Chapter 10
Juliette
The next morning, I sat in the kitchen drinking coffee while Wes swam laps in the pool.
The double doors were wide open, giving me a clear view, and I enjoyed the sight of his muscular arms slicing through the water.
After about ten minutes, he swam to the ladder and climbed out.
It all happened in slow motion. Water streamed down his chiseled pecs, tracing every line of muscle across his torso.
His hair was slicked back, darker from the water, which made his jaw look even more sculpted than usual.
His shoulders were broad, waist narrow, and his skin glistened in the early-morning sunlight.
I licked my lips as I imagined catching the droplets with my tongue.
Eyes still glued to the man outside, I’d lifted my mug for another gulp of coffee when the phone rang, jolting me so hard the liquid nearly sloshed over the rim. Jeez, I really need to get a hold of myself. I swiped the cell from the table and answered.
“Hello?”
“I really hope I dialed the wrong number,” a woman’s snarky voice said.
I didn’t recognize it. “Umm... I think you might have. Who are you looking for?”
“Wes.”
Wes? Who the heck would call my phone looking for… Oh wait. I pulled the cell away from my ear and flipped it over. We both had iPhones with black cases—mine glossy, his matte, and this one had no shine to it.
I lifted the cell back to my ear. “Hang on a second. I’ll get him for you.” I stood to take the phone outside, but curiosity got the best of me. “Umm… Can I tell him who this is, please?”
She huffed. “Amber.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, it’s Amber.
Out in the yard, I held out the phone while covering the mouthpiece. “Sorry. I answered your phone thinking it was mine. It’s someone named Amber.”
Wes frowned, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the person calling or because I’d answered. Either way, it wasn’t my problem. I went back inside to give him some privacy. A few minutes later, he came into the kitchen and went to the cappuccino maker.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “Hope I didn’t get you in any trouble.”
He glanced at me, then went back to making his espresso. “It’s fine.”
I waited through the gurgle of the water being pulled through, the hiss of the espresso pour, and the sharp spit of the steamed frothing milk. By the time he was done, my cheeks were probably as hot as his stupid coffee. “So…who’s Amber?”
Wes turned and narrowed his eyes. “Did she give you a hard time or something?”
“No, but she wasn’t exactly Miss Sunshine.”
He nodded. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. Is she…a girlfriend?”
He leaned a hip against the kitchen counter, sipping his cappuccino and watching me over the brim. “Just someone I used to see from time to time.”
“What does that mean? A booty call?”
“Just a casual relationship I had back in New York.”
I scoffed. “Booty call.”
He narrowed his eyes again. “You make it sound like something bad. It wasn’t a one-sided thing, if that’s what you’re thinking. She’s older and just got out of a divorce, and she didn’t want more than a physical relationship either.”
“She knows you’re not in New York anymore?”
“She does. I told her before I left.”
“Well, if she’s calling you when she thinks you’re three-thousand miles away, it doesn’t sound like she’s only interested in something physical.”
“Actually…” He sipped his cappuccino. “I’d told her I was going to be out in California for a while.
She works in sales and was calling to let me know she’s going to be in the LA area next week for a business trip.
She was seeing if I’d be interested in meeting up.
So, I believe her call was for something physical, not to shoot the shit.
Though it’s a moot point since I’m here. ”
My stomach twisted. “Would you have met her if we were still in California?”
“That’s irrelevant because we aren’t.”
“But if we were there…”
“Even if we were, I’m responsible for your safety twenty-four-seven on this job.”
The word job felt like a smack in the face, and I felt my skin heat. I stood. “I’m sorry if your job gets in the way of your sex life.” I turned and went straight to my room.
An hour later, I was still lying on my bed feeling prickly when Wes knocked on my door. “What?”
He opened the door. “Put a bathing suit on and pack a bag. I made plans for us.”
I frowned. “I’m not in the mood.”
“How the hell do you know if you’re in the mood when I haven’t even told you what the plans are?”
“Because I’m not in the mood to do anything.”
“Welp. Too bad, because I already made the plans, and I had to pay for things upfront. So, find a way to get in the mood.”
I gave him my best pissed-off look.
Wes chuckled. “Is that the best you can do? Sweetheart, I work for some scary-ass men. Now lose the mood and get a bathing suit on.”
“Do whatever you made plans to do by yourself.”
He sighed. “Don’t make me carry your ass down to the car. It might give poor Natalia and Mario next door a heart attack.”
