Girls Just Wanna Have Sun (Summer Lovin’ collection #4)

Chapter One

The first thing Morgan saw was the tattoo.

Black ink on tanned skin, flowers and ivy woven in a complex pattern over a toned shoulder.

Not only was it beautiful, it was startlingly familiar.

Morgan gave her head a gentle shake, because there was no way it was the same tattoo.

It couldn’t be. Her imagination was obviously running away with her.

Sunlight glinted off the pool, and Morgan squinted as she smiled at the people gathered on lounge chairs around it.

Soft music played from a speaker somewhere, and she recognized the latest catchy dance track from one of her favorite singers, Anna Moss.

It was called “Heat Wave,” the perfect summer anthem.

Morgan inhaled the scents of sunblock, chlorine, and something vaguely organic that she associated with the lake glistening just beyond the pool deck.

It made a beautiful backdrop, but beyond that, the lake held little appeal for her.

Morgan wasn’t much of a nature girl. The pool was more her style.

She’d been looking forward to this vacation for months.

The rest of the group had been here at their lakefront rental house all week, but Morgan hadn’t been able to get off work until today, and now she was determined to make up for lost time.

She’d brought along her camera, and she was ready for a day spent poolside with some of her dearest friends.

But that tattoo. Or more specifically, the woman attached to it . . .

“Morgan, you made it!” her best friend, Sierra, called enthusiastically.

A chorus of greetings from her friends followed.

Morgan waved, still somewhat distracted by the woman with the tattoo.

She wore a pink bikini, blond hair tied up in a messy knot on top of her head, e-reader resting on her knees.

As Morgan stared, the woman turned her head, looking right at her.

Morgan sucked in a quick breath as she stared into brown eyes that were as familiar as the tattoo.

No way.

It was really her.

Morgan’s feet were carrying her backward before she’d even made a conscious decision.

She ducked inside the kitchen, her cheeks flaming hot.

Why was the woman with the tattoo here? Morgan had been thinking about her—fantasizing about her—for eight years, but she didn’t even know her name, and there was absolutely no reason for her to be here at this rental house with Morgan and her friends.

“Morgan?” Sierra called as she walked into the kitchen, flip-flops slapping with each step. “You aren’t hiding out already, are you? You just got here.”

Morgan pointed toward the pool, her heart beating wildly in her chest. “That woman . . . the one in the pink bikini with the floral tattoo on her shoulder? It’s her, Sierra.”

Sierra’s brow wrinkled. “Who?”

“Remember the woman I kissed on the beach that time we went to the Cape?” The most unforgettable kiss of Morgan’s life. She felt flushed and flustered just thinking about it.

Sierra’s eyes widened. “The woman who made you realize you like women?”

“Yes.” Morgan resisted the urge to glance out the window overlooking the pool.

“Interesting.” Sierra tapped a finger against her lips. “You should go sit beside her, see if the spark’s still there. Maybe this time, you can get her number.”

Morgan was already shaking her head before Sierra had finished talking. “No way. No, I’m just here for a quiet day by the pool. That’s it.” The idea of sitting next to the woman with the tattoo filled her with so many butterflies, it was hard to breathe.

She was terrible at flirting. It didn’t matter whether she was flirting with a man, a woman, or someone else.

If she actually liked that person, Morgan got hopelessly tongue tied, so she’d much rather keep her distance than risk humiliating herself in front of the woman who had been her sexual awakening.

Sierra gave her a knowing look. “Here you go, avoiding situations that push you out of your comfort zone, as usual. I mean, look at you, showing up on the last day of our vacation because you let your boss guilt you into thinking you couldn’t take the whole week off.”

“But Brian had—”

“Brian’s an ass who takes advantage of you because you’re too nice. Come on, Morgan. I just want to see you get what you deserve.” Sierra’s expression turned pleading. “I want to see you happy. Can you really say you’re happy with your job or your love life?”

Morgan opened her mouth, then snapped it closed.

Her throat felt thick as she acknowledged the truth behind Sierra’s words.

No, she wasn’t happy. Truthfully, Morgan was burned out from years of giving too much of herself to people who never gave her as much in return.

She was stuck in a dead-end job, taking posed portraits for a studio at the mall, when she longed to open her own photography business.

And her love life? Well, she didn’t have much of one at this point.

Her most recent attempts had all been disastrous.

Morgan hated dating, but she wanted to be in love.

She wanted to find her person, the one who made her heart race, who made her laugh, who was her best friend and her soulmate. Was that so much to ask?

Sierra clapped her hands. “You know what? You need a ‘yes day.’”

