“Hi, Jennifer.” Her stride was faster once I acknowledged her. She tried to hide her labored breathing when she reached the edge of the shade of my umbrella. Her orange bikini just barely covered the important spots; it was definitely a size too small. “This is Rob.” I flipped my hand so that my palm faced up in Rob’s direction.
She tossed her perfect blonde ponytail back over her shoulder. A wide smile stretched across her face. She wiggled her fingers in a flirtatious wave. “Hi, I’m Jennifer.” Did she just bat her eyes?
Rob stood and smiled at her. “Hi.” I could almost hear the ‘flip’ in Rob’s interest. It was bound to happen sooner or later, although it would have been nice to ride this wave, at least until the sun went down. Mentally preparing myself for him to make some excuse before the two of them walked away together, I held my breath.
“I thought I saw your brother and that wretched excuse for a friend of his, Jimmy. Do you know where they went?”
What? She wasn’t interested in luring Adonis away from me? What was wrong with her? “Um, yeah. They went to the concession stand.”
“Thanks. I need to ask him something. I’ll go check there.” She turned her perfect body toward Rob. “Well, it was very nice meeting you. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
Oh, I get it, she’s baiting him, giving him something to miss. With another wiggle of her fingers, she turned toward the water and walked away. She didn’t even look back. Observing Rob’s reaction, I thought he’d be watching Jennifer, but he wasn’t looking at her at all. He was looking at me.
“Full of herself, isn’t she?”
Did he just say that? Jennifer was the most popular girl in Wood Oaks, and the most beautiful. “I guess, but why shouldn’t she be?” I said, waiting for his excuse to leave me to find her.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Look at her; she’s perfect.”
He jumped right on my last syllable. “No, she isn’t.”
Wow, I didn’t know any guy in the whole town who didn’t think Jennifer Sutton wasn’t the hottest girl on the face of the planet. “She isn’t?”
Rob knelt down on the sand in the place he had been sitting before Jennifer’s interruption. His eyes focused on me. I was amazed at how serious he was. “No, she isn’t,” he insisted.
Had I offended him? What did I say? “Okay, she isn’t.” Without wanting to risk him disagreeing with me and leaving because of my stupid opinion, I kept quiet. After all, he did opt to stay with me rather than go with her. My plan was to hang on to every moment I could because I knew it would be over soon.
“Haven’t you moved from that spot?” Bryan asked, walking up the beach. He was by himself.
“Jennifer Sutton is looking for you. Where’s Jimmy?” I asked.
“Over by the concession stand.” He looked at Rob.
“This is Rob. Rob, this is my brother, Bryan.” I have to admit, in a contest for best looking male, it would be a tough race, but I’d definitely vote for Rob.
“Hey.” Bryan nodded. Rob imitated his movement.
Bryan didn’t seem interested in Rob. “Mandy, do you think you can walk home? Jimmy and I met a couple of really smokin’ babes, and well, it would kind of be awkward if you were in the backseat with Jimmy and the really hot girl he’s hooked up with.”
This was nothing new; it always happened whenever I went with Bryan somewhere. That’s why I never went with him. This was one of my supporting arguments with Dad about getting a car of my own. I took a deep breath, and then exhaled. “Sure. No problem.”
“Thanks. You’re awesome.” He turned and ran down the beach in the same direction he had come from. No doubt, he was headed toward Jimmy and the two “hot” girls.
“He’s leaving you?” Rob said.
“That’s okay. I’m used to it.” It was uncomfortable to have Rob see my brother dump me. There was no reason to stay on the beach. I was sure that Rob wanted to find Jennifer, or to check out if Bryan and Jimmy left any “hot” girls at the concession stand. Collecting my things, I shoved them into my bag.
“Where are you going?” His voice was soft, like a child who was watching Santa climb back up the chimney.
“Well, if I’m walking, I’ll have to leave now to get home in time to make dinner.”
