Chapter Sixteen
“Lachie?”
Lachlan glanced over at a white man in his thirties wearing boardies and expensive sunnies. Sitting beside him in the buggy behind the wheel, Mia kept her eyes on the water.
The man exclaimed, “Holy shit, it is you!”
The context was all wrong, and for a second, Lachlan couldn’t process who he was looking at. With a rush of dread, he realized it was Brent Lucas, one of the lawyers at the firm.
Brent’s nose and shoulders were going pink, and his blond hair was slicked over in a swoop fruitlessly trying to disguise his prematurely receding hairline.
Brent laughed. “I thought it was a joke! You’re really a lifeguard now?”
With a tight smile, sitting ramrod straight, Lachlan said, “Seems like.”
“Far out!” Brent raised his hands. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it. I was a lifeguard at the council pool. Watched fat old mums doing aquafit.”
Mia shifted beside Lachlan, and he swore he could hear her teeth grind.
“Of course, that was in high school.” Brent laughed again. “Lachie, mate, surely there’s a firm that’ll hire you. Even if it’s out in Armadale or somewhere, it would be better than…”
Eyes on the swimmers having a play in the shore break, Lachlan said, “Maybe!” with forced cheer. “Have a good day at the beach.” He had enough on his plate without dealing with Brent.
It was Friday, five days after Ryan had discovered the truth. The midday sun had drawn a decent crowd even though the conditions were choppy. As the tide changed, they’d have their hands full. Brent still loomed in the periphery. The man never had been able to take a hint.
“No offense, mate!” Brent exclaimed. “I’m sure you’re having way more fun here.
Jesus, the tits here. Is it always like this?
I can see why you’d give it all up. Bet you’re getting a ton of pussy.
” He laughed and leaned down. “Excuse my language, ma’am.
” Then he dropped the smirk. “Oh shit, is this your sister?”
Mia curled her lip. “No, the two Asian lifeguards on the beach aren’t related.”
Lachlan moved to stand, forcing Brent back. “Mate, we’ve got work to do. Great to see you.”
Raising his hands, Brent gave another laugh. “Only trying to be friendly.”
Another buggy drove up, and Lachlan’s heart skipped as Tim called, “How ya going?”
“Good!” Lachlan answered in too high a pitch. Just being near Tim had him flustered, and if Brent would just bugger off…
“Are you the boss?” Brent asked Tim. “You know you’ve got a lifeguard who’s extraordinarily overqualified.”
“I do,” Tim replied evenly.
“See?” Brent said to Lachlan. “Look, I’m telling you, if you need help, I can make a few calls. You were a great lawyer until you threw it away. I mean, you can’t just be a lifeguard.”
“I can and I will. But thanks anyway.” Lachlan’s face burned.
Tim killed the engine of the other buggy and slowly climbed out. He was tall, but not unusually so. Still, he somehow seemed huge standing there shirtless in his uniform boardies and bare feet. The sun reflected off his aviators, and he radiated authority.
Lachlan ruthlessly tamped down the burst of raw lust that had his insides trembling as Tim stared at Brent, saying nothing.
Brent backed away. “Look, if you need help finding a real job, give me a call, Lachie.” He laughed, but it seemed forced. “Enjoy the tits in the meantime.”
“Wanker,” Mia muttered.
The radio squawked, and Damo said, “Central, I’ve got a few heads going out the back at the north end. Might need a hand here if they can’t get back in.”
Before Baz in the tower could reply, Tim picked up his radio. “Central, Mia’s on her way in the orange buggy.”
Mia jumped out and hurried over to Tim’s buggy to drive off. Lachlan automatically took her vacated seat behind the wheel, aware of Tim in his periphery. Gripping the wheel even though the engine was off, Lachlan felt the buggy rock as Tim climbed up to stand in the back.
He could sense Tim looming over him. This was the closest they’d been all week, and his belly flip-flopped. He couldn’t touch Tim without turning in his seat and reaching out for his shins or knees. Wrapping his fingers around his calves…
And no, he certainly wasn’t going to do anything like that. Lachlan stared straight forward at the water, scanning for problems.
“You right?” Tim asked quietly.
Those two words had no business making Lachlan feel so warm and fluttery. All week, Tim had been scarce, usually holed up in his office. Which had been for the best, even though Lachlan had ached for him. Now that Tim was close, that ache intensified unbearably.
He reminded himself this was the way it had to be. Ryan had been scarce all week too, taking a few unexpected days off. He’d said he was going fishing with Jodie down near Margaret River, which was true judging by the pics on his Instagram.
