Page 4 of Next Door Midlife Alpha
It was bad enough that anyone had seen her mom sitting topless on the beach, but Stacey quickly took in the man’s khaki uniform and the National Park Service logo on the door of the ATV. “Will you just do as he says? He’s a park ranger!” Stacy whispered harshly.
“There’s nothing wrong with having a good time, is there?” Carol asked.
“There’s a local ordinance against nudity,” the ranger explained, sounding much calmer than Stacey felt. “You’re welcome to head down to Longnook Beach. The entrance to the nude sunbathing area is about a ten-minute walk south of the entrance.”
“It seems a shame to go that far when—” Carol started.
“Besides,” the ranger continued before she could finish her argument, “this is private property.”
“Yes, it’s actuallymyproperty,” Stacey started to explain. She didn’t want to take responsibility for her mother’s actions, nor did she want to get on theranger’s bad side. This probably wouldn’t be their last run-in with a ranger since they were on the Cape Cod National Seashore.
The ranger’s head swiveled, and he locked eyes with her. Those dark orbs seemed to stare straight into her soul. “It is?”
She gaped for a moment, trying to pull herself together enough to answer. He was handsome, of course. That much she could tell as soon as he’d pulled up. His broad shoulders strained at his uniform shirt, and the muscles of his arms showed beneath his sleeves. His hat hid most of his dark hair, but not the cropped salt and pepper beard over his nicely squared jaw. That wasn’t it, though. Stacey had seen plenty of handsome men in her life, and she’d never gotten all soft in the middle over one of them. “Um, yeah,” she finally managed to eke out. “I just bought the place right behind us.”
“Hm.” The ranger glanced to his right at the house and then back at her. “I didn’t realize the house had sold. I hadn’t seen any for sale signs.”
“Well, there weren’t any.” That brief moment of him looking away had been enough for Stacey to catch her breath. She picked up Carol’s top and flicked it at her as she stood from her lounger. “I hadsome good connections, and I was able to negotiate a sale before it ever went on the market.”
That firm jaw she’d been admiring tensed, making the cords in his neck stand out for a moment. “I’m surprised. I suppose that means I should welcome you to the neighborhood.”
“Oh, do you live around here?” Stacey was horrified that her first encounter with any of the locals was not only with a ranger but with someone who had come along at such an embarrassing moment. She’d give her mom a piece of her mind later, but right now, she might as well make as good of an impression as she could. There might not be any saving the moment, but she’d try. Stacey put on her customer service smile. “Maybe you could tell me a little about the area. We’re still getting unpacked, and I haven’t even introduced myself to the neighbors yet.” She nodded at the big house next door with the gambrel roof.
He looked at it as well and seemed to be hesitating when he looked back. “You have, actually. I live there. My name is Dylan Brigham.”
The late afternoon sun was catching his eyes now, making it impossible to ignore the shades of brown and dark gold. Stacey felt as though she’d been punched in the gut. Whether that was becauseshe’d just been humiliated in front of her new neighbor or because he was so good-looking, she didn’t know. “Stacey. Stacey Williams. And this is my mother, Carol.”
Carol waggled her fingers in the air once again.
“Nice to meet you, ladies,” he said with a nod, although his tone suggested it wasn’t nice at all. “I’ve got to get going, but I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
“A little less of us than I’d prefer,” Carol grumbled as she adjusted her swim top. “How about that? A park ranger right next door. I figured it was some rich couple’s summer home.”
Stacey flopped back down onto her lounge chair. Any chance of relaxing she might’ve had before was completely gone now. “I can’t believe it!”
“Me, neither. He’s just as much of a stick-in-the-mud as you are.” Carol laughed heartily when she saw her daughter’s face. “Relax, Stacey! It’s not a big deal. He didn’t write me a ticket or anything.”
“But he’s our next-door neighbor,” Stacey reminded her. “We’ll see him all the time, and the only thing he’ll think about is you swinging those things around like you’re at Woodstock or something.”
“Oh, if only I were old enough to have gone. What a good time that would’ve been! Anyway, I’dthink you’d be happy to see such a sexy guy living next door. You came to the beach to get away from your busy job, but maybe you could find yourself a new man, too.”
The sun was sinking ever so slowly toward the horizon on Cape Cod Bay, and the calm seas splashed like bathwater on the sand. Stacey wasn’t enjoying any of it. “I don’t need a man, and even if I did, it definitely wouldn’t be the neighbor.”
“Come on. It’s been—what?—three years now since you found out Todd cheated on you? It served him right to lose you, but I’d sure like to see the look on his face if you showed up to drop off the kids and you had that hunk of man meat on your arm.” Carol laughed again as she entertained the thought.
“Just stop, Mom.” Stacey slumped down against the canvas of her chair. “I came here because I wanted to spend time with the kids while they’re still young, not to run off with the first hot guy I see.”
“So you admit he’s handsome,” Carol challenged.
“I have eyes,” Stacey retorted. “Look, it doesn’t matter. I bought this house to change my life and figure out what I really want for myself. It was for the good of both the kids and myself, and I don’t need to drag anyone else into it.”
Carol tented her fingers over her now-covered chest. “Other than me?”
Stacey smiled. “You were dragged into it forty-two years ago when you gave birth to me. Too bad for you!”
“Trust me. I can handle it.”
They sat back in their beach chairs and enjoyed the warm rays of the sun until it was time for dinner.
