Riptide of Romance

by Jennifer Jones

  What’s the loot, dude?

  We left the best part for last because we can’t believe we got this much money from our generous sponsors either.

  You are going to kiss your tandem partner extra hard when you both win the ONE HUNDRED GRAND! in prize money.

  Yep, you heard us right.

  But wait!

  Before you wax up your tandem board, slow down.

  We came up with an extra special way for you to win big AND show your partner how much you love them on Valentine’s Day.

  The contest is only open to married couples.

  Yeah, yeah, we know.

  We hear the collective sigh out there.

  But how else are we going to narrow the field?

  Besides … we kinda love romance.

  Wax up your boards, kids, and get ready to renew your vows with the hundred grand in prize money.

  You’ll finally be able to take your mate on that honeymoon to Tahiti you’ve always dreamed about.

  See you on Valentine’s Day!

  Papaw had turned nearly white. “A hundred grand.”

  Bobbie tugged on my T-shirt. “You should enter.” She clapped her hands together and squealed.

  “You and Lola used to tandem surf,” Papaw said.

  “Yeah. And?”

  I glanced at Lola who was still staring at the screen, her long hair hanging over the keyboard.

  Bobbie stared at me, then at Lola.

  Papaw touched my arm. “You and Lola were great tandem surfers. Even won some trophies.”

  Lola held her hand up. “That was about twenty pounds ago.”

  I didn’t like Lola talking that way. I loved her figure. “You were super graceful. Have you kept it up?” I said.

  She crossed her arms. “No. Have you?”

  “Nope. But we could practice again.”

  Lola held her arm out like a policeman stopping traffic. “Hold it right there. The contest’s only open to married couples.”

  My mind played out the scenario. We could run down to the courthouse, get married, and then divorce after we won. I’ll admit it was absurd, but what did we have to lose? I knew what we’d have to win … one hundred grand!

  Everyone became silent as we all stared at Lola. The only thing I heard was the low whoosh of traffic outside.

  Lola’s face flushed pink, and she looked so pretty with her hair falling around her shoulders that I wanted to kiss her. She shook her head. “Oh no. No way.”

  “Just enter,” Bobbie said. “The hundred grand’ll save the shop. You guys will split the money down the middle, and you can quit the bank. Just like you wanted.”

  “But what if they get disqualified?” Papaw said. “They can’t just lie about being married on the entry form.”

  “He’s right,” I said. “Can you imagine if we won and they made us give the money back?”

  Lola’s lips had formed a firm line. “You guys are crazy. No way do I even want to consider what you’re suggesting.” She picked up her purse and headed for the door.

  Lola and I had every chance of winning this contest.

  I knew it was ridiculous and that I had no right to insert myself into Lola’s life, but a hundred grand would save both of us.

  I ran after her, and before she made it to the door, I grabbed her arm. I fell to one knee and stared up into her eyes. Her long blond hair whipped around, and she looked at me like I’d gone insane. Her arm tensed and my grip tightened. “Lola, will you marry me?” I spoke fast. “We can go to the court and do it, and you and me—we’ll win. A hundred grand’s a nice chunk of change.”

  “Stop it. Let go.” She pulled away, and I scooted forward on my knees.

  “Come on babe, it’ll be fun.”

  Her nostrils flared. “I’m not your babe.”

  Bobbie trotted to Lola’s side. “You should do it.”

  Papaw’s voice was low. “It’s only temporary, Lola. You can always … you know … cancel the marriage after the contest.”

  Bobbie started chanting. “Say yes! Say yes!”

  “Come on Lola. My leg’s starting to cramp. Say you’ll marry me.”

  She gripped her shoulder bag tightly to her body and pulled away from me. Her eyes narrowed. “You have not changed one iota. All you think about is yourself.”

  My smile was shy. “You’d get half the winnings.”

  Lola folded her arms and looked away. “Not interested.”

  I gripped her hand, but she wouldn’t budge. “Come on. Let’s enter.”

