Rip Current

by Jill Sanders

  Rip Current

  ~ Grayton Series ~

  Cole & Wendy

  © 2015 Jill Sanders

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  Summary

  Cole is used to fame and has had his fill of women who fall at his feet, but the one woman he desires the most shows nothing but disdain for him and his reckless ways.

  Wendy can’t stand Cole, at least in her head. Her body and heart, on the other hand, desire him beyond anything else.

  Rip Current

  by

  Jill Sanders

  Prologue

  Wendy leaned against the bar and sighed. She tried not to let her eyes wander to where her new boss’s three brothers stood watching people walk in the front door. It was grand opening day of the Boardwalk Bar and Grill, and she felt a shiver of nerves run up her spine. But it had nothing to do with the crowd of people she heard waiting outside. No, the cause of all of her anxiety stood just a few feet away in cut-off jean shorts, a teal green tank top, and the most worn-out pair of flip-flops she’d ever seen.

  His hair was blond and, unlike his brothers’ darker locks, he kept his long and unkempt. In fact, he didn’t look anything like the other two men crowded around him.

  The doors opened, and the trio stood watching women in small bikinis walk into the restaurant. All three of them had grins on their faces as they slowly sipped on drinks.

  If there’s one thing she’d learned bartending the last few years, it’s that what a person drank said a lot about them. For example, Marcus, the oldest of the three boys, leaned against the wall sucking down a Bud Light. The beer meant he was a hard worker and appreciated just having a cold, cheap beer slide down his throat. His dark hair was messy and his clothes looked like he had worn them while he’d been sawing and painting.

  Roman, the middle of the three, stood with his back straight and his eyes taking in everything. He was wearing a suit and tie but he still stared at every blonde woman who walked in the door. For him, it was a tall Guinness. He was used to nice things and didn’t mind working hard to get them.

  Cole. She sighed when her eyes roamed over the blond god of her dreams, who was leaning lazily against a chair as he joked with his brothers. Most men would be self-conscious to be holding a fruity drink with an umbrella in it. Not Cole. Piña coladas were all he’d ordered since she’d first met him days before the opening. Which meant he was comfortable with who he was.

  It was no wonder that every woman who walked in the door zeroed in on him. After all, the man was plastered on billboards all over the world. Half-naked, no less. And not only was Cole Grayton a famous surfer-slash-model, he was sexy as hell.

  It annoyed Wendy that Cole got all the attention from the ladies without even trying.

  Over the next few hours, she was the busiest she’d ever been. When Alan whizzed by her and flipped a bottle in two quick turns, cheers erupted from a small group of women sitting at the bar. She smiled over at him and shook her head. He smiled back at her and winked as he tossed a bottle behind his back and caught it in front of him to even more cheers.

  “Show off,” she murmured as she finished building a Guinness.

  When Cassey had made her bar manager, the first thing she’d done was hire on her best friend from the last two years. Alan was the best bartender she’d worked with and a good friend from her last job just down the coast. Together, they were the best bartending team along the Emerald Coast.

  “You going to watch him all night or get me another drink, sweetheart?”

  She turned and her entire body stiffened. Cole leaned against the bar, smiling at her with his perfect teeth. She felt as if her feet were suddenly glued to the floor.

  She couldn’t stop the frown from growing on her lips as she looked at him. He was too perfect. No man should ever be given this much power over women. Ever.

  “I would have thought that you’d have a row of women offering to buy you your girlie drinks.” She turned and pushed the Guinness towards the owner. The glass slid down the bar and landed perfectly in the hands of Cole’s brother, who smiled and winked back at her. She liked Roman and Marcus. It was hard not to. But Cole…she felt that familiar flutter rush down her legs just thinking his name. Cole did something to her that she wasn’t ready to own up to just yet.

  He chuckled and leaned a little closer. “Are you offering?”

  She closed her eyes and sighed. “Buddy, wrong tree.” She turned and started building his frou-frou drink. Not that she had anything against piña coladas; hell, she would suck a few down tonight if she wasn’t working.

  When she turned to hand him his drink, she stopped. He’d been staring at her. Not just looking, but staring. Hard. Instantly, her legs felt weak and her heart did a quick somersault in her chest. Damn, she was going to have to watch herself around this guy.

  Setting his drink down, he tried to toss a bill on the bar. She shoved it back in his hand. “You’re the boss’s brother.” She nodded to where Cassey stood on a small landing, overlooking everything. “She’ll have my head if you pay me.”

  Cole smiled. “I don’t take you for the kind of person who is afraid of anything.”

  She pasted on her best smile and leaned closer to him. She watched his eyes zero in on her ample chest and felt a little self-reward. “Big boy, I’m not afraid of men who drink piña coladas.” She leaned back and watched his smile grow.

  “That’s because you’ve never been with a man who knows what he likes and isn’t afraid to take it.” He winked and then slowly made his way back to his brothers, who had taken over the largest booth near the back. She frowned as she noticed that it was now filled with single women who, no doubt, were all fighting to see who would get to go home with the famous Cole Grayton.

  She couldn’t stop herself from watching him go or from dreaming, for just a moment, about what it would be like.

