Affair on the Beach

Chapter 7

The light of the morning sun stabbed through my eyelids like ice picks. I groaned and rolled over to my front. I covered my head with a pillow in my vain attempt to mute the god awful pounding of the little man and his beat box in my skull. He was merciless.

When the smell of frying bacon and cooking pancakes invaded my unsuspecting nose, my stomach twisted and I was out of my bed so fast I was like a bat out of hell. I made it just in time to the toilet to deposit the meagre contents of my stomach from the night before. With each hideous heave, I swore never to drink again. The bonfire was the first time in years I’d imbibed more than one beer. I should have known better, but in the interest of “living my life” as Rony put it, I went a little too far. Bookworm Tamara didn’t approve at all.

After the last of my heaves subsided and my knees felt less like rubber, I flushed the toilet and rinse my mouth over the sink. Then I washed my face, trying not to focus on my road kill expression. I’d had better days.

Once I’d splashed some ice cold life onto my face, I dried myself, gathered my ratty hair into a bun, then shrugged my robe on and made my way to the kitchen. The last thing I remembered was Xavier Solomon watching me as I ascended the wooden stairs to my private deck. I’d given him a small wave and a shy smile. I must have crashed into bed after that because the next thing I knew the cruel bright sun was waking me up. I blushed in remembrance of what I was doing with Xavier Solomon on the beach that night. Was I really about to allow him to go all the way? I shook my head at my stupidity and blamed the beers. Again the fact that he was virtually a stranger had me silently admonishing myself for allowing him to kiss me let alone fondle my body the way he did. My blush rose a few degrees. Oh, but I couldn’t deny the talent in his touch. Of course, I had no previous experience to compare the experience to, but I was well read. And if I was basing my reactions to the descriptions of countless heroines in the same throes of passion, I’d say the god knew what he was doing. I shivered. Faintly, I could still feel his large hand squeezing my breast. My n*****s hardened just imagining the touch. Then, at the end of the hallway into the main room, I froze as I remembered what he’d told me last night.

A merman.

Xavier Solomon was a merman who could manifest golden-blue scales all over his body.

I rolled my eyes. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense that he would be in the fishing business. It seemed like the perfect fit for a creature of the sea. And the sustainable fishing? Of course he was a merman.

Undaunted by the fact that he wasn’t human I shrugged away the kinks in my shoulders and stepped into the kitchen. I was more concerned about the way he made my body feel, the weakness his touch brought, and those kisses. If he bottled them, he’d be even more filthy rich than he was now. I rubbed my temples with my fingertips, unable to process how rich someone had to be to be filthy.

I eased into a stool beside a half-dead Rony. The upper half of her body was sprawled over the breakfast counter. She rested her forehead on the cool marble surface. When I settled myself and the stool squeak, taking my weight, she half groaned half growled like a dog in pain. Hangover Rony. A welcome sight. Yet she still looked too damn good. Totally unfair!

“Too loud,” she said. Or more like warbled at me.

“I bet your head is about to explode,” I said close to her ear and she pushed me away.

Carmela, who was busy cooking, gave me a smile from over her shoulder while she flipped a pancake like a pro.

Rony growled again. “No shouting.”

I rolled my eyes heavenward. I may have slapped her last night, which ended with the both of us being pulled apart before we clawed each other’s eyes out, but I was feeling for her. If I downed several beers last night, I could easily double that number for Rony. The whole night she always had a drink in hand. I wanted to say it served her right to be in pain for what she’d put me through, forcing me to leave the safety of my books to fraternize, but when I thought about Xavier Solomon and his magic hands, I couldn’t find it in my heart to be cruel to Rony. She was just looking out for me after all, and in all honestly, I would be far worse without her as my friend.

“I’m sorry for losing it on you last night,” I whispered, not wanting Carmela to hear us.

Rony moved her head so she rested her cheek on the marble instead of her forehead. She opened one eye, half her lips in a wobbly smile. “S’okay. You’re right. If you want to stay home and read, I should leave you be.” She closed her eye again and groaned.

