She flopped back onto her pillows, blowing a breath out. Now that she knew he was kind of sweet, she didn’t know if she’d be able to keep a facade of indifference up around him. She felt like she knew a secret that no one else did and she didn’t know what to do about it.
With that thought, she decided it wasn’t useful lying around thinking about it. She needed a shower and to brush her teeth before finding the continental breakfast. She could worry about it later when she saw him again, which hopefully wouldn’t be until the rehearsal the following night.
Five
Bethany
After a refreshing shower and eating breakfast until she felt fit to burst, Bethany and Jessica headed back to Surf City to hit up the beach. It was now Thursday, just a few short days before Jessica’s wedding and she was insisting everyone get together for one last hurrah.
Bethany grumbled as she stepped onto the sandy beach behind Jessica and the guys. “I thought our last hurrah was last night…”
“I heard that,” Jessica called over her shoulder.
Bethany rolled her eyes and pushed her sunglasses further up her nose. Sweat was already beading on her forehead and nose. Her head was still pounding from the night before and the mass amounts of liquor she imbibed. She would prefer to lie inside in the air conditioning, waiting out the worst of it instead of on a bright, sunny beach in the middle of July.
She sighed as she finally reached the area the guys had set up for them earlier. Since the wedding was only two days away and Jessica was adamant about no one being sunburned, there were several canopies up, shading a decent-sized area of the beach from the glare of the sun. They’d also set up several beach chairs in the shade and Bethany beelined for one, dropping her bag next it.
She peeled her lacy cover-up off and plopped into the chair, thankful she’d already applied her SPF 50 when she was inside. She was pale and if she wasn’t careful, she’d turn redder than a lobster at the drop of a hat, so she came prepared with alarms set on her phone to remind her to reapply. She only hoped she’d hear it.
She slowly looked around her, noticing that the guys had set up an area with bocce ball, the colorful balls scattered by one of the poles. She hoped no one asked her to play that. She grew up playing horseshoes, but she was terrible at it and likely to take someone out or hit them in the nuts.
She paused at that thought and considered how satisfying it might be to hit Scott in the balls with one of the hard bocce balls, but quickly dismissed the thought. After how nice he was to her the night before and this morning after dealing with her drunk self, she needed to have more charitable thoughts toward him.
She looked toward her friends again and saw that most of the women were scattered underneath the canopies, drinking canned beer while classic rock played from a portable radio. She smirked at the radio. Instead of a Bluetooth speaker, Jessica’s parents still used a battery-operated boombox. It had seen many a beach day with the two of them and was still going strong.
She realized she didn’t see or hear the guys, so she looked around, trying to spot them. Her mouth dropped open as she spotted something straight out of a romance movie or book. The guys were coming out of the ocean after apparently going into the crashing waves.
They were all looking delectable, but Scott captured her gaze.
“Hot damn,” someone whispered from her right.
Hot damn was right. She’d gotten a glimpse of his abs this morning, but that glimpse had done nothing to prepare her for the full view. His pecs were nicely defined, and he had a small smattering of dark hair across his chest. That same hair was dusting the area around his belly button, creating a happy trail that led down. How had she missed that?
While she watched, it was like time slowed down. Her mouth dried as he reached up and ran both hands through his hair, shaking them at his sides to clear them of water. Water droplets glistened across his chest and stomach, catching the sunlight and making it look like he glowed.
“Jesus Christ. He shouldn’t look that good,” someone else said.
Bethany glanced to her right and saw the women all nodding along, herself included.
“So long as you’re not ogling Jason, I don’t care who you’re talking about.”
Bethany snorted. Jessica had nothing to worry about, she thought. Jason was hot, sure, but Scott was next level hot. At least to her he was.
She shook her head and looked away, clearing her throat. She reached into her bag for the bottle of water she’d brought with her. After the night before, she wasn’t drinking again until the wedding if she could help it. Or at least until her nausea passed. She twisted the top off and took a large swig of the water, trying not to concentrate on Scott, who was now drying himself off in her line of sight.
She faced back toward the waves, the image burned into her mind. She’d likely remember what he looked like coming out of the water for a while yet and he might even play into some of her fantasies.
She forced herself to turn away from the guys, trying to tune into the conversation that the women were having on her other side. Half were talking about where Jessica and Jason were going on their honeymoon and the other half were discussing the possibility of hooking up with the groomsmen.
“I’m telling you, he won’t touch any of us,” Sue said. “He’s been so rude to everyone. He’s either gay or has someone at home.”
“There is no way he’s attached.” Rita glanced at the guys before glancing at everyone. “If he was mine, you’d best believe I would be right here with him, glaring at y’all and your catty asses.”
They all laughed. “I don’t think he’s attached either,” Ronnie said. “But…did you see how he was yesterday with Bethany?”
