Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
This is a bad idea.” Josie stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom and inspected herself.
A shudder couldn’t be prevented.
Sara laughed. “Oh, come on. You look great.”
Great was a stretch. She looked as white as a polar bear in this bikini. Why she had ever thought it would be a good idea to buy a Hawaiian-print bikini was beyond her at the moment.
It had been an impulse, like a lot of things lately.
Houston had invited her to the beach, a murmured invitation with his finger still inside her, and she had managed a shaky nod.
It had seemed natural, her body still pulsing, while she felt sexy, to put on a bikini and splash around in the surf in front of him.
“I’m not talking about the bikini. I’m talking about hanging out with Houston outside of the hospital. Or his condo.”
Now she decided she’d rather die. Slowly. Eaten alive by a thousand sewer rats than frolic on the beach with him and pretend that she was feeling nothing other than friendship. She wasn’t ready to fully admit that though.
“I look about one thousand shades whiter than every other twenty-seven-year-old woman in Florida. You look fantastic. It’s not fair. When do you have time to tan?”
Sara flipped her blond hair back over her shoulder and shrugged. “Josie, it’s a fake tan. It’s that lotion you put on to make you look tan. I don’t lie in the sun anymore without SPF 30 sunscreen on. You of all people, a fellow doctor, should know the dangers of skin cancer.”
“I don’t have to worry about it.” Josie grinned at her pale reflection and reached for her cover-up. The cover-up that was going to be staying on her every second she was on that beach or she would fry like a tomato, no matter the SPF.
“There’s never time to go to the beach.”
“This will be good for us. Fresh air. People not suffering from illness or injury. A chance to relax.”
Josie certainly needed that. After the episode in the OR yesterday, she needed to lounge around in the sun and read the latest celebrity gossip on her phone. She was sadly out of date on who was dating who in Hollywood.
She just hoped seeing Houston wouldn’t be awkward.
Which it would, of course, since she had let him get her off in the hospital locker room.
A blush heated her face just thinking about it.
But he had invited her to the beach, and well, it was his fault their conversation the day before had dissolved into that.
Not that she regretted it. The total opposite, in fact.
It had been eye-opening to watch him touching her, to see her own expressions of pleasure, her body leaning into his fingers…
“Relax. Got it.” She took a fortifying breath and thought calming thoughts that didn’t involve sexy surgeons.
“Okay, slather on the sunscreen and let’s go. The sun, the surf, and gorgeous half-naked men await us. Or man, in your case. You’ve narrowed the field to Houston. I’m still searching.” Sara stepped into her high-heel sandals and tied a little sarong around her red bikini.
“You’re wearing high heels to the beach? Won’t you sink in the sand?” Josie pulled on sneakers and wiggled her toes. Was that a hole forming in the toe? She really needed to hit the buy button for about ten different online shopping carts.
Maybe that would be her new year’s resolution.
“Yes, but so what? The heels make my legs look longer.” Sara slung a floral bag over her shoulder.
Said Sara, whose legs were already eight miles long. “Then I should be wearing six-inch heels.”
It might be a gamble bringing Sara. She didn’t know how Houston would react to that, or what he had planned. But he hadn’t called it a date, had only said he missed the beach and wanted to go, and frankly, she needed Sara as a buffer.
Walking through her tiny living room, Josie said, “Why do I have the feeling you’re on a mission? A find-a-date-at-the-beach mission?”
“Because I am. I told you I haven’t had a date in six months.”
“Working crazy hours makes it tough to date.”
Sara dug her sunglasses out of her purse as they stepped out into the brilliant sunshine. “I think I intimidate men. That’s why I’m going for the frivolous look today.”
Sara’s logic seemed a little flawed. “Don’t you think you want a man who loves that you’re intimidating?” Josie asked, then wondered why she thought she knew anything about what men liked.
“In theory. But it’s not brains that initially attracts a man’s attention. Same for women with men. It’s either looks or a bubbly personality.”
Josie jumped into Sara’s sedan. “You’re totally wrong. I have a bubbly personality, and it hasn’t done a thing for me.”
Sara snorted. “You’re hooking up with Dr. Houston Hayes, aren’t you?”
As Sara pulled out into mid-morning traffic, Josie wiggled around on the leather seat and tugged at her cover-up. “Well, only randomly, not consistently.”
Sara gave her a look that suggested it was a stupid comment. “You’re still ahead of me. I’m not having sex with anyone. I downloaded a few apps and I panicked. I have no idea what men are looking for.”
“You know, I don’t think I care anymore what men think.” Josie was surprised to find that she actually meant it. She didn’t need anyone’s approval. She was a skilled doctor and a good person and she was happy with her life, aside from her nervousness in the OR, which she was working on.
She had a lot to be grateful for.
Sara hooked a left into the parking lot by the beach and threw the car into PARK. “I totally know what you mean, but Josie, I’m just lonely. Maybe I should join a meet up group or something.”
“That’s a great idea. Sara, I think you have an old soul, you know? You were probably responsible and mature at birth. But I know what you mean about feeling lonely.”
She felt it in spades. More so since she’d met Houston and had sex with him, because even though she’d told herself not to catch feelings, she had, because he’d shown her a different side of himself.
A kind, vulnerable, and even occasionally funny side to his personality.
Now she wanted more. A relationship. And he wasn’t willing to give it.
“I don’t want to be responsible. I want to be a sexy siren.” Sara took off her glasses and put them in a soft pink case, tucking it into her beach bag.
Josie looked at her in amazement. “You’re scaring me.”
But Sara just laughed. “I want to see if men react differently to me in heels.”
“Well, you’ll have to go it alone. I’ve spent my whole life trying to convince people to take me seriously. I’m not about to start flashing a siren smile.” She grinned as she undid her seat belt. “Besides, I don’t think sirens can be short. It’s written into the contract or something.”
They started towards the water, Sara wincing as the hot sand slid over her feet, the sandals sinking just as Josie had predicted. Despite the fact that she looked like a twelve-year-old next to Sara, Josie was glad she had worn her trusty sneakers.
Josie scanned the Thursday morning crowd, looking for Houston. Given that it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet, the beachgoers consisted mostly of families with little kids running around with colorful pails and water noodles.
She spotted Houston immediately, lounging in a beach chair, shirtless, his chest golden bronze. His right hand lay in his lap, while his leg with the sutures jutted out in front of him, the butterfly bandages gone and the black sutures visible even from where she stood.
He had his eyes closed, so maybe he wouldn’t notice the pink sexual flush that raced over her body, the way her heart picked up speed, and the heavy, eager breathing.
Sure. And maybe she would still have that growth spurt she was waiting on.