Page 33 of Chasing Forever

He hadn’t meant to flirt with her, but it was so easy to do. He liked the coy smile she sometimes got and the look she’d given him—like she’d known what he was up to and didn’t altogether mind. After finding out that she’d had a long-term boyfriend and they’d recently broken up, he suspected she hadn’t been flirted with in a while and maybe she’d missed it.

Now he was waiting outside the restroom for her at Ke’e Beach, and he told himself to rein it in. He wasn’t opposed to some harmless flirting if it didn’t go any further than that.

But a few minutes later, when she came out of the restroom where she’d changed into her swimsuit, he did a double take. He’d assumed she’d be wearing the same conservative one-piece he’d seen her in last time—wrong.

Today she was wearing a floral-print bikini with a ruffle on the top and bottoms. It was still demure as bikinis went; however, he suspected it was daring for her. She was holding her beach bag in front of her like a shield, but he’d seen enough to be titillated.

“Ready?” she said with a tight smile.

Dammit. I made her self-conscious. “You look great,” he blurted out, attempting to make her feel more comfortable.

“Oh. Thanks.”

“Want me to carry your bag?”

“No. I got it.”

They trudged across the sand until they reached a spot that offered an unobstructed view of the jagged cliffs lining the coast. By unspoken agreement, they stopped and spread out their towels before plopping down on them.

It wasn’t even noon yet, but the beach was humming with activity. There were women of all shapes and sizes wearing a lot less than Callie was, but Chase couldn’t stop looking at her. This time, though, he tried to be more discreet.

Just when he’d thought he’d figured her out, she’d surprised him again. He leaned back on his elbows and watched her take the sunscreen out of her tote bag. If he were one of the heroes in her books, he’d offer to rub it on her, but as it was, he didn’t think she’d be receptive to it.

He contented himself with sitting back and watching as she massaged the lotion into her skin one beautiful square inch at a time. He was wearing sunglasses, so he figured he could get away with it.

She started on her left arm, which was closest to him, and he saw her slim fingers glide over her freckled skin. Freckles—maybe that’s why she’s being so diligent. Instead of ogling her, he should have been applying sunscreen too, but he didn’t want to miss a thing.

After thoroughly coating both arms, she moved on to her neck and chest, and he shifted on the towel. She tilted her head up and ran her hand down her neck before spreading the lotion above her bikini top. It was almost like she’d forgotten he was there, and she dipped her hand slightly under the top edge, giving him a brief glimpse of cleavage.

He felt a twitch in his swim trunks and suppressed the urge to cover himself with his hands. But doing so would only draw her attention there, and he didn’t want her to know he was aroused. So, he stayed very still and hoped she wouldn’t notice.

Now she’d moved on to her midsection, and he sat up a little more to answer the burning question—innie or outie? Innie. And she’s moving on…

He was glad she didn’t dip her hand under the waistband of her bikini bottoms, because he might have had a heart attack. He was already breathing heavily as it was. But Callie seemed completely oblivious to his discomfort. Her laser focus was in place, and she didn’t even acknowledge his presence. Right then, given his state of arousal, he was glad.

She poured some lotion into her left palm and started smoothing it down her left leg, bending forward to reach her toes, which he noticed were polished a bluish-green color kind of like the ocean. He’d bet his life savings that she’d done it on purpose. In her words, she was “detail-oriented,” and he’d guess she’d wanted to match her polish to the environment. He smiled at the thought of it.

She repeated the process on her right leg and then started to put the lotion away but paused. “Do you need to borrow this?”

It took him a second to find his voice. “Nope. I brought some.”

“Aren’t you going to put it on?”

“I already have a good base, and I don’t usually burn.”

“Lucky.”

He shrugged. Truthfully, he should have put some on, but he’d been too busy watching her, and now he felt stupid.

She slipped the lotion into her bag and pulled out a Kindle. Holding it up, she said, “Mind if I read for a little bit?”

He chuckled, not because she wanted to read, but because she really had thought of everything. “Be my guest. I’m just going to lie here and close my eyes for a few minutes.”

“Okay.”

He lay down and cradled his head in his hands, but he didn’t immediately close his eyes. Instead, he watched Callie fold up a smaller towel and place it under her head to use as a pillow.

Finally, she lay beside him (their towels were close but not touching) and sighed.