Sweet Nothings: A Bethany Beach Romance

by Lacy Hart

  “I hope I didn’t wake you,” she said as the steam slowly escaped from the bathroom into the bathroom.

  Kelly walked over to her bag and sorted through the items she had so she could get some clean clothes to put on.

  “It’s fine,” I said to her, smiling as I watched her pull her panties up her legs.

  Kelly looked over her shoulder at me and saw me staring at her. She gave me a sly smile, turning around completely and then leaning over to me on the bed to kiss me. Kelly pressed her breasts against my chest, and my arms went around her, trying to pull her back into bed with me.

  Kelly slowly broke our kiss and gasped a little. “Damian, I have to get dressed. I need to go to the bakery.”

  “Can’t you just take one day?” I pleaded, as my fingertips gently grazed her bare breasts as she moved away from me.

  “It’s my business,” Kelly said as she put her bra on. “People are counting on me to be there and work. I’m sure it’s the same with your company. You don’t just take days off when you have responsibilities.”

  “I’m here right now because I needed a break from business. Sometimes you just have to get away to clear your head, do other things, see what you have been missing. You don’t want the world to completely pass you by. If I hadn’t taken some time to myself, I never would have met you.”

  Kelly sat on the bed next to me, now dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She tied her hair back into a ponytail and then took my hand.

  “I know Damian, and these last few days have been wonderful for me. You have helped me see what I have been missing out on, but I need to find a way to balance that out with the rest of my life. The bakery is important to me, and I can’t just not show up and leave everyone short like that. My family relies on me to be there. You can understand that, can’t you? I would love to crawl back in bed with you, I really would. You have no idea how strong the temptation is to do that, but I have to get back to the real world.”

  Kelly kissed me lightly before I pulled back from her.

  “The real world?” I said to her, looking into her eyes. “What has the last two days been for you? I know for me, it’s been the most real the world has been in a long time. I don’t just go around trying to bed women, Kelly, no matter what newspapers and social media might like people to think about me.” I turned and got out of bed, grabbing a pair of shorts off the floor and pulling them on.

  Kelly walked over to me, putting her arms around my waist from behind me and pulling me to her as I opened the blinds to catch a glimpse of the faint hints of sunrise starting to show.

  “Damian, I didn’t mean it the way it came out. Of course, this has been real for me. Trust me, I don’t just do things like this either, but it has all seemed like a dream to me. It’s not every day a girl gets swept up like this outside of what you might see in the movies or read in a book. Things like this don’t happen in our little beach town, but I’m glad it’s happening to me.”

  I turned around and took Kelly in my arms, kissing her deeply. I understood what she said and knew there was nothing I could do to convince her to stay.

  “Do you want me to walk you to the bakery?” I asked her.

  Kelly walked over and gathered her purse and put her bag over her shoulder.

  “That’s alright,” she said to me. “I’m used to doing it. There’s nobody out there right now besides early morning joggers and fishermen.”

  “I can at least walk you out,” I told her as I opened the bedroom door.

  We both slowly walked to the stairs, and I took the bag from her so I could carry it down. We went down the stairs as quietly as we could, and I stepped outside with Kelly and felt the cool air hit my bare chest. A rainstorm had come through last night and cooled things down considerably, and I felt the cold dampness on the soles of my feet as I padded onto the driveway with Kelly. I pressed the button to open the gate so she could get out.

  “Thank you for an amazing time,” Kelly said to me, kissing me once more.

  “I should say the same to you,” I replied. “I’ll come by the bakery later today, around the end of the workday.”

  “That would be nice.” Kelly grinned at me and then started to walk up the driveway towards the gate.

  I watched her the entire way, and she did glance back to see me watching her and let out a small laugh. She turned right outside the gate to make her way to the boardwalk, and I went back inside. I already started thinking about her and what we might want to do after work.

  I went back to my room, shut the door and got back into bed. I rolled onto my side and suddenly felt very tired. I had gotten only about two hours or so of sleep, and my body reacted to it. I closed my eyes and drifted off, catching a whiff of the scent Kelly had left on the pillow, a wonderful reminder for me.

  I woke several hours later as the sun was peering strongly through the open blinds now. I looked at my watch on my nightstand to see it was after ten. I audibly groaned and rolled to the other side of the bed, still getting the faint smell of Kelly that brought a smile to my face.

  After about five minutes of just lazing in bed, I got out and into a hot shower. My muscles did ache a little from all the activity of the previous day, but it was certainly a good ache. When I got out of the shower and walked over to the mirror so I could shave, I noticed that Kelly must have made a note in the steam on the mirror when she showered earlier. There was a small heart shape in the top left corner and a smiling face. I left the images there, wiping the rest of the fog from the mirror so I could shave.