“What if I drive you home? Will you stay?” His expression pleaded with my will. He wanted me to stay with him? Any moment I’d wake up, alone in my room, wishing it was real. I waited a few moments, taking in as much of the dream as I could before the reality of my actual life smacked me in the face.
“Mandy?”
“Oh no, you don’t have to do that. I don’t want to take you away from anything.” I shoved my tee shirt into the beach bag, and stood to fold the umbrella. Rob stood up, too.
“Please stay.” His hands grabbed mine. It stifled my movement. His touch made my skin prickle. It caught me off guard. His body was close to mine. The faint aroma of coconut swirled around my head. Spellbound by his gaze, I was unable to move. The warmth of his hands was on me for the second time. They were strong, and his skin was soft. I wondered how good it would feel to have his arms wrapped around me. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. Again, he asked, “Please?”
How could I refuse?
His chest reminded me of the cover of the many romance novels I had read last summer. My heart hammered. My legs were numb, and my insides felt like goo. Even if I tried to walk away now, I’d crumple to the sand.
“Okay,” I surrendered. Removing everything from my grasp, he opened the umbrella, replaced it in the sand, and then took my hand, leading me to my chair. He stepped aside, motioning for me to sit. I obeyed.
“Thank you,” he said, but it should have been me thanking him. At that moment, I felt like the luckiest girl in the whole world.
“Can I see what you’ve drawn?” He sat on the sand facing me, waiting for my answer.
I flipped through the pages on my sketchpad. None of the drawings were good enough that I felt comfortable to show him. I settled on one of my creek drawings. Hesitating before turning the pad toward Rob, I looked up to see an anxious expression on his face. The ocean was behind him, and the hue complimented his eyes. The sun was off to the side, casting shadows in all the right places. I had to jump-start my thoughts. “Can I draw you instead?”
“You want to draw me?” He said, shocked, and then flattered.
I nodded.
“Okay. What do you want me to do?”
“Just get comfortable, and don’t move until I tell you.”
His reclined on the sand as he lounged on his side, using his well-built arm to hold his head up. His muscular legs were relaxed, but firm. I stared at him, listening to my heart thump in my chest. It was easy to forget what I was supposed to be doing.
“How’s this?” he asked, as if he could ever look bad.
I swallowed hard and reminded myself of the task at hand. “That’s great. Are you comfortable?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” I found my favorite graphite pencil and sketched out his form. I blushed when I drew his chest, waist, and legs. Within moments, I enveloped the artist-mentality, and I was serious about what I was doing. My concentration volleyed back and forth between the page and his sculpted body.
Beads of sweat formed along the contours of his muscles before I realized that he had been lying in the sun for almost thirty minutes. I made sure I had the basics of his form, and then looked up.
“Why don’t you jump in the water and cool off? You look hot lying there.” When I realized the double entendre of my words, it was already too late. My cheeks burned, but not from the sun. Rob reacted with a small grin.
The light from the sun danced off his eyes. “Only if you come with me.”
Chapter Nine
My heart beat double time, like it wanted to break out of my chest. “I don’t swim.”
“You don’t swim?” he asked, surprised.
“I mean, I
know how to swim, but I choose not to.” I looked down at the pencil in my hands.
His head tilted slightly to the right. His grin told me he wasn’t going to let up until he learned why.
“The truth is I don’t really come to the beach that much. When I do come, it’s with Bryan. He always leaves me to chase girls and to be with the popular kids. They’ve made it clear that I’m uninteresting, so I’m usually by myself; and well, I’m afraid that if I go in the water and a rip tide catches me or something, no one will know I’m gone.” Did I feel better about sharing that? No, definitely not. In fact, I was even more embarrassed than the time I got my underwear caught on the neighbor’s chain link fence while trying to keep up with Bryan and Jimmy.
The memory of Bryan ringing the town grump’s doorbell flooded my head. Bryan, Jimmy, and I were seven. Mr. Simmons had chased us, yelling and swatting his broom in the air above his head.