  Her gaze flicked to mine. “Let go.” She pulled away from me, pushed through the door, and the last thing I saw was her gorgeous, curvy ass swaying as she put distance between us. The screen door didn’t exactly make a satisfying slamming sound, but Lola slammed it just the same.

  We all stared at the door and then Bobbie said, “Go get her!” Bobbie raced to the door and motioned for me to hurry up. “She doesn’t want to be mean. You know how she is.”

  Yes. I did know. Nobody messed with Lola.

  I trotted to the door and ran after her.

  My heart sped up, swimming with possibilities. Lola would get half the winnings and start her bathing suit business. And who knows? Maybe we’d even get back together again.

  This was our chance.

  We had to enter the contest and win. I caught Lola before she’d made it to the end of the block. I placed a hand on her arm, and when she whirled around, something in her eyes glinted with amusement. “What?” she said.

  My breathing had sped up, and my heart raced like a madman. Maybe it was from the jog down the block, but mostly it was from being with Lola. She smelled delicious, and I wanted to pull her into my kiss right there on the street for all to see. I wanted to claim Lola like I should have years ago.

  I stared into her defiant brown eyes. “Come on back to the shop. We’ll … talk. You don’t have to say yes, just consider it.” My gaze involuntarily jerked to her low-cut top and ample breasts.

  “Quit staring, buddy. The goods are not for sale.”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “Can’t we try to get along? It used to be so easy to be together.” I remembered all the times Lola and I had surfed together, a couple of kids without a care in the world. “Hey Justice! Let’s skip Saturday morning cartoons ‘cuz the waves are gonna be super gnarly tomorrow,” she’d say, and I’d be up at sunrise to follow her down to the beach for dawn patrol.

  “Why’d we have to grow up?” I said.

  “I’m sorry about the shop.” She dipped her head as her eyes peeked up at me. “And about your uncle.”

  “If you really cared, you’d—”

  “Quit being such a jerk. Did you really think I’d agree to that contest?” She threw her hands up in the air. “Married? What the hell? I’m waiting for the right person for that.”

  The right person.

  A dullness filled my chest. Lola had a point. She deserved a good man to marry. Not a selfish jerk like me. Did I really think I could joke around with Lola and force her into a phony marriage? I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened my eyes, Lola was staring at me. “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “For what?”

  “For hurting you.”

  She crossed her arms tightly. “Who says you hurt me?”

  “I do.”

  She let out an impatient breath. “What is it exactly you’ve been doing all these years?”

  I fiddled with the hem of my T-shirt and looked down at the ground. “Working. Surfing. Messing around.” I reached out to touch her, but she flinched, so I let her be. “I should’ve come back that first year.” I motioned to the store. “We could’ve helped Uncle Seth with the shop.”

  She brushed her long hair back with one hand. “But that’s not what happened, Justice. You ran away from me, from everything you had going here.”

  I shuffled my feet. “Life’s weird, Lola. I liked having my own thing away from this town.” My gaze softened. “But I didn’t like be
ing away from you.” I shrugged. “The time just got away from me.”

  “When normal people say that, it usually means they lost a few hours, not a few years. You think a phony marriage will make up for what you did?”

  I puffed my chest up and made an attempt at an impressive smile. “It’s a start.” She turned to leave, and I caught her arm. “Wait!” She whirled around, fire in her eyes. “Stop. Jeez, I always say the wrong thing. Will you think about it? We can help each other, right? We always worked so well together.”

  I cracked a smile and tried to lighten up the mood. “It’ll be a kick.” I pointed to her and then me. “You. Me. Married.”

  That got the tiniest laugh out of her. “You sound like you’re in sixth grade again.”

  “Come on, babe. Remember all those tandem contests we won? This will solve all of our problems. You’ll get a new life. I’ll save the shop.”

  She folded her arms and looked away. “Don’t call me babe.”