  I dressed and went out to the kitchen and saw that thankfully there was already a pot of coffee made. I poured a mug, taking in the aroma, and looked to see James and Shannon both sitting outside on the deck. I walked out to join them, interrupting their laughing. Both turned to me immediately when they saw me.

  “There’s the late riser,” Shannon said, peering at me over her sunglasses.

  “Good morning,” I said, pulling over one of the wooden deck chairs to sit next to them.

  “I guess you had a good day yesterday,” Shannon spoke. She sipped her own coffee, letting out another little laugh.

  “We had a great time,” I announced, not saying anything more.

  “Ah, a man a few words. You’re always the gentleman, Damian. Women don’t like a man who brags about his… for lack of a better word, dalliances.”

  “What’s that supposed to me?” I said defensively.

  “Well, I know I heard two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs and opening the front door early this morning, so I assume you had a guest here. Don’t get upset, Damian, I was just teasing you. Boy, you’re all sensitive now that you have a girlfriend. Maybe the brooding billionaire was better.”

  I could see Shannon smiling at James.

  “Very funny,” I said to her. “So, what did you two do all day yesterday? Did you have a good time?”

  “You name it, we did it yesterday,” James said. “Shannon had me driving all over the area to see and do whatever we came across. We went to the nature preserves, the lighthouse, spent time at the beach, went on a boat ride, a little of everything.”

  “Yes, Sarge was great,” Shannon remarked. “He was willing to go along with whatever I saw as we drove. I have lots of great pictures. How about you and Kelly?”

  “We had a great time. We went for a balloon ride, lounged in the water at a local place, had dinner, did some dancing, and then came back here for a swim and to hang out. It might be the best date I ever had.”

  “So, are you seeing her again today?” James asked me, as he finished off his coffee.

  “She’s working today, but I told her I would stop by when the bakery closes so we could get together. I hope you two are okay with that. I know this is a vacation for all of us, and I haven’t really spent much time with you guys.”

  “It’s not a problem, Boss,” James said as he got up. “You’re here to relax and have a good time, with or without us. Need a refill?”

&
nbsp; “Thanks,” I said, handing James my mug.

  “How about you?” James said to Shannon.

  “You bet, Sarge,” she told him with a smile.

  James went inside to get more coffee, and Shannon turned to me, taking her sunglasses off.

  “You’re really taken with Kelly, aren’t you? I can see it on your face every time you talk about her. I’ve never seen you light up like this, Damian.”

  “She’s unlike any other woman I have met, Shannon. When I’m with her… I just feel fantastic. It doesn’t matter what we are doing, or where we go, and when I’m not with her, all I can think about is when I am going to see her again.”

  “I don’t mean to put a damper on your romance, Damian,” Shannon said to me as she picked up her phone. “Paul is getting pretty insistent about speaking with you. He keeps calling me and texting me and did it all day yesterday. He said he keeps trying to get in touch with you, but you never answer him.”

  “Because I’ve been ignoring him and having a good time instead; like you should.”

  “I get that we’re on vacation, Damian, but it must be something important for him to keep at it like this. Maybe you should just give him a call.”

  “Knowing Paul, it’s a leaky faucet in the men’s room that needs fixing, and he wants my approval first. I’m sure it can wait. There’s nothing that could come along that is so desperate he needs my attention. If it were bad, one of the other execs would be calling you or me. I’ll get back to him eventually. For now, I am having too good of a time to worry about work stuff.”

  James reappeared, passing out coffee mugs to us. The three of us sat silently for a few minutes, just looking out over the ocean.

  “Any thoughts about what to do this afternoon?” James asked.

  “Let’s fill one of the coolers with beer, go down by the pool, fire up the grill for lunch, and just hang out,” I said.

  “Now that’s a plan I can get behind!” Shannon said, springing up out of her chair. “I’m going to put my suit on. I’ll meet you two down by the pool. Don’t forget the cooler.”

  “I guess I’ll go fill the cooler,” James said.

  I kept staring out over the water, drinking my coffee, thinking about the balloon ride from yesterday.

  “You okay, Boss?” James picked up his coffee mug and stood next to me.

  “I’m fine,” I told him, snapping myself out of my daydream. “I’ll be down at the pool after I get my bathing suit on.

  “I’ve got to tell you,” James started, “this is the happiest I have seen you, well since I started working for you.”

  James walked into the house, and I sat on the deck, watching and orange and yellow kite flutter in the breeze just off to my right down the beach.

  It is the best I’ve been, no doubt about it, I thought to myself.