I followed Jimmy and Bryan down an alleyway between two houses, and then froze when the six-foot-high chain link fence stopped me.
“You can do it, Mandy,” Bryan encouraged from the other side of the fence.
I scanned the height of the mesh barrier and remembered how un-athletic I was. “I’m not good at this kind of stuff,” I said.
“C’mon, Mandy. Before he finds us.”
I shoved one foot into the diamond shaped opening at the same height as my knee, clawed into others with both hands as high as I could reach, and pulled myself up. Jimmy’s expression was hopeful as he cheered me on to climb the rusty metal links faster. Ten spaces from the top, I heard Mr. Simmons huffing at the end of the alley. I swung my leg over the fence, careful not to rub the inside of my thigh against the twisted metal points that tied the tops of the wires together. Wearing a dress could be very inconvenient, but that’s all that Mom ever put me in when I was little. Mr. Simmons waddled down half the passageway, the broom cutting the air.
“Swing your other leg over,” Bryan called.
I looked down. It was pretty high off the ground. “I’ll fall.”
“I’ll catch you,” Jimmy said. “Hurry, he’s coming.”
Mr. Simmons was closer now. With a slow motion, I lifted my leg over the metal fence. I tried to fit my sneaker into one of the openings from the other side, but the lace of my underwear got caught on one of the points at the top as my body made its descent.
“Hurry,” Jimmy called. I knew the underwear would rip, but I couldn’t unhook it.
My arms were tired from keeping myself away from the points. I couldn’t hold on any longer. Forcing myself down the fence, the r-r-r-ip was loud. Jimmy put his hands on my waist to guide me when I was low enough for him to reach.
The hole in the side of my underwear was huge. I had to hold the fabric bunched up under my dress as we ran. We didn’t stop until we got to my house. Bryan, Jimmy, and I plowed through the door. They threw themselves on the couch, breathing heavy, as I ran up the stairs to my room. After I changed my underwear, I sat on my bed and cried for an hour. I knew Jimmy would never say a word about the whole thing. He was sweet, even back then. My brother wasn’t as compassionate. He thought the whole episode was amusing. By the end of the next school day, everyone knew what had happened. None of the other children wanted to be associated with me. Maybe that was the real reason for why Jennifer dropped me as a friend. And that was the beginning of my life of solitude.
His voice startled me.
“Well, you’re not alone. I’m here with you. And I promise I won’t let any rip tide pull you away from me.” He took a step toward the water, turned in my direction, and waited for me to join him. His arm stretched out and I placed the drawing pad down on my chair and followed him like a donkey being coaxed by a farmer with a carrot.
The sand was hot on my feet, but it was a burn I didn’t mind enduring. At the edge of the water, we stopped to watch the waves lap the beach before making a quick retreat to the ocean. It teased us to follow. The third ebb left a small seashell. Rob picked it up. He waited for the water to rush in again and bathed the shell in the water to wash away the granules. Then he handed it to me. “This will remind you of today.” As if I’d ever forget.
The water rushed up to hug his ankles. The sunlight reflected from the surface and acted like spotlights on his well-defined legs.
“Are you ready?” He looked at me with a mischievous smile.
“Ready?”
“To go in.”
My body tensed some more. “You go in. I’ll wait here.”
With my hand still in his, he eased me toward the water. “Trust me. I promise I’ll protect you.” Every part of me tingled. At that moment, I knew that I’d follow him anywhere, even to the ocean floor.
Small steps edged us deeper into the water until it was up to my waist. The activity inside my body didn’t allow me to register the cold temperature of the water. He gripped my hand tighter. “See, this isn’t so bad, is it?”
I couldn’t form words. My head shook. Standing in the water next to him was terrifying and wonderful. I waited for this incredible moment to be over. All would be the same as before, except I’d be much worse than just boring old Mandy, because now I knew what I would be missing.
Chapter Ten
I stared at him as he scooped the water in his hands and dribbled it over his arms, wondering why he wanted me there with him. He turned and looked out onto the ocean. The horizon was two shades of blue, separated by a thin, almost invisible line.
