by Violet Paige
By the time I returned to the lobby, the line of guests checking in had dispersed. The nice girl at the counter smiled when she spotted me.
“No luck?” she asked.
“Not exactly. Ex-boyfriend disaster.” I sighed. “I know this is kind of a strange question to ask you, but could you recommend another hotel? I’m homeless and luggage-less.” I laughed. The whole scenario was absurd.
“Oh my God, that’s terrible. Everywhere is going to be booked up. This is one of the craziest months of the year on the island.” She pulled out her phone. “But I might know somewhere that isn’t booked—it’s not great, but at least you might have somewhere to stay.”
“Thank you. I’d appreciate anything right now. I haven’t had dinner, or lunch, and I think I’m actually delirious.” That was going to be my excuse for punching Branch, even though he completely deserved it. He was the asshole.
“Ok, my friend just texted me and said the Dune Scape is open and has vacancies.” She reached for a sticky note.
“Dune Scape?” It sounded like something out of a 1950s beach movie.
“It’s a motel, but there are open rooms. Here’s the address.” She handed me a Post-it with an address and a phone number. “I’m Sasha, by the way. If you need anything else, I put my number at the bottom too. Just text me. If any open rooms turn up here, I’ll let you know—just give me your cell.”
“Thank you. This is the nicest thing anyone has done for me all day.” I jotted my digits down for her.
“I can’t let your first trip to South Padre be anything but amazing. It’s the kind of place that’s hard to forget.” Her brown eyes softened. “It didn’t start out so great for you, but I have a feeling the week will turn around for you.”
I winced at the tenderness in my knuckles as I tucked her number in my bag. “Thanks, Sasha. I already feel like there’s no way I’ll forget this trip.”
I turned toward the sliding doors.
Before he could hop in his van, I asked the first driver I spotted if he knew where the Dune Scape was. His raised eyebrow should have deterred me, but I was desperate and according to Sasha the motel was the only place on the island I could stay. He motioned for me to sit in the second row, and peeled the van away from the curb. From the wide windows, I watched the Wave Oasis, its fluffy white robes, endless sunset cocktails, and tropical flowers roll out of view.
Five
Kaitlyn
“Here you go.” The driver parked next to a cabin-sized building. A red vacancy sign blinked in the waited. He waited for me to pay him the five dollars it cost to drive two minutes from the Wave Oasis.
“This is the Dune Scape?” Nothing about the place looked open. I already missed the bright hibiscus flowers and the nice girl from the front desk.
“Yep. You’re here.” The driver strummed his fingers along the steering wheel
I handed him a five-dollar bill and pushed open the car door. Before I could climb back in, he had made a full U-turn and was back on the highway. I pivoted on my heels to face the Dune Scape. This was it—my only option.
I smoothed out my shirt and took a deep breath. I reached for the handle on the office door, but it was stuck. I jiggled it a few times, trying to move it left or right until it broke off in my hand. Great, I already had damage charges and didn’t even have a room yet. I knocked on the door.
The door whipped open. A towering figure stood in front of me. The light behind his head made it difficult to make out the features of his face, but I could see the outline of a chiseled jaw and broad shoulders.
“I—uh—I broke your doorknob.” I offered the part to the shadowed guy.
“Damn it,” he mumbled.
“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to break it.” I followed him into the dim-lit office. In the side, a window-unit hummed and blasted cool air into the small space. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve been meaning to fix that door.” He placed the doorknob next to the phone. “What do you need?” He exhaled through his teeth and glared at the broken piece of metal.
“Maybe if you took better care of this place it wouldn’t break when your customers walked through the door.”
My spine tingled. My breath caught. Holy shit. I would know that voice anywhere. I should have recognized it sooner, but everything was out of context.
“Cole?” I eked.
He rubbed his palm along the side of his face that I guessed hadn’t seen a razor in a week. His stubble was dark, like the rest of his brown hair. For the first time since I had walked in the office, he looked up.
It’s not every day you see eyes like that. Eyes that held depth and soul. Eyes that made me forget why I was so annoyed. Eyes that kept me locked in place. I stared a little too long, remembering what those eyes used to do to me.
“Kaitlyn?”
I nodded.
“What are—why are you in Padre?”
I bit my bottom lip. Cole Thomas had been the man of my dreams once. Although, he never knew that my crush for him was as big as the state of Texas. And it didn’t help he was seven years older than me, which meant when I was in high school, I was a considered a baby.
“Vacation,” I answered.
“With?” He looked around me.
“Myself.” He had always thrown me off balance and it was happening all over again. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t seen him in years. I could only spit out one word at a time.
He folded his arms. “I doubt Ryan knows.”
“He’s my older brother, not my dad.” I matched Cole’s tone with one just as confident.
My heart beat wildly. Holy shit my mouth was going dry. How did Cole Thomas always do this to me? I wasn’t a teenager anymore.
“I haven’t talked to him in months. Have you heard from him?” he asked.
“Yeah. He’s still in Afghanistan. He keeps getting assignments. You’re lucky you got out, Cole.”
