Page 75 of Chasing the Sun

“Not exactly,” she said, giving him the side eye.

“I’m going to play in the sand,” Molly said and ran off toward her toys.

“We should go too,” Bryce said, anxious to escape this awkward situation.

“Will I be seeing you again soon?” Rachel asked, ignoring Chloe completely.

He suddenly felt unbearably hot and itchy, and while he would have liked to blame it on the sun and the sand, he knew that wasn’t it. Chloe had gone silent, which didn’t bode well for him, and Rachel stood there, awaiting his answer.

“I’m really busy right now,” he said for lack of a better response.

“Oh. Well, if you get some free time, give me a call.” Rachel diverted her attention to Chloe then and said, “It was nice to meet you, Molly’s nanny.” With that, she flipped her sunglasses back down and sashayed away, looking cool and confident in her strappy black one-piece.

Bryce glanced over to make sure Molly was okay, and then he turned to Chloe.

“She’s the one, isn’t she? Your dentist friend you’ve been sleeping with.”

She’d said it very matter-of-factly, but the look on her face said something else. He wasn’t sure if she was jealous, angry, or both. He just knew that her smile was gone, and he missed it.

“Not anymore,” he said.

“She’s very pretty.”

“Chloe.”

“No. Really. She is.”

“Chloe, don’t.”

“Seems kind of uptight, though, don’t you think?”

He looked down and toed the sand. It had been a long time since he’d been confronted by a jealous woman, and he’d forgotten how daunting it was.

“Listen…”

“She doesn’t really seem like your type, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“She’s not.”

“But since you’re just sleeping with her, it doesn’t matter, right?”

“Was. I was sleeping with her, and only a few times.”

“Well, that makes everything better.”

She tried to step around him, but he blocked her path. “Don’t leave.”

“I’m just going to sit by Molly.”

He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Molly had made a friend. A girl who looked about her age had plopped down beside her, and they were pouring sand into Molly’s bucket.

“She’s fine. Listen to me. Please.”

Chloe planted her hands on her hips and cocked her head. “Let me guess. You’re going to tell me she doesn’t mean anything to you and it was just because you were lonely. And now that you’ve moved on to me, you won’t be seeing her anymore. Am I right?”

“No matter what I say, I have a feeling it’s not going to be the right thing.”

“Then maybe it’s best to say nothing at all.”