  15

  Kelly

  The walk to the bakery never felt better for me. I moved quickly towards the shop, bouncing along with energy I rarely had early in the morning. The last two days with Damian had been truly special and had given me much to look forward to. My mind was suddenly filled with ideas for the shop and for me, both professionally and personally. I was inspired like never before, and I was grinning ear to ear as I walked along. I even said a friendly “hello” to a few of the early morning joggers and fishermen I passed on my way to the bakery. I got some odd looks, but I didn’t care a bit.

  I got closer to the bakery and noticed the T-Shirt Cabana, the t-shirt and souvenir store next to us, wasn’t just closed as it normally would be this time of the morning. The storm gate had been pulled down over the front of the store, something they never did unless there was impending bad weather coming.

  That’s odd, I thought to myself as I gazed at the gate and the closed sign hanging on it. Harry Chapman, the owner of the store, was one of the nicest guys on the boardwalk and always had a smile, kind word, or helping hand for business people and the community. He and his family had the shop for many years and were the best neighbors. I hoped everything was okay with him and his family as I turned the corner to get to the rear of the bakery.

  The back door was already unlocked when I arrived, meaning someone was already here and starting to open. I felt guilty about being a bit later and knew I was going to get all kinds of questions about it as soon as I walked into the kitchen.

  Jodie was there getting the ovens going, and I could smell the first batch of cinnamon buns underway already, the distinct smell filling the air in the kitchen. Jodie had the music turned up loud enough where she didn’t even hear me enter, so I just grabbed an apron and got ready to get started. I heard an audible gasp when Jodie turned and saw me standing there.

  “Shit, Kelly, you could have at least made some noise when you came in,” Jodie said, juggling the canisters she had in her hands and placing them on the table.

  I went over and turned the music down a bit so we could hear each other without yelling.

  “Sorry, I just slipped in under the music I guess.”

  I looked around and saw a bunch of pastries already prepared and ready to go for the day.

  “What time did you get here this morning? I didn’t think I was this late,” I asked her as I looked at the racks filled with cookies and donuts.

  “Oh, I couldn’t sleep last night, so I came in a few hours ago and got things started. I just had some energy I guess.” Jodie wiped her hands on her apron and looked over at me with a grin.

  “So, I guess yesterday went pretty well, huh?”

  “What makes you say that?” I answered coyly.

  “Well, you never came by to claim your dog last night, and you’re still carrying the bag of clothes we packed yesterday, so you never made it home either. It’s pretty easy to figure out where you ended up.”

  “Jodie, it was an amazing day,” I said to her, moving closer to her so we could talk.

  I told her all about our adventures in the balloon, the good time we had at Seacrets, and then how we spent the rest of the night together.

  “He’s nothing like I thought he would be, Jodie,” I explained to her. “You think about the typical rich guys that come down here, and Damian is just the opposite. He’s not hung up on money, or showing off, or bragging. He’s a gentleman, he’s caring, but he’s strong when he wants to be or needs to be.”

  “I guess so by the way you said that,” Jodie added with a laugh.

  “Oh, he definitely knows how to take charge.”

  “Take charge of what?” I heard from behind us and spun around to see Mom and Alex coming through the door.

  “These donuts,” I offered, trying to cover up as quickly as I could. I grabbed the tray of donuts that needed to be filled with jelly and moved them over to one of the free tables.

  “Jodie has left these sitting here without filling them, so I’m taking charge of them.” I grabbed a pastry bag and quickly filled it with some of our raspberry jam and start pressing it gently into the donuts.

  “Mmmm, Hmmm,” Mom said with her knowing look as she hung up her coat. She walked out to the storefront to start things out there while Alex stayed and put on her apron.

  “You were talking about your date yesterday, weren’t you?” she said quietly. “What happened?”

  “Alex, this isn’t really the time to get into all of that. All I will say is that we had a lovely time and I hope to get to see him again.”

  “Really?” Alex replied with a pout. “That’s all you’re going to tell me, but you have no problem telling Jodie the details? That’s pretty shitty, Kelly.”

  “Alexandra, language please!” Mom shouted from the store. Alex rolled her eyes and trudged out to the store to help Mom.

  “She’s going to be mad at you, you know,” Jodie stated.

  “I know, but what does she expect me to do? Go into details with Mom standing right there?”

  “I think you need to give her a little more credit, Kel.” Jodie walked over from her station and stood next to me. “I t
hink she gets jealous a lot because we’re so close. She feels a little left out of the sister stuff at times.”

  “Okay, I get it.” I finished filling the jelly donuts and brought them out to the shop.

  Mom was taking the chairs down from off the tables while Alex prepped the coffee station. I carried the tray over to the display case and began to fill the area with donuts.

  “Alex, can you go grab the other tray for me?” I asked her. She looked over at me and stomped off into the kitchen to get the other tray.