  Chapter One

  Three years later…

  Cole walked into his sister’s bar and winced. Even though it had been almost a year since his motorcycle accident, he still felt pain shooting up his hip when he stood for too long. Not even his family knew about this new predicament. They’d been told about the broken collarbone and arm at the hospital. His hip hadn’t started hurting until weeks after he’d laid his bike down thanks to the cab driver who’d flipped a U-turn right in front of him.

  He winced again at the pain and decided he couldn’t get off his feet fast enough. Making a beeline towards the bar, he frowned when he noticed Wendy wasn’t behind it. Instead, busy as always, was the man he was the most jealous of in life.

  Walking over, he propped his bad hip up on the stool and waited until Alan walked over to him.

  “Your usual?”

  He shook his head. “No, give me a shot of Jameson.”

  “Bad day?” Alan leaned against the bar and looked at him.

  He nodded. “You could say that.”

  What did Wendy see in the guy? Sure, most people would probably think he was good looking; he’d heard a lot of women say how much the guy looked like Vin Diesel. Alan certainly had more muscles than Cole did, at least at the moment. He frowned a little and thought about using some of his brother’s weights when he got back home.

  Alan was an ex-marine, which gave the guy an extra boost around the women. He was always entertaining them with stories of his time in the service. Is that what Wendy liked about the guy? They were always laughing and flirting with each other.

  “Want a chaser with that?” Alan turned to grab a glass and looked over his shoulder at Cole. “I just made a new batch o
f Bushwacker.”

  Cole sighed. He couldn’t turn down his favorite chocolaty drink. “Sure.” He scooted up onto the stool and almost moaned when the weight was lifted from his hip. His arm and collarbone had healed quickly with no side effects, but he wondered if he’d damaged his hip beyond repair. “Wendy working tonight?” He tried not to glance around the room.

  “Naw, she’s got the weekend off.” Alan glanced at him. “Your sister is upstairs though.” He nodded to the stairs that led up to Cassey’s office.

  His sister had taken last month off after marrying Luke Callaway. The two of them had hightailed it to Hawaii for their honeymoon. He’d been a little jealous of them enjoying the waves in the photos they’d sent everyone, so he’d set up a photo shoot for himself off the North Shore.

  It had been wonderful—peace and quiet and big waves. But two days into his trip, word had gotten out to the tourists that he was in town. All of a sudden, the beaches were flooded with competitive surfers who wanted to show him up and half-naked girls trying to get his attention, and his quiet time had turned into a circus. He was so bored of it all that he’d packed up and headed home early.

  “Thanks. I’ll wait until she comes down to make her rounds.”

  Alan smiled. “Might be a while. Luke showed up just before you did.”

  Cole chuckled. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not heading up there.”

  Alan laughed and set his drinks in front of him.

  “Where’d she go?” he asked before the man could tend to someone else.

  Alan tilted his head in question.

  “Wendy?” he mumbled.

  “Oh, um, she said something about needing a break and heading to her sister’s place close to the Florida-Alabama border.”

  Cole nodded and swallowed the Jameson quickly. He was grateful for the chocolate chaser that cleared the sting a little. He swiveled on the stool and glanced around the bar, thinking about Wendy. He hadn’t known she had a sister. He’d known her for over three years now, and he couldn’t list five things about her other than the fact that she caused his heart to race and his libido to skyrocket.

  She was the only woman, other than his sister, who hadn’t fallen for his shit. Most women swooned at his feet when they realized who he was. Not Wendy. She’d always been cool and calm, with enough flirt in her to leave him full of desire.

  He glanced over at Alan and wondered if the rumors were true about the pair. All his sister every said about her bar manager was that Cole should stay away from her.

  Cassey was too loyal. A few minutes later, he chuckled as he watched his sister walk down the stairs, hand in hand with her new husband. Good thing he hadn’t surprised them upstairs. His sister’s hair was loose from its long braid, and Luke had the look of a man who had just gotten everything he’d ever wanted.

  Cole sighed and dreamed of the day he would feel something close to that. He’d had plenty of women in the past, but he’d been on a hiatus ever since his motorcycle accident. Something about that day had caused him to pause and look at his life. He’d had plenty of scares in the past, but nothing that had caused his life to flash before his eyes. Even when he’d almost drowned off the southern coast of Africa, he’d never experienced anything like it before.

  “Hey.” Cassey walked up and took the Coke Alan had set down for her.

  “Hey.” He smiled and pulled his sister close and hugged her next to him. “Your shirt’s on inside out.”

  He chuckled when she gasped and looked down quickly.

  “You’re terrible.” She swatted his shoulder.

  “Just the fact that you looked tells me what you two were up to.” Luke shook his hand, still smiling ear to ear.

  “You’re just jealous,” Cassey said, sitting on the stool next to him and sighing.

  He nodded. “Yeah, who wouldn’t want to get their hands on this big guy.” He slapped Luke on the back and laughed.

  Cassey just shook her head and smiled. “He’s all mine. Besides, what happened to…” Her eyebrows lifted as she thought about his last girl’s name. Hell, even he couldn’t remember the sultry brunette’s name.

