I couldn’t believe it, but I was actually nervous for Saturday. I’d given Billy my phone number, half worrying that he’d be blowing up my phone with texts. But surprisingly enough, he’d had very little to say. That proves he’s just in it because he thinks I’m easy, I thought, glaring at my phone when I hadn’t heard from him in over three days. He just wants a piece of ass, and he thinks all bartenders are sluts. Well, I’ll show him.

Despite asking multiple times, Billy had refused to tell me what we were actually doing. He said to dress casually, for something sporty. I assumed we were going to a local minor league baseball game, but when I checked the schedule, I realized they weren’t playing at home this weekend.

Elisabeth rushed over in the morning. “Oh my god,” she said when I opened the door. “You’re not wearing that, are you?”

I looked down at my cream blouse and jeans. “Why? What’s wrong with this?”

“Alex, you look like you were just painting the house!”

I laughed. “He told me to be casual,” I said. “This is casual, yeah?”

Elisabeth pulled me in my room. She opened the closet and pulled out a sundress, holding it against my chest.

“This is better,” she said confidently. “Don’t you think you’d look cuter in this?”

I rolled my eyes. “I like what I have on, thanks,” I said. “You sure this is okay? I’ll be home by five – I made Billy promise not to be late.”

Elisabeth smirked. “A small price to pay for my best friend meeting her Prince Charming,” she said. “Although, I can’t say I’d blame him if he didn’t offer you the glass slipper in that ensemble.”

I groaned. “You’re too much,” I told her.

“Where’s Jacob?”

“He’s still napping,” I said. “You should wake him up by one, or else he’ll be up all night.”

Elisabeth nodded. “Do I get to meet this guy?”

I shook my head. “No way,” I said. “Not a chance in hell. I’m going out to wait on the porch, so he doesn’t have to come in. I’m not ready to tell him about Jacob yet.”

Elisabeth nodded.

The doorbell rang and I flushed bright red.

“Okay, bye!” I chirped, giving Elisabeth an air-kiss on both cheeks. “Text me if something happens, okay?”

“Always,” Elisabeth said. “Have fun!”

When I opened the door, Billy was standing there in shorts and another polo shirt. This one was salmon-colored, and it set off his blonde hair perfectly. He grinned, holding out a bouquet of tulips. They were a gorgeous deep yellow.

Elisabeth stepped out on the porch behind me. “I’ll take those,” she said, reaching for the flowers before I could stop her. “I’ll make sure to put them in some water.” Before she darted back inside, she leaned close to my ear and whispered: “He’s cute!”

I blushed madly. When the door closed, Billy laughed.

“So I’m cute, huh?”

I rolled my eyes. “I think you know that,” I quipped. “Or else you wouldn’t be so damn confident.”

Billy snickered. We walked towards his gigantic, late-model truck and he opened the passenger door for me.

“It ain’t always about looks,” Billy said. “You’ve got to act confident no matter what, that’s the thing.”

“Easy for you to say,” I mumbled. “You’ve never had six frat boys yelling at you simultaneously.”

Billy laughed as he started the car. It was a nice laugh – pleasant, deep, and easy.

“You forget about my time in Sigma Chi,” Billy said as he pulled away from the curb.

“So, what are we doing today?”

“Windsurfing,” Billy said. “You ever been?”

I shook my head. “You can do that around here?”

“Tybee Island,” Billy explained. “So pretty close, I promise. We’ll get you back home by five. You work tonight?”

I shook my head, praying he wouldn’t ask why I needed to be home. But instead of saying anything else, Billy fumbled with the radio until a vintage country station came on. They were playing Patsy Cline’s “She’s Got You” and I couldn’t help singing along.

After a few moments, Billy joined in. He looked over at me and grinned.

“Thanks for coming out with me,” he said. “I really appreciate the chance to get to know you a little better.”

I laughed. “There’s not much to know,” I said honestly. “I have a pretty boring life.”

