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Uhm, no. The boy had shot way past pink and was headed towards just-cooked-lobster red.
Setting her shop tee and bonus towel on the sales counter, Andy flashed her most pleasant customer service smile. “Right this way,” she said, waving Cooper’s mom towards the racks at the side of the store. “All of our sunscreens are reef friendly, and we carry aloe vera gel as well. Also, the sun hats are fifteen percent off right now.”
Andy was quite proud of herself for paying such close attention during Mary’s tour. Even more so when, a moment later, she was ringing up her first sale, Luke standing at her shoulder to guide her through the store’s point of sale system. Which wasn’t really necessary since the software the Sand Spot operated with wasn’t much different from what she’d used over at ManCave.
But the flipside of Luke’s hovering was that she got to flash him a cocky smirk when she ka-ching’d an eighty-two dollar transaction, and Cooper and his mother exited the shop wearing fashionable straw hats and delighted grins.
Right on the heels of their departure, another group of customers sauntered in. This one of the bikini’d variety. Luke made a show of cracking his knuckles. “Watch and learn.”
“I’ll pass.”
Luke folded his arms over his chest and waited for the women to notice him. Which took all of about two seconds. “’Sup, ladies.” He lifted his chin as three sets of eyes raked over him with blatant appreciation.
“Well, aren’t you a tall drink of water?” said the curviest chick of the group, a brunette with bouncy curls and a drawl far more noticeable than Andy’s. One that marked her as a native Texan.
“That’s what they tell me,” Luke breezed. “And you sound like a peach.”
The women all giggled, but it was Texas who shot him a saucy wink. “Wrong state, sugar, but I’ll take it on account of the peach being my favorite emoji.” Hip-checking the two skinnier blondes flanking her, she winked again. “For obvious reasons.”
“You don’t say.” Rounding the cashwrap, Luke returned her heated stare down with one of his one. “It’s mine too.”
Well, okay then. Clearly, the man had a type. One that shaped up to be pretty different from Andy. Not that she cared. Perusing the different menus in the POS, Andy ignored the flirting going on in front of her. Or tried to anyway.
“Y’all on vacation?”
“Yeah, my girls and I just flew in from Dallas. We thought we’d try out San Diego’s favorite pastime while we’re here.”
“Ah. First time surfing then?”
“Yeah, honey. I’ve ridden a lot of things but never a surfboard.”
“Oh my gawd, Casey,” hissed one of the blondes, “you aresobad.”
Andy rolled her eyes as Luke chuckled but gave him some credit for getting down to business.
“Why don’t I show you to our foam board selection,” he said. “They’re best for beginners.”
They headed back to the quiver, and Andy was left blessedly alone to think for a minute.
And in that minute, her mind wandered to her new boss. That is, her new boss’s boss. Aka Kyle Taylor-Vaughn.
God damn it. Of all the surf shops in this town, he had to own this one?
Well, of course he did. He was a Taylor-Vaughn. Which sure explained a lot about how expensive the shop looked, with its modern, airy design and all its high-end fixtures.
Not to mention, her new salary. Which — holy shit — was way more than she’d been making before. Maybe not double, but it was close enough to take much of the sting out of walking away from the store manager gig at ManCave. She was also set to receive those benefits she’d lied to Dave about. And while the only bonus she’d earned thus far was a towel, Mary had told her she’d also receive some merchandise credit to her employee account at the end of every month. Which did roll over. On the whole, it was a great deal.
With a couple of wrinkles.
Namely, the “tall drink of water” the ladies were currently fawning over in the back.
And Kyle Taylor-Freaking-Vaughn.
Jesus. How could she possibly pursue him now? Sleeping with her new boss’s boss would be wrong. Probably even more wrong than getting a promotion because she was the boss’s boss’s boss’s boss’s daughter. Andy side-eyed the storefront windows as she contemplated the moral ambiguity of the situation she found herself in.
Of course, she didn’t have tosleepwith Kyle. She could just hang out with him from time to time. Maybe not at his club. But sitting with him on a very large towel at the beach under a starlit sky as they listened to the gentle lapping of the waves might be nice. Or playingHalotogether online. That’d be cool too.
But, dang it, she really wanted to sleep with him.
