I SIGNALED TO Kendra, the other lifeguard at the Water’s Edge resort, that I was taking my ten-minute break and headed over to the tiki-hut poolside bar to grab a bottle of water. It was early yet on Wednesday morning, and only a handful of kids splashed about in the pool with their mothers hovering mere inches away, so Kendra and I were feeling pretty redundant. “Take twenty,” she called out, sounding bored.
I plopped down on a barstool, and Theo handed me a sweaty bottle. “Slow morning, huh?” he commiserated.
I had met Theo when I started earlier in the week, and we’d hit it off right away. Theo was adorable, with his big puppy dog eyes and a curly mop of black hair that desperately needed a trim. We’d bonded during break time, making fun of the girls who spent all week doing nothing but laying by the pool getting a tan, rotisserie chicken style, hoping to catch the eye of the cute guys wandering around, but too lazy to actually get up and flirt.
I nodded my agreement and sipped from the cold bottle, looking down the path to the beach. Not much going on down there either. Most of the younger crowd was either still asleep or hung over from the night before. Only the families with small children and the retirees were out this early.
Theo leaned his elbows on the bar. “Up to anything exciting this week?”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Not really. I still don’t know many people around here other than Rue, and she travels for work a lot.” Rue helped companies manage their online presence, mostly through social media, but she sometimes helped design websites too. This week, she was in Chicago, consulting with a new gourmet popcorn company.
Really, it was sad. I’d been here for five-and-a-half months and barely knew anybody. Of course, I had spent the winter wallowing in self pity and doughnuts, until my dwindling savings account forced me to reevaluate my hermit-like tendencies and seek actual employment. True, I had been a wedding photographer in Nashville, but capturing a bunch of lovesick fools promising each other forever wasn’t real high on my to do list these days, and it took awhile to build up a client base with photography. With my lifeguarding background, and Rue’s connections to the manager at the Edge, she’d managed to hook me up with a job. It was enough to keep me busy and put some money back in my pocket while I figured out my next move.
“Want to hit the gym with me tomorrow morning?” Theo offered. “I had a client cancel his training session, so I have an opening. No charge, and it’ll get you out of the house for awhile.”
“You’re a trainer?” I was surprised. Theo’s logoed t-shirt was snug enough on his frame for me to recognize he worked out, but I didn’t realize he took it so seriously.
He looked wounded. “Yes. Is that so hard to believe?”
“No. Well, maybe.” I squinted at him. “You’re just so nice.”
“You can be nice and still get good results. But I can do mean too, if that’s how you like it.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“What time?” I asked, giggling at his face.
“Seven.”
“Seven?”
“I’ll even take you to breakfast afterwards, my treat.”
“Can we get Krispy Kreme?” I brightened.
He looked confused, like the two couldn’t possibly go together. “Doughnuts? After a workout?”
“What’s the point of burning all those calories if you can’t indulge a little?”
“We’ll get doughnuts if you don’t wimp out during the session,” he countered.
“Deal.”
THE NEXT MORNING, I dressed carefully for my workout. Compression leggings to show off my legs, a new shockingly bright pink sports tank, and my hair pulled back in a perky ponytail. You could always count on cute guys being at the gym, Theo included. It wouldn’t hurt to look my best. I even swiped on some waterproof mascara before walking out the door.
Theo was on the treadmill when I walked in, and he raised his eyebrows as he looked me up and down. “You here to look pretty or break a sweat?”
“Can’t I do both?”
“We’ll see, I guess,” he said. He looked like he was regretting the invite, but I could hang with the best of them. He’d figure that out soon enough.
He stepped off the treadmill and used the bottom of his damp top to wipe the sweat off his brow. I got a quick peek at his abs. Better than I expected. He dropped his shirt and caught me looking, grinning at me.
After filling up my water bottle at the water fountain and grabbing a towel, I was ready. We started with a one mile jog on the treadmill to warm up, and then he had me do a series of twisting lunges using the Bosu ball. Moving on to upper body, I swung a small kettle ball until my arms felt like jelly. I kept trying to glance around at the other guys in the free weight area, but Theo kept us on the mats in front of the mirrors on the other side of the gym. We’d run through several of the leg machines, and I suffered through squats holding a barbell on quads that were ready to collapse. I turned toward the mirror again, trying to check out the guy using the captain’s chair.
Theo snapped his fingers in my face, jerking my attention back to him. “Sadie! What is going on with you? Yes, you look hot. Yes, the other guys are looking at your butt as you squat. Happy, now?”
I flushed and stared straight ahead while I finished out my set, focusing on my form while he watched me. We switched to crunches on the decline bench until my abs screamed for surrender. Finally, he took mercy on me, and I sat on the mats, stretching out my legs and moaning.