“No,” Morgan responded instinctively, even though deep down, she suspected Sierra was right. They’d been doing this since they were kids. When one of them announced a “yes day,” the other one had to say yes to everything for the rest of the day . . . with respect to consent and safety, of course.

It had led to hilarious shenanigans, including Morgan picking Sierra’s outfit for the prom, Morgan’s first ride on a roller coaster that went upside down, and that one time Sierra auditioned to perform as a mermaid who swam through the pool beside the dining room of a popular local restaurant.

She hadn’t made the cut, but Morgan had some priceless photos of Sierra in her green mermaid’s tail, gliding past the underwater window.

“Yes days” were always fun and always pushed Morgan to try new things, but today, all she really wanted was to relax by the pool. Or maybe . . .

“I’m calling it,” Sierra announced. “Today is a ‘yes day.’ You need this, don’t even try to deny it.”

“Yes,” Morgan agreed, because that was the rule of the game, but also because she did need this.

She’d been playing it safe lately, and no one knew her better than Sierra.

She trusted Sierra to push her in ways that would help Morgan have fun, even if they weren’t things she would have chosen for herself.

Sierra reached for a blender filled with a yellowish slushy drink.

“Lucy made these frozen margaritas, and they’re amazing.

Also, your crush by the pool has an empty margarita glass beside her.

Why don’t you take her a refill and find out her name while you’re at it?

” She held out two full margarita glasses with a smile.

Morgan sighed. “Yes.”

“You’ll thank me later,” Sierra called gleefully as Morgan headed for the door.

“I sure hope so.” Morgan stepped onto the pool deck with a frozen margarita in each hand, towel still slung over her left shoulder.

Below the towel, her camera dangled in its waterproof case.

She wasn’t taking any chances this close to the pool, but she was excited to snap some casual pictures of her friends and maybe even a few shots of the lake.

Her gaze settled on the woman in the pink bikini.

Her left shoulder was entirely covered by that ivy-and-floral tattoo.

Morgan’s heart thumped a little faster as she remembered the first time she’d seen it.

She and her friends were vacationing on Cape Cod, and she’d been sitting on a beach towel next to Sierra, enjoying the view.

The woman stood at the edge of the surf, eating an ice cream cone, and Morgan’s attention had immediately been drawn to her. Mesmerized, she had exclaimed, “Wow, look at that tattoo.”

“I know, right? So sexy,” Sierra responded.

Sexy. Yes, it was. Morgan felt breathless with the realization.

“Bummer. There goes our eye candy,” Sierra said as a man in front of them stood and walked away, and that was when Morgan realized they’d been talking about two different people. It was also the moment she realized she might like women in a different way than Sierra did.

Later that evening, Morgan had shared a kiss on the beach with the tattooed woman, a kiss that cemented her bisexuality. A kiss that rocked her world. A kiss she was still thinking about eight years later, because no one she’d kissed since had awakened her body in quite the same way.

Morgan had lost count of how many times she’d relived that kiss since it happened, and now here she was, walking toward an empty lounge chair beside the woman she’d shared it with, on a mission to bring her a drink and finally find out her name.

Carefully, she perched on the edge of the empty lounge chair, keeping her knees pressed together. Was there a graceful way to sit in a swimsuit? In that moment, it seemed doubtful. Morgan forced a smile as the woman looked up from her e-reader.

“I brought you a refill,” Morgan said cheerfully as she held out one of the glasses. Condensation had gathered on its surface, making it slippery beneath her fingers. She fumbled, nearly dropping the glass. Several slushy drops splashed her wrist.

Luckily, the woman didn’t comment on her clumsy drink presentation. She accepted the glass with a polite smile. “Thank you.”

“Um.” Morgan searched for what to say next, whether to allude to their kiss or play it cool? Predictably, she’d become tongue tied, but damn, the woman in front of her was even prettier than she remembered. Those cheekbones!

And of course, the tattoo . . .

A reddish-gold furry head popped up between them, and Morgan let out an involuntary squeak of surprise. The dog stared at her, tongue out and panting.

“Sorry. This is Roux.” The woman placed a hand on Roux’s head, gazing at him affectionately, and Morgan’s heart melted just a little bit more. A woman who loved her dog? Oh yeah, Morgan was a goner.

“Hi, Roux.” She looked from the dog to its owner. “I’m Morgan, by the way.”

“Juliette.”

Morgan felt her cheeks flush. What a gorgeous name for an equally gorgeous woman. “It’s nice to officially meet you.”

Juliette cocked her head. “Have we met unofficially?”

And just like that, Morgan’s happy bubble burst. She’d spent eight years fantasizing about their kiss, only to find out that Juliette didn’t even remember her.