took a deep breath. “It wasn’t like it sucked to work here,” he said.

  “Yeah, but it wasn’t much of anything,” Oz said, his voice mournful and downright maudlin.

  “You’re kidding me with this, right?” Sean said. “You keep this up, and I’m going to have to go into the back room and break into the emergency beer. And it’s only ten in the morning.”

  Oz didn’t laugh. “I’m fifty-two years old,” he said instead, “and all I have to show for it is this place.”

  Sean sighed. Apparently he wasn’t the only one feeling lousy about the end of an era that this day represented, and frankly, he wasn’t sure if he could handle holding Oz’s hand through it, either. “Have you decided what you’re going to do?” Sean said, trying to change the subject.

  Oz sighed. “I still need to talk it over with my accountant and lawyer and stuff, but I think I may travel just a bit. And...I don’t know. Maybe I’ll try to find something else, maybe get some hobbies.”

  So why are you in such a hurry to get rid of this place? Sean wanted to yell at him. But they’d had the conversation twice now. “Sounds...” He bit back on the term boring and said instead, “.. .okay.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess. I might meet somebody,” he said, perking up a little.

  Sean thought immediately of Allison, and smiled. “You might, indeed.”

  “Hear you’ve got yourself a girl,” Oz said, his voice slightly sly.

  “Working on it,” Sean dodged.

  “And maybe a job?”

  Sean’s merry mood dissipated. “Working on it,” he repeated with less enthusiasm.

  “You do that, Sean. You get a nice steady job, get married...settle down. You don’t want to be my age and figure out you’re all alone and married to a money pit.”

  Sean shook his head. “Oz, you’re my friend. So I have to say—would you shut up about Tubes already? It’s not like it’s bleeding you dry. Almost all of the South Bay has been through these doors at one point or another. You’ve surfed in South America and Thailand and England, for God’s sake.You’ve carved the Pipeline in Hawaii. You’ve met some of the best shapers in the business. And the thing that let you do that was this damn store! So I know you’re going through some midlife crisis or something...”

  “Late for midlife,” Oz said, and then shut up when Sean glared at him.

  “But basically, you’ve had a life most people would love to have. And hearing you moan about it this way? Frankly, it sucks.”

  Oz’s mouth fell open. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you lose your temper.” His eyes widened. “I don’t even think I knew you had a temper.”

  “Yeah, well, I do,” Sean said bitterly. It was as if a pressure valve had been snapped open, and nothing was going to be able to shut it until everything he was feeling was released. “I know you’ve got your reasons for getting out of the business, and all of that, and I sure didn’t expect you to stay in it because of me. But I’ve spent the best years of my life in this store. I’ve taught most of the surfers under the age of twenty in the Los Angeles area. We’ve been the best, man. And you’re going to tell me that I’ve just been killing time? That Tubes has just been some kind of parasite and my life has been a big waste?”

  Oz looked shocked. “I didn’t mean you!”

  “Yeah, well, how the hell did you think that was going to work?” Sean said.

  “I meant it was just like that for me,” Oz snapped.

  Sean leaned forward, feeling anger rise in him like lava. “This store was my life!”

  Oz stared at him as if he’d never seen him before. “I...I know. I guess I just wasn’t thinking about you when I was saying all that.”

  “That’s the problem, Oz. You weren’t thinking about me.” Sean shook his head. “And you didn’t need to. It’s your store. But I thought you ought to know.”

  He headed for the door.

  “Where are you going?” Oz said. “I thought you were going to go over the inventory, get me all ready to sell!”

  “It’s all right there,” Sean said tiredly. “And I can’t go through this again.”

  “Sean?”

  Sean paused, the door half-open. “Yeah?”

  “I couldn’t have lived the way I did without you,” he said. “I was really upset when your mom just left you here... you know. Back when.”

  “I wasn’t too thrilled, myself,” Sean said, with dry humor, pushing back the memory. Sixteen years old, with a teenage sister to look after. “And you thought of us then. Gave us a place to stay.”

  “The store might’ve been a bad idea for somebody like me,” Oz said quietly. “But you kids were the best thing to ever come into my life.”

  Sean closed his eyes against the emotion hitting him. The ocean and this store were the best things in his life.

  “The full inventory’s all there, and you’ve still got all the notes I gave you,” Sean said instead, sidestepping the whole issue completely. “Just call if you need help.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ALLISON PUTTERED AROUND her house, humming to herself as she cleaned up the breakfast dishes. Sean had to go to the store to help Oz close up, he’d said the night before. She’d felt his kiss this morning, when he left her early to go back to his apartment and change. It was nice, to be kissed goodbye.

  She was rather looking forward to seeing how it felt to be kissed hello when he got back.

  What the heck are you doing?

  She kept humming, something goofy and pop-influenced. Probably something about love.

  She didn’t know what she was doing, but she did know what she wasn’t doing. She wasn’t worrying about the presentation that was going on tomorrow.

  Sure, at odd moments, she’d remember that it was happening and feel a quick, sharp stab of panic. But for the past thirty-six hours or so, she’d been with Sean, and it was amazing just how calming that was. She’d never been around a friend, much less a lover, when she was in the throes of career stress. And with Sean, it was as if he could sense when she tensed about something. Before she even became cognizant of the fact that she was stressed, there he was, stroking her shoulders, kissing her neck, hugging her gently in that amazingly comforting way of his, as if he never wanted to let her go. She’d never felt anything quite like it.

  It was a little unnerving, actually, how quickly and thoroughly he was able to read her. It was even more unnerving to realize just how addictive th
at kind of on-call emotional support was quickly becoming.

  Today, he was going to come back and the two of them were going to go surfing. Another addictive thing that he had introduced her to, and if he left tomorrow, she’d still love it. She could thank him for that.

  She quickly loaded the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher and grabbed a diet soda. She wasn’t going to think about him leaving. Not now. Not when so much else in her life was going haywire.

  The doorbell rang. She wondered if Sean had gotten out early—she hadn’t given him a key. She smiled quickly as a rush of anticipation tightened her entire body. She threw the door open. “Hey, you,” she purred.

  Her brother, Rod, stared at her aghast. “Um, hello to you, too, sis.”

  She felt as if she’d just slipped and fallen into the Arctic Ocean. “Ugh. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m your brother. What, I can’t visit?”

  “Not when you scare two years off my life, you can’t,” she snapped under her breath as he stepped into the town house, a frown etched into his face.

  “You haven’t been answering your phone. Not your home phone, not your cell,” he chastised.

  “I had things to do,” she said, then remembered when she’d mentioned it to Gary...and why. A sexy little smile crossed her face, but she quickly quelled it before Rod turned back to her. Then she paused, her heart stopping for a second. “What are you doing away from your job? And in the morning?” Her heart started back up at double speed. “Is something wrong with Dad? Another heart attack? Is Mom okay?”

  “They’re fine,” he said. “Mom’s just worried about you, that’s all. She wanted to make sure you were going to go to the New Year’s party. You know. The usual.” He frowned.

  “So she sent out her crack sibling squad to make sure I RSVP’d?” Allison asked, incredulous.

  Rod scowled at her. “Were you always this sarcastic, and I just never noticed?”

  “That’s ridiculous,” she said, then grinned. “You’ve noticed before.”

  He was her older brother, only two and a half years apart, but lately it had seemed like decades. She blamed his job. “This is serious. You’re dodging the parents, you’re not at your job...oh, and you’ll want to talk to that snippy assistant of yours,” Rod said sternly. “The guy was no help whatsoever.”