I saw instant darkness in his eyes and I regretted I had said it. I tried to cover up my mistake. “I mean because Ryan told me you have a son now, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
My stomach rolled. I didn’t know what was the worst part about this scenario: knowing Cole Thomas was taken off the market, or the fact that I had screwed this up. Either way, I immediately felt like I was sixteen again.
The smell of fresh paint permeated the office. The corner of a paint can was exposed on the floor behind the desk. I watched as he nudged it out of view with his foot.
“I wasn’t expecting anyone tonight. Do you have a reservation?”
“No, but I need one for the week. Apparently, this is the only place that has open rooms. Now I know why,” I teased pointing at the doorknob.
“Well, if it’s not up to your standards, don’t let me keep you.” He huffed.
“No, it’s—” I searched for a word that wouldn’t insult him further. “—quaint. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry. I’m saying all kinds of stupid things. I’m exhausted.”
“Did you say you needed a room for the entire week? Where’s your luggage?”
“The airline lost it. You wouldn’t have those fluffy robes here, would you?”
“Darlin’, look around you. Does this look like the kind of place with fluffy robes?”
This place didn’t look like it would have running water, but a girl could dream. All I wanted was for him to swipe my credit card and point me to my room and maybe some food. My stomach growled. The pretzels I had eaten on the morning flight from Raleigh hardly counted as a meal.
“How are you here, Cole? What are you doing in South Padre?”
He sighed. “That’s a long story. One I haven’t had a chance to talk to your brother about. I want to have a beer with him when he’s back State-side.”
“So Ryan doesn’t know you’re here either?”
He shook his head. The white T-shirt that clung to his torso was speckled with paint, and he had hooked a hammer along the rim of his back pocket. When had Cole tur
ned into a hot handy man? And why?
“I’ve had a really terrible day, and I could use a hot shower and something to eat. Do you have a room for me?”
He pulled out a notebook and flipped open the faded blue cover. He traced the lines with his finger. “Yep, there’s a room for you.”
“You keep your reservations in a notebook?” I hadn’t really noticed until now that there wasn’t a computer in the office.
He looked at me. “Do you want a room or not, Kaitlyn?”
“Sorry.” I bit my lip to keep from sparring with him further.
“It’s fifty dollars per night. Do you have a credit card?”
“Right here.”
“What happened to your hand?” He glanced at my knuckles.
With the hotel hopping, I had forgotten that it had turned red and was starting to swell. “I ran into something. It’s nothing. Really, it’s fine.”
“Something or someone?” I thought I saw the corner of his lips form a smile.
He withdrew a piece of carbon paper and a metal rectangular device. I watched as he affixed the paper, placed my card on top, and then swiped a lever across my card.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He stared at me. “It’s a credit card machine.”
“Are you serious?” I think I had seen something like it in an eighties movie.
“Yes. I’m serious. Here you go.” He handed the card back to me and pointed to the bottom of the slip. “Sign here.”
I scribbled my name along the line, being careful not to press too hard with my knuckles. They were tender. He handed me a brass key attached to a palm tree key chain.
“You’re in room twenty-three, which is all the way down this side.” He pointed out the window. “You’re the last room on the right. Ocean side.”
Ocean side? At least there was something redeeming about the Dune Scape. The palm tree was heavy in my hand.
“Thanks. Is there somewhere around here I could get dinner and maybe some clothes?”
I was worried the airline still hadn’t called me and I would have to face the morning with my alcohol-stained jeans.
“There’s a local hang out a few blocks down and across the road on the sound side called Peabody’s. It’s not a party scene. You’ll have to head back to the resorts if you want music and dancing. About a block down is a surf shop and general store. I’m sure they’ll have something you can wear.” I caught him eyeing the dip in my shirt with his smoldering eyes. Eyes like that were hard to ignore.
“I’m not here for the party scene. Dinner sounds good.” I wanted Cole to know I was older. He didn’t know this version of me. I was more than Ryan Sinclair’s little sister.
I turned to pull the inside frame of the door. I wasn’t sure why I had told him that. “Thanks.”
“Oh, and, Rocky, there’s an ice machine on the way to your room. You might want to put some on that hand before it gets much worse.” He grinned.
Six
Cole
The door closed and I took a step back. Kaitlyn Sinclair wasn’t a skinny girl in glasses anymore. When had that happened? How did I miss it? And why the hell did I have to fight the instinct to greet her with the kind of kiss that would leave her moaning for me to take her to bed?
Fuck. I was glad there had been a desk in between us. It was the only thing that kept my hands off her.
I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t think about it. She was my best friend’s little sister. I should be worried about her. Watching after her while Ryan was overseas. Not picturing her in my bed, tangled in my sheets.
There was a guy code. A Marine code.
Fucking her was not an option, no matter how gorgeous and plump her lips were. Or how innocently and sweetly she looked at me with those green eyes. She wasn’t the cute kid sister anymore. She was a sexy knockout that blew me away.
I rubbed the back of my head and looked around the office. She probably thought this place was a shit hole. I know I did. But it paid the bills, and right now I needed to give Grayson stability.