“Fine. Get out so I can change.”
He smirked. “Since you asked so nicely…”
***
Half an hour later, we pulled up at a small marina. “What are we doing here?”
“I rented us a boat,” Wes said. “I read about these caves we can snorkel in that are only a ten-minute boat ride.”
“Do you know how to drive a boat?”
He nodded. “My uncle had one out on Long Island. He taught me. We used to go clamming all the time. I’m pretty sure he only taught me because then he could drink beer all day while I drove the boat, but we always had a good time anyway.”
“I’ve never snorkeled.”
“It’s easy. I’ll teach you. I rented equipment from the guy who rents the boats.”
I hesitated, but eventually I got out of the car. “If I have a panic attack in the water, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
We stopped at the rental shack, and Wes signed a bunch of paperwork before paying and collecting keys and the snorkeling gear.
The boat was navy and white, probably about twenty-five-feet long, and had a small canopy over the driver’s console for a bit of shade.
But otherwise, it was open to the sun. Its deck was clean and uncluttered, with cushioned bench seats along the sides and a cooler tucked under the captain’s chair.
Wes held out a hand to help me on, then lifted a compartment door in the bow and stowed the snorkel gear.
“You good to go?” he asked as he took off his shirt.
Miraculously, my mood started to improve. “Yep.”
He put the key in and turned it, and the engine hummed to life. “I’m just going to punch the coordinates of the cave into the GPS before we go.”
It was a gorgeous day, with the sun shining in a perfect blue sky. As we started to drive, the smell of the saltwater made me forget whatever I’d been annoyed about earlier. We went slow until we got out of the marina area, past the docked boats, and then Wes yelled, “You ready to hit the gas?”
I smiled. “Yes!”
He pushed the throttle, and we shot forward, the boat slicing through the water.
I hadn’t thought to bring a hair tie since I didn’t know where we were going, so the wind whipped my hair all around.
But it felt exhilarating—so freeing. Saltwater sprayed as we crossed over the back of another boat’s wake, making me squeal.
After a while, we slowed as we approached a hidden cove. The water inside it glowed bright turquoise. Wes killed the engine, and we drifted for a moment, listening to the gentle lap of water against the hull before he got the anchor out of another compartment in the back.
Once he was done setting it, he turned to me with a big smile. “Beautiful, right?”
I looked over the side and saw sand at the bottom. “How deep is it?”
He checked the electronic depth finder on the dash. “Twenty feet.”
“Wow. It looks like I can stand.”
“It will probably get shallower as we get closer to the cave entrance. But there’s a lot of coral, so don’t try to reach for the bottom or touch the reef. It can be razor sharp.”
“Oh. Okay.” I glanced over the side of the boat again, feeling wary.
“You ready?”
I took a deep breath and nodded, even though my heart pounded.
When I stood, I could see fish swimming around the boat.
I liked marine life, but generally on my plate or in an aquarium.
Though, at least part of me was excited to try something new with Wes.
We put on our fins and snorkels and then stood on the ledge at the side of the boat together.
“On three?” he asked.
I bit my bottom lip but nodded.
“One. Two. Three!”
We jumped in at the same time. The cool water was a shock, and I squealed as I surfaced. Wes popped up beside me, grinning. “You good?”
“I’m sort of terrified.” I laughed.
“I won’t let anything hurt you, in or out of the water.” He held out his hand. “Come on. We’ll swim into the cave together.”
Goggles and snorkel ready, I took a deep breath and stuck my face into the ocean, kicking my legs behind me.
The water was so crystal clear, I could see all the way to the rocks of the cave up ahead.
Tiny yellow and black fish swam around us as we moved toward it.
Wes squeezed my hand and pointed to a bright blue fish with yellow and black fins that looked exactly like Dory from Finding Nemo, and soon I forgot to be nervous anymore.
Together, we snorkeled for more than two hours before climbing back onto the boat.
“That was incredible!” I tugged off my mask. “It felt like we were on our own little planet, just us and schools of fish.”
Wes rubbed a towel over his wet hair and smiled. “You were a natural out there.”
He handed me a towel, and while I dried off, he stowed the snorkel gear back in a cabinet. When he bent forward, I noticed how red his back was.
I pointed. “I think you’re getting burned.”
He twisted and looked over his shoulder. “Shit. Yeah.”
“I have sunscreen. Want me to put it on you so it doesn’t get any worse?”
“If you don’t mind.”