  “We broke it off.” He shrugged his shoulders and motioned for Alan to give him another shot and chaser.

  “What are you drinking?” Cassey grabbed his glass and sniffed. “Whiskey?” She frowned at him. “Why are you drinking whiskey?” She held the glass away from Alan before he could pour another.

  “Because it goes so well with Bushwackers.” He held up his other glass and sipped the last of the frozen drink down.

  “Whiskey and Bushwackers?” Cassey made a face, causing him to laugh.

  “Stick to your Cokes.” He tapped the can of soda she’d set down at the bar. “Leave the heavy stuff to us men.”

  She shook her head. “Why are you drinking the heavy stuff?” She set the glass down and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Maybe I needed it.” He took the glass and swallowed the whiskey down quickly, trying not to cringe in front of his sister. He really did hate liquor. That’s why he usually stuck to the fruity drinks. When he took a large swallow of the chocolate drink, he felt a little better.

  “What’s going on?” She frowned up at him.

  “Maybe he doesn’t want to talk about it,” Luke chimed in before taking a swig of his beer and running a hand up Cassey’s arm.

  Cassey frowned even more and shook her head. “No, I can see it now. Your eyes are dull.”

  He chuckled. “Thanks.”

  She shook her head again. “You’re in pain.” She gasped. “Where?” She set her drink down and started running her hands over his chest and arms.

  He started to laugh and grabbed her hands. “Damn it, Cass, you know I’m ticklish.” Then his eyes moved to the doorway and his smile increased.

  “Are you?” Cassey chuckled, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the doorway. “There, now you have the sparkle back in your eyes,” his sister said, taking his chin in her hands and forcing his face towards hers.

  ***

  Wendy was bored out of her mind. Not that her little sister wasn’t fun, but she hadn’t expected to be sitting in her apartment on Friday night, watching a movie while her sister made out with her current boyfriend.

  They had planned a weekend full of fun and sister time, but then Willow’s boyfriend Justin—or was it Jacob?—had shown up and asked if he could crash there since he’d been kicked out of his apartment by his buddies who had girls over.

  Less than five minutes into the movie, Wendy jumped off the sofa and grabbed her purse and bag.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Out.”

  “I thought you were going to stay the whole weekend.”

  “That was before.” She looked over at Jacob or whatever his name was. “I’ll catch you next week.”

  “Oh.” Willow glanced at her boyfriend and Wendy could tell she was torn.

  “It’s okay, really. I had a few things to do anyway.” Wendy smiled.

  “Okay. I’m still planning on coming over to your place next month for the concert.”

  “Sure.” She nodded, knowing her sister would probably flake on that too. “See you then.”

  The drive back to Surf Breeze was short, even with all the tourists crowding the main roads. When she stopped in front of her little condo, she sighed. It was still early enough that she was dying for entertainment. Being a bartender for almost five years had set her internal clock on permanent night mode. If she went into her condo now, she knew she’d be bored out of her mind. That, or she’d find herself cleaning. She shivered at that thought.

  “Fine!” She banged her hands on the steering wheel of her Jeep. “I’ll swing in to Cassey’s and if no one is there, I’ll take a nice long walk on the beach.” She sighed and swung her legs out of the open side of the Jeep. She loved taking the doors off her Jeep during the summer months. If she could, she’d drive with them off year-round, but this last winter had gotten way to
o cold for it.

  It was a short walk to the bar. She loved taking the boardwalk and enjoyed the hustle and bustle that marked the middle of the summer months. By the time she walked in the front doors of the bar and grill, there was a bead of sweat dripping down the middle of her back.

  She had just stepped in the doorway when she heard his deep laugh and stopped dead. Her heart did the same little jump it always did when she saw him, but this time there was a quick pang near the end. She thought about turning around and walking back out, but he’d already seen her and she didn’t want to be childish.

  Especially since the last time she’d seen him, she’d… She closed her eyes quickly and took a deep breath. She was not going to stoop to his level. Holding her head up high, she walked towards the bar.

  “Wendy?” Cassey smiled. “I thought you were spending the weekend at Willow’s?”

  She stopped next to her friend and boss. “I was, until Justin showed up.” She sighed. “Or was his name Jacob?” She tilted her head and tried to remember.

  “Oh, trouble in paradise? I thought your sister was happy with this one,” Cassey said, hugging her a little.

  “She is. A little too happy.” She leaned over the bar and grabbed a bottle of beer, not really noticing or caring what kind it was. Using the side of the bar, she flipped the top off and took a swig.

  “Well, you’re just in time.” Cassey smiled. “We’re going to have some dinner. Oh, look, here come Marcus and Shelly.” She turned in time to see the couple walk in. Marcus’s arm was wrapped around the blonde shop owner’s shoulders. Both of them were smiling and laughing as they walked in.

  Wendy really liked Shelly. Not only did the woman have style, but she was also very down to earth. It was hard to find locals Wendy could stand to be in the same room with for more than five minutes. Shelly was one of those people.

  “Hey,” Marcus said, stopping right in front of the growing group. “Looks like we’re just in time for the party.”