Billy snickered. “I doubt that,” he said. “I don’t get out much – I work most weekends. This is the first time that the firm hasn’t called me in over a month.”

“Wow,” I said. I frowned, trying to remember what Billy did. “You said the old owner of The Sleeping Dog was your client?”

Billy nodded. “Yep,” he said. “I represented him a few years back.”

“You’re a….?”

“Lawyer,” Billy said. He chuckled. “Bet you didn’t guess that, did you? But hell, you didn’t even look at the damn card I passed you when we first met.”

A tingle crawled down my spine when I thought of how it had felt to touch Billy’s hands. Now, watching as he drove the car, I couldn’t stop staring at them. They were big and muscled, with a fine layer of blonde hair on the backs and bright blue veins showing through the tan skin. They were masculine hands, the kind of hands that could hold me all night long. And do more than that, I thought, blushing.

“Alex?” Billy smirked. “You falling asleep over there?”

I shook my head. “Definitely not.”

Billy eased the car into a marina and cut the engine. As we got out and walked across the oyster shell gravel, I stretched and turned my face to the sun. I felt almost guilty having fun on a Saturday without Jacob – it was the first Saturday I’d spent on my own in years. But I also couldn’t deny the magnetic warmth of Billy, and the delicious, refreshing sea breeze. The heat of the sun was soothing on the top of my head, and I felt free and light and more relaxed than I had in months.

Windsurfing was a lot of fun – and I was so glad I hadn’t listened to Elisabeth about the jeans. My arms and shoulders ached after only a few minutes, but Billy seemed tireless as he zipped across the choppy marina waters. I had a slight suspicion that he’d picked something so physical so he could show off, but I didn’t entirely mind – he had a brawny, muscular body that rippled under his fitted polo shirt.

When we were finished, I could barely stand. My arms and legs ached, and I knew I’d gotten a sunburn on my face. Despite living in the sunny south, I rarely got any sun nowadays – I was always inside, taking care of Jacob or tending bar.

Billy grinned. “You’re a natural,” he said, leaning against the hood of his truck. “You play sports when you were younger?”

I shook my head. “Not unless reading and hiding from my parents counted as a sport,” I said. “I can’t believe I didn’t fall in the water. There were a few times when I got pretty close!”

Billy laughed. “You did great for your first try,” he said. He winked. “We’ll have to come back – I bet in a couple weeks, you’ll be racing me.”

I blushed. I’d had better compliments paid to me, but not lately. The attention from Billy felt overwhelming. It had been so long since a guy had flirted with me for anything other than free handouts at The Sleeping Dog that I was starting to forget how it had felt.

“Did you?”

“What?”

“Play sports,” I said, feeling dumb. As much as I wanted to jump into the rhythmic blend of flirtation, it was hard.

Billy laughed. He mimed throwing a ball, following through with a long, graceful swing of his arm.

“Football,” he said. “For USC,” he said. “Go Gamecocks!”

I burst out laughing. There was something so adorable and boyish about his manner. Normally, I found jocks (and former jocks) to be among the most annoying species of male, but in Billy, it was actually kind of endearing.

“What happened?” I asked with a smirk. “I can’t imagine that playing football and then going to law school is a thing for most people.”

Billy laughed. “Yeah, I was pre-law, but it’s good I got injured when I did,” he said. “I tore shoulder and after that, well, let’s just say I moved down the strings pretty quick.” He whistled sharply. “After that, I threw myself into school. There wasn’t much else to do – I had to find some way to keep a scholarship, and it turned out that I was pretty damn good at pre-law.”

I nodded. Against my better judgment, I couldn’t help feeling impressed. Most of the people I knew who had played sports in college wouldn’t have been smart enough to graduate with a degree in basket-weaving, let alone pre-law.

“What about you?”

“I majored in business,” I said slowly, biting my lip and trying to ignore the way the sun glinted off of Billy’s golden hair. “Did two years at community college, then transferred to Georgia Tech for the rest. I had a few office jobs, but this is honestly better for my schedule now.”