We didn’t talk much until we were settled at a table at Krispy Kreme, with hot coffees in hand and a small box of warm, freshly made doughnuts between us. Theo tilted back in his chair, studying me. “So,” he said. “What was all that about at the gym?”
I looked at him, puzzled. “What are you talking about?”
He shot me a pointed look. “You were acting like you’ve never seen a guy flex before. You were practically drooling at one point.”
Okay, I thought I had been a little more subtle than that. “It wasn’t that bad,” I protested.
His lips quirked. “If you say so.”
I studied the steam rising from my latte and chewed my lip, and Theo folded his arms across his chest, waiting me out. “I’m just not doing well in the guy department,” I admitted.
He let the legs of his chair drop back down and chuckled. “I find it hard to believe you’re having trouble attracting a guy.”
I picked up a doughnut and nibbled, the glaze melting against my tongue. Heaven. Stalling, I watched Theo devour a doughnut in three bites, trying to decide if I wanted to discuss the details of my stagnant love life.
“Oh God!” he groaned in ecstasy, his mouth full. “These are amazing.” He grabbed another one and inhaled it while I tried not to laugh. He took a swallow of coffee, picked up a third doughnut and dipped his chin down. “You know you want to tell me. You’re a girl. You’re dying to talk about it.”
I made a face at him. “Fine. But if I tell you, you can’t make fun of me.”
“Promise.” He put one hand over his heart and held up the other like a Boy Scout.
I sighed and gave him the condensed version of what happened with Asshole and my strike-out with Jared. “And then, to top it off, as I was doing the walk of shame, I ran into this guy West again, who clearly had a better night than me and—”
“Wait. West?” Theo interrupted me, raising his eyebrows. “West Montgomery? Are you the girl who attacked him on the beach?”
I felt my cheeks warm. “I did not attack him,” I said through gritted teeth. “I was trying to save him. And how do you know about that?”
“I was surfing with him earlier that morning. When he came in to grab breakfast, he was talking shit about some girl launching herself at him in the water, and that he had to drag her back out. Said it was a shame he didn’t get a chance to do mouth-to-mouth.”
I didn’t think it was possible to turn any redder. “Right,” I mumbled, trying not to picture West’s lips fused to mine, sharing the same breath. “So, anyway, my luck with guys has turned to crap. I think something’s wrong with me.”
Theo shook his head. “There’s something wrong with everyone. You’re fine.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s wrong with you?”
His eyes turned sad, and he didn’t answer right away, fiddling with his doughnut. “I let the right girl get away,” he said, almost sounding embarrassed. “I was too chickenshit to make a move, and by the time I was ready to, she was already with somebody else. I missed my shot.”
My heart broke for him. He looked like a kicked puppy. I reached over and squeezed his hand. “Her loss, Theo.”
“Yeah. Sure.” He laughed without humor.
We were both quiet for a few minutes, engrossed in our own thoughts. “Well, aren’t we just pathetic?” I mused, just to break the heavy silence.
Theo narrowed his eyes and set his jaw and let my sentence hang for a moment. “No, we aren’t. There’s nothing wrong with either of us.”
“Except the lack of romance, you mean?” I arched an eyebrow.
“Maybe that’s fixable. I mean, we’re both available, we’ve already seen each other half-naked at the gym—”
I made a strangled sound in my throat. Where was he going with this?
“Let me take you out this weekend,” he said, catching me off guard.
I looked at him, flustered. I hadn’t really gotten that vibe from him, like he was interested in me that way. He couldn’t quite meet my eyes and the tips of his ears were red. “Look,” he started. “Maybe I’m not who you pictured yourself with, but I like you. I feel comfortable with you. Maybe it’ll turn into something, and maybe it won’t, but either way we’ll have a good time. We can catch a movie then grab some ice cream on the boardwalk. It’ll be fun. Whaddaya say?”
He looked at me hopefully, and I found myself grinning back at him. “Sure.” Why not? What did I have to lose? And it’s not like I had anything better to do.
“Saturday at seven?”
“Sounds good. I’ll text you my address.”
“It’s a date!” He winked at me then shoved the rest of the doughnut in his mouth, licking his fingers. Such a guy.
AFTER PLAYING PHONE tag all week, Rue answered my call Thursday night. She’d left early the morning after we went to Anchor for her trip, so we hadn’t had a chance to debrief yet. I rehashed my previous weekend with her. She about died laughing when I recounted my run-ins with West. “West is such a player,” she said, when she caught her breath. “I don’t think I’ve ever known him to have a girlfriend. Although he is gorgeous, I’ll give you that.”
“Tell me about it,” I said.