It seemed like an eternity before he spoke. “I like the water. It’s very soothing. When I’m in it, I feel protected from the other elements.” Thoughts of his parents unable to escape the fire entered my head. I could see why he liked the water. Water would have saved them.
“I never thought of it that way.” I turned toward him, mostly because I preferred to look at him than the vastness of the ocean. He continued to stare at the sky, as if it had the answers to his unasked questions.
He pointed with his free hand. “Doesn’t that cloud look like a whale?” He sounded so innocent and young.
I looked up to where his finger pointed. “It does.”
“And that one looks like a heart,” he said.
I looked in the new direction. “You have a nice imagination,” I said. Then I wished I hadn’t. I sounded stupid. But, I couldn’t take it back. Shut up, Mandy. I pursed my lips together so that nothing else could sabotage the moment.
My mind wandered. A film played in my head. In it, Rob faced me, and his eyes connected with mine. Gentle hands caressed my shoulders and then pulled me close to him. Lost in his warmth, I didn’t resist. My eyes closed and waited for his lips.
“Are you cold?” His voice shook me back to reality.
“What?”
“You have goose bumps.”
I looked down. The skin on my arms was pimpled.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “C’mon. I think we’re cooled off. Now you can show me your drawing.”
We walked back to my chair. Rob picked up my towel and draped it around my shoulders. I stared at him in wonder. Then he lowered himself onto the sand, crossed his legs, and waited like a child ready for story time. “Do you want me to close my eyes?”
I smiled. He was so sweet. “If you want to.” His dark lashes were very long. His eyes were gorgeous, even when they were closed. My fingers ached to reach out and touch him.
“Tell me when I can open them,” he said. I shook my head to clear away the enticing images that were quickly piling up in my head. I must have done something very good in a past life, like save a deity or something.
Scanning my drawing for imperfections, I decided there were none, not as long as he was the subject. I was pleased with my work. It was a good likeness of him. I turned it toward him. “Now before you open your eyes,” I warned, “remember I’m not that good.”
He nodded. “I promise not to be too harsh with my critique.” His smile grew wider and the dimple appeared. My insides did flip-flops.
“Okay, you can open them.”
His eyelids fluttered open, and I felt the power of his glance take over me. Like helium swelling in a balloon, my spirit lifted. My lungs burned until I remembered to exhale. As he studied every line, every shadow, every mark I made on the paper, I sat motionless, waiting for him to speak. But it wasn’t his anticipated comments that had a hold on me. It was him.
Without a word, his eyes scanned over every stroke I’d made. After several long minutes, he looked up at me. “This is incredible.” Reaching for the pad, he took it from my hands and studied it more closely. From his expression, I knew he was pleased. “You’re very talented.”
I wasn’t ready for his praise. I felt awkward and looked at the sand below my feet instead of at him. I’ve never been good with compliments, mostly because I rarely received them, and now, I was getting praised from the hottest guy I had ever seen. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“No, really. This is very good.”
The sun sat low in the sky, turning the water a deep teal color. He smiled at me. It was mesmerizing. I couldn’t look away. Please don’t let this moment end. But when Rob looked at the sky, the spell was broken.
“It’s getting late. I’d better take you home. I don’t want your parents to think something bad happened to you since your brother left you with a stranger.”
It was true; we were strangers, although I didn’t want him to be. I wanted to know everything about him, including how it felt to have his lips pressed against mine. A million thoughts bounced around in my mind. What if he was dangerous? I had been reeled in by his charm and good looks, but what did I know about him? Nothing. I looked into his eyes. His smile never disappeared. At that moment, I didn’t care if he was dangerous or not, I just knew that I wanted him.
Rob folded my chair and grabbed the umbrella as I shoved my things into my bag. I made sure to carry the seashell he’d given me in my hand.
In the parking lot, he held open the passenger door to his shiny, black BMW.
Fractured ( Fractured #1) Page 5