I shook my head even if I knew she couldn’t see me do it anymore. “No, you are the one who’s right. I should take the time to mingle with the world more.”

It took her the good part of thirty seconds to process what I’d said then her eye opened again. “I must still be half drunk. Did you just say I was right?”

I nodded for her benefit.

She chuckled then groaned. “Hurts to laugh. You’re forgiven.”

“Thank you.”

Carmela handed Rony and I a glass each of a liquid the color of which was a cross between swampy brown and sickly green. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it. Heck, I was afraid to pick it up for fear of how toxic it was.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Best hangover cure in the world,” Hudson said as he joined us.

“No shouting!” Rony rose from her dead state and gulped down the contents of the glass, pinching her nose as she did.

I watched her in open-mouthed amazement. The drink looked nasty and there was Rony bravely downing it like she’d surely done a hundred times before.

Hudson laughed as he took the stool beside mine. “It tastes like rotten tomatoes, but it works.” He unfolded a newspaper and began scanning through the sports section. Carmela slid a cup of coffee his way.

When I returned my gaze to Rony, she was already sitting up and did seem a lot better than a few seconds ago. I regarded the glass again then checked my head. The pounding of the beat box man was less now, so I chickened out on the best hangover cure that tasted like rotten tomatoes.

I pushed my glass aside. “I think I’ll just have some scrambled eggs, a pancake, and a couple slices of bacon, Carmela.”

She frowned at me, but thankfully didn’t argue with my decision to live another day without having tasted her concoction.

“Make that two, Carmela,” Rony said cheerfully.

I eyed her. She had a flush on her cheeks and she was back to being her sparkly self. Huh, maybe that cure was effective. Rony was half dead a second ago and now she was ready to down a plate full of breakfast. My gaze fell to the glass and when I saw the liquid gurgle, I shivered and looked away from it. Nope. No matter how healing, I wasn’t about to ingest whatever it was.

“Did you have a good night’s sleep, Tamara?” Hudson asked, keeping a majority of his attention on the paper in his hands.

If he only knew. I focused my attention on tracing circles on the marble countertop as a renewed blush burned its way over my cheeks.

“I guess you could say that,” I said, suspecting he was waiting for my answer.

“Good.” He nodded once. “Are there catfights in the future for the two of you?”

Rony stiffened beside me. “Nope,” she said too fast for comfort.

I glanced at Rony, who looked increasingly uncomfortable, squirming in her seat, then to Hudson who was the picture of cool and collected, flipping the page of his paper. What was I missing between the two of them? I was pretty drunk last night, but I wasn’t drunk enough to forget how authoritative Hudson was. And…he carried me over his shoulder all the way home. I blushed more, now feeling as uncomfortable as Rony seemed.

“Tamara?”

I jumped when Hudson said my name without looking away from the newspaper. I quickly found my words. “No, no more catfights.”

“Good.” He nodded one more time. “Eat your breakfast. Our days will be increasingly busy at the Shore Shack the closer we get to the Invitational. I can’t have the both of you causing trouble for the customers. Am I making myself clear?”

As if on cue, Carmela put our orders in front of us. Rony picked up her fork and shovelled a mouthful of scrambled eggs into her mouth.

I was about to do the same when Hudson spoke again, this time adding steel to his words. “Am I making myself clear?”

“Yes,” we said in unison like freshly admonished children.

Hudson sipped his coffee and said nothing else.

About half-way through my pancake, a feeling that I’d forgotten something nagged at me. I was supposed to be doing something. What was it? And damn Carmela made super fluffy pancakes.

A knock at the door distracted me from remembering what I was supposed to be doing. Rony, Hudson, and I continued to eat while Carmela waddled to the front of the house. Seconds later, she was back with consternation personified in Xavier Solomon. My brows rose. A prickle ran through my skin at the sight of him, more scrumptious than Carmela’s pancakes in his yellow boardshorts and matching shirt. And as memory served me right, that tan of his was natural. I suppressed the urge to lick my lips by biting my tongue.

