Summer Fling

Sade

I rolled my eyes. “Easier said than done. I’m a dork. I sound like a dork, and I look like a dork. That man is way out of my league. He was only being nice. He probably dates Victoria’s Secret models.”

“I don’t know,” Khloe commented. “He looked like he wanted to eat you for dinner. It was kind of awkward. The tension was thick.”

“Stop. It was not. You guys are completely exaggerating.” I felt my cheeks flush.

“Oh, she’s blushing!” Julia squealed.

“Stop, I am not,” I argued, knowing I was.

“I think we need to see if we can find him,” Khloe suggested. “He could be your summer fling.” 

I gasped in horror. “No! You’re crazy. I’m not going to have a fling.”

“I think you should,” Julia said. “You need to let your hair down and get wild. You’ve been buttoned up for too long. Take a walk on the wild side.” 

I shook my head. “My wild side is buying a movie I haven’t seen.”

Khloe nodded. “This is true.”

“There’s something to be said for being a good girl,” I said, lifting my chin.

“Yes, it says boring,” Khloe said. “You only live once, and we are in a place where no one knows you, and there is like a ninety-nine percent chance you will never see any of these people again. No one is going to know you. You can cut loose and take on a whole new personality. Let’s give you a fake name, an alter ego.” 

“No thanks.”

“Jade,” Julia said, clearly getting excited about the idea. “We’ll call you Jade. You’re a princess from some little island, and you’re looking for some fun.”

“Why don’t you be Jade?” I shot back.

“Because I have plenty of wild memories to fall back on when I’m eighty,” she answered easily. “You need to have one week of crazy that is going to make you smile when you’re old and gray.”

“I agree,” Khloe said, bobbing her head up and down.

“Come on.” Julia smiled and jumped up. “Let’s get dressed and get down there.”

We piled the breakfast dishes on the table and got into our swimsuits. Mine was far more conservative than what Julia and Khloe were wearing. I didn’t have their bodies.

They were thin and beautiful, and I was—well, thin was not a word that would ever be associated with me. I wrapped the black gossamer wrap around my hips, skillfully hiding the bulk of my butt and thighs.

The three of us made our way down to the pool. They stripped down to their bikinis and found three open chairs for us to lay out on. I piled my thick brown hair on top of my head before putting in a clip to keep it up. I stretched out, letting the sun bathe me in hot rays. It wasn’t long before the heat became a little too much for all of us.

Khloe and Julia dove in the water. I chose to grab one of the pool floats, carefully climbing aboard and using my hands to paddle to a nice resting place along the edge, away from the splashing swimmers.

I closed my eyes, and my feet dangled in the cold water. I was completely relaxed, feeling fabulous about life, when a shadow passed over me and stayed. I opened my eyes to see who was blocking my sunlight and nearly flipped off the float.

“Hi,” Trent, the tall, dark, crazy-handsome owner of the hotel, said in a husky voice.

“Hi,” I squeaked out the word.

He was grinning, the smile sexy as hell. “Enjoying yourself?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

I felt like a complete dipshit. I was brilliant, book smart, and intelligent, but whenever he came around, I turned into a blubbering idiot. I could feel my cheeks turning red. It was hard to be such a bumbling fool.

“I didn’t get your name yesterday,” he said, looking at me like he could see right through me.

“Sade,” I blurted out. “Sade Jones.” I wanted to slap my hand to my head for giving him my last name.

He squatted down, and a brief glimpse of pain crossed his face as he extended his hand. I leaned forward, doing my best not to dump myself out of the float as I shook his very firm, large, hot hand.

“It’s good to meet you, Sade,” he said, giving a brief shake before getting to his feet. I noticed he winced and then leaned his weight on the other leg. “Is everything to your liking?” 

I grinned, nodding. “Absolutely.”

“It was nice to meet you, Sade Jones,” he said in that smooth voice. “I knew a Jones once. Great man.” He looked thoughtful.

Julia appeared out of nowhere, splashing her hand in the water. “Are you this nice to all of your guests?” 

My eyes went wide. I wanted to slap my hand in the water and splash her in the face to make her shut up. She was so unpredictable.

“I’m not,” he replied.

“But you’ve sure been especially nice to us,” she cooed.

He gave her a funny look. “I’m always nice to the gorgeous ones.”

I was sure I was going to melt into the float. His easy grin reminded me of a precocious schoolboy. He had a hard edge about him, but when he smiled like that, he looked young and carefree. I could see the wrinkles around the corners of his eyes and guessed him to be in his thirties, too old for me I surmised.

“You’re a flirt,” Julia said with a laugh.

He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not flirting. I’m only stating the facts. I see a beautiful woman, I’m going to tell her.”

His eyes went back to me.