Page 21 of Twisted Beauty

All of the signs along the beach were in English.

“Welcome, amigas. Happy hour right now,” a man called from the doorway.

“Maybe later, thank you.” Katie kept walking.

“But I thought—”

Before Liv finished her sentence, Katie reached for her hand and dragged her through an open-air restaurant. “Beer,” was all she said.

They passed a fully stocked bar and several wooden tables, each sitting underneath an overhead fan. The place was packed. But Katie headed straight for the sand.

White plastic tables and chairs, the kind Liv had seen a hundred times at Home Depot, were shaded by umbrellas and perched in the sand just a few yards up from the ocean. Katie found an empty one and sat down with a groan.

Liv kicked off her sandals and plopped down in a plastic chair beside her, facing the water and burying her feet in the sand. “That feels so good.”

“I know.”

She picked up one of the menus sitting on the table and handed the other to Katie, who started to fan herself with it.

Shade, beer, and pounding surf. Liv was really starting to like this place.

“Kat?” said a deep voice from the table beside theirs. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Liv set down the menu and looked toward the voice, which sounded distinctly British. Two gorgeous men stared back, and she had a feeling there was nothing fancy about this at all.

Katie jumped up and squealed, as if she’d just won the lottery. As if she hadn’t collapsed from heat exhaustion moments earlier.

She tromped through the sand toward their table and one of the men stood up. Tall and blond with a friendly smile.

“Nate!” Katie gave him a quick hug and then swiped his beer off the table. She took a couple of sips before setting it back down.

She leaned down to kiss the cheek of the other man. Also a blond. Clean-cut and a little beefier with a chiseled jaw. Just two Ken dolls out for lunch in Mexico. Only this one wasn’t smiling.

“Where’s your other half?” Katie asked him.

“Shopping.” His voice was deep and smooth, yet exasperated at the same time. “Where else?”

“Livvy, come say hi. These are friends of Zach’s from his expat group.”

Liv pictured herself standing up and walking to their table, but her body didn’t react. Apparently the heat had soaked all the way through her skin, and now that she had her feet plunged into the cooler sand beneath the surface, she couldn’t seem to summon the energy to move.

The best she could muster was an envious look at the beer Katie had tasted. Without meaning to, she licked her lips.

Nate chuckled. “You look like you’ve melted into the chair, love. Stay seated, we’ll come to you.”

Yep, definitely British. He sure was a long way from home.

“She’s new here,” Katie said, as if that somehow explained everything. Both men grabbed their beers and followed her over to where Liv sat.

“This is Garrett.” Katie placed a hand on the arm of the serious one.

“Pleasure to meet you.” So Garrett was American. Oddly formal, but American. He reached a hand out, and she managed to shake it without moving any other part of her body.

“Nice to meet you too, Garrett. Sorry, I can’t seem to get up. Or lift my head.” Liv could barely form the words. Why was she this exhausted?

When Garrett grinned, he looked a lot less intimidating. “Believe me, I know the feeling well.”

“And I’m called Nate.”