Page 55 of Jingle Bell Jilt
“I know.” I smile at her. “It’s weird how things work out, right? How different would our holidays have been if I’d been here.” I frown. “Or if you’d picked a different rental.”
She grins “Right? It’s ironic because Nathan’s the one who found your rental. And then he didn’t even come.” She grunts out a laugh.
“Yeah, that’s ironic.” I glance away, guilt worming around in my stomach. “Did he say why he picked it?”
She shrugged. “He just said it was a great location and the owner,” she nudges me, “had a great rating.”
Oh, crap. How great is that rating going to be if Shay ever finds out that Nathan and I were friends? Are friends. I mean, I may be avoiding his calls and think he’s a complete idiot. But other than that, and falling for his ex, we’re totally good.
She motions to the beach. “So, should we head down?”
I open the slider, and we walk down the stairs to the sand below. As I predicted, the wind whips at her hair and dress. We lay out our towels on the beach chairs set out by the resort. I slip off my shirt and toss it on the sand under my chair, reclining back. It’s a little chilly for a beach day, but we’re not the only people to brave the cold. (It’s only seventy-two degrees, which in Florida degrees is like fifty.)
Shay pulls her dress over her head and I try not to watch. But I can’t help it as my eyes wander over once or twice. I smile as I see that she’s wearing a two-piece swimsuit, but it’s not a bikini. I think they call it a tankini or something like that. Her top covers all her torso and most of her shoulders. I get an odd thrill when I think about how much Nathan would have hated it.
I like it more than fine. But I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with the swimsuit.
She catches me watching her and her face pinks, but probably not as much as mine does at being caught. “Nice suit,” I say.
She looks down the front of her. “Thanks. Nathan hates this suit.”
I smile that I pegged him so accurately.
She lifts her chin. “But he doesn’t have any say in that anymore. I can wear what I want to wear.”
I nod. “Good for you.” I like her spunk, even if it’s directed at Nathan.
She lays down on the recliner. Her exposed skin is covered with goosebumps.
“Do you want to go into the house? We can light the fire and watch the waves. Or watch a movie.”
Her shoulders drop. “But I made you drive all this way. I feel bad leaving the beach after like four minutes.”
“We won’t leave yet. If it warms up, we can come back out.” It won’t warm back up. But she doesn’t need to know that.
“Can we walk out into the water so I can at least say I swam in the Atlantic Ocean?”
“Of course.” I stand up and hold out my hand to help her up. Yeah, that’s the only reason I did it. Not so I can touch her without it being creepy. Although, as I think about it in my head, it sounds creepy anyway.
She stands up but doesn’t release my hand immediately, which I’m completely fine with. I can be her hand-holding buddy or her kissing buddy. Whatever she needs. I’m a giver.
She takes a breath. “How cold is the water?”
“It probably won’t feel as cold as it does when it’s really hot.”
She glances over at me and scowls. “That didn’t really answer my question.”
“Cold-ish.” I shrug. “I don’t know what you consider cold.”
We walk side by side into the water. My hand is itching to take hers again, but I resist.
A wave comes in and covers our toes. She shrieks like a little kid but then looks at me abashedly. “Oh, it’s not as cold as I thought. But it isn’t really warm by any stretch of the imagination.”
She turns to smile at me and a bigger wave comes in, throwing her off balance. She grabs onto me, but only after she’s started to fall and there’s nothing I can do but fall with her. Please, just don’t let me fall on—I close my eyes as I land on top of her. For a split second, I stare at her lips. I could get my lip fix in nanoseconds if I just dropped my head.
She splutters and coughs as the wave recedes. And then she starts to shiver. Like body-wracking shakes.
I quickly roll off her and grab her hand, pulling her to her feet. She comes up, grabbing onto my biceps to keep her balance. “Sorry, I pulled you down with me.” She stutters.
