Page 16 of Beauty
Ernie turns and faces her directly, immediately striking up a conversation.
Leslie’s friend Gina appears next, and according to her, the two of them are visiting from Florida.
My two new friends are taken with them immediately. It makes sense. They’re both good-looking, with bright smiles and easy laughter as Bert charms them.
Phil and Dana introduce themselves next. They’re from Arkansas, and they’re on their honeymoon. Dana spends several minutes rubbing lotion on her new husband’s shoulders and shaking her head, mumbling, “He’d get a sun rash if it weren’t for me.”
They don’t exactly give off newlywed vibes, but I’ve never been married, so what do I know?
With my towel under one arm, I’m eyeing the front of the catamaran, considering where I should set myself up, when Eddy, our model tour guide, claps his hands. “All right, our straggler has arrived. I’ll start on the drinks, and then we’ll go over the rules of the ship. You stay by me, beautiful Sienna,” he says, his tone pure flirtation. “Your drink is first.”
At the sound of her name, my muscles lock up. Every cell in my body urges me to turn, to look at the newcomer. Even knowing what I’ll find, the sight before me still takes my breath away.
The woman the universe keeps pushing my way stands several feet away, her skin glistening in the sun. She’s dressed in another one of those cover-ups that aren’t cover-ups, this one white. And she looks downright delectable.
The oversized glasses she had perched on her head yesterday now cover half her face, making it difficult to read her expression, but she’s turned in my direction, and the way herfingers tighten over the black bag on her shoulder tells me that she’s just as surprised as I am to see her.
The white cover-up does little to hide the hot pink strings beneath, and I have no doubt that when she turns around, the ass I’ve so quickly become obsessed with will be on full display.
As Eddy motions for her to walk ahead of him, I have to stifle a growl.Mineis what I want to say. Or maybeKeep your goddamn eyes on the fish and off her ass.
I bite my tongue. In general, I’m not a fighter. I’m not possessive, and most importantly,she’s not mine.
She’s an adult who chose to wear a revealing bathing suit, knowing full well a boat full of people would see her ass. She’s okay with that, and I have no right to an opinion. I can’t go around like a damn hotheaded hockey player and beat people up for looking.
But I want to.
When she passes by, I clear my throat, and in the lightest tone I can muster, I say, “You again.”
It’s clear from the way she shrugs and waves as she continues forward that it didn’t come out light at all.
No, it probably came out exactly how I feel: dejected, slightly irritated, and stupid.
Because who the hell fights the universe when it offers up a woman as perfect as Sienna?
Only an idiot like me.
“Isn’t that the girl from the deck?” Bert asks, leaning in close.
Ernie, who’s still chatting with Leslie and Gina, perks up and eyes Sienna’s back as she walks away. With a bow of his head, he excuses himself and sidles over to us.
“That’s her, right?” Bert prods.
Eyes squeezed shut, I pinch my brow. There’s no avoiding this, so I might as well get it over with. “Yes.”
Ernie tilts his head closer. “Why are we avoiding her?”
“I’m not,” I grit out.
Both men eye me like I’m an idiot.
“Okay.” I sigh. “I sort of am. Or I was.” I shake my head. “Clearly I’m an idiot.”
“Clearly,” Ernie agrees.
Sienna’s soft laughter echoes from where she stands beside Eddy, a drink in her hand. It’s a performance laugh. One I bet she’s used in polite conversation a thousand times. It only reinforces my assumption that she comes from money. She’s practiced and rehearsed, but she was none of those things last night. She was flirtatious yet innocent, and her laugh was loud and contagious.
And none of that has anything on the way she acted when I left the room. Or the sounds she made when she thought no one could hear.