Amber was all over the place. This might be the only thing I could give my son and I was going to work my ass off to make it perfect. It was going to take time. But I wasn’t going anywhere. He needed me.
When I found out Amber was pregnant I knew I had to leave the Marine Corps. Ryan had tried to convince me to stay in. But he didn’t know Amber the way I did. I couldn’t leave my son with half a parent while I fought a war on the other side of the world.
He said he understood, but I always wondered if he’d forgive me. I left my brothers for my son. I didn’t regret it, but it didn’t mean the guilt didn’t keep me up at night.
I tried to remember if Kaitlyn’s room had everything it should. Did I put enough towels in there for her? I imagined her curvy body undressing in the pink-tiled bathroom. Damn, she had perky round breasts. I knew she caught me checking her out.
I thought about stopping by her room. But just the idea made my cock twitch and I knew I needed to head in the complete opposite direction.
I needed a cold beer and a cold shower.
Seven
Kaitlyn
The Dune Scape was divided into two rows of rooms angled toward the beach in a V, like a seagull with its wings fully spread. All the odd-numbered rooms were on the right and the even-numbered on the left. Mine was at the farthest end, closest to the beach. It looked as if guests could still catch a glimpse of the ocean from their balcony even from the side closest to the highway.
I inserted the key into the rusty lock and turned the door handle. The air was musty. The kind you smell when you forget you left your wet bathing suit in the bottom of the clothes hamper.
The walls were coated in a thick paint, which was doing a miserable job of covering up the paneling. Strips of peeling paint dangled from the corners.
“Home sweet home,” I muttered.
I was still dying to know why Cole was here. What did he have to do with this place? Ryan hadn’t said much other than he left the Corps to take care of his baby.
I remember thinking how sweet and amazing that was. Ryan never mentioned anything about him taking handy man job. But I reminded myself my brother wasn’t big on details.
I flipped the switch on the air conditioner, pulled the drapes closed, and sat on the bed. It was pointless to try to clean up before I even had a shower or clean clothes to put on afterward. I had been wearing the alcohol-stained jeans so long I couldn’t smell the bourbon anymore.
Cole mentioned a place to eat within walking distance. That seemed like the best option for dinner, but first I wanted to buy a few things to make it through the next day until my luggage arrived. I stopped myself from getting nostalgic about my favorite Carolina T-shirt, or the cute pink skirt and the mini-pack of new makeup I just bought. They were all in my suitcase, and I could do nothing about it.
I headed out of the room. As I passed by the Dune Scape office, I saw Cole sitting behind the desk shuffling through a stack of papers. I wondered if he always wore a scowl on his face. His jaw was set in a line of determination. I stood in front of the window a second too long; he looked up from his work and saw me staring at him. I scurried out of view, wishing I didn’t have to be so curious all the damn time.
The surf shop was only two blocks from the motel, on the beach road. After being squeezed into small seats all day, it felt good to walk.
“Hey, honey. Welcome to Tassels.” The red-haired woman called from a nearby hat stand. She was straightening a line of visors that had been displaced. Yes, it was a surf shop, but not like any I had seen. “Can I help you find something? You look lost, darlin’.”
I took in the Stetson hats, rows of surfboards, and rack of suntan lotion.
“Yes, I need something to wear. The airline lost my luggage and I’m here all week. I’m sure it will show up, but I need a change of clothes.” I spotted a mannequin wearing a sundress that was adorable.
“Oh, you poor thing.” The
woman ditched the set of pink hats and rushed over to me. “Those airlines are so bad these days. Last year my sister, Sue, had two bags lost and she never got them back. She had everything in there. It was a mess.”
Hearing Sue’s story didn’t comfort me. I was still hoping my phone would ring any second with a call from the airport saying they were on their way with my clothes. I hadn’t itemized what was in the suitcase, but there were more sentimental things than just my school T-shirt.
“Well, let’s get you some things to wear. You here for graduation week?” She flashed a red lipstick smile.
“I am. All week.” Standing in Tassels Surf Shop, it was starting to sink in that a week in paradise was a long time to spend alone.
“Oh, wonderful. That’s so good to hear. I’m Lisa.” She reached her hand to me.
“Kaitlyn.” I shook the freckled hand that had seen obvious years of sun.
“Where you from, honey?” She busied herself with a circular stand of board shorts.
“North Carolina.”
“Why don’t you just go right in that dressing room and I’ll bring you a few things to try on?” Lisa shuttled me over to a cubicle covered by a curtain that had been strung across the doorway.
Normally, I would have browsed the racks myself, but Lisa had a mothering hen approach that I followed like a new chick. I waited in the cubby for her to select a few pieces.
“I brought a few different sundresses. That’s what all the girls are wearing this year. I guessed on your size.” She shoved the hangers and dresses in through the slit in the curtain. “I’ll be right back with a few bathing suits for you to try.”
I looked at the collection of dresses she handed me. They were all short and strappy. I dipped my leg into a green one and pulled the straps over my shoulders.
Lisa reached a handful of bikinis in through the curtain. “Why, don’t you look, darlin’, in that dress? Green is definitely your color.”