Bethany’s ears grew hot as they turned to look at her. “Have you met him before?” Rita asked, leaning toward her with a gleam in her eye.
She shook her head. “Nope, that was the first time.”
Rita wrinkled her nose and sat back. “Oh. I thought by his reaction you two knew each other.”
She shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint.” Though she said that, she didn’t mean it. She knew what Rita was implying: that she must have done something to make Scott react that way to her. However, she had done nothing except exist.
“I wonder what his story is…” Sue said, tapping a finger against his chin. “He can’t be an asshole just because he can be, right?”
Bethany tuned them out as the three of them debated Scott and his potential background. She wasn’t interested in hearing their speculations. She sipped her water and decided she’d go out to the water and go in briefly before coming back to the tent to reapply her sunscreen.
She hurried across the burning sand to the wet, mud-like sand by the water’s edge. She waded in and sighed as the cool water caressed her skin. The water was the perfect temperature, cooling her skin that was warm from the sunshine.
She walked until she could bob in the waves and tread water, not having to worry about crashing waves hitting her. She lay back, so she was floating on her back, enjoying the juxtaposition of the cool water below and the warm sun above.
Something brushed her foot suddenly, and she flailed, sinking below the water briefly before bobbing back up, sputtering as she gasped for air. Visions of shark attacks and jellyfish flashed through her mind as she struggled to gain control of herself. She pushed her hair off her face and met Scott’s wide-eyed stare.
“Are you trying to kill me?” she screeched, splashing him with water.
“Sorry. I thought you knew I was there.”
She gave him a hard look. He looked apologetic, so took him at his word and believed that he hadn’t meant to scare the snot out of her.
“It’s fine,” she said, blowing a slow breath out and pushing her sunglasses back onto her face. “I couldn’t hear anything and wasn’t paying attention. Noted to make sure I don’t do that again.”
They lapsed into silence and she wondered why he was in the water. “Why are you out he
re and not playing bocce with the guys?”
“You’d been out here a little while, and it worried Jessica, so I said I’d come check on you since we couldn’t see you from shore.”
She wasn’t that far out, but floating on her back, she wouldn’t be easily visible, so his story was plausible. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, looking for any signs of duplicity. There were none. But she still didn’t quite understand why it was him that came out and not one of the other guys.
She wasn’t complaining, but she just found it weird. First, he helped her the night before and now he was checking on her. If he wasn’t careful, she might think he had a heart and that he cared about someone other than himself.
Secretly though, she hoped he continued in this vein. She wanted to know what made him tick and if he was being nicer and opening up, she was one step closer to discovering just that.
Six
Scott
As he floated next to Bethany, he was glad for the slightly murky water hiding his lower half. She was wearing a navy blue bikini that showed off her creamy white skin to perfection. It showed it off too well because he was sporting wood in his swim trunks. No amount of adjusting would help because of the buoyancy of the water making it impossible to hide.
He glanced at Bethany, taking in her wet hair she’d slicked back. His gaze lazily traveled down her water-speckled skin, taking in the smattering of freckles on it and pausing at her breasts. Much like his dick, which was harder than before, her breasts were floating in the water and he had a battle with himself to not just reach out to touch. Talk about inappropriate.
He licked his lips and looked back toward the beach. He saw Jason waving his hands in the air.
“I think we might need to head back,” he said, looking at Bethany.
She glanced at him and then toward the shore where he was pointing. “Yeah, I guess so. I need to reapply sunscreen, anyway. Don’t want to sunburn!”
They slowly swam toward shore, walking out of the water together a few minutes later. He ran a hand through his hair to get the excess water out of it and caught Bethany wringing her hair out beside him.
God, she was beautiful.
And he didn’t know what to do about it. He followed behind her, trying not to pay attention to the sway of her hips. He walked over to his towel, grabbing it and turning around so he could dry himself off.
“Dude, we’re all gonna head inside. We’ll leave the tents until the sun goes down.”
Scott nodded. “Cool. Any reason we’re leaving now?”
Jason shrugged and jerked his head toward the girls that were now packing up. “Some of them were complaining about the heat, so Jessica suggested heading back and changing. I think she said something about drinking on the deck.”
Scott nodded, bunching the towel up and draping it around his neck. He fell in line behind everyone trooping back to the beach access attached to Jessica’s parents’ beach house and walked beside Bethany, who was now wearing a white lace see-through cover up that did little to hide her bathing suit or the curves she was sporting.
He wracked his brain to think of something to say to her, but came up with a blank. He didn’t know what his issue was with her. He’d never struggled with women before.
Well. That was a lie. He’d struggled once and refused to go through it ever again. He should really admit that Bethany was the first person since her that had piqued his interest enough to make him tongue-tied.
He kept his eyes trained downward while they walked up the steps to the house. He knew if he stared at Bethany that he was likely to get turned on again and he didn’t want to have to figure out a way to hide it.
