Page 25 of Bayside Heat
“I’d like to challenge that statement,” Chloe chimed in. “My little sister can be one bitchy mama.”
“Shut up!” Serena knocked Chloe with her shoulder. “Don’t let Chloe’s sharp clothes and sweet pixie haircut fool you. She may be elegant, but beneath that polished exterior are the fangs of a viper and the claws of a wolverine.”
“Psst!” Chloe made clawing motions with her hands, and they all laughed. “I’m not that bad. But feel free to tell that hot surf instructor of yours that I’m spicy! That man has got a body that won’t quit.”
“Brody Brewer?” Serena couldn’t hide her shock. “Are you kidding? You always go for suit and tie guys. Brody acts like he’s forever twenty-one. I’m not sure he’ll ever grow up.”
Serena spotted the guys jogging up the path toward the inn. Matt was with them today, and they were all shirtless, their bodies glistening from their efforts. Drake’s eyes locked on hers, sending her emotions reeling. She was vaguely aware of the girls talking, but she was captivated by his serious expression, like he was trying to keep his emotions in check. But which emotions was the question. Was he struggling to be friendly? Or was he fighting to keep from letting their attraction get the better of him?
They jogged into the yard, and Drake looked away from Serena.
“Hey, gorgeous.” Matt bent and kissed Mira’s cheek, then her burgeoning belly. “Hello, baby.”
Serena’s heart would have melted if it weren’t beating so hard she thought she might pass out. Drake pulled his phone from his pocket and focused on that, while Rick and Dean kissed their fiancées and sat down beside them.
“Suit and tie guys are great,” Chloe said, and it took a second for Serena to realize she was responding to her earlier comment. “But every once in a while you’ve got to cut loose with a boy toy.”
“Cut loose? We like ties,” Emery said, snuggling up to Dean while eyeing Serena.
Oh Lord, please let me evaporate into thin air.
“Whoa. What conversation did we walk into?” Rick asked.
Drake grabbed a glass of water and guzzled it down, pacing instead of sitting down. Violet reached for another pancake, her gaze moving between Drake and Serena.
“I disagree about the cutting-loose thing,” Mira said, reaching for Matt’s hand. “From my experience, one ex-professor is better than any boy toy could ever be.”
Violet dramatically sniffed the air, and all eyes turned on her. “Do you guys smell that?”
Everyone sniffed.
“What?” Dean asked. “I don’t smell anything except Emery’s sweetness.”
“Nope. Not that.” Violet walked behind Serena and sniffed the air. Then she moved toward Drake and did the same. “Yup. That’s the distinct scent of sexual tension.”
All eyes turned to Serena and Drake.
Drake looked like he was chewing on glass.
He shifted his gaze to Serena, and she searched for a hint of a joke or a shred of happiness to hold on to. In her eyes, he would always be the perfect mix of shirt-and-tie guy and sexy, fun boy toy. But when he ground out a curse and stormed out of the yard, she knew she’d never experience either one, and she wondered if their friendship could ever recover.
AFTER AN EMOTIONALLY grueling day, Serena gathered her things, taking the cards she’d bought for each of her bosses out of her purse. The office was too quiet. Rick and Dean had left for a meeting, promising to see her at her goodbye party at Undercover later. Drake had gotten a call from someone named Sterling and had left when she was on the phone without so much as a goodbye. She had no idea if he still planned to drive her to the party—or if he’d show up at the party at all for that matter. He’d managed to avoid her for most of the day, except for brief interactions after each interview, when he’d shake his head, shrug, and mumble an excuse for why the applicant wasn’t right for the job.
She left Rick’s and Dean’s cards on their desks, and her stomach knotted as she went into Drake’s office, remembering the first day she’d joined them. They hadn’t even set up desks yet. Drake lived upstairs from the office, and his apartment had been as bare as the office. She’d quickly remedied both. She’d known how much Drake missed his father, and he’d told her many times that he felt closest to him on the water. For that reason, she’d decorated the office and Drake’s apartment in rich woods with nautical undercurrents throughout.
