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“That is a beautiful name for a beautiful woman,” he winked.
His voice was smooth and warm, and my knees were becoming weaker by the minute.
Just then, Jessie appeared at the top of the stairway nearby. “Are you coming or what?” she snapped.
Matteo and I both turned to look at her. When she realized I was talking to Matteo, her eyes widened, and she smirked, giving him an up-down look.
“Well hello!” she said, teasing.
He nodded to greet her but seemed almost embarrassed by the flamboyance of her flirtation.
“That’s my friend,” I said to him. “I better get going.”
He smiled at me. “Maybe we’ll run into each other again later, bella,” he joked.
I skipped away with a giggle, seeing Jessie at the top of the stairs.
I found her relaxing in a lawn chair. She was laid back, one leg propped perfectly, showing off her provocative physique. She turned to me and smirked.
“Target acquired?” she teased.
I rolled my eyes as I sunk into the chair beside her but couldn’t help but smile back. My face flushed hot with embarrassment.
The word “target” made me feel sick to my stomach. I had never liked how that had become the term we used to identify and label the men we were interested in, and over time, my disdain for the word had only worsened.
“He’s nice,” I said back, casually. “And he might be someone I want to spend more time with. We’ll see.”
She giggled, mocking my coyness.
“We’ll see,” she repeated with a laugh. “Well, you better claim him before someone else does.”
“What makes you think he’d let anyone claim him at all?” I quipped back.
Her jaw dropped in amused fascination that I’d talked back.
“You’ve gotten bold since our last trip!” she cackled.
I chose not to engage her in any conversation about how annoying I thought she was now. I smiled politely and leaned back.
The sun was warm on my skin. I could smell the saltwater and hear the music playing from the speakers around the deck. Overhead, there were gulls circling and crying out to one another. It was a beautiful moment to take in, and I would not let it be ruined by any conversation about Jessie’s silly game.
Jessie, too, had gone quiet. She was pretending to read on her Kindle, but I knew better. Her eyes weren’t fixed on the pages. They were scanning over the top of her tablet, searching the crowd for men she found attractive enough to pursue.
“Check out the bartender,” she whispered to me.
I gave a short glance to see an attractive Hispanic man juggling bottles at the bar. “Yeah, he’s cute,” I said, passively. I was hoping she’d catch the hint from my tone that I was not in the mood to play the game just yet.
She didn’t.
“What do you think of that one?” she asked. “Red shirt. Far table.”
I looked over to see a good looking guy in a red floral shirt sitting at a table in the distance. He had a glass of tea sweating on the table in front of him and a magazine in hand, reading. As we sat watching him, though, a beautiful blonde slid into the seat beside him. He turned to her with a beaming smile and leaned in for a kiss.
“Off limits,” I said, chuckling.
“Damn it!” Jessie said. “All the good ones are.”
A beautiful waitress made her way over to us with a tray of poured champagne in her hand and smiled.