  “Okay … Lola.” I placed my hand on her elbow. “Just come on back to the shop for a few minutes.” We had a great chance at winning that hundred grand prize money. But more than that, a thrill shot through me when I thought of spending time with Lola. I’d prove to her that I was worthy of her attention. I’d be a better man this time. “I promise I won’t pressure you.” But Bobbie and Papaw will, I thought.

  She let out a heavy sigh and looked toward the store. Bobbie’s head peeked through a crack in the door. She made a comically beseeching face, and Lola burst into laughter. She held up two fingers. “Two minutes. But only because I like Papaw and Bobbie so much.”

  I performed a mental fist pump and guided her by the elbow toward the shop. When I touched Lola, a warmth spread through me, and I had to concentrate to keep my cock from responding to her soft body and alluring scent. Down, boy.

  Bobbie was all over Lola the second we entered the shop. “You sit here.” She guided Lola toward the counter where her laptop stood open to the entry form and brushed her hands together. “Now. About that fifty grand you’re going to win. We’ll invest it straight into your bathing suit business.”

  “Yeah, Lola,” Papaw said. He placed an ice-cold can of soda in Lola’s hand. “Then you can quit the bank and not have to answer to anyone.”

  I kept my mouth shut.

  Lola took a long swig of her drink, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and gently placed the can on the counter.

  “You guys are totally insane. And if I say yes?”

  Bobbie’s eyes lit up, and she did a little dance in her chair. “Then you’ll be rich!”

  Lola picked up a pen and tapped it against a notepad. “Not that I’m saying yes. But if I did, as soon as we get back from the contest, we head straight to the courthouse and fill out the divorce papers.” Her brown eyes seared through me. “Right?”

  I nodded my head. “Straight to the courthouse.”

  She frowned. “Who’ll take care of Dexter while I’m gone?”

  “I will,” Bobbie said.

  She tugged at her bottom lip and stared into the distance. “I’d have to call my papai first. Make sure he knows I’m okay and not really married.”

  I raised my hand. “Want me to call him?”

  “No! I can handle it myself. No way would I want him finding out through the grapevine.”

  Lola’s father was a passionate man, and fiercely protective of Lola. But she also was one of the few people who could charm him and convince him of anything.

  “Well,” she said. “It would be only temporary.”

  I raised my hands in a defensive position. “Only temporary.”

  She doodled something on the notepad. I peeked at the scratchpad and noticed she’d written the figure “50K” over and over along with drawings of dollar signs and hearts. She looked up and jabbed a finger my way. “And don’t even think for a second about consummating this marriage.”

  Lola was in!

  She stood up and slowly moved to my side. Her beautiful eyes gazed into mine, and I picked up a whiff of her sultry scent. “I’ve got to be totally luoco to even consider this.” She gave me an alluring smile. “You know this goes against my better judgment.”

  “Nobody said you had good judgment.”

  She poked a finger in my chest. “Don’t push it, buddy.”

  We stared at each other for long seconds. Long seconds where I fell into Lola’s deliciously sexy brown eyes. Long seconds where I imagined what it would be like to be married to Lola. We’d have one hell of a honeymoon with firecracker sex. Then we’d ride off into the sunset together, Lola’s arms curled around my waist as she straddled my motorcycle and leaned into me, her breath hot on my neck. I could dream, couldn’t I?

  Finally, she spoke. “Okay. I’ll do it. But this is only temporary. Just like Papaw said.”

  “So, you’ll marry me?”

  “Yes. But only till the contest’s over.” She held out her hand, and I kissed it. She pushed me in the chest. “You, Mr. Hamilton have got yourself a tandem partner.”

  Bobbie let out a hoot, hopped off the stool and rushed around the shop screaming, “We’re going to win! We’re going to win!” The herky-jerky way she galloped was comical, arms flailing, hips bumping in time to imaginary music. At one point she nearly fell, arms stretching out front like a superhero. She righted herself and went right back on racing through the shop chanting “We’re going to win!” She stopped midstride and effected a crazy version of running man, arms pistoning, legs bending exaggeratedly.

  Bobbie finally stopped dancing, her breathing heavy from the exertion, her glasses fogged with sweat.