“Xavier?” Hudson asked in form of a greeting.

Rony returned to her breakfast, content to ignore the proceedings.

Xavier Solomon’s eyes drank me in before he said, “I forgive you.”

“Forgive me for what?” Hudson scratched his head.

“Not you,” the god said, rolling his eyes. Then he pointed at me. “Her.”

“Me?” I pointed at myself, my stomach executing Olympics worthy summersaults, waking the butterflies inside. I have butterflies! I relished the thought, almost forgetting the presence of the man who caused them.

“What did I do?” I added when he didn’t seem inclined to say more.

The god rested his wickedly talented hands on his sexy hips, shook his head, and sighed. “I should have known you would forget.”

I was dumbstruck for a second by how handsome he was in that second. Gathering my scattered thoughts quickly, I said, “What did I forget?”

That half smile I was starting to expect as his default expression formed on his lips. “What time do you think it is?”

“What time is it?”

He ran his fingers through his wind-tousled hair. “Please stop answering my question with another question. It’s exasperating.”

Me? Exasperating? My eyebrows quirked up. A naughty part of me liked that I exasperated him, and judging from the heat that sparked in his eyes, he caught my blush. I turned to Hudson, who looked as confused as I felt.

“What time is it?” I asked him.

“A little after nine,” he said.

I gasped and leapt out of my stool when realization dawned on me. Surfing! I was supposed to learn how to surf with Xavier Solomon this morning.

“Five minutes,” I shouted back at him as I sprinted into my room. I headed for the closet and grabbed the bright pink beach bag I noticed with the new clothes. I stuffed everything I needed inside: sunscreen, extra clothes, a towel. Forgetting where I put my suit, I grabbed one from the end of the closet and was out of my clothes and putting it on in record time. It was a color-blocked one piece with triangle cut-outs at the sides. I took a second to admire myself in the mirror. I smiled. The suit made me look smaller than I really was. Got to hand it to Rony. She knew how to dress someone.

Remembering that the god was waiting for me, I shimmied into frayed jean shorts and put on my flip flops. One last mirror check—this was as good as it got for me—and I was out of my room.

Xavier Solomon was deep in conversation with Hudson when I returned to the main room. He looked up at me and forgot the rest of what he was saying. I tucked a strand of hair that had come loose from my bun behind my ear. My cheeks were hotter than a summer day in July.

“Looking good, TW!” Rony hooted from the breakfast counter.

I didn’t think my blush could get any worse, but it did. I felt it all over my body now. “Can we go?” I asked without meeting Xavier Solomon’s hungry gaze.

Using his uncanny speed, he was by my side in seconds, ushering me to the front door. He leaned in and whispered, “You look so sexy right now I’m starting to think we should do something other than surfing.”

His breath tickled my ear, causing all my muscles below the waist to clench deliciously. I didn’t know what to say to his comment, so I just let him open the door for me and take my beach bag as I walked out of the house.

“Have fun you two!” Rony called after us.

“Not too much fun,” Hudson piped in.

The god slammed the door shut just as the twins laughed.

I tilted my head to the side, regarding the closed door like it held the answer to a mystery. Xavier Solomon came to my side, towering over me.

“Something wrong?” he asked, genuine concern in his tone.

“Why do I get the feeling those two know something I don’t?”

He chuckled nervously. “Come on. Wouldn’t want to miss the last of the swells for this morning.” He moved to the sidewalk, my pink beach bag slung over his shoulder.

I giggled behind my hand. Xavier Solomon, the god of a man who always looked good enough to eat, was carrying a pink beach bag and wasn’t embarrassed by it at all. In fact, he greeted everyone he passed as I caught up with him.

“I’m sorry for forgetting,” I said after ten steps toward the beach. It wasn’t a far walk, and I wanted to get my guilt off my chest before we got to the sand.

