“When will she be back? If you don’t tell me, I’ll come over every day to see if she’s home.”
“Talk about annoying.” She rolled her eyes. “She won’t be back until next Sunday.”
I mentally counted the days. “That’s nine days from now.” How could I go even another hour before seeing her again? Much less nine days? We needed to talk. She needed to know how I felt about her. Shit. She could totally write me off or meet another man.Fuck.
“Good job, Lifeguard Leo. You can count.”
“Really? Don’t be a smartass. Leo. Can. Count. I went to college.” I turned on my heel and made my way down the walkway toward my Jeep. My stomach was in knots as if I would never see Red again.
“Then why are you a lifeguard?” she hollered.
“Because I love the beach and like helping people. Why else?” I threw my hands up. It wasn’t rocket science. I was doing what I loved, plain and simple.
On the drive home, I was tempted to swing by Dave’s Tiki Bar but thought better of it. The place used to be my home away from home. Where I went to drink a little, maybe meet a woman if I hadn’t met someone at the beach. I didn’t want to meet anyone anymore.
Wavy red hair, mesmerizing green eyes, and the sweetest lips were all I could think about. They were all I wanted. I could feel Red’s small body against mine, the warmth of her pussy surrounding my cock. Being inside Red without a barrier had been transcendent. Second to none. I never wanted to wrap up my dick again.
How could I feel this way after only one day? I didn’t believe in love, much less love at first sight. I knew very little about this woman, and yet I felt like I’d known her my whole life. My guard had gone down when she cried in my arms at the boardwalk. She was vulnerable and authentic.
Fuck me, she was the sweetest, most incredible woman I’d ever encountered. And gorgeous, God, she was breathtaking.
Dammit. I knew with every cell in my body, she was going to fight me—fight us. I saw the fire in her when she forced me out of her house.
The more I thought about what Laney said, Red wanted to get married and have a family. That detail was the crux of it all. Could I be what she wanted, give her what she desired?
Hell if I knew.
I’d just have to jump in with both feet as I did with everything else in my life to find out.
9
Scarlett
I BREATHED IN the mountain air out on the deck. Pine and cut grass tickled my nose. This was home. Or had been for eighteen years of my life. Then I moved away…ran awayso I could be free. I wanted to be independent and do as I pleased without my parents’ constant correction.
Briefly, I regretted ever moving away. I regretted meetinghim. The thought was only fleeting, though, because no matter how reckless I’d been having sex with a man I didn’t know, I’d never truly felt freer or more alive in my life. For that, I’d never regret being with Leo.
The last four days were nothing like I’d expected. I couldn’t sleep and hardly ate. Every thought I had revolved around the man who had rocked my world. Memories of our night and morning together got me hot and bothered and dashing to the bathroom to touch myself in ways his tongue had.
Then I’d remember the women talking to him and wondered how many he’d made love to, and I’d gag on stomach acid and again dash off to the bathroom.
It wasn’t fair to get so worked up about him and his past. I wasn’t usually a judgmental person. I’d grown up surrounded by it and hated it. What Leo had done before me shouldn’t matter… but it did, and that bothered me to no end.
I really liked Leo for some crazy, stupid reason.
I also felt inferior to all the women he’d been with over the years. How could I stand out against them? How would he even be able to tell me apart from them?
There wasn’t anything unique about me. I wasn’t tall with legs for miles or breasts the size of cantaloupes. I didn’t have the wow factor. I sure as hell wasn’t memorable. If I had been, I might be dancing on Broadway, living out my dreams. But every audition had ended in failure. I was too short or didn’t dance with enough attitude or passion. Eventually, I gave up on a professional dance career.
I guessed this was why my parents insisted I study business. They saw how I wasn’t good enough to be a professional dancer but didn’t have the heart to tell me. Or why they’d encouraged me to find a good Christian man—someone who would be a responsible and excellent provider. The idea of it now appealed to me. I finally understood what they meant.
But none of it mattered after being with Leo.
It might sound ridiculous, but he seemed to fill a void inside me. I thought there had been a connection between us. I felt something magnificent occur when he’d made love to me. When he held me all night long, that feeling was reinforced.
It was delusional to think it might have meant anything more than fucking to him. He’d admitted he didn’t want marriage or kids. Hell, he wanted me to take the morning-after pill.
God, I was such an idiot. I shouldn’t have slept with him after knowing he wastheLifeguard Leo. What was I thinking? Nearly drowning must have killed some of my brain cells.