Rue had spent her summers at Reynolds Island growing up, so I wasn’t surprised she knew who West was. She recounted a few rumors she’d heard about girls doing stupid stuff to get his attention. He sounded like an arrogant horn dog with attention span issues. Figured. The hot ones always were.
“So, any other prospects out there? I take it Jared is gone.”
“Yes, thank God. What about Eric?”
“Eh, nothing to talk about there. He had hairy toes. It was weird.” Rue found something wrong with every guy, whether it was a date or a hook up. She was searching for the perfect man and refused to stop until she found him.
I paused. “Why were you looking at his toes that closely? You know what, never mind, don’t tell me.”
“You going out this weekend? Or do you want to have a girl’s night when I get back?”
“Actually, I have a date Saturday,” I announced.
“Oooohhh, with who?” she squealed with delight.
“Theo, from work. Do you know him?”
“Yes! Aw, he’s a sweetie! I wouldn’t have picked him for your type, but he’s a step up from Asshole.” My ex was never mentioned by name anymore. He didn’t deserve such kindness.
“Sweet isn’t my type?” I was a little offended.
“No. You like to argue too much.”
“I do not!”
“See what I mean?” she pointed out.
I huffed. “We’ll see.”
“Just remember,” she warned, “He’s a local. No hook ups. Dating for real, yes, casual sex, no.”
I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see it. “Yes, Mother.”
She giggled. “I’ll see you Sunday then. Have fun!”
ON SATURDAY NIGHT, the doorbell rang promptly at seven. Two points for him, I thought, as I moved across the living room to the front door. I loved our house. It was a quaint little three bedroom place with an open floor plan, so the kitchen, living room, and dining room were one big space, with driftwood gray walls and nautical blue and white furnishings. We had a screened sun porch off the back of the kitchen and a big hammock tied between two live oaks dripping with Spanish moss in our small yard. Since the whole cottage was on stilts, we just parked under the house.
I’d slipped on my favorite green sundress and wedges for the date, leaving my hair to fall in its natural partly curly, partly wavy riot around my shoulders. My make up was subdued, just mascara and lip gloss. Checking my reflection in the entryway mirror one last time, I smoothed the front of my dress, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
Theo was leaning against one of the porch columns while he waited. He straightened when he saw me and came forward, giving me a hug, and my nerves vanished. This was just Theo. “You look really nice,” he said, grinning at me, one of his dark curls falling over his eye. He pushed it back, a movement I could tell was habit for him.
“You’re looking pretty good yourself,” I returned, smiling. He was wearing the standard island guy uniform—a polo, plaid cargo shorts, and leather flip flops. I locked the front door, and we were ready to go. Theo held my hand as we walked down the steps and opened my car door for me, waiting until I slid inside before closing it behind me. A perfect gentleman.
At the theater, we picked a comedy with Jason Segel, and he held hands with me during the movie too, lacing our fingers together. The connection felt warm and easy, but that was it. My palms didn’t sweat, and my heart didn’t race. I tried not to let that bother me, tried not to remember the tingle I’d felt when my skin had connected with West’s out in the water. I definitely didn’t relive, in slow motion, that endless slide down his body when he’d set me back down on the shoreline, the way he’d kept his hands on me a beat too long after I was steady. It never even crossed my mind.
After the movie let out, we meandered along the boardwalk that the north half of the island was known for. “So, Sadie, has lifeguarding always been your dream job?” he teased me, as we interrupted a group of seagulls picking at spilled popcorn, their loud caws berating us.
“Of course!” I said with fake enthusiasm. “And haven’t you always wanted to be a bartender at a frozen daiquiri bar?”
“What higher calling is there?” he agreed, before turning more serious. “No, really, what do you want to do here?” He seemed genuinely interested in my answer.
“Photography,” I said, a hint of wistfulness creeping into my voice. “It’s what I was doing back in Nashville. Wedding photography, mostly. But ever since that mess with Asshole, I’ve wanted to change my focus. Portraits maybe, or more commercial stuff.”
“Have you talked to Grady about maybe doing some work around the resort?” Grady was our manager and Rue’s friend who’d gotten me the job.
“No. I barely know the guy, and I already owe him for the lifeguarding job. I didn’t want to push my luck by asking for any other favors.”
“Nah, Grady’s cool. Actually, he was surfing with us that morning you met West too.”
I groaned. “Great.”
“Well, he doesn’t know it was you,” Theo assured me.
“Hopefully, we can keep it that way.”
“I’ll talk to him for you. I bet he can come up with something.”
“Theo, you don’t have to do that!” I protested.
“No biggie. Just leave it to me.”
I stopped walking and wrapped my arms around him, giving him a big hug. Maybe there were still some good guys left in the world. “Thank you,” I whispered, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
Whistles and catcalls interrupted our embrace and had me pulling back in embarrassment. A group of guys were strolling up the boardwalk toward us. “Benedict!” one of them called out.