“Don’t worry about it.” Xavier Solomon glanced down at me from the corner of his eye, mischief in its bright blue. “It’s understandable considering the night you had.”

I grasped my hands behind my back, tracing the cracks on the pavement with my gaze. I had a feeling he wasn’t referring to my being drunk. I blushed again for the nth time that morning. Gosh! When it came to being in the presence of the god, I should start expecting blood to rush to my cheeks at a moment’s notice. Could someone die from too much blushing? I sighed. Surely not.

We walked toward the shore where a longer than average surfboard was standing on the sand. I couldn’t believe I was about to learn how to tandem surf with Xavier Solomon. I stared as he dropped my bag and unearthed the board, laying it flat on the sand. I was fascinated by his fluid movements. The muscles on his back rippled beneath his shirt. Sexy.

Before my thoughts went to the carnal place, I turned my focus to the beach. There were a few early morning sunbathers, a couple playing catch with their dog, and several surfers on the water waiting for the next wave.

“…it’s really easy when you get the hang of it.”

Crap, when did Xavier Solomon start speaking? I completely missed the first half of what he had said. I raised my hand and he regarded me curiously.

“I’m sorry, Xavier Solomon—”

He grimaced like he bit into a lemon. “Just Xavier. Please.”

I blinked up at him.

“One sec,” I said.

I took a moment to wrap my head around his proposal. Could I really just call him by his first name? Xavier. Xavier. Xavier. It seemed easy enough in my head. I tested it a couple more times, watching his amusement grow.

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” I opened my mouth to say his name. “Xavier Solomon.” I stopped short and tried again but I just kept saying his whole name.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You’ll say my name eventually. You’ll see.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” I tasted the scepticism in my words. “So, can you repeat what you were saying? I missed the first part.”

He patiently explained what I needed to do on the board when we were already in the water. He made me lie flat on my front on the board and demonstrated a paddling motion with his arms.

“I will be behind you paddling too,” he said. “Once the wave crests, we stand on the board.” He demonstrates the proper stance to me and I mimic him, a little embarrassed by what I was doing. Several sunbathers and surfers were watching us, whispering to each other. That was the first time I noticed the kind of attention Xavier attracted from the people around him. Women stared at him like he was a tall drink of water on a hot day while the guys watched him with respect. Takes a special kind of guy to inspire such attention, and just looking at Xavier, I understood why right away. He was an alpha male. I’d encounter enough of his kind during my readings to recognize one.

“Something funny?” he asked.

“No,” I said, returning my thoughts to our on-land lesson.

“You were smiling,” he insisted.

“Don’t you ever get tired of people staring at you?”

He laughed. “Come on, let’s get into the water. I think you’re ready.”

I swallowed, my eyes wide. “What? That’s it?”

“Basically. Just follow my lead and you’ll be fine. I’ll keep you safe. Don’t worry.”

“That’s not what I meant.” My stomach crumpled. I hadn’t thought about my safety until he’d mentioned anything about keeping me safe. I was a pretty strong swimmer, but I never tried swimming against a crashing wave before. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all.”

He took off his shirt and my mouth watered. I swallowed, gazing hungrily at the expanse of ripped muscle. The kind that thought nothing of my body weight when those arms carried me. Holy sweet heaven on earth. My abdominal muscles quivered. That magnificent body was on me last night and I survived the experience. Worse, I wanted more. Much, much more.

He caught me nibbling on my lower lip, wishing my teeth had other more delectable things to nibble on. This was one blush I wasn’t embarrassed of. I wanted him to see what staring at his body made me feel. By the heat blazing in his eyes, I guessed he understood me completely. Gotta love a man who wasn’t dense to the needs and desires of a woman. Not many of those in my books.

Breaking the spell by picking up the board, he c****d his eyebrow at me. “You’re not backing out now, are you?”

My insides shrivelled in fright. My palms sweating. I studied the surfers riding the coming waves like they were riding bikes. It looked easy enough, I convinced myself. What could go wrong?

