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“That’s not a problem. Jason’ll take you. Hey, you’ll pick Gemma up tomorrow, right?” Frank said, and Jason paused with one foot in the open door of his truck.
“Uh…”
Frank lowered his voice. “You can pick Gemma up at her work and bring her to the picnic tomorrow.”
When he started to argue, Frank straightened his features in a way that had Jason’s shoulders dropping in compliance, and wasn’t that interesting. The lion could be tamed.
“Sure. I can pick her up tomorrow.” He faced me. “I’ll pick you up at six o’clock.”
And with that, he drove off, and I stared after the exhaust. “He doesn’t even know where I work.”
Frank chuckled, wrapping a big arm around me. “Oh, he knows. Don’t worry.”
CHAPTERSEVEN
Gem
Labor Day was unbearable. Swelteringly hot. No one in their right mind left the air conditioning unless they were lucky enough to find a pool. Unfortunately, I had neither of those luxuries as I sat behind the counter at Bare Necessities, feet up and fanning myself with a piece of a cardboard box I’d ripped off.
The bell above the door chimed. I knew it was Jason. And he was five minutes early.
He lazily strutted down the aisles, regarding all the merchandise with his aviators still on, picking up random items to study before putting them back down. Like a character in some kind of 80s movie, he stopped in front of the counter, took off his shades to hook them on his shirt, and combed his fingers through his hair. “Nice store you got here.”
“Nice swimsuit you got there.”
He glanced down at his green swim trunks dotted with pink whales. “You like?”
I ignored the double meaning behind the question. “You’re early.”
“I know. Better than being late.”
I hung my head back, trying to get a little more air. I wasnotgoing to let him get to me today. The stagnant heat was bad enough without adding his bullshit hot air.
“It’s a furnace in here. Why isn’t the air conditioning on?”
I dragged my focus up to Jason as he tugged at his shirt. A sliver of taught stomach revealed itself with every pull as he aired himself out. “We don’t have any. Saves power.”
“No wonder you don’t have any customers.” He shook his head and pursed his lips in that annoying way he had. “You could invest in eco-friendly HVAC products.” He held his hand up, listing them off on his fingers. “Get a programmable thermostat. Reseal the heating and cooling ducts. Get ceiling fans. Do you have radiant heat barriers?”
Of course, he had to know everything about everything when I had no idea what radiant heat barriers were. I stood up with a huff and used a band to tie my now frizzy hair back. A few beads of sweat gathered from my neck and fell in a line down to my collarbone, sinking between my breasts. I swiped at it then pushed out my bottom lip, blowing air onto my face, sending my bangs flailing above my head. After tossing the wilted cardboard onto the counter, I finally faced him, catching him gawking. “What? I know I look awful. It’s the humidity.”
He shrugged, his eyes openly roaming over me. With my woven cover-up on over my favorite paisley-print bikini, there wasn’t a whole lot hiding me. I snagged my bag and elbowed him on purpose as I passed by to lock up.
Outside, I had to jump up into the truck. “No Mercedes today?”
“Nope.” He turned out of the parking lot and into the street. “Seat belt, please.”
I buckled in. “Concerned with safety, but not pollution.”
“A car can kill you in a second. Global warming will take a few hundred years.”
“That’s disgustingly selfish. What about the future? The next generations?”
“I’m doing my part.” He flicked on the radio before I could argue, and emo music blared through the speakers.
“It’s too loud,” I shouted at him, reaching for the dial, but he caught my hand, his fingers big and warm around mine. There was that ever-present heat, maybe friction from all the animosity. It had to be that. I couldn’t stand to think of the opposite.
Halted at the stop sign, we faced each other. His cool eyes contained a hidden depth, and the more I wondered what his secrets might be, the more I lost myself in the miles and miles of blue. I was slowly sinking into them. Into him.