Theo grinned as the group approached. “Guys. What are y’all up to tonight?” Theo did one of those complicated guy handshakes, ending with a back slap, with a guy who had a blond faux hawk and pierced lip.
“Heading to the Wreck to hang out, shoot some pool,” the same guy said. “Who’s the chick?”
Theo’s arm snaked around my waist, pulling me to his side. “Trevor, this is Sadie. Sadie, these are the guys. Trevor, Dylan, Wyatt, and you’ve already met his brother, West.” Theo pointed to each in turn, but my attention was snagged when he said the last name.
West. My eyes locked on his. He was wearing a baseball hat pulled low over his eyes, and it made him seem softer, less potent somehow. His jawline was scruffy, like he hadn’t shaved in a day or two, and I couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel against my face. He stared at me, his expression a mix of confusion and surprise, and then his eyes dropped to my hip, where Theo’s hand rested. The muscle in his jaw clenched, his hands curling into loose fists at his side.
Wyatt whistled and gave Theo a high five. “Good job, man.” Wyatt looked like a more boyish version of West, but with longer, darker hair instead of West’s close-cropped style.
The other guys greeted me, but I didn’t really hear them. “Sadie,” West acknowledged with a dip of his chin, my name rumbling over his lips. It felt like a caress, like he had reached out and stroked me. I smiled back, the tip of my tongue sneaking out to wet my dry lips, and he seemed riveted by the small action. His eyes darkened, and then he swallowed and looked away.
“We’re headed to get some ice cream,” Theo said. “You guys want to join us?”
West glanced back at me, down to the hand on my hip, then back up. “No,” he said, sounding almost bored. “Besides, Grady’s meeting us soon. We’ll catch you later, Benedict.” He started to walk away, not waiting for the other guys. My face burned, and I felt guilty, like I had done something wrong, which was ridiculous, of course. I refused to turn and watch him leave, even though I swear my body could tell the difference as he moved farther away, my awareness of him lessening.
The others trailed after West, and Theo and I started walking again, his arm falling back to his side. “Benedict?” I questioned.
“My last name. I played pee-wee football with most of those guys. Well, not West and Grady, because they were older, but we went by our last names there. It kind of stuck for me.”
I hummed an acknowledgement, then returned to our previous conversation, refusing to let myself think about West. “So, Theo, if bartending isn’t the goal, what are you working toward?”
He shrugged. “I’m still trying to figure that out. I couldn’t afford college like those guys, so I’ve just been working and saving. I want to be my own boss someday, not have to answer to anyone but myself.”
I nodded. I could understand that. It was part of the appeal of photography. Setting your own schedule, working as hard as you wanted, knowing your success or failure depended only on you. I could definitely relate.
We walked farther, laughing at each other’s stupid jokes. We bought waffle cones and stood licking the melting gelato, watching the sunset over the water turn the sky a delicious shade of coral. I wished I had my camera. I snapped a quick photo with my phone, but it wasn’t the same.
Back at my house, we climbed the steps to my front door when my stomach twisted with anxiety. Would he try to kiss me? I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. We stopped on the porch, and I dug my key out of my purse, letting it dangle from my hand. “Theo, I had a great time tonight,” I said.
He smiled and stepped a little closer, taking each of my hands in his. “Me too.” Staring into my eyes, he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Okay, moment of truth.”
He leaned in and pressed his lips against me, moving them gently over mine. It was nice, but there was no spark. Bummer. We broke apart and stood there facing each other, holding hands, foreheads touching.
Theo whispered, “Wow. That really didn’t do anything for me. How ’bout you?”
I laughed in relief that we were on the same page. “You do have nice lips,” I offered as a consolation.
“And you have a nice ass, so why can’t this just work? Hold on a sec.”
He grabbed my butt and pulled our pelvises together and ground against me for a moment. I looked at him in confusion. He sighed and shook his head. “Nope. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you’re hot, and I’d lay you in a heartbeat if I didn’t have to see you at work and—”
I cut him off. “Friends?”
Theo nodded. “Definitely. See you at the gym Monday morning?”
I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “I’ll buy the doughnuts this time.”
He groaned. “No more doughnuts. I’ll take you to this little café I know. They have good omelets.”
“But I like doughnuts.”
“How ’bout this? I train you for free four times a week, and you buy breakfast. We’ll eat healthy three days a week and splurge for doughnuts on Wednesdays.”
I narrowed my eyes. “We’ll only train three times a week, and we’ll get doughnuts on Mondays and Wednesdays.”
Theo sighed then nodded in defeat.
“Ahhh.” I grinned. “A man after my own heart. We are going to get along just fine, Benedict.”