Page 10 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

He laughed. Again, I wasn't sure if he was laughing at me or with me. "Wow, this is really good. It's kind of awkward walking around with a big pink ice cream cone, though."

I laughed. "You actually look super macho." It was like I didn’t know how to stop saying weird things. He didn’t look macho, he looked like a Greek god. I found myself wishing there was an ice cream flavor of him.

"Super macho, huh? I feel like that's a compliment. Maybe this should be my new look then?"

If his new look meant visiting me after his lifeguard shift more often, then I was game. "Absolutely."

“Hey,” my lifeguard said and waved to someone behind me.

I turned around. I hadn’t even noticed my bosses walk in.

“Welcome back,” Keira said. “Trying out the Pink Dream today?”

“Delicious as always. This really is the best ice cream I’ve ever had.” He held up his cone like he was toasting them and then turned back to me. "I'll see you tomorrow at the beach, Jellyfish Girl." He put the five dollar bill he was going to use to pay for the ice cream into the tip jar and walked away.

I watc

hed him disappear down the sidewalk. I had again failed to get his name or learn anything about him. I hadn’t even caught his scent for Kristen. I turned my attention back to scrubbing the counter. It was probably for the best.

“He’s cute, huh?” Keira said.

I was definitely not going to have this conversation with my boss. I could feel my face turning red. “He’s okay.”

She laughed. “Mhm.”

“You’ll have to excuse my wife,” Rory said and put his arm around Keira. “For some reason she likes to think she’s a great matchmaker even though she has zero experience.”

“Well, I could be,” she said. “That lifeguard was our first customer ever by the way. You’ll probably be seeing him quite a bit here. But it sounds like the two of you already hang out on the beach.” She raised both her eyebrows at me.

I wouldn’t consider sitting near his lifeguard stand hanging out. Although, he had mentioned seeing me tomorrow twice now. Maybe everything was about to change. I shook the thought away. I didn’t need anything to change. I was focusing on myself this summer. Keira was still staring at me expectantly, so I shrugged, hoping that was a good enough answer.

“I guess we’ll just see where the summer goes. But is everything good here?” she asked before they headed back out.

“Great.” I gave them two thumbs up and then realized I was being weird and picked my washcloth back up.

“Well, don’t forget to grab your tips before you head out.” She winked at me as they left. I guess she’d noticed the fact that my lifeguard had left me a big tip. It was only because I’d paid for his ice cream though. Right?

I watched Keira and Rory walk down the boardwalk hand in hand. They were newlyweds and pretty much the most adorable couple ever. But my life was far away from being anything like theirs. It’s not like I really wanted to be in their shoes anyway. So why was I staring at them and daydreaming that it was me and my lifeguard holding hands and laughing on the boardwalk together? It was such a silly thought. I was happy to be focusing on myself this summer. So freaking happy. I realized I was holding the washcloth so tight that I had wrung out all the water. The soapy suds were dripping off the counter onto my Keds. Ugh.

Chapter 4

Thursday

I tied the string tight to my nicest bikini and looked in the mirror. This bathing suit always made me feel sexy. Probably because of the extra padding in the top. Luckily Kristen was at work, or else she’d be badgering me nonstop about wearing such a slinky bikini. She could read me like the back of her hand.

I stared at my reflection for a few more seconds. I was being ridiculous. Why was I trying to look good for a guy I didn’t even really know? And had no desire to know. I turned away from the mirror and pulled on a tank top and jean shorts.

Stop lying to yourself, he’s gorgeous and you want to get to know every inch of him. My mind came to a halt at my own thought. What the hell was that? Every inch of him? God, I had been reading too much romance.

But I was excited to see him. I had to find out his name. It was driving me crazy not knowing. Even though it was kind of fun referring to him as my lifeguard or Kristen’s favorite…hot lifeguard. If I could just find out his name, I could be like, “Bye Blankity Blank. See you later. My heart has recently been stomped on and I’m not dating anyone…not that you asked to date me.”

I grabbed my beach bag, locked the door behind me, and walked down the wooden steps outside. In just a few minutes I was on the boardwalk and then in the sand. I ran to my usual spot and sat down on my towel. I looked over at my lifeguard. He was preoccupied watching all the people in the water. I wasn't sure what I should do. I could go over and say hi. But I didn't want to bother him. And it wasn’t like I knew how to be super casual. I’d probably end up face first in the sand and need mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Not that the thought of that sounded so bad. It would definitely be embarrassing though.

I abandoned the thought of saying hello and decided to read instead. He continued to ignore me for hours. Or maybe he was just respecting the fact that I was reading. Or maybe he thought I was ignoring him. Before I knew it, I was halfway done my book. I knew it was supposed to be a romance, but I didn't realize how sexual it was going to be. I was a little hot and bothered.

"Hey, Stalker!"

I looked up from the pages at my lifeguard. He was gesturing me over. Seriously? That's what he's going to call me now? I put my book down and walked over to him. A few girls nearby stared at me as I approached him. They were probably jealous because they thought he was sexy too. Take that, beauty queens, I’m friends with the hottest man on the planet.

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