Suddenly, I was nervous that Billy would ask why. But instead, he merely nodded.

“I get that,” Billy drawled. “Sometimes we all need a little freedom in our lives.”

I felt relaxed and sleepy during the drive back to Savannah. The sun was streaming in through the truck windows and I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the window. For a moment, I actually thought I might fall asleep.

Billy slowed then truck, then pushed the gear into park. It was a little after four-thirty, and I knew I had to get inside to relieve Elisabeth soon. But I was struck by how badly I didn’t want to leave Billy’s company. This had been one of the most fun days I’d had in a long time, and I was reluctant to end it.

“So, this is you,” Billy said politely. He looked deeply into my eyes and I shivered at the spark in his blue orbs. “I had a real good time today, Alex. Thanks so much for comin’ out with me.”

I grinned. “I had fun, too,” I said softly.

“So, I’ll call you tomorrow?”

I wrinkled my nose. “All men say that,” I said lightly. I hadn’t meant it as an insult, but Billy started laughing.

“I’m not all men,” Billy said in a cocky voice. “And I trust you’ll give me some time to prove that?”

I blushed deeply. Before I could reply, Billy leaned across the seat and kissed me. For a moment, his lips felt foreign and strange against my own. Then the kiss sprang to life, and filled my whole body with a delicious tingle that shot up and down my spine like fireworks. Billy groaned, then wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled me closer, crushing me to his muscular body. I eagerly wrapped my arms around him and scooted across the bench seat. As he slipped his tongue into my mouth, a liquid pleasure melted in my lower belly, spreading between my legs and through my breasts.

“Mmn,” I moaned softly as Billy explored the hidden parts of my mouth with his tongue. He tasted good – soapy, clean – and I couldn’t help but melt in his arms and swoon against his body as he nibbled and sucked on my lower lip. The kiss was so hot, so explosive that I was tempted to crawl on his lap right in the truck.

Just when I found myself really relaxing, Billy pulled away. He gave me a slow smile, as sweet as honey.

“So,” Billy drawled. “You wouldn’t happen to want to invite me by any chance, would you?”

I sighed. “I wish I could,” I said. “But I have some things to do, I’m sorry.”

Billy winked. “I see,” he said. “The lady doesn’t put out on the first date. I like that.”

I blushed.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Billy said. He kissed me on the cheek, then slipped his fingers under my chin and tilted my face until his lips were on mine once again. A flood of warm lust swam through my body, and this time, I had to actively work to pull away from his kiss.

“Sounds good.” I was smiling like an idiot. “Thanks, Billy.”

“Have a beautiful night, Alex,” Billy said. “Sleep well.” He smirked as I climbed out of his truck and slammed the door.

God, I’m going to be thinking about him all night, I realized as I walked towards the front door and let myself in. My legs felt like jelly.

Elisabeth and Jacob were sitting at the kitchen table, gluing pieces of pasta to construction paper with glitter glue.

“Hey there,” Elisabeth said. I walked over to them and leaned down to kiss Jacob on the head. “How did everything go?”

“It was fine,” I said. I smiled self-consciously, biting my lower lip. “We went windsurfing. It was really nice.”

Elisabeth threw her head back and hooted with laughter. “You definitely should’ve worn the dress,” she said with a sly smirk. “That would’ve attracted way more attention.”

I blushed hotly.

“It was hard to leave,” I said carefully, not wanting to say anything too revealing in front of Jacob. Luckily, he was bent over his paper artwork, concentrating so hard that the tip of his tongue stuck out of his mouth.

“I bet,” Elisabeth said dryly. She got to her feet and wiped her hands on her thighs. “But you did the right thing.”

I frowned. “I thought you of all people would tell me otherwise,” I cracked.

Elisabeth laughed. “Well, maybe,” she said. “But now you know you’ve really got him on the hook.”

I blushed. “I doubt it,” I said. “I’ll probably never hear from him again.”