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“That’s awful,” Lydia said. “Poor Jackson.”
“Yeah, well after that he more than made up for it. Started screwing every willing woman this side of LA.” Caitie shrugged. “I guess it made him feel a bit better.”
Lydia took another sip of her cocktail, trying to take it all in. She’d had a few failed relationships – none that lasted very long – but she’d never had someone rip her heart out. That kind of betrayal stung. She knew that from everything Autumn had been through in New York. And from talking to people as she traveled.
It was amazing how many people flew to different countries to get over broken hearts. And a lot of them hired her to show them the cities while they were there.
“Okay, so we answered your question. Now spill. What happened with you and Jackson?” Ally asked, leaning forward to prop her chin on her hand.
Lydia ran her finger around the rim of her cocktail glass. “Well,” she said, kind of enjoying the attention. “It all started when I took Eddie for a walk.” As she told them about the wave and Jackson trying to save her from it, the girls all leaned in, rapt with attention. “But Eddie started going wild,” she said, bringing them up to date. “And the next thing I knew, Jackson’s dad was there.”
“What a cock block.” Ally sighed. “And I’m never going to look at Jackson the same way again.”
“Oh, I always suspected he had moves.” Caitie sat back on the sofa. “He has that little lost boy, bad boy combination women can’t resist. Women want to save him and ravage him at the same time.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” Autumn asked Lydia, concern etching her voice. “There’s no future, is there? Not with you leaving soon.”
“I don’t think there would be any future anyway,” Caitie said, giving Lydia a small smile. “He’s the love ’em and leave ’em type.”
Lydia shrugged, putting her glass down on the table. “I’m not looking for anything serious,” she said, though the little tug in her gut made her wish it was different. “I’m too busy. Maybe a little flirting with Jackson is just what I need.”
And if it went further than flirting? She was okay with that. She was a woman of the world. She knew there was an attraction between them that made her heart pound and her breath quicken. Maybe in another life, if she and Jackson were other kinds of people, that would lead to the kind of commitment Autumn and all her friends had with their partners.
She had a little over a week. Maybe it was time to have fun before she headed off again to throw herself into travel and work.
And perhaps she could stop her heart from wanting more than it could get.
“If you’re planning on seeing more of Jackson, you’ll have to deal with Griff,” Autumn murmured, leaning back on the sofa. “He’s gonna bust a blood vessel.”
“Come on guys, let’s get back to this game,” Ally said loudly, all heads turning to her. “Brooke, how about you?”
Brooke shrugged, a blush stealing across her high cheekbones. “Here goes nothing,” she muttered, holding up her glass. “Never have I ever had sex on the beach.”
Everybody lifted their glasses to take a drink and they all started laughing. Because when you lived in a beach town, some things were a given.
12
Jackson pulled into Griff and Autumn’s driveway, parking his car next to Griff’s old truck and climbed out, locking the door and shoving the keys in his pocket.
He’d managed to make it home for a shower between leaving the office and coming here, and his hair was still damp. He ran his fingers through it in an attempt to get it under control.
When he pushed the doorbell, it occurred to him that even though he’d been here a hundred times before, this time felt completely different. He wasn’t here to share a meal with Autumn and Griff or watch Sunday afternoon football with burgers on the grill.
He was here to see Autumn’s sister. The beautiful blonde who haunted his dreams.
The door swung open and Lydia’s face split into a grin as she saw him, reaching for his hand and pulling him inside. “Hey!” she said, pressing her lips to his cheek. “I just need to grab a jacket. Can you wait for me?” She ran down the hallway toward the guest bedroom, and he followed her with his eyes, admiring the way her short dress flared out around her thighs.
Damn, she was gorgeous.
The corner of his lip quirked up, but he felt a prickle on his neck. The kind you get when somebody’s watching you and you don’t quite know it.
From the corner of his eye he saw Griff standing in the kitchen, his arms folded across his chest. Jackson sighed. So Griff was still unhappy about the situation.
“Hey man,” Jackson called out, lifting an eyebrow.
Griff nodded, and grunted out a hello.
Damn it, this was crazy. They were best friends. “Listen, can we have a quick word outside?” Jackson asked him. He wasn’t going to let his friend spoil the night. But he also didn’t want to lose his friend.