He followed Jason inside and down a hallway, entering the room he pointed out. Scott saw the small bag he packed earlier was already on the bed. He pushed a partially open door and saw it was an en suite.
He immediately reached into the shower and turned the water on, quickly stripping from his swim trunks. He wrapped his towel around his waist just in case and walked back into the room to grab his shaving kit.
He laid it on the counter, unzipped it, and pulled out the travel size body wash and shampoo he kept in there. He then dropped the towel to the floor and stepped into the steaming shower. The water was just this side of too hot, but he didn’t mind, sighing as the heat enveloped him.
He set his things down, and dipped his head so the water ran over it, closing his eyes to keep it from going in them. While he let the water wash over him, he considered the predicament he was in.
After his ended engagement to Reece, he swore he’d never be put in a position to feel that way again. He’d kept that promise to himself, only engaging in one-night stands or friends-with-benefits type situations.
But there was just something about Bethany that wouldn’t let him consider a situation like either of those. He didn’t know her well, and that was the problem in his mind. He wanted to know her more. He craved talking to her, which made no sense as he’d been around her for a day and he was already thinking of ways to talk to her one on one.
He sighed and straightened, going through the motions of washing himself and trying not to think about Bethany anymore.
Once he finished his shower, dried, and dressed, he felt somewhat ready to face everyone else. He stepped out of the room and walked toward the living room. He found the guys clustered on the couch with bottles of beer in their hands.
Jason pointed to a cooler outside on the deck and Scott made his way over, pulling his own beer out and twisting the metal cap off. He stepped back inside and leaned against the doorjamb, slowly drinking from the cold bottle. The beer was ice cold, which made him wince as it slid down his throat, but he kept drinking anyway. It was cold, and he needed something to occupy him considering the women were filtering in.
He caught sight of Bethany and barely suppressed a groan. She was wearing a dress and looked hot as fuck. He straightened and turned to go outside, stepping onto the shaded deck. He walked over to the railing and leaned his elbows on it, squinting against the glare of the sun off the water.
People were still showing up on the beach to hang out, even though it was later in the day. Long summer days were meant for the beach, in his mind. He’d be right there with them if he didn’t have the wedding this weekend.
“Are these the only beers?” Bethany asked from behind him.
He jerked upright and spun to face her, swallowing thickly when he was presented with a view of her bent over and the red dress with white polka dots spread over her ass. He tightened his grip around the beer bottle and clutched at the railing behind him to keep from walking over to her and touching her, crossing a line.
“Uh…I’m not sure.” He cleared his throat and took a drink from his beer, hoping it helped to cool him off.
“It’s not my favorite, but it’ll do for now. Maybe I can run to the store for something else soon.” Bethany straightened and turned to face him with a smile. “Think you could help me open it? I can never get these open.”
Scott nodded and stepping closer to her. He handed her his beer and took her proffered on, twisting the top off for her and tossing it into the bucket full of caps he now noticed next to the cooler.
“Here ya go,” he said with a smile as he presented her with the now open beer.
“Thanks!”
He took his beer back and tapped his beer against hers before turning back to the railing and leaning back down. He set the beer between both hands and turned it idly in his hands as he looked back over the expanse of sand below them.
“It’s so calming out here.”
Scott jerked and just barely kept his beer from flying out of his hands. He hadn’t realized Bethany was still outside with him.
“You good?” she asked, a hint of laughter in her voice.
“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t realize you’d stayed out here.”
He glanced at her and saw she was doing like him: staring at the sand and the people below.
&n
bsp; “I’m not super interested in having an inane conversation with some of those people.”
He arched a brow. “Inane conversation?”
Bethany nodded. “Yes, inane. The girls seem to be obsessed with the hook-up schedule for this weekend.”
Was she saying what he thought she was? She glanced at him and laughed. “You know what I’m talking about,” she said with a smirk. “Unattached bridesmaids and groomsmen hook up.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I rarely take part.”
She turned and leaned against the railing, tilting her head as she looked at him. “Why? Because you have someone special back home?”
He shook his head and drained his beer. “No, no one special,” he said once he’d swallowed.
He left it at that, not wanting to go down the rabbit hole of his relationship with Reece. When he looked at Bethany again, she was looking at him with an understanding look on her face and he got the idea that she did get it even though he hadn’t told her anything specific.
Bethany pushed off the rail. “I’m going to see about getting some other girly drinks or something because this beer ain’t doing it for me. Want the rest?” She held the bottle out to him and waited for his response.
He nodded and took it from her. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
She then turned and walked into the house, leaving him alone once more. As he thought over the day and the conversation he’d just had, even the night before, he realized he was fucked. Thoroughly fucked.
Seven
Bethany
It was official. Scott was acting weird. Well, at least different from he had been. She’d noticed it while they were treading water together and again when she was on the deck with him. What was his deal?
Romancing the Beach Page 3
