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“Where you at?” he asked, and she recognized the Southern slang. It made her smile, and she glanced up to the lifeguard tower.
“I parked in the public lot by the big lifeguard tower.”
“I’ll come grab you,” he said.
“Good,” she said. “Because I have too much stuff to carry very far.”
“You went to the Lowcountry again, didn’t you?”
“It’s not a crime to have candy at the beach.” Lauren saw a family several feet away who’d brought a freaking grill and were serving hot dogs from it. She couldn’t even imagine having a family who gathered at the beach for a Saturday afternoon shindig such as these people did. Her heart felt hollow now, and she didn’t understand family as she saw it in front of her on a deep, fundamental level.
Her phone beeped, and she realized Blake had probably said something and ended the call. She lowered her device and tucked it back into her bag, then set it down on the sand too. No need to work so hard if she didn’t have to.
It took a few minutes before Blake called her name, and she turned toward him, the three drinks in her hand. He took them in, his smile instant. He jogged barefoot through the last several yards of sand and said, “Wow, look at you.”
“I’ve worn this coverup before,” she said, glancing down at the wispy white thing.
“Uh, nope.” He ran his hands from her shoulders down to her elbows and took the drink carrier with the three pops in it. “I would remember this.”
She also wore a little black bikini, and she knew he could see it through the gauzy fabric of the coverup. It also barely brushed the tops of her thighs, and she sure did like the way his gaze heated as he stared at her.
“You’re staring,” she teased, and he blinked.
He never wore sunglasses at the beach, and his hair looked like he’d already dipped himself in the ocean and then ran his hands through it. It wasn’t wet though, and neither were his board shorts. He didn’t wear a shirt, so they’d been here long enough for him to strip and probably spray his son with sunscreen.
Lauren found herself staring now, and it wasn’t until Blake took the chair leaning against her leg that she realized he’d moved. “Talk about staring,” he whispered in her ear.
She grabbed onto his bicep with one hand, the heat between them intense. “Kiss me,” she said, her voice grinding and growly in her own ears.
Blake obliged, and Lauren couldn’t control the pace of it. She accelerated it instantly, and thankfully, Blake knew how to handle her. It wasn’t a long kiss, something she didn’t choose, but was grateful for when he pulled back and she opened her eyes to see how many people surrounded them.
“Come on, sweetheart,” he said, no teasing in his tone now. “Can you get your bag?”
She bent to collect the straps, and she shouldered it and followed him through a messy maze of people to the spot he and Tommy had found. There was room for her, and there was space around them, even though it felt like people were right on top of them.
“You got the Summer Lovin’,” Tommy said, grinning. He took his soda pop from the drink carrier his dad held. “Thank you, Lauren.”
“Sure thing,” she said. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“Did you watch that video I sent?” he asked.
Lauren had, so she nodded. She’d had no idea what she’d watched though. “I did,” she said. “Pretty amazing how the Loriats got that dragon at the end.”
Tommy blinked, so Lauren knew she’d gotten something wrong. She frowned and then smiled. “Wasn’t that good? The announcers seemed pretty amazed by it.”
“It was a cool kill,” Tommy said. “But they still lost.”
“Oh.” Lauren trilled out a laugh. “I honestly wasn’t sure who’d won. That one announcer was screaming about the dragon, so I thought it was good.”
Tommy laughed too and took a long pull on his drink. He had been in the ocean, as he dripped water from the ends of his hair. “It was a mega-kill,” he said. “The whole screen flashed. That would be awesome to see in the gaming arena.”
“We’re not talking about SquareSpaces all day today,” Blake said, and Lauren glanced up at him. “Rule number one.”
“What’s rule number two?” Lauren asked, grinning at him with all she had.
He gave her a withering look and turned back to Tommy. “You check in with me every fifteen minutes. There are fifty million people here today, and I can’t see the water from here.”
“Yes, sir,” Tommy said.