Before I could come up with a multitude of answers to my question, I removed my shorts. When my gaze met Xavier’s, he swallowed. Need, the kind that made my stomach muscles tighten, flashed in those baby blues of his. He had the most beautiful eyes. I could stare at how blue they were all day. And it was even better that they were looking at me.

My fear turned to reckless excitement as I smiled at him. “Let’s go.”

He nodded mutely before he took my hand with his free hand and led me to the water. I blushed once again at the contact. I studied our hands as we waded into the water, his big one over my small one. It seemed so intimate, him holding my hand so casually. I liked it too much for comfort.

Once we were waist deep in the water, Xavier took me by the waist and as if I weighed less than my beach bag, hefted me onto the board. I straddled it like he’d instructed and grabbed on to its sides as he jumped onto the board behind me.

“Okay, lie down like a told you,” he said, his lips touching the back of my ear.

He might as well have kissed me at the meeting of my thighs from the contraction I felt there. I tried my best to concentrate, but when he lay on top of me, his chest on my backside, I was almost undone. Only his calm instruction to paddle kept me whole and focused on the task at hand.

My heart beat so fast, I thought it was going to leap out of my chest. I kept paddling until my arms burned. I was about to say so when Xavier sat up and asked me to do the same. Then he turned the board so we faced the shore. We were a ways out, floating with other surfers to our left and right.

I placed my hand on my chest, feeling the increasing speed of my heart. “I think I’m going to pass out,” I said.

Strong arms wrapped around me before Xavier pulled me closer so my back rested on his chest. I turned my head to the side so my ear was on his chest. His heartbeat remained calm, which allowed mine to slow a little. But the anticipation of what was about to happen still had me panicked and excited at the same time. Could I really trust the man holding me to keep me safe?

I had no time to entertain my doubts. The surfers hooted in unison.

“It’s time,” Xavier said.

My breath hitched.

He released me and instructed me to lie back down. I felt the board pitch forward.

“Okay, paddle until I tell you to stand. Paddle as hard as you can,” he ordered.

Too freaked by the wave, I followed his instructions when normally I would have argued at his rough tone.

I paddled like my life depended on it, and in this case, I believed it did. Xavier paddled with me. We reached a rhythm where our arms moved together. Once the board began to tilt, my heart stopped.

Xavier’s weight on my back lifted as he jumped to his feet. “Stand, Tamara! Stand!” he shouted.

“I can’t!” I screamed back.

“Of course you can!” He took me by my shoulders and pulled me up. “Settle your feet on the board.”

I closed my eyes and did I was told, too scared to disobey the command. The board jumped a bit, and I yelped. Xavier chuckled behind me, shifting his weight to keep the board steady.

“Open your eyes, Tamara,” he said.

I peeked out of one eye and gasped. My other eye opened too. The wave was cresting above us, taking the board we were on closer and closer to the shore really fast.

I hooted, gripping Xavier’s arms around my waist so hard that I no longer felt my fingers. It was exhilarating. A kind of weightlessness akin to what flying must feel. And having Xavier’s steady strength behind me made the experience even headier. He was in his element. Literally. I was a fool to doubt that he couldn’t keep me safe. I laughed as I leaned back against him. The wave slowed down and disappeared behind us like it was never there when we reached the shore.

Xavier picked me up and deposited me on the shallow water before jumping off the board and whipping his head back and forth like a dog drying himself. I raised my hand in a futile attempt to block the water drops he rained on me. My laugher rang out around us. Energy zinged in my blood, making me feel more alive in that moment than I’d ever felt in all my life.

He ran his fingers through his hair to pull the strands away from his face and smiled my favorite half smile. “You okay?”

I answered his question with a wicked grin. “Can we go again?”

His smiled turned positively hot as he stared down at me, excitement glowing in his eyes. His gaze reached into me like he did when he held my hand and refused to let go. It scared and excited me more than riding a wave to shore.