In the two days Ryan had been back on the beach, he’d been all business. No smiles—at least not for Lachlan. Understandably. Mia and Cody had given Lachlan a few curious looks in the tower the day before after Ryan had left to eat his lunch in the beachside cafe without a word to Lachlan.
It was awkward and strange and it hurt, and even though Lachlan knew it was his fault, it didn’t make him want Tim less. To have Tim standing up for him and asking if he was okay was deliciously thrilling.
“I’m good. He’s a wanker, like Mia said.
” Watching the group of teenagers getting smashed in the shore break and having the time of their lives, he pushed the button for the megaphone attached to the top of the buggy.
“Attention! Stay between the flags for us. Move to your left. Nice and close to shore.”
From above, Tim’s voice rumbled softly. “He’s not wrong, though.”
Lachlan’s spine snapped straight. “What? There’s nothing wrong with being a lifeguard. You know that.”
“Not for me and a lot of us here. But you went to school for years. Passed all your exams. Plenty of people need help. You could be the lawyer Doris turns to when the soulless developer arseholes come knocking to tear down her building.”
Lachlan’s breath caught. “You remember her name?”
Tim grunted. “Tell those kids again.”
Lachlan got on the mic, urging them to move to the middle of the flags since they were drifting to the north. Thankfully, they listened this time.
After a few minutes of silence as they scanned the water, Tim said, “There are plenty of ways to be a lawyer.”
“I know. And I know you don’t want me here—”
“That’s not why.” His tone brooked no argument—and made Lachlan’s dick tingle. “Don’t do that.”
“Okay.”
“You worked at one firm full of wankers. You shouldn’t give up.”
Lachlan laughed sadly. “My dad loved that place.”
“Well, your dad could be a bit of a wanker.”
He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, choking down his automatic response of defensiveness.
Tim added, “Being gone doesn’t change that. And it doesn’t mean that’s all he was.”
Lachlan had to swallow hard over the sudden thickness in his throat. “Yeah,” he croaked.
“Shit, I barely spoke two words to him, so what do I know? Just seems to me that you don’t have to quit being a lawyer. You’ve got to back yourself.”
The radio crackled, and Hazza said, “Central, we’ve got a missing kid last seen on the sand near first ramp. Thirteen-year-old boy with light brown skin and curly hair. Mum thinks he might’ve met up with his mates after she said no, and he’s not answering his phone.”
Lachlan and Tim listened, and Lachlan peered around to see if anyone matched the description before picking up the radio. “Pink buggy to Central—we’ll keep an eye out.” Since the boy hadn’t been last spotted in the water, it wasn’t an emergency yet.
After a minute of silence, Tim said, “Really, I didn’t know your dad well. Shouldn’t’ve said that. I just remember he was hard on you.”
For a heartbeat, the warmth of Tim’s bare skin grazed the back of Lachlan’s neck.
His knee? It could’ve been an accidental touch.
Perhaps Tim had just been shifting in place where he stood in the open back of the buggy.
Either way, it made Lachlan feel like he was in a Jane Austen novel swooning over the barest touches and glances.
“Uh, he could be, yeah.” This wasn’t really the place to talk about this, but they were both watching the water, and they weren’t supposed to see each other anymore.
Here in front of everyone it was harmless, right? He’d chatted with fellow lifeguards on patrol countless times. The rescues hadn’t started popping off yet, and Lachlan wanted to talk while he could.
He’d waited all week for an announcement that Tim was stepping away for some excuse or another. He’d been dying to ask but resisted.
If Tim was leaving soon, Lachlan wanted to tell him everything he possibly could while he had the chance. This urge for Tim to know him was powerful.
“When he and Mum first married, he caught some flack because he was Chinese.”
“I hope he told those racist fucks where to go.”
“That wasn’t his style. He wanted to fit in. Dad hated being asked where he was really from. He’d say New Zealand, which was true. Then refuse to say more.”
Tim snorted softly. “Don’t blame him. Where in New Zealand?”
“Auckland. My grandparents came from Hong Kong. My grandmother was a nurse, and she’d trained in the UK, so she was a skilled migrant.
My grandfather was a lawyer, and New Zealand wanted professionals in the seventies.
Even if they weren’t white. My dad was a toddler, and I don’t think my auntie was born yet.
My grandparents were really big on assimilation with Kiwi culture. No Cantonese even at home.”
“That’s a real shame.”