  Bobbie, Papaw, Lola and I stared at each other. And then we all burst into laughter. The more we giggled, the funnier the situation became. Every time one of us looked at the other, it was enough to get us going again. I could barely catch my breath from our laughter. We laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. Bobbie had an especially adorable cackle complete with a cute little snort. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much.

  I looked at Lola who was bent over holding her tummy and remembered all the times we’d shared deep belly laughs at dumb one-line jokes. I’d always thought we’d stay together forever because everything always felt so right with her. We’d always had such fun.

  Playfulness mixed with deep love spread through me. I was really here again.

  With my playmate and lover.

  My soon-to-be wife.

  The room echoed with our chuckles.

  I wiped tears from my eyes.

  It felt fucking fantastic to hear Lola laugh again. She clutched her stomach and took deep breaths. Placing a hand on my arm, she looked me in the eye. “Better make sure we’ve still got what it takes on the tandem board.”

  I raised my pinkie finger, and we hooked fingers. “I’ll have the board ready and waxed bright and early.”

  Nine

  Lola

  Justice dragged his T-shirt over his head, and I was treated to the most delicious sight. No man had a right to that much hunkiness. I mentally let out a low whistle, trying not to be obvious as I checked out his washboard abs, ogled the way his biceps flexed as he worked his wetsuit over his hips. I kept hoping he would drop the towel during his towel change. Stop thinking that way, Lola.

  “We’ll start with free surfing, then we’ll move to the tandem board,” Justice said. “Sound good?”

  “Gooder than good. Now get your butt in gear. We’ve got a contest to win.”

  I’d only agreed to this ridiculous scheme because of the money. Fifty grand was indeed a nice chunk of change, and it only required a few weeks out of my life. A mere blip on the radar screen. Justice was right about one thing. We’d won plenty of tandem surf contests. We had a fantastic shot at that prize money. It would mean a whole new life for me. I could leave the job that was sucking the soul out of me and start my very own bathing suit business!

  It felt so natural to be together like this. We waxed our boar
ds the way we’d done countless times when we were teenagers.

  We paddled out to the lineup and rode wave after glassy wave. I dropped into a wave in front of Justice, and we caught the breaker together. I peeked over my shoulder and saw his athletic frame perfectly balanced, speeding up to me. “Yee friggin’ haw! Here I come and you are toast!” He playfully knocked me into the ocean, and I sputtered and coughed, my hair drenched in seawater.

  “Justice Hamilton, you are a dead man.” I clambered back onto my board and paddled furiously back out to the lineup.

  When he rejoined me, he was laughing so hard he could barely catch his breath. “You should’ve seen your face when I pushed you. Oh my lordy.”

  I splashed seawater on him. “When did you start saying stupid things like ‘oh my lordy’? You sound like a dork.”

  He splashed me back. “A lovable dork.”

  I straddled my board, and Justice’s gaze fell between my legs. I straightened my spine and nervously smoothed my long wet hair back.

  He looked at me with those intense blue eyes—dreamy eyes the color of the ocean.

  I cocked my head. “What?”

  “Hey, remember when I gave you my dad’s class ring?”

  I laughed. “I had to put tape on the band just to make it fit.”

  “My dad tanned my hide when he found out I’d given it away.”

  “And you were grounded for the whole week. I had to wait for your release from prison because I couldn’t figure out how to finish that jigsaw puzzle.”

  “You never were any good at puzzles. Needed me to stand back and take a look. Puzzles are weird that way.” He pointed a finger at me. “Makes you work together sometimes.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What do you know about working together?”

  He didn’t answer because a set of waves came through and Justice yelled, “My wave!”

  I watched him paddle mightily until the wave picked him up. He hopped to his feet, and his athletic body moved like a dancer’s. Justice was a kick-ass surfer, and I felt confident that with him as my tandem partner we’d win the contest. He worked his board up and down the wave, and I could practically feel the excitement shoot off his body. He ended his ride with a sharp snap of his board, catching it in both hands and paddled back toward me.